Evangelium Vitae Novena - Closing Prayer #EVN2016

Happy 21st Anniversary of Evangelium Vitae and Feast of the Annunciation!

Thank you so much for joining us in prayer for an end to the ill effects of the Culture of Death. As Saint John Paul II taught us in his encyclical Evangelium Vitae, all life is immeasurably valuable and beloved by God. During these past nine days we have invoked the intercession of a saint who had great love for life and showed the world an example of a holy death. May Saint John Paul II continue to be a protector of all people - from fertilization until natural death. As the faithful people of God and brethren of Our Lord Jesus Christ, we have a duty to continue to put on the armor of God and protect those who are spurned.

Closing reflection: March 25 - The Feast of the Annunciation.

On this Feast of the Annunciation, let us reflect on the gift God has given us, the great gift of His heavenly Mother. May she always be our model of purity, holiness and motherhood.

The "woman clothed with the sun" - the Book of revelation tells us - "was with child" (12:2). The Church is fully aware that she bears within herself the Savior of the world, Christ the Lord. She is aware that she is called to offer Christ to the world, giving men and women new birth into Christ's own life.But the Church cannot forget that her mission was made possible by the motherhood of Mary, who conceived and bore the One who is "God from God", "true God from true God." Mary is truly the Mother of God, the Theotokos, in whose motherhood the vocation to motherhood bestowed by God on every woman is raised to the highest level. EV 103

Daily prayer: Pope Saint John Paul II's Prayer to our Lady.

O Mary
bright dawn of the new world,
Mother of the living,
to you do we entrust the cause
Look down, O Mother,
upon the vast numbers
of babies not allowed to be born,
of the poor whose lives are made difficult,
of men and women
who are victims of brutal violence,
of the elderly and the sick killed
by indifference or out of misguided mercy.
Grant that all who believe in your Son
may proclaim the Gospel of Life
with honesty and love
to the people of our time.
Obtain for them the grace
to accept that Gospel
as a gift ever new,
the joy of celebrating it with gratitude
throughout their lives
and the courage to bear witness to it
resolutely, in order to build,
together with all people of good will,
the civilisation of truth and love,
to the praise and glory of God,
the Creator and lover of life.

Evangelium Vitae Novena: Day 9 - For an increase in the virtue of chastity #EVN2016

Welcome prolife prayer warriors!

As we recall the gift of the great encyclical from Pope John Paul II - Evangelium Vitae - let us call to mind the great need our world has for prayer.

The spilling of innocent blood through abortion and other atrocities against humanity can only be reparated by the pure and Precious Blood of Jesus Christ. With this Novena we contribute our own small effort by petitioning God for the healing of our culture of the following ills.

Contraception * Abortion * Euthanasia * Exploitation (embryonic stem cells, cloning, etc.) * Sex trafficking * Legislators * Clergy * Laity * Chastity

Welcome to Day 9 of our Evangelium Vitae Novena! Please join us in praying for today's intention: an end to the contraceptive mentality which has brought so much chaos into the world. And please remember to pray the daily prayer. God bless you all.

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Daily prayer: Pope Saint John Paul II's Prayer to our Lady.

O Mary
bright dawn of the new world,
Mother of the living,
to you do we entrust the cause
Look down, O Mother,
upon the vast numbers
of babies not allowed to be born,
of the poor whose lives are made difficult,
of men and women
who are victims of brutal violence,
of the elderly and the sick killed
by indifference or out of misguided mercy.
Grant that all who believe in your Son
may proclaim the Gospel of Life
with honesty and love
to the people of our time.
Obtain for them the grace
to accept that Gospel
as a gift ever new,
the joy of celebrating it with gratitude
throughout their lives
and the courage to bear witness to it
resolutely, in order to build,
together with all people of good will,
the civilisation of truth and love,
to the praise and glory of God,
the Creator and lover of life.

Day 9: March 22, 2016 - For an increase in the virtue of chastity

It is an illusion to think that we can build a true culture of human life if we do not help the young to accept and experience sexuality and love and the whole of life according to their true meaning and in their close interconnection. Sexuality, which enriches the whole person, 'manifests its inmost meaning in leading the person to the gift of self in love'. The trivialization of sexuality is among the principal factors which have led to contempt for new life. Only a true love is able to protect life. There can be no avoiding the duty to offer, especially to adolescents and young adults, an authentic education in sexuality and in love, an education which involves training in chastity as a virtue which fosters personal maturity and makes one capable of respecting the 'spousal' meaning of the body.  EV 97.

