|
|
|
The start of the annual pilgrimage for the 39th March for Life by people from the Newton, Effingham, and Shumway areas was delayed on Friday night, January 20 because of the freezing rain and icy roads. Over 100 teens and adults had to spend the night sleeping on the floor of the Effingham K of C Hall. On Saturday morning, 2 busses from Jerseyville and Maryville joined the travelers and after several detours, all 4 busloads finally arrived in our nation's capital, Washington DC around 3 a.m. Sunday morning.
On Sunday, the group visited Arlington National Cemetery, watched the impressive Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and toured their choice of a Smithsonian Museum. In the early afternoon, the group went to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. This church seats 6,000 in the Upper Church and has over 70 chapels in the whole building. The Crypt Church on the lower level seats 400 and has a gift shop, book store, cafeteria, and Reconciliation Chapel. Before 2 p.m. the seats were all filled, and the people began standing in the aisles, even though the Vigil Mass for Life didn't start until 6:30 p.m. During his homily, over 20,000 people listened as Mass celebrant Cardinal Daniel DiNardo encouraged everyone to take a stand for protecting the pre-born child from being killed through abortion.
On Monday morning, Bishop Thomas John Paprocki celebrated Mass at St. Peter's on Capital Hill with other Illinois residents. The group then did a walking tour of the FDR, MLK, Korean, Lincoln, Vietnam, and WWII Memorials. After walking past the Washington Monument and the National Mall, the group joined the March for Life on Constitution Avenue. The Metro Police had closed off all side streets to accommodate the hundreds of thousands of protesters walking shoulder to shoulder, sidewalk to sidewalk, past the Capital Building to the Supreme Court Building.
All ages were represented in the March, but a clear majority of teenagers and young adults were very vocal in praying, singing, and chanting slogans that support the truth that a pre-born child deserves to be born, not killed in the womb of it's mother. Many posters and banners were carried that showed the gruesome procedure called abortion that is legal through all 9 months of pregnancy. Materials were passed out to educate the public on the development of a baby and on the agenda of Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest taxpayer funded abortion industry. On the way home, the participants shared their impressions of the activities of the day and what they could do to promote the Right to Life movement. All agreed the trip was a success, and arrived home safely on Tuesday.
The start of the annual pilgrimage for the 39th March for Life by people from the Newton, Effingham, and Shumway areas was delayed on Friday night, January 20 because of the freezing rain and icy roads. Over 100 teens and adults had to spend the night sleeping on the floor of the Effingham K of C Hall. On Saturday morning, 2 busses from Jerseyville and Maryville joined the travelers and after several detours, all 4 busloads finally arrived in our nation's capital, Washington DC around 3 a.m. Sunday morning.
On Sunday, the group visited Arlington National Cemetery, watched the impressive Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and toured their choice of a Smithsonian Museum. In the early afternoon, the group went to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. This church seats 6,000 in the Upper Church and has over 70 chapels in the whole building. The Crypt Church on the lower level seats 400 and has a gift shop, book store, cafeteria, and Reconciliation Chapel. Before 2 p.m. the seats were all filled, and the people began standing in the aisles, even though the Vigil Mass for Life didn't start until 6:30 p.m. During his homily, over 20,000 people listened as Mass celebrant Cardinal Daniel DiNardo encouraged everyone to take a stand for protecting the pre-born child from being killed through abortion.
On Monday morning, Bishop Thomas John Paprocki celebrated Mass at St. Peter's on Capital Hill with other Illinois residents. The group then did a walking tour of the FDR, MLK, Korean, Lincoln, Vietnam, and WWII Memorials. After walking past the Washington Monument and the National Mall, the group joined the March for Life on Constitution Avenue. The Metro Police had closed off all side streets to accommodate the hundreds of thousands of protesters walking shoulder to shoulder, sidewalk to sidewalk, past the Capital Building to the Supreme Court Building.
All ages were represented in the March, but a clear majority of teenagers and young adults were very vocal in praying, singing, and chanting slogans that support the truth that a pre-born child deserves to be born, not killed in the womb of it's mother. Many posters and banners were carried that showed the gruesome procedure called abortion that is legal through all 9 months of pregnancy. Materials were passed out to educate the public on the development of a baby and on the agenda of Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest taxpayer funded abortion industry. On the way home, the participants shared their impressions of the activities of the day and what they could do to promote the Right to Life movement. All agreed the trip was a success, and arrived home safely on Tuesday.
