POLL: 2013 March For Life in Washington D.C (25 January).

How many readers here are going to participate in any or all of the events surrounding the 2013 March For Life in Washington D.C., on 25 January.

I understand there is a TLM being sponsored by a Juventutem group after the March.

I am starting to think about going this year.  If I go, we might try to have a D.C. blognic.

2013 Washington DC March for Life Participation

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UPDATE:

I am now seriously thinking about going.

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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31 Comments

  1. benedetta says:

    We are going this year. I have wanted to go for years, but for one reason or another it just has not worked out, so, this will be our very first live, in-person March for Life. This week I am finalizing our plans as we are traveling overnight by bus with our homeschooling group. One detail that is a priority for my planning is, where can I obtain coffee upon our arrival (LOL). I should bring a thermos of Mystic Monk.

    Possibly, if Juventutum is having something, and if there may be a blognic, we might rearrange our return trip plan and stay awhile longer in DC.

  2. iPadre says:

    We’re trying to get a bus going from the parish. I think we need to inundate Washington for the 40th Anniversary of this tragic decision.

  3. rayrondini says:

    Any idea where the TLM will be celebrated?

  4. jdscotus says:

    FYI, Steve Sanborn, the Executive Producer of Thine Eyes, a documentary that followed four buses of young people from all over the country to the March for Life in 2009, is giving away the CD of the documentary free–all you have to do is pay shipping.

    Here is the info. BTW, I shipped my two copies to Planned Parenthood.

    Friends,

    Time flies and it’s been 4 years since we created Thine Eyes, a documentary that covers the March for Life in Washington DC. We did this because the media will not — no shock there.

    The exciting news is we are creating a new piece to cover this year’s 40th annual March for Life on January 25! This will be another artful presentation to make others aware… and to be an invitational piece that attracts others to participate in the future.

    Please order 2 DVDs, FREE with a very low shipping cost. Go to http://www.thineeyes.org and we will have them shipped right away so you can use them as Christmas gifts if you wish.

    Thousands of people have see Thine Eyes, produced by Jack Cashill, with Outpost Worldwide and starring Jennifer O’Neill. As executive producer — it was a great privilege to complete this project back in 2009. This year’s production promises to be compelling but quite different from the last production.

    Order today!

    Thank you and Merry Christmas!

  5. Gretchen says:

    We are headed down. It is always, always worthwhile to arrive the afternoon before so one can attend the Mass at the basilica.

    Helpful hints:

    If you want to attend the basilica Mass (the afternoon before the March) and be seated in the nave, you must arrive several hours before Mass begins and be willing to ‘camp out’ in a pew. Otherwise, you will be seated elsewhere and watching the Mass on a big screen. If you leave your ‘camping spot’ you will lose it. Bring as much extra cash as you can, because the gift shop is a Catholic shopper’s dream. It will be incredibly crowded for hours before Mass, with long lines in the shop, for the bathroom, for food, etc. The basilica is amazing and worth taking the time to tour.

    Wear shoes that hold up well in the cold–ones that are super comfortable (not too tight) and have enough heel and bottom that the cold won’t creep in. Wool blend socks are helpful. Layer your clothing and bring a hat, scarf, and gloves. It is much better to not need them and have them, them need them and not have them. Chapstick is a must. Bring extras to share.

    If you want to meet with any Congressmen/women you cannot have a sign or backpack or food or even water with you. The police will take anything like that away and you won’t get it back again. Arrange for others to hold onto those things, or store them at one of the several churches that are open for marchers.

    There are lots of street vendors selling over-priced buttons and paraphernalia and food. If you want to avoid that, make sure you get a big breakfast and bring along a trail bar or other such snack. The March always gets going late and there is a huge amount of standing around until it gets going. Stay hydrated, even if you aren’t thirsty. People often don’t realize they are dehydrated in cold weather. There are plenty of porta-potties everywhere as well as churches open, so no worries on that account.

