CatholicMil.org is an "online" homeport for all Catholic families that have a loved one serving in the United States Armed Forces. The site's goal is to help with both the practical and the spiritual, including determining whether the next duty station has an assigned Catholic Chaplain, expressing concerns over the current conflict or conflicts past, offering spiritual prayer support, and more.

This site does justice to those Catholics serving in the Armed Forces. It is extremely well done and covers the issues and concerns of those in the military in a clear and aesthetically pleasing way.

From Catholic Culture

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"The Kingdom of God is at Hand"

Sometimes it can be difficult to believe that the Kingdom of God is at hand. Yet, these are the words of our Lord which he proclaimed at the beginning of His public ministry. As the Catechism makes clear, the coming of the Kingdom of God is most clearly found our Lord's death and Resurrection. The season of Lent is another opportunity to see His Kingdom come in our hearts as we unite ourselves to Him through our praying, fasting, and almsgiving.

541   "Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying: 'The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent, and believe in the gospel.'" "To carry out the will of the Father Christ inaugurated the kingdom of heaven on earth." Now the Father's will is "to raise up men to share in his own divine life". He does this by gathering men around his Son Jesus Christ. This gathering is the Church, "on earth the seed and beginning of that kingdoms".

542   Christ stands at the heart of this gathering of men into the "family of God". By his word, through signs that manifest the reign of God, and by sending out his disciples, Jesus calls all people to come together around him. But above all in the great Paschal mystery - his death on the cross and his Resurrection - he would accomplish the coming of his kingdom. "and I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself." Into this union with Christ all men are called.

Catechism of the Catholic Church

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Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday is on February 25th this year.

In the Western Church, Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent, the 40-day period of fasting before Easter. On Ash Wednesday, ashes are blessed, mixed with either holy oil or water, and imposed on the head with the sign of the cross, or sprinkled on the forehead. The ashes are made from burning palm branches blessed the previous year on Palm Sunday. When the priest imposes the ashes he says either "remember man you are dust, and to dust you will return" (see Genesis 3:19), or "turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel" (Mark 1:15).

The ashes serve a dual purpose. First, as the above words imply, we are reminded of our mortality and humanity as we begin the Lenten Fast. Second, the ashes are a Biblical symbol of repentance, sorrow, and humility. There are many cases in the Scriptures of wearing ashes as a sign of penitence, often while wearing sackcloth. In 2 Samuel 13:19, Tamar puts on ashes and tears her clothes as a sign of sadness and repentance. In Esther 4:1-3, after learning of the king's decree to kill all Jews, Mordecai tears his garments, and puts on sackcloth and ashes. His fellow Jews do the same thing, as well as beginning to fast. The prophet Jeremiah (6:26) urges his readers to "gird on sackcloth and roll in ashes."

Fasting is a major component of Ash Wednesday, and Ash Wednesday is an official fast day of the Church, along with Good Friday. Fasting has a long history in the Church. In Acts 13:1-3, it was while "worshipping the Lord and fasting" that the Holy Spirit led the Apostles to set apart Paul and Barnabas for their work. In Matthew 9:14, Jesus assumes that after he leaves the earth his followers will fast. The history of the Church is filled with stories of fasting and its spiritual value. However, Jesus warns us not to be obvious about our fasting, or only fasting to impress others. Thus, Ash Wednesday is based on the biblical concept of repentance, and the ashes and fasting that are associated with repentance.

Ash Wednesday is unknown in the Eastern Church, and developed only in the West. Orthodox Churches begin Lent on a Monday, known as "Clean Monday." Ash Wednesday as an official fast day dates to at least the 8th century, since it appears in the Gregorian Sacramentary from that period. Originally, Lent began on a Sunday. However, in order to bring the number of days of Lent to 40 (the days Jesus fasted in the wilderness), the beginning of Lent was eventually transferred to a Wednesday

Originally, Ash Wednesday was the day when public penitents in Rome began their penance. Recall that in the early Church, penance was often public and protracted. It was only later that private confession and penance began, for pastoral reasons. When public penance gradually fell into disuse by the 8th century, Ash Wednesday became a day of penitence and fasting for all members of the Church. Today, Ash Wednesday is a universal Fast day in the Catholic Church. Many Western Protestant churches also observe Ash Wednesday, including Anglicans, Lutherans, Presbyterians, and United Methodists.

