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Overview
This is a view of the Memorial to the Unborn Children looking south from the Millenium Memorial.
This picture was taken in the coldness of winter for further emphasis.
The marble for this Memorial was given to St. Martin's Church by Bishop Timlin
from the Cathedral in Scranton, PA, (it remained from the Cathedral renovation of 1968).
On the outside of the Memorial is a very large rock jagged rock that juts out of the earth.
This symbolizes a spearhead jutting up because abortion has torn this nation apart.
To the east of the Memorial the Memorial is a perfect circle within a perfect square.
The perfect square is the symbol of eternity and the perfect circle is the symbol for God.
There are usually flowers around the memorial, because flowers are pretty, but abortion is not.
However, there is a large concrete pot filled with soil in front of the large jagged rock that just out of the ground..
There are seven pillars that form the circle. On each pillar is a plaque with a bible verse.
On top of each pillar is a tall piece of polished black granite that extends skyward.
At no point in the circle will they reflect the full image of the angel,
becaue abortion breaks humanity apart.
The image that one sees is of something unfinished or austere --
unfinished because the question of abortion remains unresolved.
Angel
The centerpiece of the Memorial is a statue of an angel. This angel is one of two that were in storage for a number of years.
When the two statues came out of storage, one went to the Cathedral's Shrine and the second went to St. Martins.
The pillar that supports the angel exends approximately 12 feet below the ground. At the base of the pillar (underground) is a capsule
with the documentation on abortion.
Attached to the pillar is a plaque with the following words from Pope John Paul II's Evangelium Vitae, "Abortion and euthanasia are thus
crimes which no human can claim to legitimize. There is no obligation in conscience to obey such laws: instead there is a grave
and clear obligation to oppose them by conscientious objection..."
Jesus and the Children
And people were bringing children to him that he might touch them, but the disciples rebuked them.
When Jesus saw this he became indignant and said to them, "Let the children come to me; do not prevent them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
Amen, I say to you, whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child 2 will not enter it."
Then he embraced them and blessed them, placing his hands on them.
- John 10:14-16
This marble bal relief was originally in the altar rail and is one of several that was taken out of the Cathedral in Scranton, PA, when it
was remodeled. It was the only one of many reliefs that was not damaged whil in storage. Interestingly, it happened to be stored away
from the others, behind the same statue of the angel that watches over the memorial.
OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE
Our Lady appeared in Mexico in the year 1531 to an Indian named Juan Diego,
He was a humble peasant aged 51 and as a result of the apparitions,
over 10 million indians were converted to Catholicism,
the sacrificial killings of babies stopped,
and Our Lady left an image which is a reflection of herself imprinted miraculously on the tilma of Juan Diego.
Our Lady appears in a setting elevated over a stone with a large round circlular hole in it.
The stone is a well cap that dates back to the 1700's. The significance of this is that the stone
represents the moon under the feet of mary and is a references to the
the book of the Apocolypse (Rv 12:1-2), "A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun,
with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.
She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth."
Dedication
A.M.D.G.
Sacred to the memory
of the innocent victims
of the silent holocaust
America's shame abortion
Erected A.D. 1995
by
The Parishoners of
St. Martin of Tours and St. Paul's
The Very Rev. Thomas A. Cappelloni, M.A., V.F.
Pastor/Dean
Robert Whitehead
Architect
Allen Lisinski
Facilitator
Robert Briar
Clerk of the Works
The letters A.M.D.G. stand for Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam, the literal translation of which is,
For the Greater Glory Of God." In it colloquialism, it is sometimes referred to as
"All My Duties to God."
The Rock
All of the rocks used in the Memorial were rough hewn. The ancient perscription was for rough hewn
stones, untouched by human hands.
The jagged rock that looks like a spearhead jutting up from the
earth represents abortion that has torn this nation apart.
The image on the left looks at if from the back (facing southeast).
The image on the right looks at it from the front (facing northwest).
Luke 17 (The Millstone)
He said to his disciples, "Things that cause sin will inevitably occur, but woe to the person through whom they occur.
It would be better for him if a millstone were put around his neck and he be
thrown into the sea than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. - Luke 17:1-2
Standing before this plaque one is very aware of the milstone at their feet with the two-inch thick
rope that is required to support the millstone.
Psalm 138
You formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother's womb.
I praise you, so wonderfully you made me; wonderful are your works! My very self you knew;
my bones were not hidden from you, When I was being made in secret, fashioned as in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes foresaw my actions; in your book all are written down; my days were shaped, before one came to be.
How precious to me are your designs, O God; how vast the sum of them!
Were I to count, they would outnumber the sands; to finish, I would need eternity. - Psalm 139:13-18
(Due to space limitations, only verses 13 and 14 are on the plaque.)
The depths of the earth: figurative language for the womb, stressing the hidden and mysterious operations that occur there.
USSCB, NAB, Psalm 139, Footnote 5
Exodus 21
"When men have a fight and hurt a pregnant woman,
so that she suffers a miscarriage, but no further injury,
the guilty one shall be fined as much as the woman's husband demands of him,
and he shall pay in the presence of the judges.
But if injury ensues, you shall give life for life,
eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe. - Exodus 21:22
Isaiah 49
Hear me, O coastlands, listen, O distant peoples. The LORD called me from birth, from my mother's womb he gave me my name.
- Isaiah 49:1
Jeremiah 1
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you.
- Jeremiah 1:5
Jeremiah was destined to the office of
prophet before his birth; cf Isaiah 49:1,
5; Luke 1:15; Gal
1:15, 16. I
knew you: I loved you and chose you. I dedicated you: I set you apart to be a
prophet. USSCB, NAB, Jeremiah 1, Footnote 3
Mathew 18
See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father.
- Mathew 18:10
"Their angels in heaven . . . my
heavenly Father", for the Jewish belief in angels as guardians of nations and
individuals, see Daniel
10:13, 20-21; Tobit 5:4-7;
as intercessors who present the prayers of
human beings to God, see Tobit 13:12,
15. The
high worth of the little ones is indicated by their being represented before
God by these heavenly beings. USSCB, NAB, Mathew 18, Footnote 9
Mark 9
Taking a child he placed it in their midst, and putting his arms around it he said to them,
"Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the one who sent me."
- Mark 9:36-37
Children were the symbol Jesus used for the anawim, the poor in spirit, the lowly in the Christian community. - USSCB, NAB, Mark 9, Footnote 8
Holy Family
In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole world should be enrolled.
This was the first enrollment, when Quirinius was governor of Syria.
So all went to be enrolled, each to his own town.
And Joseph too went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David that is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David,
to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.
While they were there, the time came for her to have her child,
and she gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
Now there were shepherds in that region living in the fields and keeping the night watch over their flock.
The angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were struck with great fear.
The angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord.
And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger."
And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying:
"Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests."
When the angels went away from them to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go, then, to Bethlehem to see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us."
So they went in haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger.
When they saw this, they made known the message that had been told them about this child.
All who heard it were amazed by what had been told them by the shepherds.
And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.
Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them.
Luke 2:1-20
Various Memorial Stones
Over time many stones have appeared around the Memorial.
Some, like the one shown, are carved into shapes, others have initials or names inscribed on them.
Although there are many who have found comfort at this Memorial for abortions,
many have also visited the Memorial as a place where they could grieve for their children lost through miscarriage.
One hurting soul said, "there is no palce to mourn our children [lost through miscarriage]", while
another said, "[the miscarriage] left a hole inside of us." To all of these who are hurting from the loss of
an unborn child for any reason, we pray for your hurt to be healed by the One who can make all things new again.
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