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DEFENDING THE BRIDE
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This is my favorite Pro-Life icon for several reasons.
First, it is the most beautiful icon that I have ever seen.
Second, it makes the unmistakable point that Jesus lived inside Mary’s womb for nine months. The pro-life connotations are obvious.
Third, we can be more powerfully persuaded
by pictures than by words. Pictures have a way of staying in one's
mind while words can be more easily forgotten.
9 Months Before Christmas Luke 1:26-38
click to see 158 kb image
image copyrighted
Fourth, this icon is most effective
in breaking through the closed mindedness and defense mechanisms that many
pro-abortionists have. Most people have already made up their mind
on abortion and are very closed minded when it comes to even listening
to the Pro-Life position. Sometimes it can even be hard to get the
pro-lifers to come to a pro-life talk. I can use this icon
to promote fundamental truths without starting an argument, and ending
the discussion. (1) Oftentimes it is beneficial to plant the seeds
of truth in a non-confrontational way. While the closed mindedness
of the pro-abortionist may incline him to totally ignore other pro-life
arguments, he may be less defensive about this icon which does not even
mention abortion or Pro-Life. It is not until he or she really thinks
about the implications of this icon that he is drawn to a respect for all
life. By that time he has had the chance to really contemplate and
enjoy this beautiful piece of art.
Fifth, even Protestant Pro-Lifers will find this an attractive means of advancing their cause. If we could get all Christians to be totally committed to life it would help tremendously. (2) Protestants will often ignore feasts like the Annunciation. Traditional paintings of this feast only show the Blessed Virgin Mary and Archangel Gabriel in a prominent way, with perhaps a small representation of the Holy Spirit. These paintings do not appear to be Christ centered to our separated brothers and sisters, and therefore they view these paintings as a distraction from Jesus Christ. However, this icon shows what it is all about. The depiction of Christ inside Mary’s womb demonstrates that Jesus Christ’s coming into our world at the Annunciation is truly a Christ centered event.
Sixth, This Pro-Life Icon reminds me of the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe which God used in 1531 AD. The Holy Spirit worked through Mary to convert a culture of death into life. At first, the Spanish missionaries were only able to inspire a few conversions. Catholicism had appeared to the Indians to be a white man’s religion, and a religion for the rich and powerful Spanish soldiers.
Obviously the image of our Lady of Guadalupe is miraculous, but God also chose to work through this image through practical means. The image, a humble pregnant woman wearing Indian dress, showed the Indians that God loved them, the simple Indian, very deeply and that Christianity was for them too. Over nine million Indians converted in nine years.
Just as Our Lady of Guadalupe conveyed a profound message to the Indians through practical means this Pro-Life Icon also uses practical means to convey the most fundamentally important Pro-Life fact. While Our Lady of Guadalupe sends a powerful message to the weak and humble American Indian, the Pro-Life Icon above communicates in a vividly powerful way to everyone the fountain of our Pro-Life convictions, that God is Life and that human life begins at conception.
Seventh, it takes the Pro-Life message to a
higher level. It conveys the beauty of life. No abortionist can make
a likewise positive and uplifting proposition to advance his cause.
This icon is a perfect remedy for many of society’s ills. It can be used to silently teach many important truths. Misunderstandings about Mary’s role and true humility can make it hard for others to see the real beauty of this icon. Please, read my other article about this at
TRUE BEAUTY -
AND THE CONTRADICTIONS OF THE WORLD
This icon is especially effective because abortionists often wish to deny or at least ignore the fact that a separate and distinct individual is living inside the womb of a pregnant woman. This beautiful picture depicts what recent medical science has proven, that an individual's life begins at conception.
This Pro-Life icon is most beneficial to our Pro-Life efforts.
It unmistakably points Christians to two very important questions and therefore
to the answers for those questions.
Question #1:
“When did God work the miracle inside the womb of the Blessed Virgin ?”
Answer:
“Nine months [or very close to that] before Jesus was born.”
Question #2:
“When did Jesus first come to us ?”
Answer:
“Not at Christmas, as some might respond, but rather He came approximately
nine months before that. We celebrate His coming on the Feast of
the Annunciation, March 25, when He came to live inside Mary’s womb for
nine months.”
I prefer to display this icon with the words
Unfortunately many girls who are mostly opposed to abortion end up getting one. The lies that our culture tells them are so much “easier” to believe when they have an unplanned pregnancy. By strengthening and confirming this very important fact of when life begins we can strengthen their resolve to resist those lies.
The declaration “I AM” around the pre-born Child, denotes that Jesus is God. [Cf. Exodus 3:14, Luke 1: 43-44. ] However, it also has an important Pro-Life implication. It is as if Jesus were saying, “I am here. I exist in this womb. I am a real person.”
The pictures that I provide do not begin to capture the beauty of this masterpiece. So, my suggestion, for your consideration, is to buy this beautiful icon to see its real beauty. Then, show it to everyone that you can.
This copyrighted icon by Rev. Anthony La Femina can be
purchased from
Catholics United for Life.
3050 Gap Knob Road
New Hope, Kentucky 40052
USA
Phone number, with a major credit card: 1-800-764-8444.
I purchased this icon for $ 25. I liked it so much that
I bought second one also.
Also, click to see
Getting
The Icon Framed
and why I believe that the wording
“9 Months Before Christmas Luke 1:26-38”
is best placed under the icon.
The Great Jubilee - 2000 Anno Domini
by
Rev. Msgr. Anthony A. La Femina, S.T.L., J.C.D.
“Pope John Paul II proclaimed 2000 AD a Jubilee Year. The Great
Jubilee celebrates the Second Millennium Anniversary of God’s becoming
man. It is a momentous and joyful event because in the Lord Jesus the history
of salvation finds its culmination and meaning. ...
The Incarnation is the precise moment when the Son of God came into
our world by assuming human nature from a woman (Gal 4:4). For this reason
the Incarnation was chosen for the poster of The Great Jubilee. ...”
ENDNOTES:
1. Pointing out the horrors of abortion is certainly a necessary part of the Pro-Life apostolate. And the direct and explicit refutation of the errors of the pro-abortionists are necessary in other circumstances.
2. Many Protestant church’s have caved in to the abortion agenda
by refusing to defend the unborn children from this horrible holocaust.
Many Protestants claim to be personally opposed to abortion while accepting
and defending the legal "right" of others to decide to kill
their unborn child. Social justice means nothing if we do not defend
the most innocent and their most basic right of all, the right to live.
Without this right all other human rights are meaningless since they are
all based on it. We must stand up for the truth of Christ.
More Icons by
Rev. Monsignor Anthony La Femina
See Articles at