Dozens of couples attended the annual Mass for Expectant Mothers and women hoping to conceive, celebrated by Bishop Daniel Meagher at St Paul of the Cross church in Dulwich Hill last Sunday.
Hashya Weerakkody of the Life, Marriage and Family team at the Sydney Centre for Evangelisation said that the annual archdiocesan Mass is an opportunity during the season of Advent to celebrate the incalculable gift of expecting a child.
This year – for the first time – the celebration was also open to those who are hoping to conceive, including couples who are struggling with infertility.
“We wanted to give the Sydney Catholic community a space before God to acknowledge the grief and pain experienced by these women and couples, and also to cultivate hope which is also very much in the spirit of Advent,” Ms Weerakkody said.
“It’s also an opportunity for the community to pray that God will fulfil their desires for children with whom they can share their life and faith.”
Present this year for veneration was a first-class relic of St Gerard Majella, the patron of expectant mothers, women in childbirth and women hoping to conceive.
The Mass was also close to the feasts of both the visionary St Juan Diego and Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Pope John Paul II and Pope Francis have both praised Mary under her Guadalupe title as patroness of the unborn.