The Rebellion!

Just when we've convinced ourselves that the minds of our nation's children were sliding downward into oblivion, these kids have given us HOPE for the future.  This video of the March, made by a young fellow named Marc Barnes is terrific and lifts my spirits.  And I think I saw the Whoville girls in there!

Hat tips to The Thin Veil via OSV.

2012 March For Life in Washington DC....Cold and Wet, But Determined!

In spite of the rain, in spite of the cold, the turnout for the 39th Annual March For Life looked as strong as last year.  People came from all over the country to celebrate life and to protest once again the unfortunate decision by the Supreme Court in the case of Roe Vs. Wade, legalizing abortion-on-demand.

I expected a lower turnout this year because of the rain, and also because most major cities are doing their own marching or walking (out west).  The fact that the crowd is every bit as large as before in DC tells me the pro-life movement is GROWING.

But because of the rain there were fewer banners and signs, and therefore fewer pictures for me to take.  Also, my camera is not waterproof!  But I met some fantastic people, including a barefoot Franciscan and four girls pictured below with interesting, Whoville hairdo's.

The marchers holding the banner this year are from Front Royal, VA, more specifically Christendom College  (See their video below).  They marched boldly, chanted loudly and did a wonderful job.  It's unfortunate, though,  that the police, in their effort to clear the streets of people so the marchers could pass through, waved a large portion of the crowd forward rather than sideways causing them to march ahead of the banner again this year.  Next year this will have to be stopped.

The resistance to the March was futile as usual, with only 25-30 so-called "pro-choice" people waiting for us at the Supreme Court building, taunting us with chants and occasional obscene gestures (typical liberal petulance).  Our numbers were in the low hundreds of thousands, perhaps 250,000 by my estimates.  The vast throng of humanity seemed to go on forever....

St. Blogustine welcomes readers from New Advent, Shameless Popery, Danielle Bean, OSV Daily Take, Fr. Longenecker from Standing On My Head, Faith On The High Wire, Little Catholic Bubble, Catholic Exchange, Adrienne's Corner. Jill Stanek, Stepping Out of The Boat (ArchDofNY), Filipino Families of Skokie, Unshakeable Hope, Get Religion, Dymphna's Road, The Oogedy Boogedy Blog, and The Anchoress.  St. Blogustine also wishes to welcome the foreign press, Forum Libertas (using Google Translator.).  Thanks so much for the links!  And if I've missed any links, please email me at StBlogustine@aol.com. 

Also, check out these posts from The Crescat, Mommy Life, Catholic Beat on Facebook, and Nice Deb who were also there.

Just in:  excellent Picasa photo collections (some of the best I've seen yet) from Niall O'Donnell and Tom McFadden.   You did great work on your video, too.  See bottom.

ALSO... Sister Lisa Marie at Nunspeak has a nice photo collection of the Walk For Life that occurred in San Francisco on Saturday.

Kids from Academy of the Holy Cross in Kensington, MD.  What great smiles!

"A person is a person, no matter how small!"

Baby feet hats.

Tough looking brothers

All for the Immaculate!

Fox News was there covering

Cold and wet, but spirits high

Not easy climbing Capital Hill while holding a banner in the rain

He's an annual fixture and great motivator

Kids from St. John Cantius in Chicago, always enthusiastic!

Takes guts to admit this.  These ladies got lots of hugs along the way.

Vulgar, obscene, loud-mouthed, pro-abortion occupiers.

40 degree weather and he's in bare feet!  One of Bishop Rhoades's radical Franciscans

"Young People Aren't The Future Of The Pro-Life Movement. They ARE The Pro-Life Movement": VIDEO

In this video it is said that the young people aren't simply the future of the pro-life movement, they ARE the pro-life movement.  After attending the two most recent March For Life rallies in Washington DC, I can attest to that statement.  Both marches were teaming with enthusiastic young people, eager to grab the banners and take the lead.  The future is golden for this movement.

(hat tip to Patrick Madrid)

Air Maria's Time Lapse Video Of March For Life

AirMaria and The Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate produced this time-lapsed video of this year's March For Life just to give you an idea of the number of people who participated in it.  In my post below, containing my own photos, I speculated the number of marchers to be "more than 250,000, while LifeSiteNews estimated that number to be over 400,000.  It's difficult to figure just how many there were from the video above, but as you can see...it was an awful lot.  And the media mostly ignored them.

Hat tip:  Bryan Kemper of Stand True

2011 March For Life in Washington DC

There was great excitement in Washington DC today as over 250,000 people converged on the National Mall for a pro-life rally and the 38th annual March For Life.  The atmosphere is super-charged every year as young and old alike show their support for overturning the infamous Roe v. Wade court case which legalized abortion-on-demand.

They came from all over the country and from distant lands overseas:  from as far as Alaska, Texas, Maine, Florida, Canada, France, Italy, Germany, and Vietnam.  There were mostly Catholics it seemed, but also Methodists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Baptists, as well as some Jewish Rabbis on hand.  And this is not merely a white man's battle.  All races have a dog in this fight.  And all were in good spirits as they celebrated life, and seemed filled with the Grace of God when explaining our pro-life position to the almost 10 so-called pro-choicers that showed up.  Yes, whereas last year they numbered almost 60, this year they barely broke double digits.

