The following comes from a March Denver Catholic article by Aaron Lambert:
It was a powerful scene at Planned Parenthood in Stapleton, Colorado on Saturday morning as Denver Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila led some 1,800 Catholics in a Eucharistic procession seven times around the abortion clinic.
To ensure the sacred nature of the Eucharistic procession, the archdiocesan liturgy office set the tone for the event and organized the logistics of the transferring the Eucharist to the site, in addition to providing prayer books for those in attendance.
Before the procession began, Father Scott Bailey addressed the crowd and emphasized the importance of silence. “Silence is an essential part of the procession as we unite our voices with those who have been silenced by abortion,” he said.
Seminarians from St. John Vianney Theological Seminary led the people in the hymns and prayers each time the procession passed around the building. They also assisted with crowd management.
“We were honestly expecting 500-800 people,” Swanson noted. “Three times that number showed up. This provided a bit of a challenge for us logistically, as 1,800 people don’t exactly fit on the sidewalk of a city block.
“There was wonderful teamwork on the ground, between the seminarians, the AMDG Cycling group, the police officers, and the participants,” said Swanson. “It was obvious to all that we were just there to pray. And pray we did, nearly everyone in the crowd was holding a rosary in their hands, and small groups throughout the crowd were praying the rosary together. We definitely stormed heaven with our prayers.”
Well done Archbishop Aquila! Wish there were more bishops like you!
I saw this earlier in the news, and thought it was so inspiring! Hope it helps! Maybe the San Francisco Archdiocese should do likewise!
Linda Maria, you have a good idea about the S.F.Bishop, but, I would change the venue for the march and take the march around the Chancery office with this statement: Let the Bishop go…let him lead his flock as a Bishop (such as Aquila) ought to with God’s blessing, be doing.
Linda Maria, it does and has (with the Archbishop)….were you not there?
i think this helps to clarify things for catholics and non-catholics alike who might be tempted to take the sometimes unintentional fuzzifications coming from rome as a wink and a nod . faith in action.
Linda Maria, can’t you be complimentary to one without deriding another? San Francisco (and Ab. Cordileone) lead an annual march of 50,000 people down Market Street to protest abortion.
Archbishop Cordileone has also personally prayed outside Planned Parenthood during 40 Days for Life.
Great!
I think it’s somewhere in Colorado where the church owns a lot across from a Planned Parenthood. There have been outdoor Masses held there.
Kudos to His Excellency, Abp. Aquila and all who attended this event and prayed for the end to the evil of abortion.
Last year, Archbishop Cordileone of San Francisco, led a Rosary prayer group in front of Planned Parenthood on Valencia Street. Over 200 laity and priests attended. Very successful with many Pro-life andOur Lady of Guadlupe signs.