Students Attend March for Life
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Forty-five St. Joseph’s Academy students participated in the 39th March for Life in Washington, D.C. SJA students joined hundreds of thousands of pro-life Americans in marking the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision making abortion legal in the United States.
“The march was unbelievably peaceful yet still powerful. Seeing so many people out in the cold rain to support life was encouraging to us that even if laws don’t change, hearts are changing.” Alise Alexander '12
The SJA students departed Baton Rouge on January 19. The March for Life on the Mall was held the morning of January 23. According to estimates, approximately 400,000 people participated in the event. The first march was held in 1974.
Other highlights of the pilgrimage included tours of the nation’s capital, including visits to the Lincoln, Korean, Vietnam and Martin Luther King memorials, the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Arlington National Cemetery and the Holocaust Museum. The group celebrated mass at St. Matthew’s Cathedral and enjoyed the GEAUX Forth rally with more than 3,000 youth from Louisiana. Group members joined a rosary walk past the White House followed by a Matt Maher concert. On their return trip, the students visited the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville, Alabama.
“The courage and the strength and the grace that our girls showed on the March for Life was unlike anything I have ever seen,” said Kathleen Lee, SJA theology teacher and moderator of the Respect Life Club. “With 11 buses and more than 550 people, it would have been easy to just tag along. But our girls were awesome. They learned things that I hope will stay with them for the rest of their lives. They were beautiful witnesses to the faith and voices for those who don’t get one.”
Senior Ashlyn Blanchard, vice president of the Respect Life Club, has participated in the March for Life the past three years. “The trip was absolutely fantastic this year,” she said. “With over 40 girls from SJA alone, we had many opportunities to grow in our faith together, as well as pray for a change of hearts for all who are pro-choice. It was such a powerful experience as we visited many shrines, basilicas, and other religious places on this trip. Although it rained the day of the march, there was still a significant turnout from thousands of dedicated pro-lifers from around the country. I am so happy to have been a part in working towards the end to such a tragic cause. Now that I am home, I plan to keep my beliefs and my faith strong, and I continue to hope and pray for the end to the tragedy of abortion going on right now throughout our country.”
Senior Anna Aguillard said the march was not only a powerful political statement but an “incredible spiritual experience,” as well. “My relationship with God as well as my pro-life beliefs grew stronger throughout the five days we spent on the pilgrimage,” she said. “There were almost 600 youths from south Louisiana alone, and hundreds of thousands of people showed up at the march to express their pro-life beliefs. The pro-life movement is a movement that not only defends the lives of the innocent but also defends human dignity in all aspects of life. To march for such a crucial and noble cause was an incredible, if not life-changing, experience.”
Senior Alise Alexander said the March for Life was truly a pilgrimage. “I signed up for the trip because of my political beliefs, but throughout the trip, I became more affirmed in my religious beliefs,” she said. “We learned why the Catholic faith is pro-life and how to support our pro-life beliefs with facts in debate. The march was unbelievably peaceful yet still powerful. Seeing so many people out in the cold rain to support life was encouraging to us that even if laws don’t change, hearts are changing.
“At one point,” Alexander added, “we reached a line of about 15 women holding signs saying, ‘I regret my abortion,’ and that really touched me. To see their bravery, humility and conversion really made me feel that what we were doing was meaningful and necessary. I realized that it is for the grief of women who made an irreversible and regrettable decision that we must fight for life, and after seeing how devastating abortion has been to these women, I know this is a cause I will not be able to be silent about ever again.”
“I am so glad that I decided to attend the March for Life pilgrimage this year,” said senior Grace Talbot. “The trip provided many opportunities for me to strengthen my faith and learn what it truly means to be pro-life. The actual march on the streets of D.C. was an amazing experience that I will forever remember. The feeling of praying and singing with people from all over the country who shared the same beliefs and passions was absolutely surreal. The trip was not only a much-needed retreat from hectic schoolwork and college applications, but it allowed me to deepen my relationship with Christ and His Church.”
In addition to Lee, the group was accompanied by science teacher Kelly Henderson and SJA parents Lyle Andre, Kelly Alexander, Suzanne Talbot, Christie Guillory, Carmen Smith and Lisa Comeaux.
In Baton Rouge, a number of SJA students were among the thousands of people from around the state who marched to the State Capitol as part of the second annual Louisiana Life March. The event took place on January 21. In addition to the march, participants held a rally on the steps of the capitol building.
Mindy Brodhead Averitt
Communications Director
Photos courtesy of Anna Aguillard, Kelly Alexander and Kristen Lazarine
Date posted: January 27, 2012