A statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe, long a symbol of the pro-life movement, is carried into St. Mary's Cathedral in Peoria in this photo from a previous Mass for the Legal Protection of the Unborn. This year's Mass and Holy Hour is set for 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 22. (The Catholic Post/Jennifer Willems)

As the 48th anniversary of the Supreme Court decisions legalizing abortion approaches this Friday, Jan. 22, people are planning to stand up for human life in a variety of ways, including a Mass and Holy Hour at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Peoria. It will begin at 6:30 p.m. with Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, CSC, as the main celebrant.

The homilist will be Father William Miller, vicar for respect life for the Diocese of Peoria and rector of the cathedral.

A Holy Hour with Eucharistic Adoration and rosary will follow the liturgy. Both the Mass and Holy Hour will have simultaneous Spanish translation.

Reservations are requested to make certain everyone has a seat in the cathedral. Those can be made by going to this page on the website of the Diocese of Peoria. The Mass and Holy Hour will also be livestreamed at cdop.org/livestream.

For a story on other pro-life events planned this month in the Diocese of Peoria, click here.

SPIRITUAL BATTLE

On the church calendar in the United States, Jan. 22 has come to be known as the Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children, and Father Miller said it is important to offer prayers of reparation for abortion’s “terrible attack on innocent life.”

But prayers of intercession are also needed “for the conversion of minds and hearts that will overturn such unjust laws — as the laws that gave legal protection to slavery were overturned,” he told The Catholic Post.

“We are facing very serious political setbacks when it comes to the rights of pre-born humans but we must not give up because this is a just cause and a cause that cannot be ignored without serious peril to all that we hold dear,” Father Miller said. He added that this can’t be reduced to a political battle alone, however.

“We are ultimately in a spiritual battle in which spiritual weapons of prayer and penance must be used with greater courage and self-sacrifice to win more hearts and minds to the truth of the sanctity of human life — from its beginning,” he said. “Our faith in Christ is our confidence and our conscience to not retreat from our responsibilities to these little ones and to all who walk in the darkness of the culture of death.”