Life Rosary – Meditations and Prayers is a meditation and instructive aid for those praying the Rosary. It does NOT replace your Rosary beads, but rather helps you focus on the mysteries of the Rosary.

Fr. Frank Pavone from Priests for Life has shared additional prayers and meditations to compliment and focus your attention on life and human dignity. Each day of the week includes special prayers for mothers, the unborn, for forgiveness, governments, and the world.

Our Pro-Life Rosary app is priced at $1 to help raise money for pro-life causes. All of the proceeds go to support pro-life initiatives and organizations, including Priests for Life. Our first iPhone app is free and was downloaded 25,000 times in 6 months. With your help in promoting this latest app, we could raise $25,000 or more for pro-life initiatives this year!

Please help us spread the word about this app to your friends, parish and diocese. Share this post on Facebook and Twitter.

Screenshots from Life Rosary – Meditations and Prayers

Each image is linked to a higher resolution version for press and sharing with friends.

The USCCB’s Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities encourages us, alongside the Scriptures, to petition the Lord for mercy and justice.

Prayer is the foundation of all that we do in defense of human life. Our efforts—whether educational, pastoral, or legislative—will be less than fully fruitful if we do not change hearts and if we do not ourselves overcome our own spiritual blindness. Only with prayer—prayer that storms the heavens for justice and mercy, prayer that cleanses our hearts and our souls—will the culture of death that surrounds us today be replaced with a culture of life.¹

I’d like to focus on three points in the pastoral plan that every one of us can take action.

Pray for life at every Mass

Parishes should include in the petitions at every Mass a prayer that ours will become a nation that respects and protects all human life, born and unborn, reflecting a true culture of life.²

As a new Catholic I was impressed by the prayers for life offered daily at Mass. If your parish does not participate in this request from the USCCB, please consider adding it to the book of petitions or speak with your pastor about including prayers for life at every Mass.

Remember parents in your prayers

Parishes should give special pastoral attention and offer special prayers for those who have suffered the loss of an unborn child due to miscarriage, abortion, or other cause.³

As one who’s suffered the loss of a child through miscarriage, I may not fully understand the torture of those that choose death for their child, but I do empathize with the pain of loss. And as the men and women who participate in the Silent No More campaign can attest, the pain is excruciating. Let us not forget the parents who live with their “choice”, that they too may be reconciled with our Redeemer.

Pray for life during Liturgy of the Hours, Stations of the Cross, Rosary, Novenas, Prayer Vigils, etc.

The Liturgy of the Hours as well as paraliturgical services also offer opportunities for the celebration of life and instruction in the moral teaching of the Church.⁴

When Christians gather for prayer, take this time to pray for life. Priests for Life, for example, has a great list of meditations to compliment the Stations of the Cross.

The Venerable Pope John Paul II exhorts us to pray for life daily in Evangelium vitae:

A great prayer for life is urgently needed, a prayer which will rise up throughout the world. Through special initiatives and in daily prayer, may an impassioned plea rise to God, the Creator and lover of life, from every Christian community, from every group and association, from every family and from the heart of every believer.⁵

In honor of this exhortation, let us join with the prayers of the faithful. To get started, take a few moments to pray through the prayers below. May these words become the prayers of our hearts.

Prayers for Life

Lenten Pro-life Prayer⁶

Father of all mercy,
We thank you for this season of grace and light.
We know that sin has blinded us.
Draw us ever closer to you, in prayer and penance.

Since you, O God, are light itself,
Give all your people a clearer understanding
Of what is sin, and what is virtue.

Grant in particular that we may see, as never before,
The profound dignity of every human life,
Including the vulnerable unborn children.

Give us grace to defend
Our brothers and sisters in the womb
By our prayers, our words,
And our self-sacrificing actions.

We pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen’s prayer for life

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph I love you very much. I beg you to spare the life of the unborn baby that I have spiritually adopted who is in danger of abortion.

A prayer to end abortion

Heavenly Father have mercy on our nation and the world.
Through the light and truth of Your Spirit, return our society
to a system of justice that holds all life sacred.
I pray for the children who today will be returned to You
by the martyrdom of abortion.
May the sufferings and blood of these holy innocents,
be united with
the Most Precious Blood of the Lamb,
Who won for us salvation.
May they help obtain through You, Author of all life
an end to the slaughter throughout the world.
In the most powerful Name of Your Son our Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen.

