AUGUST 2021 NEWSLETTER

Featured Article:

Maximilian Kolbe - Patron Saint of the Pro-Life Movement: by Mabel Picconi

Saint Maximilian Kolbe was born in Poland on January 8, 1894. He experienced a vision of Our Lady who offered him the choice of two crowns: a red one symbolizing martyrdom, and a white one symbolizing purity. Maximilian chose both crowns, and earned them. He became a Franciscan friar, and was eventually arrested by the Nazis. He was sent to Auschwitz, a concentration camp, where he sacrificed his life for another man. A prisoner had escaped and had not been found. As a result, ten prisoners were sentenced to death. Maximilian Kolbe was not among them, but he exchanged his life for one of the condemned. Due to his excellent example, Maximilian Kolbe was named “Patron Saint of our Difficult Age” in 1979 by Pope John Paul II.

As the patron saint of the Pro-Life cause, Maximilian Kolbe is significant to the movement for many reasons. Like Pro-Lifers, he fought against a culture of death. His final sacrifice placed an innocent life above his own. As advocates for life, we should follow his example, and place the innocent lives of the unborn above our own comforts and desires. Like Maximilian Kolbe, we should give all that we can to protect the lives of others that are so horribly threatened by our dark culture. Another facet in which we can imitate this great saint is in how we treat those who oppose the Pro-Life movement. Maximilian Kolbe, though opposing the Nazi evils, was never hostile towards or angry at the Nazi guards. He showed charity towards those who were so blinded by the evil in the world that they supported it. We must strongly oppose the evils of abortion, but we must not let our anger at these evils drive us to scorn and hate people who are confused by the world’s lies. We can only win them over to the Pro-Life movement if we exemplify the charity and respect that should characterize our movement.

Maximilian Kolbe shows us that, even in dark times, we can spread Christ’s light and stand for what is true and right. Following his holy example, we can continue to fight the culture of death surrounding us by using the charity and love he demonstrated.

Prayers:

Prisoner’s Prayer To Saint Maximilian Kolbe

O Prisoner-Saint of Auschwitz, help me in my plight. Introduce me to Mary, the Immaculata, Mother of God. She prayed for Jesus in a Jerusalem jail. She prayed for you in a Nazi prison camp. Ask her to comfort me in my confinement. May she teach me always to be good.
If I am lonely, may she say, “God is here.” If I feel hate, may she say, “God is love.” If I am tempted, may she say, “God is pure.” If I sin, may she say, “God is mercy.” If I am in darkness, may she say, “God is light.” If I am unjustly condemned, may she say, “God is truth.” If I have pain in soul or body, may she say, “God is peace.” If I lose hope, may she say: “God is with you all days, and so am I.”
Amen.

“Love Alone Creates" Prayer

St. Maximilian, amidst the hate and lonely misery of Auschwitz, you brought love into the lives of fellow captives, and sowed the seeds of hope amidst despair.  You bore witness to the world, by word and deed, that only “Love alone creates.”

Help me to become more like yourself.  With you and Mary and the Church, may I proclaim that only “Love alone creates.”  To the hungry and oppressed, the naked and homeless, the scorned and hated, the lonely and despairing, may I proclaim the power of Christ’s love, which endures forever and ever.

Amen.

Prayer to End Abortion

St. Maximilian Kolbe, patron of the pro-life movement, hear this prayer of supplication that I address to you with confidence.

St. Maximilian, I honor your life that was guided by the unshakable faith in the mystery of the Incarnation.  I admire your public witness for the sanctity of life and your ultimate sacrifice for the life of another when you offered yourself to save a fellow prisoner.

I pray, please move the consciences of those contemplating abortion.  Please move to repentance, and healing, for the women and men who have chosen abortion over the gift of life.

Please intercede for all the unborn children. Pray that their mothers will see, hear and know that what they carry in their womb is a person, a special and unique gift from God our Creator.

Please comfort the women who suffer from the post-abortion trauma and inspire them to seek spiritual and psychological help.

Please sustain the courage and wisdom of the pro-life movement, so that they may be peaceful witnesses to the sanctity of life.  Intercede for our young people who march and witness for life today that God may bless and protect them.

Please move the hearts of our lawmakers, judges and fellow citizens so the scourge of abortion will no longer be the law of the land. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ the Lord.

Amen.

Pro-Life Quotes:

"No one in the world can change Truth. What we can do and and should do is to seek truth and to serve it when we have found it.” - St. Maximilian Kolbe

"Darkness can only be scattered by light, hatred can only be conquered by love." - Pope John Paul II

"The real question today is not when human life begins, but what is the value of human life?" - Ronald Reagan

News:

Official Pro-Life Flag Adopted!
The Pro-life Flag Project (partnering with Students for Life of America among other sponsors) has announced the official flag of the pro-life movement. The purpose of this flag is to unify the movement behind a symbol and raise awareness for the cause. The flag that was chosen symbolizes the pro-life movement in the following ways:

• white background symbolizing non-violence in the womb and the innocence of the unborn child
• two baby feet representing the child’s humanity
• two pink hands representing the pregnant mother, holding and protecting her child
• white heart in the center, representing the pro-life movement’s love for both mother and child
• two stripes symbolizing two distinct human lives present in pregnancy; these stripes also form an equal sign stressing that the unborn child is equally and fully human

