The Knights of Columbus James L. Martin Council 637 in Lorain, with support from seven local Catholic parishes and the Catholic Cemeteries Association, spearheaded efforts to construct a Memorial for the Unborn in Calvary Cemetery, Lorain.
The new memorial was dedicated during a ceremony on May 30, Memorial Day.
(See photo gallery above.)
Joe Perez, past grand knight of the Lorain Council, said the group agreed to pursue the effort in order to remember the millions of babies who are conceived but never born.
“It is a unique place of healing,” Perez said during remarks before the dedication. “This is a place of closure for families who have lost an unborn child.”
Perez said he became aware that other K of C councils were erecting memorials to the unborn and he proposed the idea to the local group. He compiled statistics, presented the information to his fellow Knights and they agreed to pursue the initiative. It took about 18 months of planning for the memorial to become a reality.
Seven Lorain County parishes – Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Lorain; Sacred Heart Chapel, Lorain; St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Parish, Lorain; St. Mary Parish, Lorain; St. Peter Parish, Lorain; St. Anthony Parish, Lorain; and St. Vincent de Paul Parish, Elyria – supported the project.
“We are adding a memorial to a group that until recently was forgotten,” Perez said, noting about one-third of pregnancies end in miscarriage, stillbirth or abortion. “We are remembering these gifts from God who were never born, those who never took a breath on earth. They are still children of God and are not forgotten,” he added.
Father John Retar, pastor of St. Vitus Parish in Cleveland, offered prayers during the dedication and blessing of the memorial. For a decade, Father Retar served as pastor of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini and St. Vincent de Paul parishes, both of which supported the project.
He read from the Gospel of St. Mark in which Jesus tells the crowd to let the little children come to him. “The kingdom of God belongs to them,” he said.
“Every child marks the mother. She carries it with her all through her life,” Father Retar said, regardless of whether the child is lost or born.
The dedication ceremony took place after the annual Memorial Day Mass at the cemetery. Father Frank Kosem, retired pastor of St. Jude Parish in Elyria, was the celebrant. Concelebrants were Father Bill Thaden, pastor of Sacred Heart Chapel in Lorain and Father Craig Hovanec, pastor of St. Peter Parish and Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish, both in Lorain.
Those attending the Mass were invited to process with K of C members and the priests to the memorial, a short distance from the mausoleum, where Mass was celebrated.
Light refreshments and desserts followed the dedication ceremony at the K of C hall in Lorain.