Heavenly Father, Your design for human sexuality is among the most misunderstood of Your truths today. Please grant Your grace of self-control to all Your people, that they may be a witness to Your Holiness and purity by their lives of holy chastity. The culture of life will flourish when young people embrace the state of chastity both within and outside of marriage; please give parents and educators the means to  communicate your plan for sexuality to our young  people and through the media.  AMEN

Please share this effort with your family and friends and continue to work toward the hopeful goal of a world that respects all life - from fertilization to natural death. 

Remember to us hashtag #EVN2016 when using Twitter.

You may also join the Evangelium Vitae Novena Facebook event  for daily reminders and the opportunity for interaction with like-minded prolife advocates.

If you'd like a bit of history behind the struggle for the respect of life, check out my column at Catholic Stand.

You can also find the daily meditation graphics for sharing on Facebook on the Designs by Birgit fan page. 

In His Name for Life, BirgitJ

Evangelium Vitae Novena: Day 8: - For a stronger witness from the laity

Welcome prolife prayer warriors!

As we recall the gift of the great encyclical from Pope John Paul II - Evangelium Vitae - let us call to mind the great need our world has for prayer.

The spilling of innocent blood through abortion and other atrocities against humanity can only be reparated by the pure and Precious Blood of Jesus Christ. With this Novena we contribute our own small effort by petitioning God for the healing of our culture of the following ills.

Contraception * Abortion * Euthanasia * Exploitation (embryonic stem cells, cloning, etc.) * Sex trafficking * Legislators * Clergy * Laity * Chastity

Welcome to Day 8 of our Evangelium Vitae Novena! Please join us in praying for today's intention: an end to the contraceptive mentality which has brought so much chaos into the world. And please remember to pray the daily prayer. God bless you all.

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Daily prayer: Pope Saint John Paul II's Prayer to our Lady.

O Mary
bright dawn of the new world,
Mother of the living,
to you do we entrust the cause
Look down, O Mother,
upon the vast numbers
of babies not allowed to be born,
of the poor whose lives are made difficult,
of men and women
who are victims of brutal violence,
of the elderly and the sick killed
by indifference or out of misguided mercy.
Grant that all who believe in your Son
may proclaim the Gospel of Life
with honesty and love
to the people of our time.
Obtain for them the grace
to accept that Gospel
as a gift ever new,
the joy of celebrating it with gratitude
throughout their lives
and the courage to bear witness to it
resolutely, in order to build,
together with all people of good will,
the civilisation of truth and love,
to the praise and glory of God,
the Creator and lover of life.

Day 8: March 23, 2016 - For a stronger witness from the laity

We need to begin with the renewal of a culture of life within Christian communities themselves. Too often it happens that believers, even those who take an active part in the life of the Church, end up by separating their Christian faith from its ethical requirements concerning life, and thus fall into moral subjectivism and certain objectionable ways of acting. With great openness and courage, we need to question how widespread is the culture of life today among individual Christians, families, groups and communities in our Dioceses. EV 95.

Heavenly Father, the communion which should exist through Your gift of the Eucharist has been broken by the widespread use of  contraception among Your flock and by their wholesale disregard for the teachings of Your Church. Please raise up courageous families and single people who are prepared to forgo worldly acclaim and to suffer for the sake of Your Holy Church. Please console them in their times of discouragement, and make them always aware of Your Presence, as they endeavor to spread the Good News to the ends of the earth.  AMEN

Please share this effort with your family and friends and continue to work toward the hopeful goal of a world that respects all life - from fertilization to natural death. 

Remember to us hashtag #EVN2016 when using Twitter.

You may also join the Evangelium Vitae Novena Facebook event  for daily reminders and the opportunity for interaction with like-minded prolife advocates.

If you'd like a bit of history behind the struggle for the respect of life, check out my column at Catholic Stand.

You can also find the daily meditation graphics for sharing on Facebook on the Designs by Birgit fan page. 

In His Name for Life, BirgitJ

Evangelium Vitae Novena Day 7 - For a Stronger Witness From the Laity #EVN2016

Welcome prolife prayer warriors!

