At the closing Mass of the National Prayer Vigil for Life at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception preceding the 39th annual March for Life, Cardinal-designate Dolan thanked pro-life advocates for “the radiant inspiration” they provide all.

“That radiant inspiration we need indeed as we persevere in this now two-score years of promoting a recovery of the culture of life gravely threatened by unlimited abortion,” Cardinal-designate Dolan said in his homily at the Votive Mass for Giving Thanks to God for the Gift of Human Life which he celebrated at 7:30 a.m. on Jan. 23.

In remembrance of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Jan. 22, 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion, thousands and thousands of Catholics from across the country sojourned to the nation’s capital to prayerfully protest the ruling. Referencing the overnight national prayer vigil for life sponsored by the shrine, Cardinal-designate Dolan commended all who had “‘kept vigil’ that cherished tradition so frequently found in the Bible, and now we commence this somber anniversary here in our Mother’s home, our National Shrine, in the best possible way, through the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.”

“I welcome all of you! I whisper ‘good morning’ to so many of you who have kept vigil here for the noble cause of life.”

Cardinal-designate Dolan challenged the congregation to continue to defend the defenseless despite discouragement. “From a human point of view, we may be tempted to surrender: when our government places conception, pregnancy and birth under the ‘Center for Disease Control’; when chemically blocking conception or aborting the baby in the womb is considered a ‘right’ to be subsidized by others who abhor it; when the ability of feeding, housing and healing the struggling of the world is curtailed and impeded if one does not also help women abort their babies.”

He acknowledged as well “those of us who whisper ‘Thanks be to God’ as we behold untold numbers of young people with passion for the Culture of Life, those of us old enough to recall 39 years ago when sophisticated voices told us that the ‘pro-life movement’ was just a momentary fad that would soon crash upon the shores of a ‘brave new world.’”

“We veterans who now smile as the pro-life cause is acknowledged as today’s premiere civil rights movement still, in spite of editorial pages and the chic ‘tsk-tsk’ the most pivotal, burning issue on the campaign trail.”

Numerous New Yorkers were among those who attended the Vigil for Life at the National Shrine, participated in a Youth Rally and Mass for Life at the D.C. Armory and prayed the Rosary, chanted pro-life cheers and carried placards, posters and banners in defense of the unborn on the National Mall.

Rain didn’t damper the spirits nor deter the participants from fearlessly promoting the sanctity of life.

At the end of the march, Sarah Webb, 36, and daughter Violet, who turns 5 years old in April, connected with Sister of Life Veronica Mary Sullivan, director of the archdiocesan Family Life/Respect Life Office, near the U.S. Capitol and Supreme Court buildings.

“The Sisters of Life brought me here (to the march) when I was pregnant,” in 2007, and “I’ve been here every year since,” said Ms. Webb. A member of Our Lady of Hope Parish in Middle Village, Queens, she converted to the Catholic faith in 2009.

Although she never considered ending her pregnancy, when Ms. Webb was carrying her child she, as a single mother, was in “a bad situation,” and “didn’t have any support,” she said.

“The Sisters (of Life) really helped me throughout that time,” she said.

She said it is important for her to attend the annual March for Life to affirm “that there is a huge support of life, from birth until death, from all different age groups, ethnicities, across the board,” and, in particular, by the presence of multitudes of men at the march, she said.

Donning a New York Giants jacket and hat, Salvador Alberto, 19, a sophomore in the minor seminary in Douglaston, Queens, said he didn’t mind missing the New York Giants playoff game against the San Francisco 49ers the night before the march. He had attended the vigil Mass at the national shrine while the football game went into overtime and eventually earned the Giants a berth to Super Bowl XLVI.

For Alberto, of St. Elizabeth’s parish in Washington Heights, promoting life is all about priorities, “even if it means missing the Giants football game. It was definitely worth sacrificing it. I really do love the Giants, but my faith calls me to something more than that.

“This march is bigger, and is worth coming here, to stand up for what we truly believe in, that this law of abortion is wrong,” added Alberto, an alumnus of St. Raymond High School for Boys in the Bronx. “Babies don’t choose to die.”

He said he hopes not only for a victory for his beloved Giants over the New England Patriots on Feb. 5, but also for a future game-changer for the unborn: an overturn of Roe v. Wade.

“That’s what we’re all praying for.”

Marching along a contingent of seminarians was Auxiliary Bishop Gerald T. Walsh, rector of St. Joseph’s Seminary in Dunwoodie. “The pro-life movement is growing every year,” he said, noting the number of young people present.

“They’re not fooled by the rhetoric,” the bishop said. “With the threats coming at us, now, from not only the abortion-minded industry but also the contraceptive people in the President’s Cabinet, every demonstration like this is very important because they are not speaking the will of the people.”

Bishop Walsh said he prays that the future priests with whom he marched, in one day ministering to their own flock, will be renewed as they remember the 2012 March for Life. “This is not a choice, this is a murder,” he said. “The sonograms tell the story.”

For more information about pro-life activities in the Archdiocese of New York, contact the Family Life/Respect Life Office at 212-371-1011, ext. 3185, or check www.flrl.org