www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall March for Life

Does anybody know of an organized Byzantine Catholic presence at the March? Are any groups or parishes going from the Pittsburgh area?

I hadn't even heard or read about it. Tell us more.

Dan L

Okay.....

http://marchforlife.org/mflf.htm

other than that, just copy and paste the following into the yahoo web search engine

"march for life" + 2003

You get alot of hits from individual groups that will be going.

Here in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester, NY, many parishes charter buses to go down to the march.

Your brother in Christ,
David

Lance,
Christ is Born!
Yes, there is a presence, and it is even organized!
Each year there is a tremendous celebration at the Basilica of the National Shrine the evening prior to the march. At 8 pm there is a Latin Mass in the Great Upper Church celebrated by cardinals and bishops. The parking lot is filled with busses. The place is literally swarming with thousands of people, mostly young people, who will spend the night in sleeping bags downstairs.
At 11 pm, Bishop Andrew celebrates a Compline in the Crypt Church. There will be concelebrating priests, deacons, and many cantors to lead the response. For many of these participants, it is a new experience, leaving them completely filled with awe. It is a fitting moment of prayer to prepare for the march the next day.
Our bishops and priests usually participate (not sure if this means concelebrate) in the morning Mass at Constitution Hall and then march with the people down the Mall.
Yes, there is a Byzantine presence at this event.
Deacon El

Dan,

Please see:

http://www.marchforlife.org/

http://www.priestsforlife.org/plgroups/marchforlife.html

Do, I take it that the events are sometime around January 20th, though none of the sites say so.

Dan Lauffer

The march is on the 22nd of January. A Wednesday.

David

Hi Everybody:

Deacon El is from my parish and we're near DC. There is a good presence of Byzantines at the March, as well as many of our Orthodox brothers and sisters from local parishes.

Many of us who work downtown may just come over and join up with various groups from parishes or orders on the Ellipse when the actual March starts. I usually march with the Franciscans.

There are several opportunities to engage in prayer at the Basillica, and as Deacon El says, Bishop Andrew Pataki celebrates Compline. I believe the Basillica remains open all night, but you might want to check with them.

For those who might be first timers, a lot of groups try to meet up on the Ellipse right before the March. If you don't have a banner or a flag or something distinctive that can be seen, give your friends a SPECIFIC spot to meet up at near the Ellipse, because you can wander around in the crowd for some time if you arrive without a plan. If you show up alone, I'm sure a group of marchers will happily "adopt" you. Everyone is quite friendly.

Happy 2003 to you all,

Annie

Dear Dan & All Pro-Lifers:

January 22, 1973 is the date when the U.S. Supreme Court legalized abortion in America under that infamous ROE v. WADE case.

2003 is the 30th anniversary of that decision and the 30th year that "March For Life" in Washington, D.C. is pushed through, come hell or high water.

The Catholic Church in the U.S. is a staunch supporter of the "March for Life," channeling her efforts in this regard through the USCCB "Committee for Pro-Life Activities."

The year-round activities of the Bishops' Committee are coordinated by a "Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities" based in Washington, D.C.

The Secretariat has just released the pro-life activities, including participation in the "March for Life," for January 21-22, 2003 at:

http://www.nccbuscc.org/prolife/vigil2003.htm

Please take note of the 11:30 p.m. "Night Prayer" on the 21st, which will be "celebrated according to the Byzantine Church" led by the Most Rev. Andrew Pataki, Eparch of Passaic, with members of the "Epiphany of Our Lord Byzantine Church," Annandale, VA.


AmdG

At St. Nicholas Cathedral (the Russian Orthodox War Memorial), at 7:00 pm the evening before (Jan. 21), His Beatitude HERMAN will offer a Moleben for the unborn. Those wishing more information may contact me privately.

I will be at the March, meeting at 11:40 a.m. at the statue of Benjamin Franklin in front of the Old Post Office at the southeast corner of Twelfth Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW.

Axios

Christ is Born! Glorify Him!
I've been attending the March since around 1987. I'm going this year with my two grandchildren. To me, the March is awesome, but the Mass and allnight vigil is even more awesome. Can you believe that there is standing room only --two hours before the 8:00pm Mass (you can watch it on EWTN.)
I have had the honor of cantoring a Divine Liturgy in our chapel on the morn of the March, but usually there is no priest to celebrate. I stay in our chapel overnight. (About 5 years ago they required advance reservations.) I encourage all to come.
Pray that Congress will ban cloning and the killing of disposable embryoes this year.

The Ukrainian Catholic National Shrine of the Holy Family will host a Pro-Life Celebration on January 22, 2003. This event is scheduled in conjunction will the Pro-Life Rally and March for Life taking place on the 30th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the tragic Supreme Court decision which permits abortions to take place.


Events schedule:

9:30am – Pontifical Divine Liturgy: Main celebrant: Most Reverend STEFAN SOROKA, Metropolitan- Archbishop of Philadelphia, at the Ukrainian Catholic National Shrine (UCNS) at 4250 Harewood Rd. NE, Washington, DC. Bishops & clergy are invited to concelebrate.

Directions: I-95 South to the Washington Beltway (I-495 W); take the second exit, New Hampshire Ave. South; turn left on North Capital St.; turn left on Fort Dr. NE, which runs into Taylor St. (pass St. Josaphat's Seminary); turn right on Harewood Rd.; church is on the immediate right).

If you are a Democrat, and do not have a particular church group you wish to join, you may wish to march with, and under the banner of, the Democrats For Life. Email them (kristen@democratsforlife.org) regarding details of where to meet. Furthermore, if you are a Democrat and are not yet a DFL member, you should promptly email them requesting membership info. Your help is needed to bring the entire party back to its sanctity of life roots.

Dear Friend,

And here I thought the Democrats' roots were in a test-tube!

But congratulations!

Alex

Click here to see the Proclamation on National Sanctity of Human Life Day, 2003

All those who are participating in the 2003 March for Life are asked to take photos and send them to webmaster@www.byzcath.org.

Dear Administrator,

I'm having trouble accessing the Moleben for Victims of Abortion at:

http://www.ocf.org

Is it just me?

Alex

Dear Alex,

I was also unable to open it.

I can't recall what the "ocf" stands for. But perhaps "Orthodox Christians for Life" has a site. I think that Valerie Protopappas is still in charge and used to use "OCL" but that was probably being confused with the other "OCL" Orthodox Christian Laity," a rather "liberal" group originally starting from within the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.

Perhaps try "ocl" or "ocfl."

If I were leading prayer for victims of abortion, I would use the same prayers that we use for departed infants and perhaps also include a petition for the parents.

30 million and counting, but, God can heal even this.

Sadly, in Christ.