 Worldwide Prayer Vigil for the Unborn On Saturday November 27th, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI will celebrate a solemn Prayer Vigil for All Nascent Human Life in St. Peter's Basilica, coinciding with the First Vespers of the First Sunday of Advent. It is the wish of the Holy Father that similar vigils be celebrated in Cathedrals and parishes all over the world, which is expressed in a magnificent letter written by Cardinals Antonio Cañizares Llovera, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship, and Ennio Antonelli, President of the Pontifical Council for the Family. The beautiful liturgical season of Advent is full of hope-as Christians we prayerfully anticipate the arrival of the Redeemer. Yet at the same time that we prepare ourselves to celebrate the incarnation of our Savior, we have to be ready to defend the unborn against all the anti-life ideologies that dominate contemporary society. This vigil follows the path marked by the Venerable Pope John Paul II, whostrongly recommended that to create a new culture of life, "a great prayer for life is urgently needed, a prayer which will rise up throughout the world." (E.V. 100) This prayer will encourage Christians to remember that they have a fundamental duty to proclaim that nascent life has to be defended always and everywhere. This prayer will give Christians the spirit of fortitude required to be coherent with the teachings of the Church, without making any compromises with the world. Prayer should be the foundation of our active apostolate, because if what we do is not grounded in the elevation of our hearts and minds to God in a spirit of humble subjection, it can become mere activism. It is in this spirit that HLI sponsored the recent Fifth World Prayer Congress for Life in Rome in October. Each newly-conceived human person is a sign of hope to world. In the moment of the creation of the immortal soul of a new person, the Lord gives him a mission to aid in His plans for the redemption of all mankind. He gives to this person unique talents for the benefit of society. So if the life of this extremely young person is destroyed, not only do we have abominable crime, but we are deprived of the talents that the Lord had given to this new person for the common good of the Church and society. Just imagine if St. Thomas of Aquinas would have been killed by abortion, the Church would have lost her greatest philosopher and theologian. If the parents of St. Theresa of Avila would have rejected her-our spiritual life would be very much impoverished and the Church would have been deprived of many Carmelite monasteries. And imagine also if Domenikos Theotokopoulos (Il Greco) would have suffered the same terrible fate, we would have been deprived of one of the greatest Christian artists of all times. Clearly, contemporary society is spiritually, intellectually and artistically impoverished, as we have killed millions of little ones that had the potential to sanctify and enrich society with their God given talents. In this Advent and in future Advents, we should foster and increase our devotion to Our Lady of Hope, as Cardinals Cañizares and Llovera recommend in their letter on celebrating this vigil. She is normally depicted as majestic, and is often carrying a baby in her womb. This avocation of Our Lady reminds us of the months that she was expecting the birth of the Christ Child that she was carrying in her womb. In particular this title of Our Lady is celebrated on the Third Sunday of Advent, as was earnestly recommended by the Tenth Council of Toledo in the year 656, which was presided over by St. Eugenio III. In the Catholic tradition, Our Lady of Hope is also called Our Lady of the "O" because her celebration coincides with the most beautiful "O" antiphons that mark the last Sunday of Advent: "O Sapientia," "O Adonai," "O Emmanuel," and others of great beauty.
Our Lady is our Hope not only because she brought the Savior to the World; she leads us to Him and is the channel of all His graces.The traditional image of Our Lady of Hope received a heavenly confirmation with the apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe in the sixteenth century, where the image of her imprinted on the tilma of San Juan Diego is of a lady carrying a child.
Of course, we revere our Blessed Mother in all of her traditional, historical appearances. During Advent, however, we look to Our Lady of Hope in a special way. With this ancient title, she points us toward a theological virtue that is particularly necessary in our difficult times.
HLI Poland has sponsored a multilingual, international petition of solidarity with Pope Benedict XVI, who initiated the historic call to prayer for life. All who want to join the Holy Father and the universal Church in this special vigil are invited to sign the petition at http://yes-for-benedict.net/. The petition will be presented to the Holy Father after the date of the vigil.
For details on how to participate in the Prayer Vigil for All Nascent Human Life, HLI recommends the excellent resource of the US Catholic Bishops athttp://www.usccb.org/prolife/papalvigil/. Sincerely yours in Christ, |
Monsignor Ignacio Barreiro-CarámbulaInterim President, Human Life International
