Each week, churches across the world hold funerals to grieve, remember and celebrate the preciousness of the people they loved.
In that light, the Requiem Mass for the Unborn at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, Jan. 22 at 7:30 p.m. is essentially a funeral Mass for all who have died from abortion in the past year.
"Civilized men and women must come forward and bury their dead," said John Bonaduce, music and choir director for the liturgy. The Requiem Mass, he said, elevates an aborted life from a discarded specimen "to a person deserving all the rights of a funeral. In a backwards way, we're building the personhood of those who were aborted."
The third annual liturgy, named the Shantigarh Requiem for the Unborn, features 14 original compositions by Bonaduce sung by a 100-person choir made up mostly of teens and young adults from Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, Our Lady of the Valley Church in Canoga Park and the Shantigarh Choir of St. Bernardine of Siena Church in Woodland Hills. Cardinal Roger Mahony said the Mass fulfills the Sunday obligation.
The music of the liturgy --- powerfully soulful, sorrowful and hope-filled --- is particularly suited to reach teens and young adults.
While abortion was a key issue for many adult Catholics in the presidential campaign, Notre Dame student and choir member Brene Ganther, 16, said in her experience teens don't much listen to politicians nor all the noise and lecturing that surrounds political campaigns.
"We pay more attention to music and to visual stuff. That really reaches us," she said.
The songs of the Requiem Mass, added Ganther, a soprano, "tell a story of how life is so important. Life is so beautiful. Why would you want to take that away from someone? There are other options."
The high school and parish choirs Bonaduce directs have been busy rehearsing their four and five-part harmonies for the upcoming liturgy. On this particular grey-sky day, pouring rain and a power outage at the school didn't stop Bonaduce and his students from singing and practicing in the dark with flashlights until they were moved to another room.
About half performed the Requiem Mass last year, and recall its lasting impact --- particularly the meditation after Communion when a candle is lit in memory of each tiny life extinguished by day's end. This year 157 candles will be placed on the altar, each candle representing the number of estimated abortions taking place in Los Angeles County on Jan. 22.
Saturdays, Bonaduce observed sadly, are a big day for abortions, according to figures from the California Pro-Life Council.
Marisa Robinson, 16, said that candle meditation was an "eye-opener" for her. "I didn't know how often abortion occurred," said the high school junior.
Joanna Cecilio, 15, and a member of Bonaduce's parish choirs since she was 11, said the candles move her to tears.
"I thought, wow, all these unborn died because of abortion," said Cecilio. Her confirmation group from Our Lady of the Valley Church will be attending the liturgy this year.
Ethan Isidro, 16, acknowledged that before last year's liturgy, he hadn't thought much about abortion. Participating in the Mass raised his awareness of the issue.
Brianna Aberle, 17, said she feels grateful for her faith and Catholic community and thinks about "the circumstances other women go through" including the beliefs they hold, the families they come from and choices they make that lead them to an abortion.
The Jan. 22 liturgy is a moment for teens to discuss the pressures they feel living in a culture that condones and even promotes sex among teens. Teenage and young adult years are a particularly vulnerable time for women, said the students. They are exposed to alcohol at parties, oftentimes not knowing how much they can handle and what the consequences might be --- particularly loss of judgment and unplanned sexual encounters resulting in a pregnancy.
"Some girls don't think it could happen to them," said Robinson.
Sexual abstinence, added the students, is often associated negatively with being "prude."
"If I'm comfortable with myself, I don't really care what other people think," said Jennifer Mills, 15.
Celeste Zarpas, 15, said she does talk with other girls about abstinence and their desires to wait and live out their Catholic values. "We talk about not being mature enough to deal with what happens next [after sex]," she said, "like a possible pregnancy and being in the position of making a big decision."
Aberle added that the Cathedral liturgy is an opportunity for Catholics to support one another in their convictions. "It's a beautiful celebration, the joining of Catholics as one in our beliefs." Editor's note: For more information on transportation for students in the Valley area to attend the Requiem Mass for the Unborn, call Notre Dame High School campus minister Vera DeArtola at (818) 933-3662.
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