Denver Catholic

5 DENVER CATHOLIC | AUGUST 27-SEPTEMBER 9, 2016 Around the Archdiocese Aug. 29-Sep. 5 Retreat House closed September 21 Day of Prayer (9:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.) Sep. 30-Oct. 2 Weekend Retreat (Men & Women) October 7-9 Weekend Retreat (Women) October 11 Day of Prayer (9:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.) October 14-16 Knights of Columbus Retreat (Men) 4801 North Highway 67, P.O. Box 185, Sedalia, CO 80135 Phone: 303-688-4198 ext. 122 (information/reservations) Website: www.sacredheartretreat.org www.proximotravel.com 508-340-9370 Hablamos Español 855-842-8001 anthony@proximotravel.com Call us 24/7 Several trips to different destinations: the Holy Land; Italy; France, Portugal, & Spain; Poland; Medjugorje, Lourdes, & Fatima; Ireland & Scotland; England; Austria, Germany, & Switzerland; Greece & Turkey; Budapest; Prague; Our Lady of Guadalupe; Colombia; Brazil; Argentina; Domestic Destinations; etc… We also specialize in custom trips for Bishops, Priests and Deacons We also offer other trips with prices starting at $2,499 ~ Prices are ALL-INCLUSIVE with Airfare from anywhere in the USA Two parishes to hold memorial services Sept. 10 U nnamed and largely unknown, more than 3,300 babies are lost to abortion every day in the United States, according to the Gutt- macher Institute. To honor these innocents, recognize their human dignity and build aware- ness of the number of lives lost—more than 1.2 million a year in the U.S.—the Archdiocese of Denver will observe its fi rst National Day of Remembrance for Aborted Children with a prayer service 11 a.m. Sept. 10 at Sacred Heart of Mary Parish's Memorial Wall for the Unborn, where the ashes of some 5,500 aborted babies are buried. "It's the most historic and poignant place of burial for aborted children in the entire metro-Denver area," said Lynn Grandon, Respect Life program director. All are invited to the prayer service, which will include a blessing of the site, Scripture readings and a talk about the Memorial Wall by Susie LaVelle, who co-founded it and oversees the ministry. Dedicated in 2000, burials of aborted children started in the parish cemetery in 1996 when a Boulder mortuary con- tacted the parish asking if it would bury human remains it had received from a local abortion clinic that specialized in late-term abortions. Colorado law requires "incineration or internment" of recognizable human remains and for- bids such remains from being dumped in landfi lls. Chuck Myers, the Seventh Day Adventist director of the mortuary at the time, recalled for the National Catholic Register the fi rst experience working with the abortion clinic's remains. "[The clinic] told us it was 'tissue,' but it wasn't," said Myers. "I won't get specifi c, but what we saw was very disturbing to our staŒ . It was just very hard." Former Sacred Heart of Mary pastor Father Andrew Kemberling told Myers the parish would bury the remains, which it did under a statue of the Risen Christ in the church cemetery. The parish periodically buried remains from the mortuary for two years, until Myers moved to a diŒ erent mortuary. In 2001, another mortuary contacted the parish with the same request and the burials resumed for another four years. Today, individual burials of aborted children continue at the site, as well as burials of babies lost to stillbirth and miscarriage. Mass burials are available upon request. "Those folks [at Sacred Heart of Mary] are so faithful to do what they did and to honor the lives of those children who otherwise would be unknown," Grandon said, adding that Father Kemberling, Father Dorino DeLazzer who co-founded the wall, and current Sacred Heart of Mary pastor Father CliŒ McMillan, will all take part in the liturgy. The Memorial Wall for the Unborn bears brass plates with the names of babies lost through abortion, stillbirth and miscarriage. Naming an unborn child, LaVelle said, both honors the child and helps grieving parents heal and fi nd forgiveness. "It's a holy moment when a woman fi nds that she has been forgiven by God and that she has a child waiting for her in heaven," said LaVelle, who received Endow's Julia Greeley Award in 2006 primarily for her work with the Memo- rial Wall. Boulder's Memorial Wall for the Unborn and the Memorial for the Unborn at St. Louis Parish in Engle- wood are among 50 such gravesites across the United States. (A rosary, which is open to all, will be prayed at 10 a.m. Sept. 10 at St. Louis' memorial, located at 3310 S. Sherman St., Engle- wood.) There are an additional 558 memorial sites honoring aborted chil- dren across the nation, including fi ve at parishes in the archdiocese. LaVelle has said most people in the archdiocese are likely unaware that the abortion burial ministry exists at the Boulder parish. Organizers hope the prayer service will raise awareness of the ministry among all those seeking healing from the loss of an unborn child. "We'd like to make this an annual event," Grandon said. The fi rst National Day of Remem- brance for Aborted Children was held September 2013 in Milwaukee, Wis. Always held on the second Saturday in September, some 129 memorial ser- vices are scheduled across the country this year. Archdiocese to hold fi rst Day of Remembrance for babies lost to abortion The Memorial Wall for the Unborn at Sacred Heart of Mary parish is one of 50 similar gravesites around the U.S., where the ashes of aborted children are buried. FILE PHOTO BY JAMES BACA BY ROXANNE KING editor_king@icloud.com @RoxanneIKing Sat., Sept. 10, 11 a.m. Sacred Heart of Mary Cemetery 6379 S. Boulder Road, Boulder MEMORIAL SERVICE i

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