AMERICA/ECUADOR -
Guayaquil (Agenzia Fides) – On Saturday, March 27 will be the day of the Fourth "Meeting for Life" organized by the "House of Life" (CDV, a project in defense of the unborn child), along with the Archdiocese of Santiago de Guayaquil, which will bring together mothers, pregnant women, and families in "Plaza San Francisco." Following a festivity in the square for pregnant women, there will be a prayer meeting in the Cathedral, in which Archbishop Antonio Arregui of Santiago de Guayaquil will consecrate pregnant women and their unborn children to the Virgin Mary, invoked under the title "Our Lady of Good Waiting" ("Buena Esperanza").
"The initiative aims at trying to support pregnant mothers and increase respect for the life of the unborn child she is carrying," said Fr. Paulino Toral, Director of CDV. "Our message is pro-motherhood and pro-life. We try to involve the family, young people, and doctors, to give importance to the role of the mother during pregnancy and to human life from conception," he added.
The initiative began in November 2005, recalls Fr. Toral, when the image of the Virgin Mary was placed in the church in Urdesa (Guayaquil, Ecuador). This image was special, as it shows the Mother of the Redeemer, pregnant. Since she is shown as "expecting," we named it "Mary of Buena Esperanza." So, we proposed her as a model and Patroness of expectant mothers. And a great devotion spontaneously arose from there. The faithful have been attracted by the image of the Virgin Mary with her swollen belly, typical of a pregnant woman. If Mary is presented as Our Lady of Sorrows, why can't she be represented as pregnant?
"We thought that the consecration of mothers to the Virgin would be a beautiful thing," continues Fr. Toral. "So, we invited pregnant women to come to be consecrated to the Virgin. The first consecration was attended by over 700 pregnant women. At first, the women came on their own, but then they spontaneously started to come with their babies in their arms, to entrust them to the Virgin Mary. We have established the last Tuesday of every month as the Consecration Day. Since then, about 150 women participate each month. (CE)
(Agenzia Fides 06/03/2010)
