Denver Catholic

4 MARCH 12-25, 2016 | DENVER CATHOLIC In-Depth Around F ather the the and one Feb. 23 His funeral at 10 a.m. by a burial Cemetery. Dominic Father throughout less e¬ orts diocesan of his death ing in from other parts "For more rior for Sheridan. work. That "He's the moral years," said Springs. was a great Father 1957, to of Denver. seven children, ters and in childhood). As a boy, and baseball, ity to be brother "He learned brother the fi ght life is all stand up will fi ght After University in athletic worked athletic that time teacher o¬ the was being Father for BY VERONICA Father More than 1,800 faithful participate in March 5 procession around Planned Parenthood I t was a powerful, solemn scene at Planned Parenthood in Stapleton on Saturday morning as Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila led some 1,800 Cath- olics in a Eucharistic procession seven times around the abortion clinic, essen- tially surrounding the facility with silent prayer for over an hour. "It was truly a moment of grace, a moment of blessing, a moment of praying to our Lord that hearts may be changed," Archbishop Aquila said. "It was wonder- ful to see how many turned out today." The archbishop announced his intention to lead the procession in mid-February, and the response to the event was overwhelmingly positive, said Karna Swanson, the communications director for the archdiocese. "We set up a simple website with a no-nonsense invitation for people to come and pray with the archbishop, and immediately we were hearing from people just thanking the archbishop for doing this," Swanson said. "No shouting or arguing," the Arch- diocese of Denver website stated in describing the event. "Only prayerful witness to the love and mercy of God." To ensure the sacred nature of the Eucharistic procession, the archdioce- san liturgy o® ce set the tone for the event and organized the logistics of transfer- ring 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 proces- sion 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 hymns and prayers each time the pro- cession 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 fi t on the side- walk of a city block. "We wanted to make sure everyone who wanted to participate could, but we also didn't want to give any reason for the police department to shut the event down." Though the procession spilled out into the street, local o¬ -duty police o® cers were on-hand to ensure that it didn't impede tra® c or cause an inability for cars to enter or leave the facility. "There was wonderful teamwork on the ground, between the seminarians, the Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam Cycling group, the police o® cers, and the partic- ipants," 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 defi nitely stormed heaven with our prayers." Families with young children were well-represented in the crowd, as well as religious sisters. The Nashville Dominicans, the Carmelite Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Los Angeles, the Sisters of Life, the Mis- sionary Sisters of St. Charles Borromeo and the Capuchin Franciscans were all present. Dozens of seminarians were on hand from both of the seminaries of Denver, as well as many members of the clergy. The Martinez family from St. Augus- tine Parish in Brighton was one of many families in attendance. Jaime Martinez, along with his wife, children and parents- in-law, came to the procession to pray as a family for the end of abortion. "We came here to speak for the unborn children who are getting aborted every single day here, and to pray for those mothers who are thinking about abort- ing their children so they can think about walking a di¬ erent path and choosing a di¬ erent option," Martinez said. He added, "It was very touching to see a lot of people join forces to promote the pro-life movement. Hopefully we can see more of this in future." Surrounded in prayer BY AARON LAMBERT 303-715-3138 aaron.lambert@archden.org www.twitter.com/AaronLmbrt Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila led a Eucharistic Procession around Planned Parenthood in Stapleton on March 5. It was a solemn moment of silent prayer that drew 1,800 faithful. PHOTOS BY ANDREW WRIGHT/DENVER CATHOLIC MARCH 5 PROCESSION Full photo gallery at http:// denvercatholic.org

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