    Parking is nearly impossible in DC (but if you have an inside track on it, go for it). If you are coming down in a private car and not a bus, it is worthwhile to park at a train station a bit outside the city and take the train in. You will want to get off at Union Station, which is within walking distance of the March’s starting point. Most all of the train lines go into Union Station. Here’s a helpful website: http://www.commuterpage.com/pages/transportation-options/commuter-rail/. Buying tickets can be really confusing, so be prepared to ask for help and have lots of ones and fives handy (or you may be forced to buy more ticket(s) than you need).

    That’s all I can think of now. I know others must have tips to offer, too.

  6. CatholicCaliGirl says:

    Me and my best friend have made it a tradition to go to the WFL San Fransisco every year, and we hope to continue it in 2013! :D

  7. atmoe says:

    Will be at Walk for Life in San Francisco!

  8. Paul_S says:

    Friday, January 25, 2013 – 6:00 p.m. – St. Mary Mother of God (“Old St. Mary’s”)

    Joseph Perry, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Chicago, will celebrate the Mass for Juventutem Michigan, Juventutem Boston, and young adults from across the nation. Faithful of all ages are welcome to attend the Mass. Clergy, musicians, and young adults (18-35; married and single) are welcome to attend the post-Mass social. (Bloggers who retweet @Juventutem_MI and @JuvBoston between now and then may be considered as well.)

    Website and Facebook – so far, 80 “yeses” and 130 “maybes” have RSVP’d. Anyone who can help out – particularly with the current young adult outreach in the DC/Maryland/Pennsylvania/Virginia area – is asked to please complete the volunteer survey.

    God bless,
    Paul

  9. Southern Catholic says:

    Yes I’ll be there with the youth ministry as a chaperon.

  10. Adam Welp says:

    I would love to go, but because of business need there is a time off blackout until some time in March. The only time off some of us are getting are the weekends and Holidays when the call center is closed, regardless of the amount of banked time off one has available.

  11. Moro says:

    I will not be going. The March is in theory a worthwhile event and I don’t want to discourage anyone from going. However, for too many people that I know it’s more of a social event than a protest. Furthermore, as much as we need to lobby Washington we need to focus more energy in our cities and towns so that in 15 to 20 years the people who go to DC to serve in Congress are solidly prolife likeBrownback or Santorum.

  12. Moro says:

    I will not be going. The March is in theory a worthwhile event and I don’t want to discourage anyone from going. However, for too many people that I know it’s more of a social event than a protest. We need to lobby Washington but we also need to focus more energy in our cities and towns so that in 15 to 20 years the people who go to DC to serve in Congress are solidly pro-life.

  13. Faith says:

    I usually go but am thinking of dropping out. Every year the Democrats for Life try to join the March and are not made welcome. They are not allowed to speak, so they convene in a nearby hotel.
    Some of the people there are getting to me. Some are there to hate and find others like minded. Some are there to socialize. Some are there to be there, whatever.
    I attend with my diocese. They provide the buses so my schedule is theirs. I would not be able to attend the blognic.

  14. wolfeken says:

    At Saint Mary’s at 5th and H streets, NW, (the hub of Catholic sanity in Washington, D.C.) it is a liturgical treat to see many visiting priests offer traditional Latin Low Masses at the three altars in the sanctuary in the morning hours before the March. “Concelebration” — traditionalist-style. [OORAH!]

  15. Deo volente says:

    @Paul_S

    This was posted already here http://tlm-md.blogspot.com/2012/12/juventutem-michigan-traditional-latin.html and also sent out to over 1400 Facebook friends. It will be re-posted a few weeks before the event!

    Pax tecum,
    D.v.

  16. flyfree432 says:

    I go every year leading youth from the Diocese of Lansing as tye trip coordinator. We are taking two buses this year, up from a total of 7 participants the first year. While you can make it a social visit, we do our best to make it about prayer and penance. We give them a day while we are there to tour but bring them to Catholic sites as well as the Holocaust Museum. We go to the rally for life, march, Silent no More Campaign, pray the rosary at the Supreme Court, and speak to our representatives.

