Mass for Life set for Monday

Bishop McManus will be celebrant and five people will receive awards at 10 a.m. Monday in St. Paul Cathedral at the annual diocesan Mass for Life.
The liturgy celebrates the Solemnity of the Annunciation, also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Annunciation of Our Lady, or the Annunciation of the Lord. It is the Catholic celebration of the announcement by the Archangel Gabriel to the Blessed Virgin Mary that she would conceive and become the mother of Jesus.
The feast day has special theological significance for the pro-life cause because it celebrates the moment when God the Son assumed human nature in Mary’s womb, said Allison LeDoux, diocesan director of the Respect Life Office.
“We draw attention to the fact that the Second Person of the Trinity dwelled in Mary’s womb and shared in our human nature from its beginning as well as in our development,” she said.

Mother Teresa Pro-Life Award

Raymond and Joyce Aucoin of St. Bernard Parish at St. Camillus Church, Fitchburg, and Adam Cormier, president of St. Mary Schools and principal of St. Mary Junior-Senior High School will receive the Mother Teresa Pro-Life Award.
According to the award citation, the Aucoins have served as coordinators of the parish pro-life ministry, have organized groups to pray on a regular basis outside the Fitchburg Planned Parenthood office, engaged in community outreach, taken part in national Protest Planned Parenthood days and organized local participation in a National Day of Remembrance for children lost to abortion. For many years they have been valuable contributors to 40 Days for Life campaigns, praying for an hour daily across from the Planned Parenthood abortion facility on Pleasant Street in Worcester.
“They are not deterred by inclement weather or by persecution, and they are unassuming and humble models of Christian charity even in the face of adversity,” Mrs. LeDoux said in a press release.
Mr. Cormier, a member of Mary, Queen of the Rosary Parish in Spencer, “infuses reverence for the dignity of each human person into every aspect of Catholic education and Catholic life,” according to the citation. Students at St. Mary’s complete an age-appropriate pro-life unit in religion classes, and assist with projects at Visitation House, a home for women in crisis pregnancies. Upper class students at St. Mary’s take part in the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C., while younger students attend special Masses and devotions. Mr. Cormier has also cared for those approaching the end of life.
“Adam Cormier’s life and leadership are stellar examples of faithful witness in living the Gospel of Life,” Mrs. LeDoux said.

Ruth V.K. Pakaluk Pro-Life
Youth Award

Helena Petroff, a graduate of the Trivium School in Lancaster and a freshman at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, will receive the Ruth V.K. Pakaluk Pro-Life Youth Award. She is the founding president of the Students for Life group, which she and Father Hugo Cano, WPI campus chaplain, organized. She has been involved in pro-life activities since grammar school when she and her family began attending the March for Life, according to the citation. In high school, as a senior, she helped organize one of the largest contingents to attend the March for Life. She has led rosary groups, volunteers to pray outside Planned Parenthood facilities and promotes outreach to pro-life leaders from other college campuses.
“Helena is recognized and respected by those who know and work with her as a faithful Catholic with integrity and strong moral values and an outstanding leader with a pastoral heart,” according to Mrs. LeDoux.

Gospel of Life Award

Msgr. Thomas J. Sullivan, pastor of Christ the King Parish, will receive the Gospel of Life Award. He was ordained a priest in 1977and has served in many parish and diocesan ministries, including the diocesan Office of Religious Education, headmaster at St. Bernard Central Catholic High School, Fitchburg; director of vocations, chancellor and director of fiscal affairs. He regularly supports the 40 Days for Life campaign, works closely with his parishioners in supporting Visitation House, is a founding member of the Witness for Life committee and initiated the annual Novena to St. Joseph for the Sick and Dying at Christ the King Parish.
“Msgr. Sullivan lives the Gospel of Life with conviction and integrity throughout the many aspects of his priestly ministry and serves as a powerful witness and inspiration,” his citation says