Join the St. James at Sag Bridge hour of prayer in the Fall campaign, which runs Sept. 27 through Nov. 5.  Each Friday at 3 pm, beginning Sept 29, we plead to bring an end to abortion through peaceful prayer. In these difficult times, we also pray for our country and the conversion of the hearts and minds of many of our country's leaders.

Pray-ers gather outside the Access Health Center at 1700 75th Street in Downers Grove (just east of 355 and directly across from the Village Greens Golf Course) to pray the rosary and other prayers in a powerful, peaceful witness for life.  

For more information on 40 Days and to sign up for personal prayer hours:  40daysforlife.org.
 

On March 25th, the Feast of the Annunciation, we began  9 months of praying for an unborn child. Join us anytime!  You can decide what works best for your family – a Hail Mary, decade of the rosary, or even this short prayer from Archbishop Fulton Sheen:  “Jesus, Mary and Joseph, I love you very much.  I beg you to spare the life of the unborn baby that I have spiritually adopted who is in danger of abortion.” The prayer should continue until Christmas.  There are monthly communications from the baby describing development in the womb. Let’s all fight and pray for the most vulnerable.

Suggestions:

• Any baby in the womb benefits from prayers.  Over 4,000 babies lose their lives each day to abortion, so in particular it would be good to adopt a baby in danger.
• Each family member can adopt a baby, or the whole family together can adopt a single baby.
• Name the baby you are adopting and praying for.  Naming him or her gives the baby the humanity he or she deserves.
• Put the baby's name on your refrigerator as a reminder. 
• Look for bulletin announcements describing your adopted baby's growth & development.  The miracle of life is fascinating!
• Decide what manner of prayer you will be offering on behalf of your adopted baby:
  • Rosary
  • One decade of a rosary
  • Archbishop Sheen's prayer (above)
  • The Memorare
  • A prayer of your own creation
• Decide at what time of the day you will pray (the same time every day makes it easy to remember to do it):
  • With your morning prayers
  • With your bedtime prayers
  • At noon (perhaps with the Angelus)
  • As a family along with your dinner meal prayer
• Light a votive candle for your adopted baby whenever the opportunity arises.
• Imagine your adopted baby accompanying you at Adoration.
• Remember you are sharing with your adopted baby the love for life that God has given you.  God loves your adopted baby, and He loves you for caring for one of His most precious creations. 

Legislators assume that for every postcard/letter/email they receive, there are 10 more constituents that feel the same way but never bothered to write. For this reason, handwritten postcards can be a very impactful way to affect legislators – even those who would typically disagree with your politics. You may write postcards to legislators that are not your own. You may write postcards to the same legislators repeatedly. Personally, I like to send postcards once a week as I feel that repetition can make a message more impactful.

Currently there is 1 bill at the federal level that is of concern.

1. We want to SUPPORT the Care For Her Act H.R 5163.

This bill supports crisis pregnancy centers, which help pregnant women choose life by providing resources to pregnant and struggling mothers. It also provides incentives to improve maternal health, job training for mothers, and extends the child tax credit to unborn children (available retroactively after they are born). The Denver Catholic wrote a summary of the bill:https://denvercatholic.org/care-for-her-act-a-common-sense-approach-to-caring-for-women-and-their-babies/

A list of legislators to whom we are sending postcards as well as suggested text can be found here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uo9eSus8bpmTTyASHFTz85l-YPdNxTZq8yUKV-fwLXg/edit?usp=sharing