  17. acardnal says:

    Deo volente, I love the photo on your link to the TLM/EF at Old St. Mary’s in Washington, DC because it shows how crowded the pews are! Whenever I attended Sunday Mass there, it was a full house – or rather church.

  18. Dad of Six says:

    I checked “Yes, definitely” as we’ll have at least five of the family going this year. Lapeer County, Michigan RTL is booking two buses…twice as much as previous years!

    It may be a social occasion for some, but the majority I see are praying and going to Holy Mass and Reconciliation while in DC. The numbers grow year by year.

  19. I usually go and simply stand at the Court steps and say the rosary with one or two friends, then scoot out before the 3 P.M. gridlock.

    A Tridentine Mass at St Mary’s would be wonderful and a FrZ-blognic would be GREAT. I will plan to attend, God willing.

    Any displays of ‘hate’ are minimal. Most years I don’t see it all. There is always a little clump of pro-deathers at the steps with signs but they are generally well-behaved.

    Last year’s March surprised us by being early! What irony we observed. Typically the anti-Lifer media go to the steps before the March and tape and interview the pro-deathers. They arrive and scramble out early. They see almost nothing of the March, or the speeches [I’ve NEVER seen them down on the Mall as the walkers collect in front of the stage] or the exuberant youth, or the examples of every slice of life [Orthodox, medical people, nuns, parishes, atheists-for-life, the really old, the very tiny, etc.] milling about. Typically media carefully avoids seeing or recording anything pro-life. Wherever there is a big crowd of pro-lifers, these shapers-of-opinion only record and interview the few pro-deathers. [And some show up after everyone is gone, and they get filmed protesting and then leave – I saw Rep. Holmes Norton do this very thing. It was almost dark, she showed up with a small group at the empty Steps. They posed before the Steps, acting out a ‘protest’ by shouting their phrases, waving arms and signs, while a cameraman squatted down creating an angle that pointed upward to make them look like a larger crowd. After a very short time, 7 minutes?, they all dispersed.]

    Well, last year, the March was easily an hour earlier and the media was swamped by the March at the steps. I wonder at the effect that the tens of thousands of Marchers have on these distorters of information.
    Within that small clump of pro-deathers at the Steps only one same quiet and polite woman is there, everyone else is always a new face. Something interesting is the unmistakable surprise of some of those faces as they see the myriad types of people and the crushing crowd that streams by forever. If any have ever had second thoughts about their pro-death position, their faces show shock at the nice normal people in the thousands that support life. They have NO idea, its clear.
    This is why so many avoid the March itself – those that ‘know’ keep their acquaintances from seeing the truth because it really does have an effect on the brainwashed. And thus the strange lack of honest coverage in the media. Gosh, can’t let anyone know that half the country might be pro-life.

    Faith: I’m sorry your Democrats for Life don’t feel welcome as I see many non-Catholic groups and other political types in the crowd – these folks have signs and are milling about like everyone else. This last year, a very large group of handsome young men stood silently at the Steps with a huge banner showing their belief in life-at-conception with a title something like Atheists for Life. Please give it another try!

    As far as tips:
    D.C. traffic gridlock warnings don’t occur for this day. I wonder if the media is not to acknowledge the snarled traffic in town and around because they’d have to mention the March. Be prepared to sit in vehicles after the March when trying to leave. 3 PM is the breakpoint as 3:30 is when DC workers leave. If you want to get over to the utterly jammed Dubliner where many meet afterwards, its quicker to walk.
    The local traffic/weather/news radio station is WTOP 107.3 FM.

  20. wolfeken says:

    Also, in the What-Time-Is-Midnight-Mass category, remember that the 2013 March is on Friday 25 January — not on Tuesday 22 January (Roe anniversary). An important detail!

  21. Gwen says:

    Join us for the TLM following the Walk for Life West Coast. A Solemn High Mass will be celebrated at 5:00 p.m. at the National Shrine of Saint Francis of Assisi, 610 Vallejo St., San Francisco. The celebrant will be Fr Francisco Nahoe, OFM Conv, Rector of Saint Thomas Aquinas Cathedral in Reno, Nevada. Saint Ann’s Schola, directed by Prof. William Mahrt of Stanford University, will accompany. Two FSSP priests from St Stephen the First Martyr parish in Sacramento will serve as Deacon and Subdeacon.

