This week's column is by Father Shenan Boquet, President of Human Life International.
Spirit & Life is the weekly e-column of
Human Life International.
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Prior of Jasna Gora Sends Support for "From Ocean to Ocean" Pilgrimage
Dear deaconjohn,
As you may know, the intrepid leaders of HLI Poland, Lech and Ewa Kowaleski, have helped to coordinate an event that Catholics recognize has the potential to have an enormous impact in the battle for life and family.
The "From Ocean to Ocean" international campaign in defense of life and family, which began on the eastern coast of Russia, passed through the Ukrainian capital of Kiev on Wednesday, where the icon of Our Lady of Czestochowa was welcomed enthusiastically. Following in the ancienttradition of the Church, our pro-life champions and partners from across the European and Asian continents have been coordinating this extraordinary pilgrimage of the icon through regions decimated by the Culture of Death.
The following letter about the peregrination of the Our Lady of Czestochowa Icon was sent to us this morning by Ewa from Father Roman Majewski, the Prior of Jasna Gora Monastery in Czestochowa, Poland. As Father points out, "The pilgrimage of the Czestochowa icon 'From Ocean to Ocean' through the world is an unprecedented historical event and has enormous significance."
Please join me and all those involved in this historic pilgrimage in prayer that through the intercessions of Our Lady we can end abortion in our lifetime and build a culture that truly values the dignity of human life from conception until natural death.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
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Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I am writing to you from the Monastery of Mary, Mother of God at Jasna Gora, to officially express support for the great pilgrimage of the copy of the miraculous image of
English: The Black Madonna of Czestochowa Polski: Ikona Matki Boskiej z Jasnej Góry w Częstochowie zwana Czarną Madonną (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Our Lady of Czestochowa. This image has been venerated unceasingly by people from all over the world at Jasna Gora in Czestochowa, where it is cared for by the Pauline Fathers and Brothers.
Under divine inspiration, pro-life leaders from 18 countries made an "Act of Entrusting to Mary the Protection of the Civilization of Life and Love" before the icon of Our Lady of Czestochowa on Saturday, 28 January 2012. The same day, Archbishop Stanislaw Nowak of Czestochowa blessed the copy of the miraculous icon designated for the pilgrimage through the world "From Ocean to Ocean"--from Vladivostok to Fatima--in defense of life. That copy was ceremoniously applied to the original. In the East, in Russia, the Czestochowa icon was hosted mainly by the Orthodox Church, in the West and in Poland, by the Catholic Church.
Our Churches are united by great reverence and love of Mary, the Mother of God, the cult of the icon, as well as great involvement in the defense of human life and the family.
The route of the pilgrimage "From Ocean to Ocean" will cover 18 thousand kilometers and pass through 23 countries. The Blessed Mother's pilgrimage will go through Poland from 12 to 26 August. She will be in Jasna Gora on 22 August, the feast of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary. From there she will go to Piekary Slaskie and Krakow and then to Bielsko-Biala, where she will be handed over to the Czechs.
The pilgrimage of the Czestochowa icon "From Ocean to Ocean" through the world is an unprecedented historical event and has enormous significance. I am expressing my great joy and heartfelt gratitude to all those who arranged for Our Lady to travel through the world in the sign of the image of Jasna Gora and to remind everyone of the value and dignity of human life from conception to natural death.
As prior of Jasna Gora I request all believers to receive the Mother of God traveling through the world "From Ocean to Ocean" in the copy of the Czestochowa icon with great reverence in their countries, cities, and villages, but above all in their hearts, declaring themselves on the side of the civilization of life and love.
Father Roman Majewski
