|
National Day of Remembrance for Aborted Children
The National Day of Remembrance for Aborted Children, https://nationaldayofremembrance.org/, started 12 years ago as a prayer campaign to help humanize our aborted brothers and sisters and to deepen our own commitment to ending the injustice of abortion.
The first National Day of Remembrance for Aborted Children was held in September 2013 on the 25th anniversary of the solemn burial of the earthly remains of some 1,500 abortion victims in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Since that time memorial services are held annually across the United States on the second Saturday in September. This year, that date is Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024.
Tens of thousands of aborted children have been retrieved and buried at 60 known gravesites across our country. In addition to burial sites, there are also hundreds of other memorial sites. The stories of how these babies were killed, how they were found, and how they were buried, are powerful tools to awaken the consciences of our fellow citizens. When people become truly aware of the reality of abortion, they can more easily cut through the lies by which some try to justify it, and the natural apathy to which human nature is inclined. Even pro-life people are thrust into a higher level of commitment and activism.
A funeral and burial for an aborted baby may be a relatively rare event; however, the opportunity to visit the burial places and recall how those children got there does not have to be rare. Pro-lifers are encouraged to visit these gravesites, as well as other memorial sites dedicated to aborted babies, throughout the year as a regular part of their witness to life.
Visiting these gravesites and memorial markers also offers hope and healing to women who have had abortions and people who have been hurt by abortion, such as fathers and grandparents, who were never allowed to grieve the death of a child hurt by abortion.
In our area, the closest burial site of aborted babies is at Odd Fellows Cemetery, 3640 Whittier Boulevard, Los Angeles. There are two memorial sites nearby: Rachel Weeping Statue is located at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 344 W Workman St., Covina, and Memorial to the Unborn Victims of Abortion is at St. Frances of Rome Catholic Church, 501 E. Foothill Blvd., Azusa.
Now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned, let us carry on this spiritual mission of the Day of Remembrance to mourn the millions of lives lost to abortion, to pray for parents who have lost children to abortion, to repent of the national sin of abortion, and work to extend legal protection to all children in the womb.
“Lord of all Life,
You have entrusted us to the care of one another
and called us to be one Body in Christ.
You call us to rejoice with those who rejoice,
and to weep with those who weep.
Hear our prayer today for our brothers and sisters
who have lost children to abortion.
Help us to understand the pain that is in their hearts,
and to be a living sign to them of your welcome,
your mercy, and your healing.
Help them to undergo with courage
the process of grief and the journey of healing.”
Amen.
~St. Luke Life, Justice and Peace Ministry
| 
