UGCC prays for aborted children

On the second Saturday of the Great Lent the faithful of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church remember in their prayers all the children who died due to abortions. On the occasion of this important tradition, the UGCC Commission for Pastoral Care of Health Protection issued a special Appeal. “This day is a day of mourning for lost children. And for those who feel the great burdens of this sin - it is a day dedicated to understanding, forgiveness and reconciliation”- reads the Appeal statement. With this Appeal, the Commission is trying to draw direct public attention to the problem of abortions and their incredibly negative consequences.

The UGCC Information Department

    Appendix :

Appeal on the occasion of the “Day of Remembrance of Aborted Children”

  Glory be to Jesus Christ! Dear brothers and sisters in Christ!  Customarily on the second Saturday of the Great Lent our Church remembers in its prayers the children who died due to abortions. Dearly beloved, this day is an important day of mourning for lost children, and for those who feel the great burdens of this sin - it is a day dedicated to understanding, forgiveness and reconciliation. From the very moment of conception, a new human life receives a body and an immortal soul. The Lord very clearly says: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you…I appointed you (Jer 1,5).” For this reason, the Church summons its sons and daughters: let each of us respect and protect human life from the moment of its conception! Let each of us with his/her testimony, and an active stand of life, help our society to heal itself from this serious spiritual leprosy - abortion!
We remind you that God forbids killing an unborn child. This is an extremely grave sin of homicide, murder, regardless of what the state laws and purely human speculations say on this issue! Inside this idea lies our highest obligation; to obey God, not man!   Let us resist all attempts to lull our conscience by using terms such as “embryo”, “fetus,” as if we were treating not an alive human being but something inanimate. Let us be vigilant and educate our neighbours to the fact “abortion,” or “termination of pregnancy,” is simply stated nothing other than killing an alive, unborn human being. When an innocent person is killed, his/her blood cries out from the soil for the vengeance of God (cf. Gn. 4, 10). Therefore, the burden of murder of an unborn child is sure to impact parents, our direct descendants, and all those involved in the sin. However, the Lord said: “ If my people, upon whom my name has been pronounced, humble themselves and pray, and seek my presence and turn from their evil ways, I will hear them from heaven and pardon their sins and revive their land" (II Chron. 7 , 14).
So, during the time of Lent when the Church prays for aborted children, let each of us ask God’s forgiveness for this grave sin of infanticide, which burdens our country. Let us pray for the gift of repentance, forgiveness and holy reconciliation for the dear aborted children. May our all merciful God indeed extend His mercy to us, to our mothers, to our fathers, to our nation, to our state, and grant eternal repose to the innocently killed unborn children.

Appendix 1: “Let us also pray for the children intentionally killed in their mother’s womb.  Let us pray for those who unknowingly became victims of human wrong-doings and experiments, as well as those who very tragically died without the Sacrament of Baptism. You, O Lord, baptize Yourself all of these innocents in the sea of your eternal mercy and your eternal love and deprive them not of your light and Heavenly Kingdom”