    Check the website for details and contact info. walkforlifewc dot com
    The St Francis shrine is only about 15 minutes, on foot, from the finish of the walk.

  22. ReginaMarie says:

    Lord willing, we’ll be marching & praying/chanting with Bishop John Kudrick, the Sisters from Christ the Bridegroom Monastery, & the ByzanTeens. Blessed repose & eternal memory for Nellie Gray, it will be odd this year not having her up on stage. Heads-up…if an Orthodox Christian or Eastern Catholic Metropolitan or priest is up onstage speaking/praying during the rally & gives a shout-out to the crowd of, “Glory to Jesus Christ!”…the response is “Glory to Him forever!”

  23. Paul_S says:

    @Deo volente – thanks! Hope to meet you in D.C.!

  24. ndmom says:

    “The March always gets going late and there is a huge amount of standing around until it gets going.”

    You can always skip the “huge amount of standing around” stage and take a brisk walk to see the monuments, or head to a museum to keep warm and dry, until the March actually gets going. The speeches are optional. If one is really good, you can watch it on YouTube later, but most of the speakers go on too long. IMO.

  25. JuliaSaysPax says:

    I’m thinking about driving up to the one in San Francisco, but it’s sort of a distant possibility at the moment.

  26. CAR says:

    I will be attending the March & will be with the Silent No More group. If you attend, Fr. Z, I hope to meet you, as well as others who may come from the Chicagoland area.

  27. jflare says:

    I expect to be there. One of several chaperones for the Archdiocese of Omaha Youth Pilgrimage. I’d say I hope to see some of you there, but considering the crowd last year, I think that unlikely. Once we started “marching”, I couldn’t really keep track of our crowd exactly; more a case of keeping the banner no more than about 100 yards or so ahead. If you manage to catch sight of a slightly organized mob of 300 or so kids with a few adults, most dressed in some form of Cornhusker red, you’ll have found us.

    If you can squeeze through the crowd, say hi!

    Moro, Faith, if I may be so bold, see if you can come anyway. Our crowd of kids did their best to holler some cheers and be joyful, challenge everyone with life and vigor. We’ll also be celebrating Mass a few times during the pilgrimage. I can’t invite you to come with us, but I CAN encourage you to provide a good example for others. It struck me as a relatively social event too, but we need to do SOMETHING. For what it’s worth, we prayed outside the HHS building last year.
    Even if you simply pray on a curb near the Supreme Court, you’re still THERE, making your ideals plain.

    Remember, JP II told us that law would follow culture. We can’t expect abortion to be ended if we don’t give an example of a better way.

    Please try.

  28. MikeM says:

    Fr. Z, if you can, I highly recommend going. It’s inspiring. And, it’s great to be surrounded by such a vibrant group of like-minded people.

    I’ve gone for the past 12 years and plan on going again.

    I’ll keep an eye out for the TLM. And, if there’s a blognic, I might actually be able to make it!

  29. JackG says:

    The 9th annual Walk for Life will take place on Saturday, January 26, 2013, 12:30 PM at Civic Center Plaza, San Francisco: http://www.walkforlifewc.com

    From cal-catholic.com: On December 11, 2012 the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted 10-0 (with 1 supervisor absent) to pass resolution #121172, declaring January 26 to be a celebration of the Roe v. Wade decision, and expressing support for a “Celebration of Women, Life and Liberty” rally to be held at Justin Herman Plaza. Since the anniversary of Roe v. Wade is actually on January 22, and January 26 happens to be the date of the city’s Ninth Annual Walk for Life West Coast, the resolution seems targeted more at the Walk for Life than a commemoration of Roe v. Wade.

  30. ddoyle1220 says:

    I won’t be able to be there this year. Various reasons, including the inauguration, the moving of the dates, etc, has made it so it won’t be feasible for myself, and the fellow seminarians that I study with, to attend. :(

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