As we recall the gift of the great encyclical from Pope John Paul II - Evangelium Vitae - let us call to mind the great need our world has for prayer.

The spilling of innocent blood through abortion and other atrocities against humanity can only be reparated by the pure and Precious Blood of Jesus Christ. With this Novena we contribute our own small effort by petitioning God for the healing of our culture of the following ills.

Contraception * Abortion * Euthanasia * Exploitation (embryonic stem cells, cloning, etc.) * Sex trafficking * Legislators * Clergy * Laity * Chastity

Welcome to Day 7 of our Evangelium Vitae Novena! Please join us in praying for today's intention: an end to the contraceptive mentality which has brought so much chaos into the world. And please remember to pray the daily prayer. God bless you all.

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Daily prayer: Pope Saint John Paul II's Prayer to our Lady.

O Mary
bright dawn of the new world,
Mother of the living,
to you do we entrust the cause
Look down, O Mother,
upon the vast numbers
of babies not allowed to be born,
of the poor whose lives are made difficult,
of men and women
who are victims of brutal violence,
of the elderly and the sick killed
by indifference or out of misguided mercy.
Grant that all who believe in your Son
may proclaim the Gospel of Life
with honesty and love
to the people of our time.
Obtain for them the grace
to accept that Gospel
as a gift ever new,
the joy of celebrating it with gratitude
throughout their lives
and the courage to bear witness to it
resolutely, in order to build,
together with all people of good will,
the civilisation of truth and love,
to the praise and glory of God,
the Creator and lover of life.

Day 7: March 22, 2016 - For a stronger witness from the clergy

We need to make sure that in theological faculties, seminaries and Catholic institutions sound doctrine is taught, explained and more fully investigated. May Paul's exhortation strike a chord in all theologians, pastors, teachers, and in all those responsible for catechesis and the formation of consciences. Aware of their specific role, may they never be so grievously irresponsible as to betray the truth and their own mission by proposing personal ideas contrary to the Gospel of life  as faithfully presented and interpreted by the Magisterium. EV 82.

Heavenly Father, Your message of the Gospel of life has been misinterpreted and diluted, ignored and ridiculed, devalued and denied by many within the Church. Please sharpen the   consciences of Your shepherds; remind them of their great       responsibility to transmit Your truths to the faithful. And create in them a loud voice that cries out above the clamor of the world, "Choose life and reject the culture of death!"  AMEN

Please share this effort with your family and friends and continue to work toward the hopeful goal of a world that respects all life - from fertilization to natural death. 

Remember to us hashtag #EVN2016 when using Twitter.

You may also join the Evangelium Vitae Novena Facebook event  for daily reminders and the opportunity for interaction with like-minded prolife advocates.

If you'd like a bit of history behind the struggle for the respect of life, check out my column at Catholic Stand.

You can also find the daily meditation graphics for sharing on Facebook on the Designs by Birgit fan page. 

In His Name for Life, BirgitJ

Evangelium Vitae Novena Day 6: March 21 - For Legislators #EVN2016

Welcome prolife prayer warriors!

As we recall the gift of the great encyclical from Pope John Paul II - Evangelium Vitae - let us call to mind the great need our world has for prayer.

The spilling of innocent blood through abortion and other atrocities against humanity can only be reparated by the pure and Precious Blood of Jesus Christ. With this Novena we contribute our own small effort by petitioning God for the healing of our culture of the following ills.

Contraception * Abortion * Euthanasia * Exploitation (embryonic stem cells, cloning, etc.) * Sex trafficking * Legislators * Clergy * Laity * Chastity

Welcome to Day 6 of our Evangelium Vitae Novena! Please join us in praying for today's intention: an end to the contraceptive mentality which has brought so much chaos into the world. And please remember to pray the daily prayer. God bless you all.

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Daily prayer: Pope Saint John Paul II's Prayer to our Lady.

O Mary
bright dawn of the new world,
Mother of the living,
to you do we entrust the cause
Look down, O Mother,
upon the vast numbers
of babies not allowed to be born,
of the poor whose lives are made difficult,
of men and women
who are victims of brutal violence,
of the elderly and the sick killed
by indifference or out of misguided mercy.
Grant that all who believe in your Son
may proclaim the Gospel of Life
with honesty and love
to the people of our time.
Obtain for them the grace
to accept that Gospel
as a gift ever new,
the joy of celebrating it with gratitude
throughout their lives
and the courage to bear witness to it
resolutely, in order to build,
together with all people of good will,
the civilisation of truth and love,
to the praise and glory of God,
the Creator and lover of life.

