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 Steve Jalsevac / LifeSiteNews

DALLAS, Texas, January 27, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) – Cardinal Raymond Burke celebrated a Mass of Reparation on Sunday, the 44th anniversary of the infamous Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion in the United States.

The Mass was one of several events His Eminence participated in during the weekend. The Pro-Life Mass was hosted at Mary Immaculate Church in Farmers Branch, a suburb of Dallas, and organized by Catholic Action for Faith and Family and Birth Choice of Dallas.

The Mass was promoted as an act of Reparation for the heinous sin of abortion in the United States.

During his homily, Cardinal Burke said, “Today, we celebrate the 44th Anniversary of the Supreme Court Decision in the case Roe v. Wade. We recognize in that decision of the highest court of our nation a rebellion against God and His Law written upon every human heart in its first and most fundamental tenet: to safeguard and to foster human life from the moment of conception to the moment of natural death. In the context of our reflection upon the beginning of the Public Ministry of Our Lord, we recognize that the Gospel which He preached, calling us to repentance, is, first of all, the Gospel of Life.”

The Mass was attended by faithful from around Texas. The pastor of Mary Immaculate, Fr. Michael Forge, said it was the largest turnout for a Mass he had ever had with over 1500 in attendance. An extensive honor guard of the Knights of Columbus added to the solemnity along with a beautiful choir and brass ensemble.

A special display of relics of St. Gianna Beretta Molla was provided for veneration by Catholic Action for Faith and Family’s St. Gianna Physicians Guild apostolate. A lock of hair, the saint’s fetus scope, a pair of gloves and a silk scarf positioned in from of the altar inspired people to pray and remember this heroic wife, mother and physician who risked her life to save her unborn baby in the womb. Cardinal Burke highlighted the event in a short interview he gave prior to the Mass which can be watched at: https://vimeo.com/201062755 or here:

Over the weekend His Eminence was also the honored key-note speaker at the annual Birth Choice Benefit Dinner. Birth Choice is a clinic that serves the needs of women, men and families in the Dallas area with services provided free of charge. The event was attended by over 500 people, double the usual attendance, with the number of priests and religious in attendance “exceptional,” explained the organizer Christina Smith. The theme he was asked to speak about was the title of the cardinal’s latest book, “Hope for the World.”

During his address Cardinal Burke spoke about his early days of formation and his call to the priesthood. He explained how blessed he was to “have known directly many of the riches of the Church’s life and, therefore, understand why many young people today, who only know about them from their study or from conversations with the older generation, are so strongly attached to the Usus Antiquior, to what we now call liturgically the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite.”

He concluded underlining the “especially the irreplaceable service of the lay faithful in the sanctification of the temporal order.”

While in Dallas Cardinal Burke also visited Holy Trinity Seminary where he prayed with the seminarians and addressed them about the importance of their vocation to be called to the sacred priesthood. The seminarians were pleased to be able to meet and greet His Eminence while some had him sign books and asked for his blessing.