Mary Immaculate, Protector of the unborn children

In the Pastoral Note which the Maltese bishops wrote on December 1, 2022, within the context of the attempts at the introduction of the law of abortion in Malta, there is a clear relationship between the Feast of the Immaculate Conception and the gift of human life which starts from the moment of conception.

The bishops wrote: The Feast of the Immaculate Conception which we shall celebrate next Thursday, 8th December, is a very dear feast to us Maltese. It is a feast that gives an important message even by its very name which has such great meaning – “conception” – as it reminds us that we celebrate Mary from the moment of her conception. She is without stain from the first moment of her conception. This same feast is a clear declaration that human life is precious from the first moment of its conception. 

Then, the bishops wisely say that it is science which tells us so. Faith helps us cherish this very important and basic scientific fact. The bishops responsibly recall:

When we speak of caring for life from the first moment of conception, and of the respect towards the dignity of this life that has started, we do not speak in this way because our faith tells us that there is human life from conception, or because the Church tells us so. It is science that tells us this. Even a scan of the baby in the womb shows the gradual development of the human life when the baby has not yet been born. In the womb there is someone, not something. What faith tell us is to cherish this life that has started because every life is a gift of God.

Already from this feast we can easily deduce that Mary Immaculate is the protector of unborn children. She too was conceived in the womb of St Anne and was allowed to be born like you and me. To Mary we can make this beautiful prayer daily for the victims of abortion, which prayer was originally written to Our Lady of Guadalupe:

Holy Mary, Mother of God and of the Church, Virgin Immaculate, you were chosen by the Father for the Son through the Holy Spirit.

You are the Woman clothed with the sun on the verge of giving birth to Christ, while Satan, the Red Dragon, hopes to voraciously devour your Son.

Herod did the same thing trying to destroy your Son, Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, massacring many innocent children in his intent. The same thing does abortion today, killing millions of innocent children and exploiting its mothers in its attack on life and against the Church, the Body of Christ.

Mother of the Innocents, we praise God in you for His gifts to you, for your Immaculate Conception, free from sin, full of grace; your motherhood of God and of the Church, your Perpetual Virginity and your Assumption to Heaven in body and spirit.

O Help of Christians, please protect all the mothers of the unborn and the babies in their womb. We beg your help to end the abortion holocaust.

Holy Mother, we pray to your Immaculate Heart for all mothers and all unborn children that they may have life on earth, and by the Most Precious Blood shed by your Son may they obtain eternal life with Him in heaven.

We also pray to your Immaculate Heart for all those who practice abortions and those who support them, that they may be converted and accept your Son, Jesus Christ, as Lord and Savior. Defend all your children in the battle against Satan and all the evil spirits in these times of darkness.

We want innocent unborn babies who die without baptism to be baptized and saved. We ask you to grant this grace for them, as well as God’s repentance, reconciliation and forgiveness for their parents and killers. May the power of love be revealed once more in the world. May he put an end to evil; that He may transform consciences. May your Immaculate Heart reveal the light of hope for everyone. May Christ the King reign over all of us, our families, cities, states, countries and all humanity.

O clement, O full of love, O sweet Virgin Mary, listen to our prayers and accept the joy of our hearts!

Mary, Our Mother Immaculate, Protector of the unborn, pray for us! Amen.

Fr Mario Attard OFM Cap