To order a flag and read more about the significance of the flag, see this link: https://www.prolifeflag.com/

House Vote on Taxpayer Abortions

On July 29, the House voted 219 to 208 in favor of a package of appropriations bills that excludes the Hyde Amendment and similar laws. The Hyde Amendment prohibits federal funding of domestic abortions (with exceptions). This amendment and similar laws have kept our tax dollars from paying for elective abortions, saving over 2.4 million lives total. Without the Hyde Amendment, billions of taxpayers dollars could be used to fund abortions. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops released a statement condemning this decision, saying:

“The House has voted in a way that is completely out of step with the will of the American people who overwhelmingly oppose taxpayer-funded abortion. The Hyde Amendment has saved at least 2.4 million lives since its enactment. Without it, millions of poor women in desperate circumstances will make the irrevocable decision to take the government up on its offer to end the life of their child… Funding the destruction of innocent unborn human lives, and forcing people to kill in violation of their consciences, are grave abuses of human rights. We call on the Senate to redress this evil… and for Congress to ultimately pass appropriations bills that fully support and protect human dignity, and the most vulnerable among us.”

To read more, click here: https://www.usccb.org/news/2021/us-bishops-chairmen-respond-house-vote-force-taxpayers-fund-elective-abortions

Creative Corner:

14th of August, 1941
Nothing was alive in Auschwitz.

A dead sun hung

Above the faces of the living dead

Who stood in a dead, straight line

Facing the captain who dealt out death.

We were even wearing lines -

We were birds growing prison bars instead of feathers.

Why lines, I asked myself frantically, nonsensically.

Lines, I thought, as the captain marched up to our ranks.

Lines - to pretend there was order in a culture of chaos,

The chaos of death.  

Lines - that represent

Their idea of a black eternity that was really as twisted

As the lines of a swastika.

The sirens had finally stopped shrieking -

The sirens tearing our ears like vultures.

Sirens telling us that someone had escaped,

And that ten unwilling victims were going to

Die in his place.

The captain was at the front of the line now.

I couldn't think.

I was waiting for the grass to grow.

I was waiting for the sun to come alive.

I was waiting for us all to be human and not statues.

The captain was walking this way.

He pointed as he walked.

"This one. That one."

Nine people screaming, sobbing, but they weren't people.

To the captain, they didn't have names.

Not even numbers.  

"This one."

He was pointing at me.

Suddenly my statue-blood, cold as metal

Exploded in my ears.

Suddenly I was human as I shrieked,

"No, please! My wife, my children!"

A father's cry.  

Desperately, I searched the captain's eyes but they were dead.

He began to turn.

"Wait."

The lines of statues rippled in  

astonishment as a man stepped forward.

Prisoner Number 16670Broke the line.

He stared into my tear-blurred eyes.  

Through wire-rimmed spectacles his firm gaze shone our searingly

Like a sun, a live sun.

"I am a Catholic priest. I wish to die for that man."

A father's cry.

The captain's eyes were beads of cold glass.

Then a light flickered, like a candle flame

Reflecting off a dirty window.

A haunted look came into his face.  

Echoes whispered to him

Of a childhood he had perhaps never had.

Terror and dread flashed in his eyes

As he met the eyes of the Father -

The only one of the ten willing

To die for another's sake.  

The captain stepped back as if he had been burnt

By a fire stronger than the infernos of the crematorium.

"Request granted," he snapped.

"It's all the same to me."

I don't remember much

Of what happened next.

I remember falling to my knees.

They led the man away.

He smiled at me before he left.

It was then I realized that I

And Auschwitz

Were alive.

Poem by Emily Chaffins

We are looking for artistic content to fill our Creative Corner! If you have something that you would like to contribute, please email us at hscstudentsforlife@gmail.com.

Upcoming Events:

Saturday, August 7th at 2:00pm EST - monthly pro-life rosary

Saturday, August 14th at 6:30pm EST - abortion worker outreach event. During this event, we will learn the importance of not only advocating for the life of the baby and supporting women facing crisis pregnancies, but of reaching out to abortion workers as well. Please join us as we write anonymous letters to abortion workers and facilities in our area, and hear from our guest speaker from Students for Life of America on the abortion industry.

Please RSVP for this event no later than Thursday, August 5th. Addresses are required because card writing kits will be shipped to your given address: https://forms.gle/ct3DTgQWxxPS5kPm7

Submit Content:

This newsletter relies heavily on the contributions of group members. There are a number of items we are looking for:

1. Creative contentWe have implemented a segment of the newsletter dedicated to the topically relevant artistic contributions of group members, regardless of medium. If you have anything to share, please send it in. We'll accept most mediums, including (pictures of) paintings, graphic design pieces, songs, videos, poems, etc.
2. ArticlesWe are accepting topically relevant articles from group members. Please note, however, that the newsletter editors reserve the right to modify articles in order to make them suitable for publication. Such modifications may include grammatical corrections and removal of potentially offensive content.
3. Quotes & Literary PassagesWe are also looking for any topically relevant quotes or literary passages to fill a segment of the newsletter. Anything from a simple sentence spoken by a saint to a paragraph from a book can be accepted.

If you want to submit anything from the above categories, or you simply want to provide feedback or suggestions, please email us at hscstudentsforlife@gmail.com and we will get in touch with you shortly.