Holy Hour participants to pray for sanctity of life

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WEST HAVEN — During October, which the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has designated as Respect Life Month, parishes, missions, organizations, lay people and parish ministries all over the Diocese of Salt Lake City are organizing different events to highlight the importance of life from conception to natural death.

As part of these efforts, the Militia of the Immaculata (MI) of St. Mary Parish in West Haven will celebrate a Holy Hour for Life on Oct. 17.

The idea to celebrate a Holy Hour for Life came alive because the founder of the MI, St. Maximilian Kolbe, “is the patron saint of the pro-life movement, among other things. This is because he gave up his life to save the life of a fellow prisoner who was a family man,” said Kim Vigil, a member of the MI at St. Mary Parish.

St. Maximilian Kolbe was a Polish priest and Conventual Franciscan friar who died in 1941 at Auschwitz. After three prisoners escaped, the Nazis ordered 10 men to be killed as punishment. One of the men begged for pity because of his family, so St. Maximilian offered to take his place.

The MI is a worldwide evangelization movement founded by St. Maximilian Kolbe in 1917 that encourages total consecration to the Blessed Virgin Mary as a means of spiritual renewal for individuals and society, according to the website https://militiaoftheimmaculata.com/. The MI movement is open to all Catholics over the age of 7.

Over the past 20 years, the Militia of the Immaculata in Utah has offered various prayer services during the month of October “in an effort to promote the sanctity of life through the means of prayer,” said Donna Masek, an MI member.

This year’s Holy Hour for Life will combine materials from the 2009-2010 and 2011-2012 USCCB Respect Life liturgical guides. Masek served on the Diocesan Respect Life Commission a number of years ago, and had access to many of the USCCB Respect Life packets.

“At that time, the packets included prayer services such as holy hours, rosary meditations and Stations of the Cross for Life,” she said.

At the Oct. 17 event, “in addition to Exposition of the Most Blessed Sacrament, we will pray the Joyful Mysteries of the rosary,” Masek said. “The meditations for each decade come from the writings of now Pope St. John Paul II and focus on the dignity of the elderly and end-of-life issues.”

Emphasizing that there are a number of pro-life events that focus on the sanctity of life from the moment of conception, Masek said that the Oct. 17 prayer service will focus on the dignity of life “until its natural end.”

Deacon Jack Clark, who serves as the MI spiritual advisor, will preside at the service.

St. Maximilian Kolbe taught that “Prayer is powerful, especially when united with those of the Immaculata, who is Queen even of God’s heart,” said Masek, inviting everyone to the Holy Hour for Life, which will be offered in English.

“St. Maximilian believed in the power of prayer, especially before the Most Blessed Sacrament in Eucharistic Adoration,” she added.