Pro-Life Rosary Meditations and Prayers on your iPhone

Caritas et Veritas is also pleased to make available the first pro-life application available on the iPhone or iPod Touch: Life Rosary – Meditations and Prayers. In addition to the mysteries of the Rosary, this application includes prayers and meditations from Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life. Each day of the week includes special prayers for mothers, the unborn, our government, and the world.

We would greatly appreciate your support in getting the word out about this application. Please consider leaving a review and rating on iTunes and sharing the application with your friends.

1. USCCB Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities on Prayer
2. USCCB Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities on Prayer
3. USCCB Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities on Prayer
4. USCCB Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities on Prayer
5. Pope John Paul II, Evangelium vitae, no. 100
6. Priests for Life

The Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities begins with Education and offers some essentials for action:

• Biblical and theological foundations that attest to the sanctity and dignity of human life
• Scientific information concerning the humanity of unborn children, especially that made available by modern genetic science and technology
• American founding principles, as articulated in the Declaration of Independence, that reflect unchanging truths about the human person
• Society’s responsibility to safeguard every human life, to defend life by non-violent means wherever possible, and never purposely to destroy innocent human life
• Discussion of effective and compassionate care for those who are terminally ill and for persons with disabilities
• Information about effective, compassionate, and morally acceptable solutions to the very real and difficult problems that can exist for a woman during and after pregnancy, as well as help for those who suffer from the consequences of abortion
• Affirm the value of human life in the manner of its expression as well as the content, seeking to explain and persuade, while showing respect to all who disagree

The bottom line, is that the more someone knows about abortion and human dignity, the less likely they are to have one, or encourage others towards abortion. Furthermore, if we want to make abortion illegal in our country it will take an informed electorate. For people to vote for pro-life candidates who can install pro-life judges, and for us to pass pro-life laws on a state level, it will require a voting public that knows the issue and is appalled by what they know. For us to educate others, it begins with ourselves. Eliminating abortion begins with education and there are many ways to become better educated yourself as you help to educate those around you.

With this in mind, it’s no longer surprising that the pro-abortion movement is so active against providing mothers considering abortion with medically accurate information, ultrasounds, and options.

I’ve gathered a select list of resources to help educate yourself and others on issues of life, but also encourage you to share your favorite resources in the comments below.

Learn the history of abortion in America

The pro-life website Abort73 has put together a short overview of the 1973 Supreme Court decision, Roe vs. Wade.

Learn about pregnancy

If you know someone who’s pregnant and considering abortion, one of the first resources you should buy for them is National Geographic’s The Biology of Prenatal Development. It’s in and out of availability at Amazon, but it’s one of the strongest medical videos for life. The video does not address the abortion issue, but it effectively removes the arguments of abortion advocates who try to deny the humanity of the unborn. The DVD was produced by the Endowment for Human Development and has been endorsed by dozens of medical school professors and received 11 awards for excellence in research and presentation. Priests for Life intends to make this video available to every pregnancy center, every school, and every parish in America – and you can help!

Learn about the abortion procedure

One of the more grim aspects of education is to become familiar with the abortion procedure itself. This is not a comfortable task. As Fr. Frank Pavone of Priests for Life says, “Only seeing such images can bring us to the kind of indignation needed to sustain the sacrifices that will be necessary to finally bring an end to this injustice.” Though pictures of aborted children are shocking, they are no more shocking than the act of abortion itself. Until you see what abortion does, you will never accurately understand what abortion is. There are some things for which words alone fail to accurately communicate their brutality.

Fr. Pavone’s explanation of the most common abortion procedures: Dilation and Evacuation (D&E) and Suction Curettage is a great place to start. Fr. Pavone shows the instruments used and talks through each procedure along with medical diagrams.

Next, I recommend the 1984 documentary, “The Silent Scream“, where Dr. Bernard Nathanson narrates the abortion of a twelve-week-old fetus as you watch via ultrasound. You can watch the entire 30 minute film on YouTube. The grisly title comes from the fetal movements as the child is poked and dismembered, appearing to cry out in pain. Dr. Nathanson’s own story is also compelling. He founded the National Abortion Rights Action League (now NARAL Pro-Choice America) and has performed thousands of abortions. It was only when he saw an abortion via the ultrasound that he reconsidered his position and led him to direct the Silent Scream.