Day 6: March 21, 2016 - For Legislators

In the encyclical Pacem in Terris, John XXIII pointed out that “it is generally accepted today that the common good is best safeguarded when personal rights and duties are guaranteed. The chief concern of civil authorities must therefore be to ensure that these rights are        recognized, respected, coordinated, defended and promoted, and that each individual is      enabled to perform his duties more easily.  EV 71.

Heavenly Father, many today are disillusioned by legislators whose promises come to little once they gain a position of power. Please grant fortitude to legislators that they may maintain their convictions once elected, and the wisdom to speak the truth in love to uphold your              unchanging laws. Grant them the extraordinary grace to begin to reverse laws which fail to protect the basic right to life of unborn children, the disabled and the elderly.  AMEN

Please share this effort with your family and friends and continue to work toward the hopeful goal of a world that respects all life - from fertilization to natural death. 

Remember to us hashtag #EVN2016 when using Twitter.

You may also join the Evangelium Vitae Novena Facebook event  for daily reminders and the opportunity for interaction with like-minded prolife advocates.

If you'd like a bit of history behind the struggle for the respect of life, check out my column at Catholic Stand.

You can also find the daily meditation graphics for sharing on Facebook on the Designs by Birgit fan page. 

In His Name for Life, BirgitJ

Evangelium Vitae Novena Day 5: March 20 - For An End to the Sex Industry #EVN2016

Welcome prolife prayer warriors!

As we recall the gift of the great encyclical from Pope John Paul II - Evangelium Vitae - let us call to mind the great need our world has for prayer.

The spilling of innocent blood through abortion and other atrocities against humanity can only be reparated by the pure and Precious Blood of Jesus Christ. With this Novena we contribute our own small effort by petitioning God for the healing of our culture of the following ills.

Contraception * Abortion * Euthanasia * Exploitation (embryonic stem cells, cloning, etc.) * Sex trafficking * Legislators * Clergy * Laity * Chastity

Welcome to Day 5 of our Evangelium Vitae Novena! Please join us in praying for today's intention: an end to the contraceptive mentality which has brought so much chaos into the world. And please remember to pray the daily prayer. God bless you all.

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Daily prayer: Pope Saint John Paul II's Prayer to our Lady.

O Mary
bright dawn of the new world,
Mother of the living,
to you do we entrust the cause
Look down, O Mother,
upon the vast numbers
of babies not allowed to be born,
of the poor whose lives are made difficult,
of men and women
who are victims of brutal violence,
of the elderly and the sick killed
by indifference or out of misguided mercy.
Grant that all who believe in your Son
may proclaim the Gospel of Life
with honesty and love
to the people of our time.
Obtain for them the grace
to accept that Gospel
as a gift ever new,
the joy of celebrating it with gratitude
throughout their lives
and the courage to bear witness to it
resolutely, in order to build,
together with all people of good will,
the civilisation of truth and love,
to the praise and glory of God,
the Creator and lover of life.

Day 5: March 20, 2016 - For an end to the sex industry.

In the materialistic perspective described so far, interpersonal relations are seriously         impoverished. The first to be harmed are women, children... The criterion of personal dignity - which demands respect, generosity and service - is replaced by the criterion of efficiency, functionality and usefulness: others are considered not for what they 'are', but for what they 'have, do and produce.' This is the supremacy of the strong over the weak. EV 23.

Heavenly Father, the sex-industry is an 'unfruitful work of darkness' which many Christians would prefer to ignore. Please grant your grace of understanding to assist us in exposing this great evil. Help us to provide dignified work and physical support for sex-workers, and grant freedom to those who are held against their wills. We ask that all people will begin to nurture only those true and loving relationships which value the other over self, which promote mutual respect and which maintain the dignity of all persons involved.  AMEN

Please share this effort with your family and friends and continue to work toward the hopeful goal of a world that respects all life - from fertilization to natural death. 

Remember to us hashtag #EVN2016 when using Twitter.

You may also join the Evangelium Vitae Novena Facebook event  for daily reminders and the opportunity for interaction with like-minded prolife advocates.

