I'm excited to announce that the Parma Eparchy is sponsoring a bus trip custom-planned for Byzantine Catholics and it will make additional stops at Monroeville and Breezewood, PA.
The two-day trip includes sightseeing in Washington, attendance at Compline at the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, overnight stay at Epiphany parish in Annandale and participation in the Rally and March for Life, and a Moleben outside the Supreme Court.
I believe that Sister Julie Hritz of Christ the Bridegroom Monastery is the organizer of the trip. Its through her gracious invitation and the graciousness of Epiphany Parish that this trip is available.
Fr Deacon Paul
Last edited by Irish Melkite; 01/23/1112:49 AM. Reason: ADD DATE
Fr Deacon Paul, Glory to Jesus Christ! This is very good news. Now the youth of Parma and Pittsburgh can fully participate in the liturgical services, the March and partake of the Washington experience. My prayers are with you for a successful journey. Fr Deacon El
Looking forward to the March for Life with the Parma Byzanteens!
We'll be wearing 3x5 stickers with an onion dome and "Byzanteens for Life". Say hello if you see us. For anyone who may want to contact me my cell phone # is 814-661-2067 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 814-661-2067 end_of_the_skype_highlighting. You are all invited to join us outside the Supreme Court Building approx 4pm Monday to pray the Akathist. I believe Bishop John will be the celebrant (not sure). We'll also be at the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception for Bishop William's Compline at 11:00 in the Crypt Church. (arrive before 10pm because they lock the doors normally for the all night vigil Sunday night.)
Deacon Paul Pro-Life Office, Archeparchy of Pittsburgh
The 49 Byzanteens and adults from the bus trip were greeted by quite a few people, Byzantine, Melkite, Ukrainian, Orthodox and Roman at the Rally and March. Bishop John Kudrick of Parma was with us at the March and concelebrated Compline with Passaic's Bishop William Skurla at the Basilica's Vigil for Life.
The pastor, Fr John Basarab and parishioners of Epiphany of Our Lord Church in Annandale offered us overnight accomodations and fed us two fabulous meals. They truly followed Christ's command to "feed the hungry" and "give shelter to the homeless." May God grant them many blessed years!
Wonderful! I turned on the replay late last night on EWTN just as the Orthodox clergy were coming onto the speakers platform. And then, after many more speakers, the final prayer before the March began-- given by an Orthodox priest.
Do some of your youth have blogs or Facebook pages where they're posted about it?
(NO coverage at all of the March in the news print media here. I'm not sure if it got any air time [tinyurl.com], I think I saw that CNN gave a short disinformation piece on it.)
The Fox-TV affilliate gave a pro-abortion slant to the March. I did a search yesterday and only got regional coverage in a few states....Nebraska was very positive.
This Facebook page has 156 photos from the March for Life.. I Love Being A Byzantine Catholic And I Will Never Change My Denomination Check it out. You can go to the March for Life photo album at Eastern Pro Life Feel free to copy and post any of the pics.
Lifesitenews.com posted this within their article about the March for Life:
Quote
Long after most marchers had dispersed, a group of young people remained across the street from the Supreme Court, heads bowed in solemn prayer. Their sign “ByznTeens for Life” signified that they were Byzantine Catholics known for their intense and lengthy prayers. Rachel Pawluszka, 16, one of the ByzanTeens, told LifeSiteNews that the best thing about the March for her was meeting so many others, even those of different religious backgrounds, who all share the love and reverence for life.
The franciscanfriars have a TimeLapse March for LIFE DC 2011 [youtube.com] and you can see the Byzanteens big banner at about 0:48. There is also a group of many people carrying posters with an icon of the Theotokos around 0:26 That group seems to have yellow mufflers on. (My computer stoped several times during the video or I probably would have missed both.)
The U.S. military is reportedly looking into state of the art stealth technology employed by pro-lifers at least once a year.
Said one Pentagon official: "Once a year on the same day they announce the time and the date they're going to have thousands of people march into Washington D.C. but every year they come and go without anyone even noticing them. It's quite amazing."...
...The Pentagon is reportedly looking into how these pro-lifers essentially invade a city without anyone noticing...
I posted Part II of the March for Life video on youtube:
This segment show excerpts from Compline concelebrated by Bishops William and John and clerics of the Metropolia at the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Washington.
The Byzantine Forum provides
message boards for discussions focusing on Eastern Christianity (though
discussions of other topics are welcome). The views expressed herein are
those of the participants and may or may not reflect the teachings of the
Byzantine Catholic or any other Church. The Byzantine Forum and the
www.byzcath.org site exist to help build up the Church but are unofficial,
have no connection with any Church entity, and should not be looked to as
a source for official information for any Church. All posts become
property of byzcath.org. Contents copyright - 1996-2022 (Forum 1998-2022). All rights
reserved.
And then, after many more speakers, the final prayer before the March began-- given by an Orthodox priest.