“Now for the first time we have the technology to see abortion from the victims vantage point. Ultrasound imaging has allowed us to see this. So for the first time we are going to watch a child being torn apart, dismembered, disarticulated, crushed, and destroyed by the unfeeling steel instruments of the abortionist.” Dr. Bernard Nathanson, Silent Scream

And finally, if you can stomach it, the last videos I recommend display the horrifying reality of abortion and its aftermath in grim detail. Warning: These videos are extremely graphic because abortion is an act of violence which kills a baby. Live Action‘s Here’s the Blood and The Center for Bio-Ethical Reform‘s “Choice?” (and Part 2).

These are only a few of the many, many other sources for learning about the revolting procedure and grim aftermath.

“Let us mourn for these children. May our hearts be broken enough for God to enter and stir us to action to defend their lives.” Priests for Life

Learn about alternatives

Many women considering abortion don’t see it as their “choice”, but their only option. But there are countless services eager to help with alternatives. I’ll be covering this in more detail in the upcoming compassion article, but you can start by learning about resources in your community today. If a mother in crisis asks for help, how would you respond?

In my community we have a network of churches who provide baby showers and child care for mothers who choose to keep their children. There are also many pregnancy care centers who provide counseling, charitable items, referrals, education and more. Spend a few minutes today learning about the resources available in your community.

In any case it’s important to know that there are alternatives to abortion. Here are a few options you should know about:

• OptionLine – 1-800-395-HELP (email)
• Birthright – 1-800-550-4900
• Bethany Christian Services – 1-800-BETHANY
• National Life Center – 1-800-848-LOVE
• Several Sources Foundation – 1-800-662-2678

Learn how to effectively communicate to others

Sharpen your skills at making an effective argument in a gracious way.

The following resources will help equip you to address the topic of abortion next time it comes up, and give you the confidence to bring it up in more challenging environments. Live Action has done a great job helping communicate the Answers to Common Challenges. If you’ve ever heard objections like, “Don’t like abortion? Don’t have one” or “Overpopulation demands abortion“, this is a great and growing resource. They’ve also interviewed dozens of people in their Perspectives project. These videos can help understand the basic conversations that happen around the topic of abortion. Live Action is great because they reduce the issue to the most essential parts. In most cases there’s no need to get into complex distractions.

Live Action’s talking points are super simple:

1. Do you think that abortion is right or wrong?
2. When do you think abortion is right or wrong?
3. Do you think it’s right to kill an innocent human being?
4. If abortion does kill an innocent human being, then would that be wrong?
5. What evidence do you have that a fetus is not an innocent human being?
6. Do you think that abortion is right or wrong?

Dr. Peter Kreeft has also covered abortion from a philosophical perspective in an approachable way in a great lecture, “Pro-Life Philosophy“, and article, The Apple Argument Against Abortion. In each, he outlines arguments for and against abortion rights, and systematically addresses strengths and weaknesses.

Dr. Kreeft is particularly effective in dealing with the argument from skepticism – one who identifies with the US Supreme Court’s Majority Opinion that “We need not resolve the difficult question of when life begins.”² He outlines the four logical options for someone considering abortion: 1) the fetus is a person, and you know it, 2) the fetus is not a person and you know it, 3) the fetus is a person and you’re not sure, and 4) the fetus is not a person and you’re not sure. And then shares how U.S. law deals with these scenarios in every other case except abortion.

What is abortion in each of these cases?

The skeptic has just as much reason to for not choosing to support abortion, because they just don’t know. If a demolition crew destroyed a building without checking if anyone was in it they’re guilty of a crime. If someone was killed in that building, they’re guilty of manslaughter. But even if no one was in the building they’re still guilty of criminal negligence.

Offline, there are plenty of great books to recommend. I’ll list a few here:

Why Pro-Life?
by Randy Alcorn
(also available as a free download)

The Gospel of Life: Evangelium Vitae
by Pope John Paul II
(also available online)

Pro-Life Answers to Pro-Choice Arguments Expanded & Updated
by Randy Alcorn

The Right to Privacy (Bioethics & Culture)
by Janet E. Smith

Architects of the Culture of Death
by Donald De Marco and Benjamin Wiker

10 Books That Screwed Up the World: And 5 Others That Didn’t Help
by Benjamin Wiker

Educate the world!

In the upcoming “Advocacy” article, I will outline different ways we can educate others on the importance of ending this human rights abuse. But there are other ways to start educating others today.

One way to get the word out is to speak to youth about chastity, love, and the horrors of abortion. Generation Life has a program to speak to junior high and high school students and your local pregnancy care center likely has further opportunities. If you can’t find this near you contact Generation Life for more information on how to bring chastity education to schools near you.

