Prior to last Thursday’s March for Life, a group of Sisters of Life and representatives from Lumina/Hope and Healing after Abortion held an afternoon of prayerful remembrance and intercession last Wednesday in the Crypt Church of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington.

Called “Healing the Hidden Wounds of Abortion,” the program focused on prayer, forgiveness and reflection on the widespread pain that abortion causes — not just to the child’s parents, but to grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles and friends. More than 49 million abortions have been performed in the United States since the passage of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion, in 1973.

“The devastation to the unborn is obvious, but the far-reaching implications are often not realized in a society where we’d rather not think about what’s going on,” said Theresa Bonopartis, director of Lumina. “It would be too overwhelming. We live in denial of the real impact of one abortion — never mind thinking of over 49 million.”

“We have all been affected by the loss of each individual child,” said Sister of Life Sister Lucy Marie, respect life coordinator for the Archdiocese of New York, where the sisters are located. “We gather together … acknowledging abortion’s universal impact.”

Presided over by Franciscan Friar of the Renewal Father Mariusz Koch, the service included reflections, talks, adoration, benediction and Mass. Though similar events had been held for several years in the Archdiocese of New York, this was the first in Washington.

“This afternoon we come into your presence to be reminded of your love, to be consoled by it, to be encouraged by it and to be healed by it,” Father Koch said in the opening prayer. “We come in humility, we come in our weakness, we come in our brokenness. But we come in confidence in that love that is present in our midst this afternoon.”

“As we reflect on the pain and suffering abortion causes, let us also be thankful for the merciful warmth of (God’s) healing love that makes our souls and all things new,” said Susan Wills, assistant director for education and outreach of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Holding a rosary in her hand, kneeling in the shine’s crypt, it was Kinslow Bailey’s prayer that women “rethink” — both the choice to have abortions and the choice to engage in pre-marital sex in the first place. The children given up may be their only ones, Bailey said. Instead, she said, she hopes women consider “another option — a better option.”