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Mighty army marches for life

By Ann Thunder

Perched high upon the steps of the U.S. Capitol on January 22, this writer had an eagle's eye view of the multitude which stretched from 1st Street and Constitution Avenue as far back as the Washington Monument and beyond, until they became a blur.

Over 100,000 pro-lifers had descended on the nation's capitol to defend life.

Thirty horrific years of the evil of abortion had not quelled the fiery zeal of the participants in the annual March for Life.

They were filled with the joy, hope and peace that comes from steadfastly staying the course, faithfully fighting the good fight, confident in the knowledge that the victory of life over death, of good over evil will come.

It will come through the Patroness of Life, the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Thirty horrific years after the Supreme Court, in Roe v. Wade, legalized abortion on demand, it is this victory thorough Mary, the "Woman of Valor," that is the focus of this report.

As pro-lifers, we put on the Armor of Christ's Love and the Seal of the Cross to fight for purity and goodness, for an end to the evil that is abortion.

We take up our "weapon," the Rosary, and fight the necessary battle of converting souls through prayer, while gently encouraging others to pick up their beads, the chain which, through each salutation, binds Satan.

Our loving prayers form Mary's heel to crush the head of the serpent. She pleads with us to "Pray, pray, pray," and not to be dismayed or dissuaded by the enemy's arrows, for she will shield us in her mantle.

As pro-lifers, we are called to respond with love to all people, events and circumstances that we encounter.

Those who do not act in love need our prayers, for they have an empty space that only God's love can fill.

There are many such empty spaces in our world-many holes that only God's love can heal and fill.

These wounds are healed by the balm of Christian love and, through Mary, the pro-life movement is called to be the "balm bearers," to bring Christ's love to those wounded by the effects of abortion.

In this battle between the cultures of life and death, Mary calls on the pro-life movement to be her "beacons of hope," to pray through the trials we endure in the fight against this culture of death.

There is no need to fear the darkness when we carry within us the light of Mary's Son, Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

We march under Mary's banner to defend life, the sanctity of all human life from natural conception to natural death. Each step we take under her command is a victory.

We know that Mary points the way to her Son, and true freedom only exists in total dependence on Jesus. There lies our power!

Through Mary, the "Woman of Valor," the pro-life victory will come and abortion will be banished from our land.

As the great multitude of pro-lifers reached the steps of the Supreme Court, signs carried by Baptists for Life quoted the words of the prophet Isaiah: "I have set before you life and death Choose life!"

Postscript: On the frigidly cold evening of January 21, pro-lifers prayerfully and peacefully demonstrated outside the Omni Shoreham Hotel in D.C. to protest the Roe v. Wade "Celebration Banquet" sponsored by NARAL Pro-Choice America.

In attendance were all six Democratic presidential candidates to voice their support for abortion on demand.

Outside the hotel, graphic pictures displayed the horrors of abortion. Pro-life demonstrators greeted NARAL's guests with Isaiah's words, "Choose life!"