From ChurchYear.Net

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Lenten Fast and Abstinence Rules

Each Catholic is asked to preserve Lent's penitential purpose and character, which begins Ash Wednesday. Therefore:

• Catholics who have celebrated their 14th birthday are bound to abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday and each Friday of Lent.


• Catholics who have celebrated their 18th birthday, in addition to abstaining from meat, should fast, that is, eat only one full meal on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Smaller quantities of food may be taken at two other meals, but no food should be consumed at other times during those two days. The obligation of fasting ceases with the celebration of one's 59th birthday.

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Ash Wednesday and the Beginning of Lent

In the Roman Rite, the beginning of the forty days of penance is marked with the austere symbol of ashes which are used in the Liturgy of Ash Wednesday. The use of ashes is a survival from an ancient rite according to which converted sinners submitted themselves to canonical penance. The act of putting on ashes symbolizes fragility and mortality, and the need to be redeemed by the mercy of God. Far from being a merely external act, the Church has retained the use of ashes to symbolize that attitude of internal penance to which all the baptized are called during Lent. The faithful who come to receive ashes should be assisted in perceiving the implicit internal significance of this act, which disposes them towards conversion and renewed Easter commitment.

Notwithstanding the secularization of contemporary society, the Christian faithful, during Lent, are clearly conscious of the need to turn the mind towards those realities which really count, which require Gospel commitment and integrity of life which, through self denial of those things which are superfluous, are translated into good works and solidarity with the poor and needy.

Those of the faithful who infrequently attend the sacraments of Penance and the Holy Eucharist should be aware of the long ecclesial tradition associating the precept of confessing grave sins and receive Holy Communion at least once during the Lenten season, or preferably during Eastertide.

From Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy (125)

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Sunday's Readings: Isaiah 43:18-19, 21-22, 24-25 Psalms 41:2-5, 13-14 2 Corinthians 1:18-22 Mark 2:1-12

Here are several commentaries on these readings:

• St. Charles Borromeo Lectionary Site (PDF)


• God’s Great 'Amen' (Also available to be heard as an MP3) from St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology


• The Healing of the Paralytic from The Crossroads Initiative

On January 8th of this year, the Church militant lost Fr. Richard John Neuhaus. His life was filled with engagement in the public square through the exercise of his faith which manifested itself in his marching with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and being an advisor to presidents. His own spiritual journey took him from his formation as a Lutheran to being ordained a priest in the Roman Catholic Church. In 1990, he founded the Institute on Religion and Public Life. The journal of the Institute is First Things.

This is the home page of First Things, a monthly journal published by The Institute on Religion and Public Life, an interreligious, nonpartisan research and education institute whose purpose is to advance a religiously informed public philosophy for the ordering of society.

From Catholic Culture

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St. Claude de la Colombière

The feast day of St. Claude de la Colombière is February 15th.

Claude de la Colombière is best known for his association with St. Margaret Mary Alacoque and the devotion of the Sacred Heart, but his life has its own drama. He was sent to England after his spiritual direction of St. Margaret Mary was over and became embroiled in the Titus Oates "Popish Plot," was imprisoned, then banished from England. His story is part of the history of the seventeenth century.

He was born near Lyons in 1641 and entered the Society of Jesus at Avignon. After his novitiate, he taught grammar and the humanities. Even before his ordination to the priesthood, he gained a reputation as a preacher. After completing his studies in Paris, he became tutor to the sons of Colbert, the financial minister of Louis XIV, but was dismissed from his post and returned to Avignon.

In 1675, after his solemn profession as a Jesuit, he was appointed superior at Paray-le-Monial, in which the convent of St. Margaret Mary was located. Here he became her spiritual director, encouraged her in the spread of the devotion to the Sacred Heart, and was described by our Lord as His "faithful and perfect friend."

