Off-Campus • By third-year seminarian Ignatius Green
View the photo gallery by third-year seminarian Stephen Osburn
January 22, 2015 marked the 42nd anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the historic Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion-on-demand in the United States. Every year hundreds of thousands of people gather for the March for Life in Washington D.C. for a peaceful protest that calls for an end to legalized abortion, and advocates for a culture of life. It has become a tradition each year for the St. Ambrose Society, St. Vladimir's pro-life student group, to rent a bus to transport seminarians, their families, and members of the wider Orthodox community, down to the March.
The March is the largest and the oldest annual civil rights protest in the world. Nearly half the people at the March for Life are under thirty, and most are there because of their faith. There are many Roman Catholics, many different Protestant groups, several rabbis and their congregations, and always a contingent of clergy and laity from the Orthodox Church.
The Orthodox Church does not see abortion as a merely "political" issue. For two millennia the Church has been uncompromising and clear in its teachingSeminary President Metropolitan Tikhon and Chancellor/CEO The Very Rev. Dr. Chad Hatfield join the marchers on abortion. Life begins at conception. This means that taking the life of an unborn child through abortion is murder. We cannot keep this truth to ourselves. The Church is prophetic, calling all to repentance, calling us to "banish all evil from our hearts and wickedness from our laws." Every year at the March for Life, Orthodox Christians witness to our Church's teaching, and invite others to find healing in Christ and his Church. Instead of chanting slogans, we march through the streets of Washington D.C. chanting the hymns of the Church. We hold and venerate icons of the Mother of God, who carried our Lord in her womb. We remember that He has assumed and sanctified every part of our lives, including our days in the womb.
The March begins at the National Mall and ends at the Supreme Court building, but the Orthodox contingent always stops short of this final destination. We gather together as our hierarchs lead us in prayer for the innocent children who have been killed in abortion, and also for the repentance and healing of all who have made the tragic choice to have an abortion.
Seminarian Ignatius GreenThird-year seminarian Fr. Mark VairI have been to the March six times, this year as the St. Ambrose Society president. Two years ago I became a father, and this deepened my experience of the March more than I can say. God plants such fierce love in a parent's heart. As my wife and I raise our toddler son, and eagerly await the arrival of his sister this May, we intimately know the infinite value of every life. It is not an abstract assertion, but a lived truth.
As beautiful and joyful as this is, it also deepens my sorrow over the tragedy of abortion. We must allow the stark reality of the millions of aborted children to break our hearts, but we must also make it strengthen our resolve to act in obedience to our Church's teachings. Let us all pray earnestly that our judges, our lawmakers, and our president heed God's law, and put an end to all unjust and evil human laws.
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Hundreds of thousands of marchers participate every yearA Prayer for Sanctity of Life Sunday:
O Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son, Who art in the bosom of the Father, True God, source of life and immortality, Light of Light, Who camest into the world to enlighten it: Thou wast pleased to be conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary for the salvation of our souls by the power of Thine All-Holy Spirit. O Master, Who camest that we might have life more abundantly, we ask Thee to enlighten the minds and hearts of those blinded to the truth that life begins at conception and that the unborn in the womb are already adorned with Thine image and likeness; enable us to guard, cherish, and protect the lives of all those who are unable to care for themselves. For Thou art the Giver of Life, bringing each person from non-being into being, sealing each person with divine and infinite love. Be merciful, O Lord, to those who, through ignorance or willfulness, affront Thy divine goodness and providence through the evil act of abortion. May they, and all of us, come to the life of Thy Truth and glorify Thee, the Giver of Life, together with Thy Father, and Thine All-Holy and Life-giving Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.
(From the petitions the Orthodox Church in America has blessed for the Sunday preceding January 22nd.)
For an excellent summary of the Church's teaching throughout history, see the amicus curiae brief filed with the Supreme Court on behalf of the Orthodox Church, which corrects and refutes many of Roe v. Wade's spurious claims about Christian history and teaching. It can be found online, and in pamphlet form, published by Conciliar Press (now Ancient Faith Publishing).
