Trinity Heights to hold National Night of Prayer

By RENEE WEBB, Globe editor
December 4, 2003

Trinity Heights will host a National Night of Prayer for Life on Dec. 8 - the Feast of the Immaculate Conception - to ask the Blessed Mother to help bring about a conversion of hearts for the people of this country.

This is the 14th year for this annual event that unites people across the country in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament to end abortion.

Slated for 8 p.m. to midnight on Dec. 8 in Sioux City, the date spans the Feast of the Immaculate Conception as well as Our Lady of Guadalupe's first apparition to St. Juan Diego that took place on Dec. 9.

"We will ask the Blessed Mother to come again as she did in Mexico in 1531 when she changed the hearts of eight or nine million Aztec Indians almost overnight - period of less than 10 years - from human sacrifice to Catholic piety that today is unrivaled in the world," noted Larry Walsh, a board member of the spiritual committee at Trinity Heights. "Hispanics are a very church-oriented people."

The conversion of millions in the Americas, he added, took place at the same time that the Catholic Church was losing people due to the reformation of Martin Luther in Western Europe.

"When the Blessed Lady appeared, she said that she appeared to all of the people of this land," said Walsh. "She told him that anyone in this land who would pray to her, come to her, she would hear and help. In 1531 there was no Mexican border and there were no borders in the Americas."

Pope John Paul II proclaimed her to be the patron of the Americas and Bishop Daniel N. DiNardo named Our Lady of Guadalupe as patroness of the Diocese of Sioux City.

This is the fourth year that Trinity Heights has sponsored this night of prayer in Sioux City. It was brought to their attention at that time by Bishop DiNardo.

Given the fact that Trinity Heights Queen of Peace is very pro-life oriented, Walsh explained they were very willing to host the event. For several years Trinity Heights has held ecumenical pro-life prayer services on the 22nd of each month.

In the first three years, the starting time of the National Night of Prayer in Sioux City had been 9 p.m., but it was moved up to 8 p.m. in order to possibly draw a larger crowd. Even with this time change, those gathered here will be united in prayer for a portion of time with others across the country.

On Dec. 8, the evening service will feature four periods of meditation. A decade of the rosary will be recited each of the four hours. Other prayers and songs will be included in the evening. Various board members of the spiritual committee at Queen of Peace will lead the prayers.

"We will meditate on what we can do to help the Lord and our Blessed Mother overturn the scourge that is in our land," said Walsh. "We are going to ask her forgiveness and will petition her to come and change the hearts of people - to stop the slaughter that abortion has brought about that accounts for over 4,000 unborn children everyday."

He acknowledged that four hours of prayer is a sacrifice. With this in mind, people may attend the night of prayer for one, two, three or all four hours. People of all ages and all faiths are invited and encouraged to attend.

"It was Eve, who after succumbing to the wiles of the serpent regarding the apple, said to God, 'The serpent tricked me.' When he had asked why she had done this," said Walsh. "We feel the serpent is raging in our country once again - with pornography, through abortion, euthanasia and birth control. We believe that serpent has tricked our modern Adams and Eves into believing that these things are the road to happiness. We are praying that our Immaculate Mother will come again to crush the head of the devil."