Because of his remarkable gifts and judgment, he was sent to England, to be court preacher to the duchess of York, wife of the future James II, and took up residence in London. His radiant personality and splendid gifts were noted by everyone. When the alleged "Popish Plot" to assassinate King Charles II shook the country, St. Claude was accused of complicity in the plot and imprisoned. Through the intervention of Louis XIV of France, he was released, then banished from the country. He spent his last years at Paray-le-Monial, his health broken.

He died on February 15, 1682, an apostle of the devotion to the Sacred Heart. He was beatified in 1929, and on May 31, 1992 in Rome, he was canonized by Pope John Paul II.

From EWTN's Saints and other Holy People

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In this month dedicated to the Holy Family, it is worth our time to meditate on the fact the God chose for His Son to spend the greater part of His earthly life hidden from public view and within the confines of the Holy Family. In this family, He was nurtured body and soul, by the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph. As the Catechism points out, His obedience to His earthly parents is the early manifestation of the obedience He would demonstrate through His willingness to undergo His Passion.

531   During the greater part of his life Jesus shared the condition of the vast majority of human beings: a daily life spent without evident greatness, a life of manual labor. His religious life was that of a Jew obedient to the law of God, a life in the community. From this whole period it is revealed to us that Jesus was "obedient" to his parents and that he "increased in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man."

532   Jesus' obedience to his mother and legal father fulfills the fourth commandment perfectly and was the temporal image of his filial obedience to his Father in heaven. the everyday obedience of Jesus to Joseph and Mary both announced and anticipated the obedience of Holy Thursday: "Not my will. . ." The obedience of Christ in the daily routine of his hidden life was already inaugurating his work of restoring what the disobedience of Adam had destroyed.

533   The hidden life at Nazareth allows everyone to enter into fellowship with Jesus by the most ordinary events of daily life:

The home of Nazareth is the school where we begin to understand the life of Jesus - the school of the Gospel. First, then, a lesson of silence. May esteem for silence, that admirable and indispensable condition of mind, revive in us. . . A lesson on family life. May Nazareth teach us what family life is, its communion of love, its austere and simple beauty, and its sacred and inviolable character... A lesson of work. Nazareth, home of the "Carpenter's Son", in you I would choose to understand and proclaim the severe and redeeming law of human work. . . To conclude, I want to greet all the workers of the world, holding up to them their great pattern their brother who is God.

534   The finding of Jesus in the temple is the only event that breaks the silence of the Gospels about the hidden years of Jesus. Here Jesus lets us catch a glimpse of the mystery of his total consecration to a mission that flows from his divine sonship: "Did you not know that I must be about my Father's work?" Mary and Joseph did not understand these words, but they accepted them in faith. Mary "kept all these things in her heart" during the years Jesus remained hidden in the silence of an ordinary life.

Catechism of the Catholic Church

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The St. Anselm Institute will host a lecture on Wednesday, February 18th at 7:00 p.m. at Minor Hall at the University. The lecture, entitled "Modern Physics, Ancient Faith", will be presented by Stephen Barr. Mr. Barr is a theoretical particle physicist at the Bartol Research Institute. He is the author of Modern Science, Ancient Faith and an essayist for First Things regarding the philosophy of science and religion. His lecture will focus on clarifying the misunderstandings about the tension between religion and science and how those misunderstandings can be replaced by ways that both can speak to each other.

This is the fourth lecture in this year's St. Anselm Institute lecture series.

Minor Hall can be found on this map of the grounds.

Prayer of Consecration of a Family to the Holy Family

The month of February is dedicated to the Holy Family perhaps in part because of the Feast of the Presentation on February 2nd.

Most loving Jesus, by Your sublime and beautiful virtues of humility, obedience, poverty, modesty, charity, patience, and gentleness, You blessed with peace and happiness the family which You chose on earth. In Your mercy look upon my family. We belong to You, for we have received Your many blessings over many years and we entrust ourselves to Your loving care.

Look upon my family in Your loving kindness, preserve us from danger, give us help in time of need, and grant us the grace to persevere to the end in imitation of Your holy Family, so that having revered You and loved You faithfully on earth, we may praise You eternally in heaven.

