Prayers

The pro-life movement incorporates a variety of prayers. Some are spontaneous. Some are well-known prayers for many members of the movement, but not everyone knows of them. Many prayers used in groups focus on the incarnation and/or passion of Jesus in what prayers are spoken the most.

Divine Mercy Chaplet

The history of the chaplet has connections to abortion. The linked history doesn’t mention that part of the origin. However, the city that was supposed to face the justice of God was Warsaw (Warszawa). In the years prior to World War II, the city was considered the abortion capital of Europe. Saint Faustina was given the Chaplet of Divine Mercy or Divine Mercy Chaplet. She felt pain in her abdomen during certain hours of the day. It would later become clear that the hours she felt that pain matched the hours that abortions were performed in Warsaw.

Praying the chaplet kept Warsaw safe from God’s wrath, and granted mercy, instead. She could see the effects of God’s intervention when an angel could no longer have the effect intended. Saint Faustina died not long before World War II. After her death, Warsaw would be decimated during the war, first by the Nazis, and later by the Soviets/socialists. The vast majority of buildings and structures were severely damaged. The city was practically leveled, worse than most other cities.

Learn to pray the chaplet. When praying the chaplet, one meditates on the passion of Jesus. While meditating one verbally prays a variety of prayers, with the most common phrase being, “For the sake of His sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.” The verbal components are prayers of their own, but also help with the pacing to ensure one is spending a reasonable amount of time in meditation.

Rosary

The history of the rosary spans centuries. It began with the Psalms, incorporated the Our Father, and later a prayer quoting Biblical passages from Luke 1. It begins with focusing us on the Annunciation, when the Angel of God appeared to Mary to ask if she would become the Mother of Our Lord. The next line comes from the Visitation, when Elizabeth speaks in inspiration from the Holy Spirit, announcing the presence of Our Lord. In the time of the Plague, a prayer petition was added for prayers now and at the hour of our death.

The Rosary incorporates meditations on mysteries of the faith. Learn to pray the Rosary. There are five mysteries in each of four categories. The categories are: Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful, and Glorious. These add much more than the words that are spoken in prayer. These help us conform ourselves to the ways of Jesus.

Joyful Mysteries focus on the incarnation of Jesus through His childhood.

  • Annunciation
  • Visitation
  • Nativity
  • Presentation
  • Finding Jesus in the Temple

Luminous Mysteries focus on the ministry of Jesus.

  • Baptism of Jesus
  • Wedding at Cana
  • Proclamation of the Kingdom
  • Transfiguration
  • Institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper

Sorrowful Mysteries focus on the passion of Christ.

  • Agony in the Garden
  • Scourging at the Pillar
  • Crowning with Thorns
  • Carrying the Cross
  • Crucifixion

Glorious Mysteries begin with the resurrection and continue through the fulfillment of what is to come in heaven.

