Each year, a massive March for Life demonstration occurs in Washington, DC, which is largely ignored by the media, giving it minimal airtime and often downplaying the number of attendees with vague descriptions. Nonetheless, the annual March for Life continues to grow and evolve.
The March for Life is, by all criteria, the largest Catholic Action event in the country. Although not strictly speaking a Catholic event, it was begun by a Catholic, consists mainly of Catholics and supports what have always been Catholic principles. The Catholicity of the event is obvious to anyone that has attended. The buses of Catholic students arriving, the banners representing Catholic schools, groups and churches and even many of the speakers betray the fact that it is largely a Catholic event.
This year, the recently-formed Regnum chapter from Our Lady of Fatima Church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, had several dozen attend the march. Because the statutes of Regnum (a young adult group) emphasize Catholic Action and personal sanctification, this event was an obvious one to attend. But rather than simply march for life (which is of course a good cause), the Regnum members filled the trip to Washington, DC with a number of additional activities to form a well-rounded day together.
The morning started with a 5am Mass and breakfast at the church before departing. During the drive, the young adults occupied the time not only with spiritual exercises such as praying the rosary and spiritual reading, but also in enjoying the company of their fellow traditionally-minded Catholics.
At the march, they sang the rosary and worked together to spread the word of Tradition by handing out flyers and speaking with concerned Catholics, many of whom never even heard of the Society of St. Pius X (see the image below of Fr. Patrick Rutledge, pastor at Pittsburgh, explaining the SSPX to a Franciscan).
After the march, they visited St. Matthew’s Cathedral (the cathedral-church of the Archdiocese of Washington, DC) and the National Basilica of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception (see the image below). They prayed that all of these actions will bear fruit in some way, whether it be for a greater respect of life, a greater understanding of Tradition among Catholics, or even their own sanctification.
The Pittsburgh Regnum hopes that this example will prompt other chapels to join them for the march in the future, and so help to expand the work of Tradition through wholesome Catholic Action that will one day “restore all things in Christ.”
Contribution and images courtesy of Jared Mansfield.