If you'd like a bit of history behind the struggle for the respect of life, check out my column at Catholic Stand.

You can also find the daily meditation graphics for sharing on Facebook on the Designs by Birgit fan page. 

In His Name for Life, BirgitJ

Evangelium Vitae Novena Day 4 - Commodification of Unborn Children and Mothers #EVN2016

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Welcome prolife prayer warriors!

As we recall the gift of the great encyclical from Pope John Paul II - Evangelium Vitae - let us call to mind the great need our world has for prayer.

The spilling of innocent blood through abortion and other atrocities against humanity can only be reparated by the pure and Precious Blood of Jesus Christ. With this Novena we contribute our own small effort by petitioning God for the healing of our culture of the following ills.

Contraception * Abortion * Euthanasia * Exploitation (embryonic stem cells, cloning, etc.) * Sex trafficking * Legislators * Clergy * Laity * Chastity

Welcome to Day 4 of our Evangelium Vitae Novena! Please join us in praying for today's intention: an end to the contraceptive mentality which has brought so much chaos into the world. And please remember to pray the daily prayer. God bless you all.

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Daily prayer: Pope Saint John Paul II's Prayer to our Lady.

O Mary
bright dawn of the new world,
Mother of the living,
to you do we entrust the cause
Look down, O Mother,
upon the vast numbers
of babies not allowed to be born,
of the poor whose lives are made difficult,
of men and women
who are victims of brutal violence,
of the elderly and the sick killed
by indifference or out of misguided mercy.
Grant that all who believe in your Son
may proclaim the Gospel of Life
with honesty and love
to the people of our time.
Obtain for them the grace
to accept that Gospel
as a gift ever new,
the joy of celebrating it with gratitude
throughout their lives
and the courage to bear witness to it
resolutely, in order to build,
together with all people of good will,
the civilisation of truth and love,
to the praise and glory of God,
the Creator and lover of life.

Day 4: March 19, 2016 - For an end to commodification of unborn children and mothers

This moral condemnation also regards procedures that exploit living human embryos and fetuses - sometimes specifically 'produced' for this purpose by in vitro fertilization - either to be used as 'biological material' or as providers of  organs or tissue for transplants in the     treatment of certain diseases. The killing of  innocent human creatures, even if carried out to help others, constitutes an absolutely unacceptable act. EV 63

Heavenly Father, You designed conception to take place within the conjugal context of  marriage. Please grant your grace of fortitude to all medical professionals who seek solutions to the problems of infertility. May they reject using immoral techniques when assisting with the creation of new life. We also pray that unborn   human beings will no longer be used for experimentation and that existing frozen embryos will be treated with dignity. Father, please enlighten the world to see that surrogacy is not part of Your plan for motherhood, and help us to end all industries that commodify Your   children.  AMEN

Please share this effort with your family and friends and continue to work toward the hopeful goal of a world that respects all life - from fertilization to natural death. 

Remember to us hashtag #EvangeliumVitae when using Twitter.

You may also join the Evangelium Vitae Novena Facebook event  for daily reminders and the opportunity for interaction with like-minded prolife advocates.

If you'd like a bit of history behind the struggle for the respect of life, check out my column at Catholic Stand.

You can also find the daily meditation graphics for sharing on Facebook on the Designs by Birgit fan page. 

In His Name for Life, BirgitJ

Evangelium Vitae Novena Day 3 - Euthanasia of the Elderly and Disabled #EVN2016

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Welcome prolife prayer warriors!

As we recall the gift of the great encyclical from Pope John Paul II - Evangelium Vitae - let us call to mind the great need our world has for prayer.

The spilling of innocent blood through abortion and other atrocities against humanity can only be reparated by the pure and Precious Blood of Jesus Christ. With this Novena we contribute our own small effort by petitioning God for the healing of our culture of the following ills.

Contraception * Abortion * Euthanasia * Exploitation (embryonic stem cells, cloning, etc.) * Sex trafficking * Legislators * Clergy * Laity * Chastity

Welcome to Day 3 of our Evangelium Vitae Novena! Please join us in praying for today's intention: an end to the contraceptive mentality which has brought so much chaos into the world. And please remember to pray the daily prayer. God bless you all.

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Daily prayer: Pope Saint John Paul II's Prayer to our Lady.

