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Boulder’s field of crosses moves faithful, shows abortion’s impact
By Nissa LaPoint
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Photo by James Baca/DCR The crosses represent the number of babies lost to abortion every day. |
Sometimes acts of self-sacrifice and spiritual works of mercy lead to one’s own sanctification.
Parishioners at Sacred Heart of Mary Church in Boulder attest to this fact after joining forces to build and display 3,300 crosses in memorial of the number of babies aborted daily. Their pro-life project, designed to relay the impact of abortion while encouraging healing for parents and support for prevention, drew more than 80 willing participants.
From the initial idea for the project in February to the mass painting and staging sessions done at the church before October, parishioners had the opportunity to engage in a loving and noncontroversial pro-life activity, said Charlie Danaher, co-chair of the parish’s Respect Life Committee.
“I was pleasantly surprised and encouraged about the many people in the parish who helped and might not otherwise be comfortable in pro-life activity,” Danaher said. “We had fantastic participation.”
The project was moving for church member Andrew Wolfe, who worked up to eight hours a day over four weeks assembling the thousands of crosses, and could not keep up with the rate of abortions.
“It was sometimes overwhelming to me, as fairly simple as are they are to assemble, that I couldn’t do it as fast as abortions were happening,” said Wolfe, who attends Sacred Heart of Mary Parish. He worked with John Spritzer, also a parishioner, who built 4,000 of the 12-inch crosses at his home during Lent; he constructed 100 crosses a day for 40 days.
This was the first year the parish organized the pro-life project that received support from the church’s pastor Father Marcus Mallick and the Pastoral Council.
The Respect Life Committee decided to place the crosses in the vacant church property across the street on South Boulder Road. One co-chair of the committee, Suzie LaVelle, said it is the perfect spot to display a pro-life message.
“The message truly is to give people hope and healing and a way to get that healing from previous abortions,” LaVelle said. “We have the perfect way to speak to lots of people that drive by.”
Along the road beside the white crosses is a sequence of six signs that can be read by motorists driving westbound or eastbound. The signs state the facts of abortion and the national hotline for Rachel’s Vineyard, a support group for women post-abortion.
In order, the signs read, “3,300 Crosses,” “3,300 Abortions Daily in the USA,” “3,300 Lives Ended,” “3,300 Mothers, 3,300 Fathers,” “There is Hope and Healing,” and “Need help? Call 877-HOPE-4-ME.”
LaVelle said the statistics about abortion were taken from the Guttmacher Institute, a research and policy analyst of sexuality and reproduction and an affiliate of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
The signs will stay up through the end of October, also known as Respect Life month.
Ultimately, those involved want the signs to give others hope and encouragement to seek support after abortions, LaVelle said.
Although they may not see the impact of the field of crosses, Wolfe said he hopes it will touch someone’s heart.
“It was the least I could do,” Wolfe said. “I think it was more a blessing for me to be able to physically do something to help.”
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