Mary, dearest Mother, to your intercession we have recourse, knowing that your Divine Son will hear your prayers. Glorious patriarch, Saint Joseph, help us by your powerful prayers and offer our prayers to Jesus through Mary’s hands. Amen.

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Sunday's Readings: Leviticus 13:1-2, 44-46 Psalm 32:1-2, 5, 11 1 Corinthians 10:31-11:1 Mark 1:40-45

Here are several commentaries on these readings:

• St. Charles Borromeo Lectionary Site (PDF)


• Made Clean (Also available to be heard as an MP3) from St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology


• Lessons from the Leper from The Crossroads Initiative

This is the site of the official Vatican channel on the largest internet video community in the world. This channel offers news coverage of the main activities of the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI and of relevant Vatican events. It is updated daily. Video images are produced by Centro Televisio Vaticano (CTV), texts by Vatican Radio (RV) and CTV. Links give access to the full and official texts of cited documents.

From Catholic Culture

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St. Valentine's Day

St. Valentine's Day is February 14th.

Most of what is known about Saint Valentine (Latin: Valentinus) is legendary. In fact, historians are not completely sure which Valentine is commemorated on February 14. The commemoration may refer to up to three Valentines. The first was a Roman priest martyred on the Flaminian Way under Roman Emperor Claudius (c. AD 269). The second was a bishop of Terni (ancient Interamna), born around 175 AD, who was taken to Rome and martyred. The third Valentine was a martyr in the Roman province of Africa, about whom little else is known. The accounts of martyrdom of all three Valentines are legendary, although each legend may contain kernels of fact. All three were likely martyred, hence the color of red that is used liturgically (although the reason red is associated with modern St. Valentine celebrations is likely because red is the color of some roses). The "Acts" of Saint Valentine are of medieval origin (6th-7th centuries), and are historically unreliable. The name Valentine was popular in antiquity, as it is derived from the word valens, "worthy."

Over time, the feast grew in popularity and, eventually, began to be associated with love and lovers. Some scholars have speculated that the association with romantic love on Valentine's Day is related to customs associated with the Roman festival of Lupercalia, which fell in mid-February. Others believe that the connection of Saint Valentine's Day to romance relates to the natural season in which the feast falls. However, medieval scholar Jack Oruch, in the July 1981 issue of Speculum (Journal of Medieval Studies), makes a strong case that the Saint Valentine's Day connection to love and romance derives solely from Geoffrey Chaucer's Parliament of Foules. Even though Chaucer connects the romantic overtones of Saint Valentine's Day to ancient customs, Oruch effectively argues that no such traditions existed before Chaucer's time. Thus, modern research suggests it is unlikely that secular Saint Valentine's Day customs are pagan practices derived from the Roman Lupercalia.

Modern customs associated with Saint Valentine's Day are traced back to the 1840s when Leigh Eric Schmidt essentially reinvented the holiday. The first mass produced "valentines" were made in 1847, and by the latter half of the twentieth century, giving all sorts of romantic items (besides just cards) became associated with Valentine's Day. In some schools, it is a custom for classes to exchange valentine cards with all other students in the class. While secular customs associated with Saint Valentine's Day are either morally neutral or even good (such as giving gifts), the modern secular holiday has little connection to the original saint(s) or feast.

From ChurchYear.net

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Each feast day of a consecrated person reminds us that the Lord calls many of His children to a special devotion to Him as a brother or sister in a consecrated state. As the Catechism notes, all of Christ's disciples are called to follow the evangelical counsels. However, a special call is given to those whom the Lord asks to profess these counsels in a permanent state of life.

915   Christ proposes the evangelical counsels, in their great variety, to every disciple. the perfection of charity, to which all the faithful are called, entails for those who freely follow the call to consecrated life the obligation of practicing chastity in celibacy for the sake of the Kingdom, poverty and obedience. It is the profession of these counsels, within a permanent state of life recognized by the Church, that characterizes the life consecrated to God.

916   The religious state is thus one way of experiencing a "more intimate" consecration, rooted in Baptism and dedicated totally to God. In the consecrated life, Christ's faithful, moved by the Holy Spirit, propose to follow Christ more nearly, to give themselves to God who is loved above all and, pursuing the perfection of charity in the service of the Kingdom, to signify and proclaim in the Church the glory of the world to come.