Unfortunately the Main Stream Media is likely to almost completely ignore this march, or they might claim there were an equal number of pro-choice participants to the pro-life ones, because they have their agenda and are determined to promote it, even to the detriment of their credibility on the world stage.  Pravda will get it right before our media does, and that's by choice!

The rest of the 105 pictures are up on Flickr and available now. And do click on them to make them larger.  They are 8 megapixels and will show much detail.  Enjoy!

Other blogs with photos from the March will be updated as I find them:

Mommy Life 

Thy Will Be Done...

NBC Washington 

National Catholic Register 

And the Walk Out West...

Great photos from Jen @ Conversion Diary

Sr. Lisa @ Nunspeak

EWTN coverage via Lisa Graas

_______and now back to The March For Life...

It took some doing, but we found the so-called pro-choicers floundering in the crowd near the Supreme Court Building, their last refuge.

Orthodox Jewish people don't like to spell out the Almighty.  Click on this to enlarge and read his sign.

And this one should give you at least an idea of the size of the pro-life crowd.  It went on forever...

Stand Up For 50 Million Aborted Babies On Monday In DC

The video above shows the Westminster Cathedral Choir singing Lully, Lulla, Thou Little Tiny Child, which was written in the middle ages about the killing of the male babies in Bethlehem (Herod's attempt to slay the infant Jesus).  Although the Feast Of The Holy Innocents was on December 28th, I thought it appropriate to draw attention to it at this time as a reminder of the March For Life in Washington DC on January 24th, (Monday).  The March occurs every year to commemorate the anniversary of Roe v Wade, which was one of the worst examples of judicial legislating since Dred Scott v Sandford.  And you shouldn't need an imagination to see the parallels and symbolism between Herod's rampage against babies and the more than 50 million innocent children killed in their mother's wombs since Roe v Wade.

The Main Stream Media mostly ignores the march, in spite of the huge turnout, claiming off-hand that "there is some kind of march going on with an equal number of pro-choice and pro-life participants."  The truth of the numbers is that over 250,000 pro-lifers show up to march to the Supreme Court building where 30 to 50 pro-choicers await them.  Since no one except Fox News cares to accurately report the events, I for one, plan to show up with my camera and document as much as possible and post the evidence on this blog Monday night like I did last year.  If you can make it to DC to join us, by all means do so.  You'll meet a lot of interesting people and have quite a time.

Here are the lyrics to the above video:

Lully, lulla, thou little tiny child,

By, by, lully lullay,

Thou tiny little child,

By, by, lully lullay.

O sisters too,

How may we do

For to preserve this day

This poor youngling,

For whom we do sing,

By, by, lully lullay?

Herod, the king,

In his raging,

Charged he hath this day

His men of might,

In his own sight,

All young children to slay.

That woe is me,

Poor child for thee!

And ever morn and day,

For thy parting

Neither say nor sing

By, by, lully lullay!

My First MARCH FOR LIFE in Washington D. C.

Today, in spite of the weather, I drove to Washington D.C. to partake in the 37th annual March For Life and had an experience like no other.  I saw an enthusiastic crowd in very large numbers totally devoted to the life cause, consisting largely of young, fresh faced people chanting, praying, laughing, and enjoying life to its fullest as they marched for their firmly held beliefs.

They came from Virginia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and even from as far west as Kansas City, MO.  They all came for the same reason, to convince our lawmakers and Supreme Court justices to overturn Roe vs. Wade, and make abortion a thing of the past.  There were priests, bishops, lots of students, women who have had abortions and regretted them, Knights of Columbus, bloggers like myself, politicians, teachers, nurses, several nuns, and people from all walks of life, all who agree that abortion will go down in history along side American slavery and lynching of African-Americans as stains and blights on our nation.

There were some who disagreed, waiting for us on the other side of the Capitol Building, their numbers very few and kind of pathetic.  They were treated civilly, but dealt with in short order.  Their message was blocked by superior numbers, banners, logic, and reasoning.

After the March I headed over to the Senate office buildings to find Senators Specter and Casey.  Senator Spector was not in today (no surprise being he is pro-abortion) to receive the many visitors who stopped by.  I signed his guest book and left a not-so-friendly message, "Act like a man," in response to his treatment of Michelle Bachmann the other day.

When I stopped by Senator Casey's office I found he was not there either.  But there was a sign saying he was available to meet with pro-life people from 2:00 to 2:30pm today.  I found that amusing since the March started at 2pm and was in no way finished by 2:30.  What a clown!  I hope he isn't counting on being more than a one-term-wonder.  My message for him wasn't much nicer, as I was both tired and foot-sore.

As I was searching for the exit I heard a familiar voice from around the corner.  When I investigated I found Fox News' own Carl Cameron with his cameraman and equipment working on a news piece about Senator Mitch McConnell and campaign finance laws.  I waited until they were done and then tried to sneak a picture of him.  He noticed and said "hold on," as he set down his can of Red Bull, walked over to me and offered to have his cameraman take a picture of the two of us with my Sony.  "We do this all the time," Cameron said reassuringly.  And then several pictures were taken (See last photo below).  What a generous guy.  I rank him along side Ernie Banks and Bishop Rhoades when it comes to celebrity encounters.

All things considered, it was a very positive and productive day. I have the rest of the 159 pictures available now.  Click on this---> Flickr.

All of the pictures above and below were taken by me and my Sony DSC-F828.  And as usual, you can make each one larger by clicking on it.  Enjoy!