Catholics across the United States are encouraged to participate in the national Respect Life Novena beginning Oct. 22 in an effort to unite in prayer for the protection of the unborn and all those affected by abortion.
The Respect Life Novena is offered annually by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and consists of nine days of prayers, Scripture readings, and suggested acts of reparation.
Some of the prayer intentions in this year’s novena include ones for the protection of life from conception to natural death, for those who have undergone an abortion to experience God’s healing and mercy, for those with disabilities to be treated with dignity, and for an end to the death penalty, among others.
This year, the Respect Life Novena will be available on the free version of the Hallow app and a different U.S. bishop will lead the faithful in prayer each day. The bishops taking part include Bishop Daniel Thomas of Toledo, Ohio; Archbishop Alexander Sample of Portland, Oregon; Bishop Michael Burbidge of Arlington, Virginia; Bishop Robert Brennan of Brooklyn, New York; Bishop Chad Zielinski of New Ulm, Minnesota; Bishop Barry Knestout of Richmond, Virginia; Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois; Bishop Elias Zaidan, the Maronite eparch of Our Lady of Lebanon of Los Angeles; and Bishop Stephen Parkes of Savannah, Georgia.
The Respect Life Novena can be found at this link. You can also sign up for the novena and follow along at www.facebook.com/usccbrespectlife.
(Wikimedia Commons photo.)
By Francesca Pollio Fenton, Catholic News Agency
