Dear Parish Pro-Life Coordinator,
Greetings to each of you! First let me say, "Thank you!" to you and your devoted parish families who participated in the 2018 Roe Memorial Events. It was Bishop Burns' first Roe Memorial event, and we were 10,000 strong!
Project Gabriel Posters are hot off the presses!
A newly designed full-color poster advertising Project Gabriel is now available. Please pick up a poster at the next Parish Pro-Life Coordinator meeting and display at your parish.
A flyer version is available here
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Please also mark your calendars for the following upcoming events:
On Feb. 20, we celebrate the Day of Saints Jacinta and Francisco Marta.
Between May 13 and October 13, 1917, three Portuguese shepherd children from Aljustrel, received apparitions of Our Lady at Cova da Iria, near Fátima, a city 110 miles north of Lisbon. At that time, Europe was involved in an extremely bloody war. Portugal itself was in political turmoil, having overthrown its monarchy in 1910; the government disbanded religious organizations soon after.
At the first appearance, Mary asked the children to return to that spot on the thirteenth of each month for the next six months. She also asked them to learn to read and write and to pray the rosary "to obtain peace for the world and the end of the war." They were to pray for sinners and for the conversion of Russia, which had recently overthrown Czar Nicholas II and was soon to fall under communism. Up to 90,000 people gathered for Mary's final apparition on Oct.13, 1917.
Less than two years later, Francisco died of influenza in his family home. He was buried in the parish cemetery and then re-buried in the Fátima basilica in 1952. Jacinta died of influenza in Lisbon in 1920, offering her suffering for the conversion of sinners, peace in the world, and the Holy Father. She was re-buried in the Fátima basilica in 1951. Their cousin Lúcia dos Santos, became a Carmelite nun and was still living when Jacinta and Francisco were beatified in 2000; she died five years later. Pope Francis canonized the younger children on his visit to Fátima to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the first apparition-May 13, 2017. The shrine of Our Lady of Fátima is visited by up to 20 million people a year.
The Church is always very cautious about endorsing alleged apparitions, but it has seen benefits from people changing their lives because of the message of Our Lady of Fátima. Prayer for sinners, devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and praying the rosary -- all these reinforce the Good News Jesus came to preach.
May God strengthen our commitment to the pro-life cause and our love for one another. And may He continue to bless you and your family. Thank you for all you do for Life.