  • Resurrection
  • Ascension
  • Descent of the Holy Spirit
  • Assumption of Mary
  • Coronation of Mary
More details per mystery:
  • Annunciation: The angel of God appears to Mary and asks if she will be the Mother of Our Lord, and Mary says yes. The incarnation occurs–God takes on human form.
    • This draws attention to the person of Jesus from the moment of conception. We also see Mary saying yes to pregnancy in a difficult situation.
  • Visitation: When Mary arrives, John the Baptist (in the womb of Elizabeth) reacts to the presence of Jesus (in the womb of Mary). Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit proclaims the good news.
    • This draws attention to the acknowledgement of someone in the womb by another person in the womb.
  • Nativity: Jesus is born after a long voyage of his parents. They are humble circumstances. Magi came with gifts. Herod sought the death of the child. Joseph listened to God in a dream and led his family to safety in another province of the empire (although this would happen after the next mystery).
    • Let us help women and couples who are expecting a newborn child, especially those in difficult circumstances. We must protect the lives of children whose lives are in danger from direct threats.
  • Presentation: Jesus is presented to God in the temple by his parents. A prophet would foretell what would happen to Jesus and Mary later in life.
    • Let us give ourselves to God and what God wills. Let us bring others to God, where they can live life abundantly, love with an overflowing love, and do the same for others.
  • Finding Jesus in the Temple: After Mary and Joseph left Jerusalem and were a day’s journey away, they realized Jesus was no longer with them. They would turn back to seek Jesus, feeling sorrow until they found Jesus in the Temple. He was teaching others with profound teachings.
    • Seek God, that we may find Jesus in the Temple of God in Heaven and stay with Him forever. When others are lost, spiritually or morally, let us help them find what is Good and True–God.
  • Baptism of Jesus: Jesus is baptized in the Jordan River by Saint John the Baptist. God comes down like a dove, and God, the Father makes clear that Jesus is His Son, in whom He is well pleased.
    • Let us die to sin, so we can rise with Christ. Let us save the lives of children so they may also be baptized, so they can know God and unite with God for eternity.
  • Wedding at Cana: Jesus responds to the request of his mother, Mary, who draws Him to begin His ministry. Jesus meets the needs of others by turning water into wine. Jesus would later fulfill the prophesy that one like Moses would come as he would complete the water to wine and wine into His Precious Blood.
    • We seek to help others in love. We seek to meet the needs of others. Marriages are under attack and losing favor, despite being the foundation of society. We need holy marriages.
  • Proclamation of the Kingdom: Jesus went around teaching people about the Kingdom of God and healing them.
    • Despite God’s Word teaching us that we are made in the image and likeness of God, and thus have great intrinsic value, people reject that value and God, Himself. We need to spread the Good News, value life, proclaim the Truth about the value of all human life.
  • Transfiguration: Jesus reveals His divine nature. He becomes radiant. God, the Father makes clear that Jesus is His Son, in whom He is well pleased. We see Jesus discussing with Moses and Elijah His upcoming Exodus.
    • We should see Christ in all people, since we are made in His image and likeness. The Exodus Jesus would lead is the freeing of souls from the dead, leading them to the Kingdom of God in Heaven. We hope to join God in heaven (along with those we love), where we can see God as He really is.
  • Institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper: Jesus gathered the Apostles for the Last Supper. The sacrifice of the cross would begin, here. He would offer himself at the supper as a sacrifice, which could conclude after the sun would rise.
    • We must nourish our body and soul with the Lord. We are also called to love as Jesus loved, especially men, who are to sacrifice for their wives as Jesus did for us.
  • Agony in the Garden: In Gethsemane, Jesus prays as his passion begins that would culminate in His death. Jesus expresses an openness to having things play out using other means, but expresses the greater desire to carry out the will of God, the Father.
    • In matters of life and death, people suffer a great deal in their thoughts and prayers before and throughout their suffering.
  • Scourging at the Pillar: Jesus experiences physical suffering through torture. His flesh is pulled away in many places. He lives through this part of the passion. Jesus endures torture beyond what most people will ever face.
    • Pregnancy brings with it physical challenges that can range from painful to merely inconvenient. People near the end of life often experience various forms of physical pain and suffering.
  • Crowning with Thorns: People crown Jesus with a crown of thorns and dressing him up like a king to mock his Kingship. Jesus endured this mocking.
    • People often put their own will over that of God, crowning themselves as ruler over their own lives. Some people try to do what is right, despite what they might otherwise desire. People near the end of life may have issues with ego, even as their abilities might fade away.
  • Carrying the Cross: Jesus carried the cross to the site of crucifixion. Jesus fell many times, as one would when so near death. Simon was forced to help carry the cross. Before the passion took place, Jesus told us to follow Him by taking up our crosses daily; the means of His death were not known to the people he told that to at the time He said those words.
    • Death can take a while for those at the end of life. Carrying the struggles of a pregnancy can also feel like a heavy lift at times. It can be a great burden, yet we ought to carry our cross through it all.
  • Crucifixion: Jesus dies on the cross in what is considered the most painful method of killing ever developed. This led to the term “excruciating”.
    • We all owe a death. Some people die peacefully in their sleep, while others suffer a great deal. Some abortions are particularly violent, ripping children limb from limb.
  • Resurrection: Jesus rises from the dead, in fulfillment of His prophetic words and scriptures.
    • This gives us hope that we (and those we love) will rise with Christ. Eternal life is life with God. Eternal death is existence apart from God. We all live for a time on earth, then die. We see what it is like to be apart from those we love, and should seek to love God and live with God forever.
  • Ascension: Jesus ascends to heaven 40 days after the resurrection.
    • We have hope that we (and those we love) may follow Jesus to heaven, now that this pathway is open to us.
  • Descent of the Holy Spirit: Jesus promised the coming of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit descends on the Apostles at Pentecost. Many signs of division in the Old Testament are reversed and put right again.
    • We hope that the Holy Spirit remains and dwells in us, that we may remain close to God. In doing the will of God, acting in unity with the Holy Spirit, God accomplishes great and miraculous things, allowing us to play a part in it.
  • Assumption of Mary: Unlike Jesus who ascended on His own, Mary is assumed into heaven–brought there by God. Catholic and Orthodox traditions include some variety in the accounts of this, which are beyond what the Bible includes, since the Bible focuses on the actions of Jesus.
    • We are only human, just like Mary. We don’t get to heaven on our own, but through God. We hope God draws us up to heaven, along with those we love.
  • Coronation of Mary: Mary is crowned Queen of Heaven and Earth. In the Old Testament, we see the queen is the mother of the king, not the spouse (of which some had more than one). In Revelation 12, we see the mother of the Savior wearing a crown of stars.
    • If Mary is a queen, it doesn’t happen without requiring there to be a king, and in this case, it points to Jesus, the King of kings. We may sin and fail at things throughout our lives. However, whatever our place is in heaven, it is God who makes that possible. Our place in heaven is in relation to God, and not of our own making.