Weather Aside, Intrepid New Yorkers March for Life

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Participants at the 2016 March for Life may not have been as numerous as in previous years, due to predictions of blizzard-like conditions, but those who did make their way to Washington, D.C., for the march or for Masses and related events found the same powerful public witness they have come to expect.

“It was the most enthusiastic our kids have ever been,” said Father Vincent Druding, parochial vicar of Assumption parish in Ossining who led two groups totaling more than 50 pilgrims.

One group of youths and chaperones, numbering 31, stayed overnight at St. Elizabeth’s Church in Rockville, Md., before attending the morning Mass celebrated by Cardinal Dolan at Little Flower Church in Bethesda and then lining up near the head of the march, which Father Druding called “more like a sprint” because of the significantly fewer number of marchers.

The other parish group of 22 was made up mostly of adults as well as a few young people.

The youths, ranging from seventh-graders through high school seniors, included many members of the parish’s youth groups.

At the march, the Assumption contingent walked along with a group of Franciscan Friars of the Renewal. Father Druding found that the megaphone he carried came in handy for songs and chants as well as recitation of a bilingual Rosary.

“We had a great experience,” said Father Druding, who complimented the adult chaperones who worked with him.

One was Claire Kessinger Mathey, an Assumption parishioner who coordinated the overnight trip and served as one of nine adult chaperones.

The teens from Assumption “were very excited to see that there were other young people out there.” The exposure to the “wider world of faith” at the march and related events “strengthens their faith,” said Ms. Kessinger Mathey, who recently retired as an English professor at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park.

Auxiliary Bishop Peter Byrne, episcopal vicar for Dutchess, Putnam and Northern Westchester, told CNY that he has participated in the March for Life for almost every year of its 43-year history since it was begun to commemorate the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion across the United States.

This year, the bishop came down to Washington on a bus with Latinos por La Vida, a coalition of Hispanic pro-life groups, for the third year in a row. The bus embarked from St. Philip Neri parish in the Bronx.

Many other buses from the archdiocese had been cancelled due to the impending inclement weather, which started to arrive during the march and dumped near-record snowfall on the Northeast region the next day.

“It’s good to see the picture of commitment that people have when they show up in the midst of a historic blizzard,” Bishop Byrne said. “It’s inspiring.”

The bishop has been involved in pro-life ministry throughout his priesthood, continuing in much the same way since his ordination to the episcopacy in 2014. Recently he said he has taken part in the 40 Days for Life’s campaign of peaceful, prayerful protests at abortion clinics throughout the archdiocese. “Anytime they ask me for talks, I try to do whatever I can,” he said.

The first stop for the bus with the Latinos por la Vida pilgrims was at Little Flower Church, a 1,000-seat church in a D.C. suburb, where they were among several hundred archdiocesan pilgrims, including a large contingent of seminarians from St. Joseph’s Seminary, Dunwoodie, and many Sisters of Life along with others traveling with archdiocesan and parish groups.

The cardinal couldn’t wait to greet archdiocesan pilgrims, walking around to shake hands and say hello before Mass. The morning liturgy was offered in a parish church Cardinal Dolan was familiar with from celebrating Mass on the weekends during his days serving on the staff of the nearby Apostolic Nunciature.

Cardinal Dolan, in his homily, said, “God has a special sparkle in His eye for littleness, smallness.” Referring to the name of the parish church where he was preaching, Little Flower, so named in honor of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, the cardinal noted that she had planned to be a missionary, doing “big things” in China or other faraway lands. Because of her health limitations, the Carmelite nun found that the best way she could serve the Lord was by performing “little things in an extraordinary way,” and she became one of the most revered and well-known saints.

The cardinal said the Mass-goers before him and thousands of others in Washington would do their part “to defend the smallest, most fragile part…of God’s creation, the baby in the womb.”

Daniela Mazzone, assistant director for Spanish programs in the archdiocesan Family Life/Respect Life Office, served as coordinator for the Latinos por La Vida bus. A newlywed and an expectant mother, Mrs. Mazzone said her pregnancy gave her “a whole new perspective” at the march.

Sister Maeve Nativitas, S.V., who traveled on the same bus, said she has been coming to the March for Life every year since she was a second-grader in Virginia. Now in her seventh year as a Sister of Life, she said she experiences “solidarity” with those she meets there.

“All of these people come together—in our common faith and (supporting) the gift of life,” she said as pro-lifers gathered to hear speakers near the Washington Monument before the march.