Another way is to begin having conversations with friends about abortion. Listen to what compels them to their conclusions about abortion.

Use Facebook and Twitter to share pro-life news articles. There are lots of great pro-life Facebook pages to “Become a Fan!” Tune in and share with your friends.

You can also comment on blogs, YouTube videos, and respond to Tweets. Google Blog Search allows you to see who in the world has written about abortion, pro-life, pro-choice, planned parenthood, NARAL, etc. And you can sort by most recent to comment on posts written in the last day or so.

What else?

Please share your education related resources and initiatives in the comments below. What educational resources had a significant impact on your beliefs about abortion? What educational resources do you recommend to women considering abortion?

1. Evangelium vitae, no. 5
2. U.S. Supreme Court, Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973), Section IX

In my working with couples preparing to be married I have discovered that while many of them know that the Church is “against” birth control, pre-maritial sex, and cohabitation, they have no idea why. They hear the Church saying, “No, no, no” but are not taught what the Church is for and what the Church is saying, “Yes, yes, yes” to. The couples seem to believe the Church is out of touch and out to lunch on these issues. And they certainly have never heard that within marriage there is an alternative that embraces the openness to life, and allows the couple to be a discerning, co-creator with God.  This alternative is called Natural Family Planning (NFP).

However, one of the many reasons I give, as a male working with couples, is that Natural Family Planning is pro-women.  It respects the femininity of the female and does not ask her to be something she is not.  In articulating my point, I have changed the name from “Natural Family Planning” to “Organic Family Planning.”  I even joke that my wife and I are “Organic Certified” and I have thoughts of producing t-shirts to wear to that effect. 

My main point is that while people are becoming more and more health conscious of the chemicals that are being put into their body through food consumption, they don’t seem to give the same consideration to their family planning choices. Most of the couples I work with, especially the soon-to-be brides, are shopping for organic foods, and yet are still using birth control. As a husband, I like OFP because it is not pumping my wife with harmful chemicals so that we can have sex whenever we want. If we as a couple have discerned that for whatever reason having a child is not in the cards for us right now, then I certainly can go seven days without sex for the health and benefit of my wife. As a male we are ingrained with wanting to “protect” our wives and family and this protection should extend to the health and well being of our wives. Is it really that much of a sacrifice?  

It seems that the Church not only has these teachings for our spiritual well being, but also for our physical and emotional well being. Organic Family Planning (OFP) respects the cycles of the women, how she was created to be, and it keeps her healthy, free from the risks that birth control can provide (i.e. links to breast cancer, etc.). Further, it allows the husband to experience sacrificial love that is Christ-life and leads to greater virtue. 

Now, in reading this post you might say that we could not use birth control and use barrier methods such as condoms or just withdrawal and still be considered organic. Wouldn’t this prevent the harmful chemicals as well? You would be right. My use of the term organic and my emphasise on this element within Natural Family Planning is but one of the many reasons I give for NFP and in defense of the Church’s position. It should not be construed from this post that this is the end all and be all of arguments for the Church’s teaching on the matter. This is but one, and I think effective, arguments for NFP. In my experience most couples are using birth control as their preferred method and discussing it in terms of organic helps get the couple thinking. It can be a door into larger and more important reasons such as:

The Church teaches that sex should be between a man and women in the context of marriage.  As such, sex should lead to both life and love.  Life (procreative) and love (unitive) both need to be there and when one is excluded, conjugal sex is distorted and doesn’t live up to what it was  intended to be–a sign of God’s love for us, a sign of the Triune God. Moreover, like the Eucharist that is a re-presentation of the sacrifice of the cross, 2000 years ago, the conjugal act is a re-presentation, a renewal, of the “yes” of the wedding vows. It is the words (vows) of the wedding becoming enfleshed.  

Any method such as contraceptives, barrier methods, or withdrawal would not include one of the two elements namely an openness to life and because of this would lead to a distortion of the unitive (love). As such, all methods would not lead to a renewal of the wedding vows, to an increase in grace within the couple, and would not be a total gift of self.

RECOMMENDED READING:

Contraception: The Fine Print: http://www.usccb.org/prolife/programs/rlp/2009/willspamphlet.pdf

Other useful resources on the Church’s teaching on contraception: http://www.usccb.org/prolife/issues/contraception/index.shtml