O Mary
bright dawn of the new world,
Mother of the living,
to you do we entrust the cause
Look down, O Mother,
upon the vast numbers
of babies not allowed to be born,
of the poor whose lives are made difficult,
of men and women
who are victims of brutal violence,
of the elderly and the sick killed
by indifference or out of misguided mercy.
Grant that all who believe in your Son
may proclaim the Gospel of Life
with honesty and love
to the people of our time.
Obtain for them the grace
to accept that Gospel
as a gift ever new,
the joy of celebrating it with gratitude
throughout their lives
and the courage to bear witness to it
resolutely, in order to build,
together with all people of good will,
the civilisation of truth and love,
to the praise and glory of God,
the Creator and lover of life.

Day 3: March 18, 2016 - For an end to euthanasia of the elderly and disabled

When the prevailing tendency is to value life only to the extent that it brings   pleasure and well-being, suffering seems like an unbearable setback, something from which one must be freed at all costs. Death is considered 'senseless' if it suddenly interrupts a life still open to a future of new and interesting experiences. But it becomes a 'rightful liberation' once life is held to be no longer meaningful  because it is filled with pain and inexorably doomed to even greater suffering.     EV 64.

Heavenly Father, we ask for an end to the utilitarianism that obsesses the world and has led to the devaluation of lives which are no longer deemed to be productive. Please grant your grace of gratitude for the elderly and the disabled and relieve them of the fear that they are a burden to their families and caregivers. AMEN

Please share this effort with your family and friends and continue to work toward the hopeful goal of a world that respects all life - from fertilization to natural death. 

Remember to us hashtag #EvangeliumVitae when using Twitter.

You may also join the Evangelium Vitae Novena Facebook event  for daily reminders and the opportunity for interaction with like-minded prolife advocates.

If you'd like a bit of history behind the struggle for the respect of life, check out my column at Catholic Stand.

You can also find the daily meditation graphics for sharing on Facebook on the Designs by Birgit fan page. 

In His Name for Life, Birgit J

Please Join the 2nd Annual Evangelium Vitae Novena

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Last year, the Feast of the Annunciation, marked the twentieth anniversary of a prolife gift given to the Church and to the world by Saint Pope John Paul II – Evangelium Vitae (Gospel of Life). In an effort to bring the light of Truth to the darkness of the Culture of Death, a Novena was created and shared in honor of this powerfully prolife encyclical. This worldwide effort reached all corners of the globe and sought a common prayer to restore the respect for life.

This year, the second annual Evangelium Vitae Novena is at hand – beginning on March 16 – and promises to be an even larger success. Prolife people from around the world have already signed up on the Facebook Evangelium Vitae event page. More will be following along on this blog or on the Designs by Birgit fan page, where daily petitions will be published.

Won’t you prayerfully consider not only joining us yourself, but inviting your friends and family to do the same?

"For where there are two or three gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."  Matthew 18:20

What Is Evangelium Vitae?

The encyclical Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life) sought to bring attention to the innocent blood spilled through abortion and other atrocities against life. The Culture of Death had taken a firm grip on the world and the life-affirming message of Humanae Vitae, by Pope Paul VI was being largely ignored. In addition to abortion, the world had embraced other forewarned evils such as contraception, embryonic stem cell research, euthanasia, and commodification of women as well as children.

We Are Sliding Deeper Into the Abyss

Now, as the depravity continues to build, is a time ripe for a concerted effort of united prayer. Recently it has come to light that Planned Parenthood is selling aborted baby parts, even to the point of harvesting still living preborn to fulfill the ‘orders’ being placed by universities and research labs. Government and surgeons in Great Britain are considering an effort to convince mothers to bring disabled babies to term – not to save their lives, but to use them for spare parts in organ donation.

There Is Much We Can Do

The spilling of innocent blood through abortion and other atrocities can only be reparated by the pure and Precious Blood of Jesus Christ. As a plea for healing in our world we share a special Novena here. It was an inspired group effort, initiated by my friend in Australia. Her blog, Light Up the Darkness, shares a treasure trove of prolife information. The meditations were written by her hand and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

  

Each day also brings a relevant excerpt of Evangelium Vitae. The text was approved and foreword written by Father Vincent Edward Mark Bertrand, MA, MDiv, JCL Founder/Director of Marian Advocates for Life.

My part in this endeavor is the creation of the graphics and a bit of publicity.

