Catholics processed through rain-soaked streets of Missouri to defeat radical pro-abortion amendment

SAINT LOUIS, Missouri (LifeSiteNews) — Faithful Catholics walked through the streets of St. Louis, Missouri, in a prayerful procession to defeat a pro-abortion amendment voted on in the November elections. Since the amendment’s tragic passage, they’ve only redoubled their dedication to the Rosary and fasting. 

On the rainy night of November 4, Catholics processed from the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis to the city’s statue of Saint Louis to conclude a 54-day Rosary novena against the state’s abortion amendment.  

“We are inspired by the decisive role of Our Lady’s Rosary in the Battle of Lepanto and in our own little battle for the statue of St. Louis in 2020,” event organizer Andrew Thompson-Briggs told LifeSiteNews.  

“We keep in mind the words of Sr. Lucy of Fatima to Fr. Fuentes in 1957: ‘The Most Holy Virgin, in these last times in which we live, has given a new efficacy to the recitation of the Rosary … there is no problem, no matter how difficult it is … that cannot be solved by the Rosary,'” he continued.   

During the procession, Catholics, many of whom were barefoot, were led by the cross as they walked through the rainy and muddy night on their way to the statue of Saint Louis.  

The novena and procession were organized by the Fraternity of the Crown of Thorns, a group of lay Catholic men in St. Louis dedicated to promoting the reign of Jesus Christ in the city, county, and Archdiocese of St. Louis. 

The Fraternity began with just a few men gathering to pray the Rosary every day at the statue of St Louis in the summer of 2020, when there was a movement to tear down the statue.  

“Within a few weeks of starting our daily Rosary, the movement to tear down the statue fizzled out,” Briggs revealed. “Since then, we have continued to meet each Saturday to pray the Rosary at the statue, symbol of the reign of Christ the King in our city through our patron St. Louis the King.”  

This fall, when Missouri was threatened with Amendment 3, which legalizes abortion up to birth, the Fraternity prayed the Rosary at the statue of St. Louis every day from September 12 to November 4.  

Briggs stressed the importance of fraternities, especially in a country where many have fallen away from the Catholic Church

“In the life of man, there is always the temptation to lose sight of the supernatural and absorb ourselves purely in the natural,” he explained. “This temptation is particularly acute in modern societies like the USA that are founded on a purely natural religion and explicitly exclude the supernatural from the positive law.” 

“Praying in public has a special importance in such societies, because it reminds others of the presence of God and the Mystical Body of Christ in time,” he declared. “As laymen, the Rosary is our primary spiritual weapon, especially in these later times.” 

Unfortunately, Amendment 3 was passed in the November election by a narrow margin of 51.6% to 48.5%. The amendment bans virtually any restrictions on abortion and could allow transgender surgeries for children. 

However, far from giving up, the Fraternity plans to renew their dedication to pray and fasting, hopeful that their state will return to God.   

“There is in this moment a great temptation to despair of the power of our prayers to affect the common good,” Briggs noted. “After all, God does not force our wills to choose the good. Rather, He sets before us ‘life and good’ and ‘death and evil,’ and asks each of us to freely choose life, ‘that both thou and thy seed shall live’ (Dt 30:15, 19).” 

“Yet, we know by faith that no good deed is lost and that God will turn whatever mites we offer Him into incorruptible treasures,” he declared.   

“This is why we must turn back to Him in prayer and reparation for our fellow Missourians—our co-workers, our neighbors, our family members—who voted for death instead of life. The offended justice of God demands it,” Briggs explained. “The blood of the innocent demands it. And who knows but that our prayers and sacrifices might not draw some of our fellows to repentance?” 

Therefore, from now until Christmas Eve, Briggs encouraged Catholics to join the Fraternity in praying the Collect of St. Louis and fasting until 3 pm in reparation for sins in St. Louis “against those waiting, like Christ, to be born, and for the conversion of those who voted ‘yes’ on 3.”