Digital Marian Helper Spring_2018

from all stain of sin from the first moment of her concep- tion, and she never fell into sin at any point in her life. Therefore, she was perfectly and purely pro-life, for she gladly welcomed the Incarnation of the Son of God in her womb. She welcomed both natural and supernatural life, life both divine and human. And she gives life to the world through her Son. She is the spiritual mother of all those who turn themselves over to her. She works miracles for many, aiding us in our physical necessities. But she also mediates grace to us, the grace that gives eternal life. So under her patronage, the Marian Fathers have been and will always be pro-life. That pro-life stance has manifested itself in many ways over the years, from the heroism of Marians in serving the Church where the need is greatest, even to the point of martyrdom (as happened at Rosica, Belarus, in 1943), to the more ordinary “white martyrdom” of living a faithful Catholic religious life. That pro-life stance also has manifested itself in partici- pating in the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C., each January to demonstrate in defense of life from con- ception to natural death, as called for in St. John Paul II’s prophetic encyclica l Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life) . That pro-life stance is evident in th e Shrine of the Holy Innocents, l ocated below the Mother of Mercy Outdoor Shrine f rom which the annua l Divine Mercy Sunday M ass is broadcast on the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN). Nestled below the big outdoor altar — metaphorically, in the womb of the building — is a shrine dedicated to memorializing the unborn, deceased chil- dren, and innocents taken in an untimely fashion. Here, in this place of prayer and remembrance, awaits a statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Unborn. And that pro-life stance is made plain in the priestly ministry of the Marian Fathers, in their bestowal of supernatural life through the Sacraments, in their resur- rection of hope in so many hearts through the promotion of Divine Mercy, and in their service to th e Holy Souls in Purgatory. On and on it goes, a great service to life on this earth and life everlasting, to our Lord, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and to Our Lady, the Mother of All the Living. Let us join the Marian Fathers in praying th e Chaplet of Divine Mercy and the Rosary for those far from God; for the enemies of life; for those most in need of God’s mercy that they may be converted and become allies once again of our God, who is Life, Love, and Divine Mercy. And let us turn to Our Lady for intercession and an example of how to be purely, thoroughly pro-life. Proclaim your respect for life Add your name to our register of the “Protectors of the Sanctity of Life” in the Shrine of the Holy Innocents. Visit MemorialsOnEdenHill.org/sohi or call (413) 298-1382. MH