What Is the Plan?

We will be praying daily for issues relevant to the respect for life. Each day will have a unique intention and excerpt of Evangelium Vitae:

           Petitions (Come back for daily updates):

· Day 1 March 16 - Contraception

· Day 2 March 17 - Abortion

· Day 3 March 18 - Euthanasia

· Day 4 March 19 - Exploitation (embryonic stem cells, cloning, etc.)

· Day 5 March 20 - Sex trafficking

· Legislators

· Clergy

· Laity

· Chastity

For your convenience, I will also be sharing the daily meditations as graphics daily. They will be available both on the Evangelium Vitae Novena Facebook event and on the Designs by Birgit Facebook fan page, as well as on this blog.

How can you participate?

I'm glad you asked! Here are a few suggestions:

·         Please prayerfully consider joining us, these nine days (March 16 - 24), in praying for the strengthening of respect for all life - from fertilization until natural death.  

·         There is an Evangelium Vitae Novena Facebook event you may join for daily reminders and the opportunity for interaction with like-minded prolife advocates.  

·         If you'd like a bit of history behind the struggle for the respect of life, check out this column at Catholic Stand.

·         The text of Fr. Bertrand's foreword and the prayer by Pope John Paul II and daily meditations can be found here and here. 

·         Use the hashtag #EV2016 when tweeting about this Novena or any prolife issue during this time.

·         Use your own social media to share and promote this prolife effort.

Please join us from March 16 until the final prayer on the Feast of the Annunciation on March 25. Thank you and God bless you for your advocacy for LIFE!

 In His Name for Life, 

Birgit J

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2nd Annual Evangelium Vitae Novena was also published at 365 Catholic

Evangelium Vitae Novena: Join Us Wherever You Are!

March 16, 2016 will mark the beginning of the 2nd Annual Evangelium Vitae Novena. In preparation for this worldwide prolife effort, I would like to share an endorsement from a wonderfully prolife priest.

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Dear friends in Christ and in LIFE,

My warm greetings to you as we complete our observance of Lent and join Catholics and all Christians in this grace-filled Season of Renewal in our faith, and prepare for the joyful celebration of Easter 2016 and embrace our Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior and as Savior of the world!

It is a joy and honor to join our wonderful pro-life brothers and sisters in encouraging Catholics and all Christians to mark the 21st Anniversary of the powerful Encyclical "The Gospel of Life" from St. John Paul the Great by praying the blessed Evangelium Vitae Novena this month of March.

In the encyclical Evangelium Vitae (Latin: "The Gospel of Life"), Pope John Paul II expresses the position of the Catholic Church regarding the value and inviolability of all human life from conception through natural death. The Pope issued the encyclical on 25 March 1995, and we join pro-life friends around the world in praying this Novena as we together renew our commitment to our pro-life ministries and to upholding and promoting the values of LIFE here in the 21st century.

I have been blessed as a lay Catholic Christian to be a leader and minister in the respect life movement since 1976, just three years after the sad anniversary of legalized abortion in the United States. And I have been blessed to continue ministry in the pro-life movement as a priest since my ordination in 1987, especially as founder and director of the international organization Marian Advocates for Life, a ministry encouraging prayer for LIFE and for all respect life ministries around the world.

Many of us are involved in various pro-life activities, such as respect life education, lobbying for pro-life legislation and helping elect pro-life government officials, ministering with pregnancy care centers, etc. But I really believe that PRAYER must be at the heart of all our ministry for LIFE, and that we must trust that God is at the center of all our ministry. So in that belief, I truly hope that YOU will join in this Evangelium Vitae Novena, and I trust that all of our prayers for LIFE together will truly be a blessing and powerful witness for LIFE March 16-25!

With my blessings and sincere appreciation for your support of this beautiful Novena , I am Yours in Christ and in LIFE,

Fr. Vincent E. Bertrand, MA, MDiv, JCL

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Many thanks to Fr. Vincent for his thoughtful introduction‬. Please join us in praying the 2nd Annual Evangelium Vitae Novena, beginning on March 17, 2016. The daily prolife petitions
can be found as a new post, each day, on this blog.

In addition, you may want to join the Evangelium Vitae Novena event page or check it out at Designs by Birgit.

Look for, and use, the official Twitter moniker as well -   ‪#‎EV2016