The need for healing post-abortion is a very real and growing need, as witnessed across the years by the Sisters of Life, a women’s religious order formed in 1991 at the invitation of a cardinal on a mission to uphold the sanctity of life.
“In light of the Dobbs decision, we have experienced an increased need to offer spiritual resources to those wounded by abortion,” wrote Sister of Life Mother Agnes Mary Donovan in a letter to Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M. Oct. 4. “It is our hope that more of God’s people who are suffering after abortion may find peace, hope, healing and full integration into the sacramental life of the Church.”
The Sisters of Life run a Hope & Healing Mission, “a ministry of accompaniment to women suffering after the pain of abortion, acting as spiritual guides, spiritual mothers, and prayer guardians,” said Sister of Life Mariana Benedicta, Hope & Healing ministry director. “We come alongside women as witnesses to the transformative power of Christ’s merciful love … This may begin with an email, a conversation over the phone, or a one-on-one meeting in person.”
Sister Benedicta noted that the willingness of these women to come forward, “the fact that we are having a conversation with this person, that she simply had the courage to pick up the phone or send an email, is evidence that God is at work in her life.”
Fulfilling a Promise
When Cardinal John O’Connor, the once navy-chaplain who became archbishop of New York, visited the Dachau concentration camp in Germany in 1975, he was overcome by the spiritual experience of being where many thousands of people had experienced torture and death during World War II, as his hands touched the brick ovens. He promised in that moment to do all he could to protect human life, and after years of advocacy and prayer, was inspired to invite women via a Catholic New York newspaper article with the headline: “Help Wanted: Sisters of Life.”
The article, which described Cardinal O’Connor’s vision of a religious community of women devoted fully to the protection and enhancement of the sacredness of every human life, was reprinted across the nation. It spawned hundreds of letters in response. The new community of the Sisters of Life was formed by eight women in New York on June 1, 1991, and has since grown to include more than 100 sisters from New York, Philadelphia, and across the nation and globe.
In addition to one-on-one spiritual accompaniment, the Sisters of Life offer Day of Prayer and Healing retreats and gatherings in English and Spanish that provide a safe and sacred space, support of other women and of faithful priests. Retreats include testimonies, group sharing, personal prayer, an opportunity for Confession and the celebration of Mass.
“For some, retreats are a powerful setting in which to encounter God’s healing love and the reality that no sin, no matter how dark or heavy, is greater than his mercy,” she continued. “Our Days of Prayer and Healing retreats are like a ‘step through the door’ on the healing journey.”
Witnessing Healing
Sister Benedicta began as director of the Hope & Healing Mission three years ago; it is her fifth year in the mission, and prior to that she spent three years serving vulnerable pregnant women in the order’s Visitation Mission in Manhattan. Across the years she has witnessed “miracles of God’s grace and mercy in women’s lives” and “true transformation” as they unburden themselves and come to understand their value as God’s children and overcome shame.
“It’s like witnessing someone’s personal resurrection: seeing her come alive,” she described. “I think that’s what amazes me over and over again, to see someone who – when I first met her was so heavy, carrying such shame, sorrow, and interior pain – begin to live in the freedom that God desires for her, to become more and more truly herself, to desire great things in God. The women I have come to know amaze and inspire me in their vulnerability, in their humility, in their faith, and in their honest and deep dependence on God.”
Many women attest to having difficulty forgiving themselves, she said. “It’s common to hear, ‘I’ve been to Confession. I know God forgives me, but I just can’t forgive myself …’ A woman suffering after abortion can live for years and even decades with voices of condemnation and even self-hatred. … But, as God’s mercy and love penetrate more and more deeply, and she begins to see and know herself as God truly sees her and knows her, she can begin to experience a new peace.”
Post-Dobbs Pro-Life Response
“As the topic of abortion continues to be so frequently referenced in the media and on social media, those who suffer from past abortions may be stirred to reach out for healing,” Sister Benedicta noted. “We want them to know that we are here for them.”
She emphasized a desire in this new post-Dobbs era that those affected by abortion be given a voice in society, noting that their witness “when given from a place of confidence in God’s mercy is a powerful force in bringing others to healing, and to bringing a change in our culture.”
Sister Benedicta entreated members of the pro-life community to be compassionate toward those suffering post abortion, many of whom do not know that healing is even possible nor the resources available through the Church.
“Sharing about God’s mercy whenever sharing about the topic of abortion allows the message of hope to reach those who are carrying hidden wounds,” she pointed out. “We want everyone to know God’s mercy … that they are welcomed and wanted here in the Church and the pro-life community…”
Prayer, she noted, is essential to the healing equation. “Pray intentionally for those who are suffering after abortion – that they truly encounter the mercy of Jesus and find healing,” she said. “Abortion inflicts a deep spiritual wound, and so healing is also something deeply engaged on a spiritual level. … Your prayers are needed and they are powerful.”