Catechism of the Catholic Church

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Litany of Our Lady of Lourdes

The Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes is February 11th. This is the anniversary of the first apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary to St. Bernadette Soubirous.

Lord have mercy; Lord have mercy.
Christ have mercy; Christ have mercy.
Lord have mercy; Lord have mercy.

Christ hear us; Christ graciously hear us.

God the Father of Heaven; Have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world; Have mercy on us.
God the Holy Spirit; Have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, one God; Have mercy on us.

Holy Mary; Pray for us.
Holy Mother of God; Pray for us.
Mother of Christ; Pray for us.
Mother of our Savior; Pray for us.
Our Lady of Lourdes, Help of Christians; Pray for us.
Our Lady of Lourdes, Source of love; Pray for us.
Our Lady of Lourdes, Mother of the poor; Pray for us.
Our Lady of Lourdes, Mother of the handicapped; Pray for us.
Our Lady of Lourdes, Mother of orphans; Pray for us.
Our Lady of Lourdes, Mother of all children; Pray for us.
Our Lady of Lourdes, Mother of all nations; Pray for us.
Our Lady of Lourdes, Mother of the Church; Pray for us.
Our Lady of Lourdes, Friend of the lonely; Pray for us.
Our Lady of Lourdes, Comforter of those who mourn; Pray for us.
Our Lady of Lourdes, Shelter of the homeless; Pray for us.
Our Lady of Lourdes, Guide of travelers; Pray for us.
Our Lady of Lourdes, Strength of the weak; Pray for us.
Our Lady of Lourdes, Refuge of sinners; Pray for us.
Our Lady of Lourdes, Comforter of the suffering; Pray for us.
Our Lady of Lourdes, Help of the dying; Pray for us.
Queen of heaven; Pray for us.
Queen of peace; Pray for us.

Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world; Spare us O Lord.
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world; Graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world; Have mercy on us.

Christ hear us; Christ graciously hear us.

Let us pray: Grant us, your servants, we pray you, Lord God, to enjoy perpetual health of mind and body. By the glorious intercession of Blessed Mary ever Virgin, may we be delivered from present sorrows, and enjoy everlasting happiness. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

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Sunday's Readings: Job 7:1-4, 6-7 Psalm 147:1-6 1 Corinthians 9:16-19, 22-23 Mark 1:29-39

Here are several commentaries on these readings:

• St. Charles Borromeo Lectionary Site (PDF)


• Raised to Serve (Also available to be heard as an MP3) from St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology


• We're on a Mission from God from The Crossroads Initiative

Students, teachers, and all those who seek a better knowledge of the social doctrine of the Church will find on the Social Agenda a collection of the central statements of the Roman Pontiffs from a range of texts, including papal encyclicals, apostolic letters, and Conciliar documents, on matters relating to politics, economics, and culture.

The selections are arranged thematically according to the significant subject areas of Catholic social doctrine. Under each subject heading, the quotations appear in pedagogical—as opposed to chronological or magisterial—order, with each subject area opening with a quotation that explains the issue at hand.

The website is an online version of The Social Agenda: A Collection of Magisterial Texts and is a publication of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. The book may be printed, downloaded as a PDF or purchased. The site is available in English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Italian and Polish.

From Catholic Culture

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The presentation of our Lord in the Temple is a sign to us of who Christ is and what His mission is as explained in the Catechism.

529   The presentation of Jesus in the temple shows him to be the firstborn Son who belongs to the Lord. With Simeon and Anna, all Israel awaits its encounter with the Savior - the name given to this event in the Byzantine tradition. Jesus is recognized as the long-expected Messiah, the "light to the nations" and the "glory of Israel", but also "a sign that is spoken against". The sword of sorrow predicted for Mary announces Christ's perfect and unique oblation on the cross that will impart the salvation God had "prepared in the presence of all peoples".

