by CHRISTINE DHANAGOM
DENVER, Colorado (LifeSiteNews) — Prayerbooks, rosaries, and pro-life pamphlets are a common sight outside Planned Parenthood’s massive facility in downtown Denver, but this year local organisers of this spring’s Forty Days for Life campaign decided that one last piece was missing to bring the light of Christ to the country’s second largest abortion facility: the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
The idea to celebrate the Catholic Mass in front of Planned Parenthood came from Fr Joseph Hearty, assistant pastor at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in nearby Littleton, who felt that it was time to “pull out the big guns”. It was, he told LifeSiteNews, an inspiration from the Holy Spirit.
“If we can pray the Rosary, why not offer the Mass, why not use the Mass and the Eucharist as a means of fighting this tragedy,” he said. “Why not use the most powerful means that we have?”
The idea energised the local pro-life community far beyond what organisers had expected. Fr Hearty expected 30 attendees at his first Mass on March 3, and got 100.
Providentially, an empty parking lot right across the street from the Planned Parenthood owned by a pro-life couple was big enough to accommodate the crowd.
As a member of the traditional Priestly Fraternity of St Peter, Fr Hearty celebrated the traditional Latin Mass, known as the Tridentine Mass. Diocesan priests also got in on the action, though, with six different Masses offered in the parking lot during the Forty Day campaign — in English and Spanish. All six Masses were well attended, averaging between 50 and 100 persons.
A March 31 closing rally kicked off with a Spanish Mass, followed by a rosary led by Bishop James Conley, apostolic administrator for the Denver archdiocese. In comments at the rally, Bishop Conley urged pro-lifers to vigilance as Planned Parenthood continues to build “megaplex death mills” across the country, the Denver Catholic Register reported.
According to the Register, more than 300 people attended the rally, which ended with a second Latin Mass celebrated by Fr Hearty. There were so many at the final Mass that the priest returned to the altar four times to break up the hosts for distribution before finally running out.
The popularity of the idea, says Fr Hearty, is a sign that “people really want to do something”. He hopes the idea will spread, and in particular that clergy in other parts of the country will be inspired to become more involved in pro-life work.
“That’s our vocation,” he said. “We’re there to mediate, and we’re there to lead, and we’re there to encourage.”
As for the effort in Denver, organisers are hoping to build on the momentum and establish a regular schedule of Masses in front of the clinic, continuing to wage spiritual warfare against the nation’s largest abortion provider.
“Our fight is not against the world, it’s against principalities and darkness, it’s against evil, it is against the devil,” says Fr Hearty. “Why not make a few demons quake?”