Posted on 10/31/2006 1:23:47 PM PST by NYer
Washington DC, Oct. 31, 2006 (CNA) - Priests for Life launched an election novena yesterday, asking that “God to give believers the grace to vote in a way that advances the Culture of Life.”
The novena will run nine days, ending on Election Day, Nov. 7. The novena consists simply of saying a daily prayer prepared for this purpose.
“No act of violence claims more life than abortion, which kills some 3,500 children a day in America,” said national director Fr. Frank Pavone in a press release. “How can we build a society that feeds the poor if we can’t feed our own offspring; how can we welcome the immigrant if we can’t welcome our own children; how can we promote peace between nations if we cannot even maintain peace between a mother and her unborn child?”
Additional prayers have been composed for specific states that have important ballot measures related to abortion. The prayers are available at www.PrayerCampaign.org.
Join our National Prayer Campaign!
A great prayer for life is urgently needed, a prayer which will rise up throughout the world. Through special initiatives and in daily prayer, may an impassioned plea rise to God, the Creator and lover of life, from every Christian community, from every group and association, from every family and from the heart of every believer.”
– Pope John Paul II, The Gospel of Life (Evangelium Vitae), n. 100.
Brothers and sisters,
Because prayer is the foundation of all we do in the pro-life movement, we invite you to join tens of thousands of others who are offering, each day, a prayer of commitment to build a culture of life.
On the links below you will find various aspects of our national prayer campaign.
You will see our ongoing Novena to end abortion. This novena continues throughout the year, and there are links to obtain the prayer in English and in Spanish.
You will also see below the link for the special Prayer Campaign for Elections 2006. This is a double novena, two periods of nine weeks of prayer, starting on Tuesday the Fourth of July and concluding on Election Day, November 7, 2006.
And remember, prayer leads to action. Please volunteer for election related activities. And please also equip yourself with our new booklet, "Voting with a Clear Conscience."
When you sign up you will have an opportunity to leave your email address with us. This will also enable you to receive my regular pro-life commentary every two weeks.
Thank you for joining this prayer effort. Please spread the word!
-- Fr. Frank Pavone
National Director
November 7 is Election Day in the United States. Priests for Life again calls on all Christians to join in a Double Novena of Weeks – two periods of nine weeks of prayer, starting on the Fourth of July and concluding on Election Day.
The intentions for this Prayer Campaign are as follows:
1. That believers will be active citizens, will register to vote, and will cast their votes in the 2006 Elections.
2. That voters will base their choices on principle rather than on mere party loyalty or self-interest, keeping in mind that the first duty of government is the protection of human life.
3. That as a result of this year’s elections, our nation may come closer to embracing a Culture of Life, in which the unborn and all the vulnerable are protected.
A Prayer for our National Elections
O God, we acknowledge you today as Lord, Not only of individuals, but of nations and governments.
We thank you for the privilege Of being able to organize ourselves politically And of knowing that political loyalty Does not have to mean disloyalty to you.
We thank you for your law, Which our Founding Fathers acknowledged And recognized as higher than any human law.
We thank you for the opportunity that this election year puts before us, To exercise our solemn duty not only to vote, But to influence countless others to vote, And to vote correctly.
Lord, we pray that your people may be awakened. Let them realize that while politics is not their salvation, Their response to you requires that they be politically active.
Awaken your people to know that they are not called to be a sect fleeing the world But rather a community of faith renewing the world.
Awaken them that the same hands lifted up to you in prayer Are the hands that pull the lever in the voting booth; That the same eyes that read your Word Are the eyes that read the names on the ballot, And that they do not cease to be Christians When they enter the voting booth.
Awaken your people to a commitment to justice To the sanctity of marriage and the family, To the dignity of each individual human life, And to the truth that human rights begin when human lives begin, And not one moment later.
Lord, we rejoice today That we are citizens of your kingdom.
May that make us all the more committed To being faithful citizens on earth.
We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Prayer for California
Lord God, you have given us the gift of life, And you entrust to parents the special role Of generating and nurturing new life.
We pray that the rights of parents will also be upheld.
In particular, bless the voters of California And grant success to their efforts To secure the rights of parents under the law.
Give our citizens the wisdom to support Proposition 85, So that minors may not fall victim To the abortion industry.
May this measure bring us another step closer To our ultimate goal of eradicating abortion altogether And of building a nation With liberty and justice Not just for some, but for all. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Prayer for Oregon
Lord God, you have given us the gift of life, And you entrust to parents the special role Of generating and nurturing new life. We pray that the rights of parents will also be upheld.
In particular, bless the voters of Oregon And grant success to their efforts To secure the rights of parents under the law.
Give our citizens the wisdom to support Measure 43, So that minors may not fall victim To the abortion industry. < p>May this measure bring us another step closer To our ultimate goal of eradicating abortion altogether And of building a nation With liberty and justice Not just for some, but for all. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Prayer for South Dakota
Father, you are the Lord of all Nations, And the security of all your people.
As we approach Election Day, We ask you to pour out your wisdom on your people. May they protect the gift of life by their vote. May the people of South Dakota Uphold the law that will restore protection to their children, And may you hasten the day When that protection will sweep our entire nation. We pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Prayer for Missouri
Father, you alone are our Creator, And you have made us in your own image.
We pray for the people of Missouri, That as they prepare to go to the voting booth, They may be kept safe from deception, And filled with your own wisdom.
Grant that your people may reject Amendment 2 And the harm that it would bring to Missouri And to the nation.
By our vote and by our voice, Grant that we may build a culture of life In your name. We pray through Christ our Lord. Amen
Prayer to Defeat Missouri Amendment No. 2
on Human Cloning to be recited for 9 days
God and Author of Life,
We humbly ask you to hear our prayer and stop Amendment 2 for Missourians, which would deceptively protect the practice of human cloning, and those who would use human beings for science experiments.
Grant us the wit and strength to say NO on 2 and promote the moral values you have implanted within us.
We ask this through the intercession of the Immaculate Conception, who free from Original Sin reminds us of the incarnate dignity and sanctity of every human being conceived in this world.
O, Immaculate conceived without sin,
Pray for us who have recourse to you!
Amen.
Pray for everybody to have the wisdom and strength to resist this. My sister, who is a musician, got invited to perform for a benefit for the Michael Fox Foundation. (She refused, of course.) These "benefits" are being held all over the country, and a lot of innocent musicians and others don't realize what the money is going for.
Amen
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