“America, you are beautiful! Beautiful and blessed in so many ways. Your best beauty, you’re richest blessing is found in the human person. The ultimate test of your greatness is the way you treat every human being but especially the weakest most defenseless ones. If you want equal justice for all and true freedom and lasting peace then, America, defend life!”
— St. John Paul II, Apostolic Visit to US, 1987
God has given humanity countless gifts, but there are certain gifts that are central to our being, primarily that of human life.
Each year our Religious Family in the Province of the Immaculate Conception gathers in Washington, DC for a weekend in order to participate in the Annual March for Life and to build and celebrate the culture of life. Due to the pandemic, the March was not held last year, so the anticipation and enthusiasm of the 2022 March doubled.
Our Religious Family brought groups from all over the country—about fifty from Florida, around fifty also from New York, about forty from Mankato, Minnesota, and another twenty from Massachusetts, There were even groups from Chicago, Texas, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and parishes in the DC area. The main event was the 49th Annual March for Life. However, in addition to marching for life, we have had the tradition for many years of surrounding this event with much prayer, formation, and also lots of fun to celebrate the gift of life—countering the culture of death by celebrating life.
Beginning on Thursday January 20th, the groups gathered at our IVE Seminary to begin the pro-life events with a Eucharistic Adoration Prayer Vigil and confessions followed by a festive dinner and an entertaining show.
The following day, Friday the 21st, was the March! We began the morning with breakfast and a formation talk by an engaging speaker, Greg Sterns, who spoke on the philosophical defense of the pro-life argument and how to respond to pro-abortion challenges. After the talk, Mass was celebrated to honor and pray for the respect of all human life; the choir of the Religious Family added to the solemnity and beauty Holy Mass. Then, the group geared up for the March: gathering signs, warm clothes, light green t-shirts, metro cards, brown bag lunches, and of course, what has become a tradition—the baby-blue bandanas with the motto: “Save Both Lives”—to pray for the protection of both the baby and the mom.
Our IVE group of a few hundred people rallied on the National Mall and joined the March, led by our patroness, Our Lady of Lujan and a banner that read “Save Both Lives”. There was a spirit of joy as we celebrated life with chants, cheers, a drum line, and prayer. After the march, we headed back to the IVE Seminary for some downtime with board games, snacks, and lots of wonderful stories of the day. To conclude the evening, we prayed Vespers together followed by our tradition of pizza on Friday nights and of course, entertainment.
Our events did not conclude with Friday!
The following day we held our Youth and Youth Adult Restore Conference at the seminary. The theme was “Restore all things in Christ” and the event included games, activities and formation conferences on topics such as purity, living the Gospel and Catholic human anthropology. The spiritual formation included a pilgrimage and tour of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Holy Mass, a Rosary Procession, Eucharistic Adoration and Confessions. Finally, the evening concluded with dinner and a lively skit led by the seminarians. On Sunday, the groups gathered for Holy Mass and a closing brunch.
Around the country, various parts of the Province of the Immaculate Conception also participated in pro-life marches and conferences; there were activities in San Francisco, Dallas, and Phoenix. We give thanks to God for these events and we pray especially for all the youth and young adults who were able to participate—may we restore all things in Christ!
May our Blessed Mother be our model and guide!