Catechism of the Catholic Church

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On Wednesday, February 10th at 7:30 p.m., St. Thomas Aquinas parish will host the annual St. Thomas Aquinas lecture. This year the lecture will be presented by Fr. Augustine Thompson, O.P., S.T.M. He will present a lecture entitled, "The Soul You Lose May Be Your Own: Historical Reflections On The Task of the Theologian".

Fr. Thompson is a Dominican priest of the Western Dominican Province. He currently is a professor in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Virginia. He is also an editor of a blog on Dominican Liturgy.

The lecture was originally scheduled for January 28, 2009, but was canceled due to inclement weather. For any possible schedule changes due to inclement weather on February 10th, check the St. Thomas Aquinas Web site.

Novena in Honor of Our Lady of Lourdes
February 2 to 10
Feast: February 11

O ever Immaculate Virgin, Mother of Mercy, Health of the Sick, Refuge of Sinners, Comfort to the Afflicted, you know my wants, my troubles, my sufferings. Deign to cast upon me a look of mercy. By appearing in the Grotto of Lourdes, you were pleased to make it a privileged sanctuary, whence you dispense your favors; and already many sufferers have obtained the cure of their infirmities, both spiritual and corporal.

I come, therefore, with the most unbounded confidence to implore your maternal intercession. Obtain, O loving Mother, the granting of my requests.

Through gratitude for favors, I will endeavor to imitate your virtues that I may one day share your glory.

Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us. Amen.

(Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be.)

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Candlemas

The feast of Candlemas or the Presentation of the Lord is celebrated on February 2nd.

Egeria, writing around AD 380, attests to a feast of the Presentation in the Jerusalem Church. It was kept on February 14th. The day was kept by a procession to the Constantinian basilica of the Resurrection, with a homily on Luke 2:22-39. However, the feast had no proper name at this point; it was simply called the 40th day after Epiphany. This shows that the Jerusalem church celebrated Jesus' birth on the Epiphany Feast (as is common in some Eastern Churches today).
In regions where Christ's birth was celebrated on December 25th, the feast began to be celebrated on February 2nd, where it is kept in the West today. In 542, the Emperor Justinian introduced the feast to the entire Eastern Roman empire in thanksgiving for the end to a great pestilence afflicting the city of Constantinople. Perhaps this is when Pope Gregory I brought the feast to Rome. Either way, by the 7th century, it is contained in the Gelasianum Sacramentary. Pope Sergius (687-701) introduced the procession to the Candlemas service. The blessing of candles did not come into common use until the 11th century.

While some scholars have asserted that the Candlemas feast was developed in the Middle Ages to counteract the pagan feasts of Imbolc and Lupercalia, many scholars reject this, based on Medieval documents. While the feast does coincide with these two pagan holidays, the origins of the feast are based in Scriptural chronology. Some superstitions developed about Candlemas, including the belief that if one does not take down Christmas decorations by Candlemas, traces of the holly and berries will bring about the death of the person involved. In past times, Candlemas was seen as the end of the Christmas season.
Candlemas Day was also the day when some cultures predicted weather patterns. Farmers believed that the remainder of winter would be the opposite of whatever the weather was like on Candlemas Day. An old English song goes:

If Candlemas be fair and bright,
Come winter, have another flight;
If Candlemas bring clouds and rain,
Go winter, and come not again.

Thus if the sun cast a shadow on Candlemas day, more winter was on the way; if there was no shadow, winter was thought to be ending soon. This practice led to the folklore behind "Groundhog's Day," which falls on Candlemas Day.

Today, the feast is still celebrated on February 14th in some Eastern Churches, including the Armenian Church, where the feast is called, "The Coming of the Son of God into the Temple." Most churches celebrate it on February 2nd.

From ChurchYear.net

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For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy. - St. Thérèrse of Liseaux

The Holy Father's prayer intentions for February are:

General:   That the Pastors of the Church may always be docile to the action of the Holy Spirit in their teaching and in their service to God's people.

Mission:   That the Church in Africa may find adequate ways and means to promote reconciliation, justice and peace efficaciously, according to the indications of the Synod of the Bishops’ Special Assembly for Africa.

Pro-Life Prayer Intention

That God may bless and strengthen the pro-life efforts of
college students.