Participants in a local March for Life took to the streets in Newtown on Friday, January 21, coinciding with The 49th National March that was happening in Washington, D.C.

Approximately 50 people of all ages took part in the event that was coordinated through the St Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church Pro-Life and Pro-Family Ministry. They were sighted walking around the Borough following a noon Mass at the church.

Queta Donovan, who helped organize the event, said the group was smaller than the one that assembled for Friday Mass, but she was nevertheless pleased with the turnout and the effort to spread its message.

Queta and her husband Kevin spoke with The Newtown Bee the following Monday. She said Friday’s Mass “was a joyful celebration of life, but also sad because of the killing of babies through abortion.”

The Mass was led by Father Tomaz Przybyl, a parochial vicar at St Rose and “the spiritual leader of the Pro-Life ministry,” Queta said. Father Thomas Davis, pastor of St Ann Melkite Catholic Church in Danbury, and St Rose Deacon Norman Roos also participated in the Mass and march.

The St Rose group, she said, has been to Washington “many times, but not this year. We decided to do something here.”

They mirrored the schedule of Washington activities on Friday, she said, “because Mass is very important for us. We pray, and worship, and ask for prayers, and ask for mothers and their changing hearts.”

Carrying signs that read “Love Life Choose Life,” and “Defend Life,” the group made its way from St Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church to the Main Street flagpole before turning around and returning to the church.

Led by Fr Przybyl, the group prayed one rosary as it marched west on Church Hill Road. Once they reached the Main Street/flagpole intersection, a second rosary was started for the return march to the church, according to Queta.

Multi-Generational Participation

The Donovans were pleased with the group that marched, and the representation of all ages. Their family alone had three generations participating.

“Our son and his wife, and their four children, marched,” Kevin said. “The smallest is eight months.”

“We had 92 years old to children at Mass, and walking,” Queta said. “There were so many children at Mass. It was beautiful.”

Quoting the group’s stated mission, Queta on Monday said the St Rose Pro-Life and Pro-Family ministry means “to peacefully promote, with compassion and love, a higher standard of ethics and morality in accordance with God’s commandments.”

It is important, she said, quoting Proverbs 31:8, to speak out on behalf of the voiceless, and for the rights of all who are vulnerable. “Women, when they say they are pregnant we tell them ‘No, you are not pregnant. You are a mother already,’” she said.

Kevin Donovan quoted the late Mother Teresa, who once reportedly said “If we accept that a mother can kill her child, how can we tell other people not to kill themselves or to kill other people?”

There are answers, and help, for everything, the Donovans said.

When asked about children conceived through rape, Queta said, “I don’t think the answer is another violent thing. There is love there.

“If you cannot afford to have the child, there’s adoption, and many sources,” she said. “There are many people who want to adopt.”

There is also guidance, Queta said, for those who learn their pregnancy can be problematic for the mother and/or the child.

“There are many ways for a mother to be healed,” she said. “Medicine is to heal you, not hurt you. The thing is to just trust in the Lord. The Lord will provide. The Lord will know that better than us. If you pray to God and trust in his mercy, He will take care of you.”

‘On A Journey’

“We are on a journey, that’s why we walk. But we are with love,” she continued. “If you really trust in God and you love God and you do his will, the other thing is for us Catholics the first Commandment is not to kill. God will give you the means.”

There are so many resources, Queta said. She and others in the Pro-Life Pro-Family ministry advise mothers, share sources they trust, to guide them, she said.

Mary Waupotic, who also participated in the march, echoed Mrs Donovan’s thoughts.

“Science recognizes the unborn child to be human, and is a human being,” she said via email this week.

Queta Donovan said she and others “pray every day for life, from natural conception to natural death.”

Once each year, she said, “we stand for the sanctity and dignity of humans. We stand for life. We wanted Newtown to see us this year because we care for the mother and child, both. We really love them and we pray for both of them.

“We were not just marching in the cold on Friday,” she said. “We were praying. We were praying with love.”

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Associate Editor Shannon Hicks can be reached at shannon@thebee.com.