– Announcing –

The First Annual Saint Gabriel of the Sorrowful Mother

Pro-Life & Modest Essay Competition

Thanks to the generosity of a benefactor (an Academy graduate) and Our Lady of Perpetual Help Sodality, we are able to award prizes to the authors of the best essays in two age divisions on the theme of the importance of modesty for the pro-life effort.

What: Authors are invited to compose and to submit essays of between 300 and 500 words addressing the topic: “To be truly pro-life at heart means to be modest in dress.” The purpose of the essay is to explain how the pro-life position requires — logically and morally — that all who claim to be pro-life must dress with modesty and behave with purity. Also, that to dress immodestly and to act impurely is a betrayal of the pro-life effort.

Who: All in the two age categories are eligible to submit essays. The winners of both divisions will receive prizes as follows: $250, $150 and $50 will be awarded to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners in Division 1 (ages 19 years and above), while prizes of $200, $150, and $50 will be awarded to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners in Division II {ages 12 to 18). The Essay Competition Committee will be staffed by prominent local pro-life leaders. Essays will be judged anonymously, i.e. authors’ names will not be known by the judges.

When: Submission period lasts from Laetare Sunday (March 19) to the Feast of the Ascension of Our Lord into Heaven (May 18). Essays will be judged by Pentecost Sunday (May 28), and the winners will be announced on the Feast Day of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus (June 16).

Where: Typed essays must arrive at the Immaculate Conception Church or Academy offices by May 18.

All essays submitted may be published by the Essay Competition Committee, who understand that “pro-life” ultimately means pro-everlasting-life in Heaven of the soul sanctified and glorified by the grace of Jesus Christ.

For more information, please contact the church office 513-731-8773.