We are in Passiontide right now, and Holy Week begins in just a few days. As we prepare for the Passion of Our Lord, it is so important to be with Mary. She is our mother, and has gone through every kind of sorrow imaginable, especially witnessing her Son die a violent and horrible death. One of the most famous pieces of religious artwork is the Pieta, where our Sorrowful Mother, Mary, holds the Body of Jesus.
From the 21 years of my life, I have seen that mothers want to be with their hurt or sorrowful children. They want to comfort their children, to be close to them. What mother would not want to be like Mary, cradling her deceased child? Imagine how devastating it is for a mother who does not know where her dead child is. No way to visit her child's tomb and mourn or remember him or her.
The other day, I was filled with incredible sorrow for the mothers of aborted children. The mothers of these children have may have experienced an incredible amount of grief and sorrow at some point since their abortions. Even if they have not openly grieved, there is something torn inside of them-a human life has been nourished in their bodies, untimely ripped out by abortion. Many times, the remains of aborted children are thrown into dumpsters or trash cans, so these women would not be able to visit the remains of their children and grieve.
I invite these women--and all people affected by the evils of abortion (and everyone has been affected by abortion in some way)--to the Tomb of the Unborn at Franciscan University.
The remains of seven aborted children lie here--not in dumpsters, but safely in a tomb--guarded by an eternal flame. I hope and pray that the mothers of these children have the peace and know that we have the remains of their children safely here. They are in a place of honor, right next to our Perpetual Adoration chapel. We have prayed daily for them, their mothers and fathers, and continue to do so. Here one may pray, think, heal, and know that life is precious. And that a person does not pass on without his or her death being mourned by someone.
For those of you not familiar with when the Tomb of the Unborn was erected, here's the description from the University website:
"On snowy January 22, 1987, the fourteenth anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision, which summarily struck down all laws against abortion across the country, over 500 people processed from Christ the King Chapel to witness the entombment of two babies killed by abortion. They were given the names Francis and Clare. That tomb, one of the first in the country, stands as a monument to the sanctity of life. It challenges all who pray there to live their lives as a witness to the Gospel of life.
Since that day an eternal flame has been added and five more children killed by abortion have joined Francis and Clare."
Cling to your Mother, for she knows the sorrow of losing a child...but she also knows the fullness of God's joy and light, for she reigns as Queen of Heaven!
