Florida Catholic | Young Pro-Lifers Pray For Babies

Young pro-lifers pray for babies during ‘40 Days’ event

LINDA REEVES | FLORIDA CATHOLIC PALM BEACH BUREAU EDITOR

Published: 02.29.08

Catherine Horger, 8, prays the rosary with her father, Leonard and brother, Luke Paul, (not pictured) outside a Fort Pierce medical center where abortions are performed. For Horger and his children it is a Friday afternoon routine that reflects his family's strong beliefs of prayer and the sanctity of life.
JASON COLLINS | FC

A pro-life trip

Each year, members of the diocese’s Council of Catholic Women organize a bus trip to Tallahassee to participate in the Florida Catholic Conference’s “Catholic Days at the Capitol.” This year’s event is planned for March 11-12. During the visit, attendees meet with legislators and attend Mass. Participants also learn about pending legislation affecting families, migrant workers, life and human dignity issues and other social concerns. For information, call 561-586-3768 or 772-468-2893. For information on pro-life issues, call the diocesan Respect Life Office at 561-775-9565.

FORT PIERCE | Catherine Horger, 8, said she feels sorry for the women entering the abortion clinic where she and her father, Leonard, pray.

“Some of them are crying, and they don’t want to go inside,” said the student at St. Anastasia School here.

Every Friday afternoon after school closes, Leonard Horger picks up his daughter and son Luke Paul, 10, and the threesome head to A Woman’s World Medical Center in Fort Pierce, where testing, counseling and abortion services are offered to pregnant women. Horger and his children pray there as part of the national “Spring 40 Days for Life,” a pro-life event going on now that encourages Catholics to pray the rosary and other prayers and bring peaceful awareness to pro-life issues.

“I love babies, and I love my children,” said Horger, a farmer and parishioner of St. Anastasia Parish. “We pray the rosary in front of the clinic. Life is precious, and it begins at conception.”

The first 40-day initiative took place in 2004 and was sponsored by a small pro-life group in Texas. Last September, the program was launched as a national effort, and parishioners from around the Diocese of Palm Beach began to participate.

This spring’s event kicked off Ash Wednesday as a Lenten activity, and the campaign is halfway over at this point.

“If we can save one baby, it is all worth it,” said Horger.

A Woman’s World Medical Center, where Horger prays, is one of two well-known facilities in the diocese’s five-county area where women go for abortions — and where Catholics gather on the sidewalks outside to pray.

“It is a quick solution for some women who want to get rid of a problem,” Horger said. “My children know what is going on inside. … They have learned about pro-life issues from St. Anastasia, an excellent school, and me. A lot of people see my children while we are praying on the sidewalks, and it makes them stop and think. The kids say the rosary with me. My little girl draws pictures and hands them to people walking up to the clinic. It makes them stop.”

As part of the national 40 Days for Life movement in the Diocese of Palm Beach, people form small groups in prayer, gather at public areas to bring awareness to respect life issues, and pray the rosary in church.

This is so awesome, because many babies are being saved every day,” said Linda Allard, a respect life minister and a parishioner of St. Lucie Parish in Port St. Lucie.

Allard monitors feedback she receives from friends and associates locally and across the country.

“There are many committed people in our area,” she said. “We still need the constant blanket of prayer covering these places (abortion clinics). We ask the churches to storm the gates of heaven for these centers and for the 59 cities in 31 states that are taking this on.”

Some participants of last September’s 40-day event are opting to concentrate on the Lenten season rather than the national event at this time, but many plan to come out for the next event, planned for the fall.

“Lent is a very special time, and, in my opinion, I felt it would be more fitting in September before the elections,” said Dave Olio, a parishioner of St. Martin de Porres.

The next event is scheduled Sept. 24 and will run to Nov. 2.

“It’s a great idea to involve children,” said Don Kazimir, coordinator of the diocesan Respect Life Office. “It is a great thing.”

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Young pro-lifers pray for babies during ‘40 Days’ event

A pro-life trip

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