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  • Students from Sacred Heart join with many others interested in the March For Life 2012.

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  • Shown is Anna Keefe with sign she carried during the march.

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January 27, 2012

St. Bernard students participate in March For Life 2012

St. Bernard Preparatory School

CULLMAN — St. Bernard students participate in March For Life 2012

 

On Friday, Jan. 20, 2012, 28 St. Bernard Preparatory School students left their campus for Washington, D.C. for the annual March For Life that was held Monday, Jan. 23. The St. Bernard group was accompanied by school president, Father Joel Martin, O.S.B. and Chaplain Father Bede Marcy, O.S.B., and two St. Bernard parents. They joined with representatives from various schools and parishes on the overnight trek to D.C. traveling together in four buses, with three other buses taking a different route.

“I was overwhelmed with our students’ response to the opportunity offered by the Diocese of Birmingham. Over one third of our upper school, grades 9-12, attended the event; that’s outstanding; the largest percentage of students from any school in the Diocese,” Father Joel said.

The group arrived at the nation’s capitol in D.C. at about 7 a.m. Saturday. The full weekend included a tour of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception adjacent to Catholic University, mass at the Shrine celebrated for all those gathered from the Diocese of Birmingham, a day at various museums and other sites on and near the mall, a night tour of the monuments, etc.

Finally, Monday arrived and the St. Bernard bus toured the central area of Washington, including the White House, the new FDR memorial and the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial. Then, all from the Diocese of Birmingham assembled in front of the U.S. Capitol building for a meeting with Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions, who addressed the group and patiently answered questions under a slight drizzle of rain.

After meeting with Senator Sessions, all proceeded to begin the March a few blocks from the Capitol. There, St. Bernard students united with the overwhelming crowd of thousands that marched from the mall past the Capitol to the Supreme Court building, where in 1973 the judiciary branch of our government opened the way for abortion in our country.

The march was both serious and joyful: Banners, flags, bands and bagpipes, singing, chanting, and praying.

Father Joel commented, “People were urgent about the cause and filled with the enthusiasm of an army of American teenagers, all born after the legalization of abortion in their country and happy to be alive in a country that allows death instead of birth.”

After the march, all boarded the buses and made the overnight trip home to Alabama, arriving Tuesday morning exhausted, but enthused by the experience of joining so many in defending human lives.

 

 

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