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Holy Cross Abbey

901 Cool Spring Lane Berryville, Virginia 22611

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Day of Prayer for the Protection of the Unborn

January 22, 2026 by Fr Joseph

Although the Original Sin involved the eating of forbidden fruit, its deeper reality was pride—a pride that had already been the undoing of Lucifer in his arrogant desire to be like God. That same pride, now manifesting as violent jealousy, lies at the heart of Saul’s downfall and fuels his murderous intention toward David. Lacking the self-knowledge needed to recognize the irrational jealousy consuming him, Saul’s initial effort to heed Jonathan’s plea fails. Destroying David becomes an all‑absorbing obsession. Pride-driven jealousy is something we all encounter at some point in our lives, and it often lurks beneath our interpersonal tensions and conflicts. Until we honestly acknowledge this ignoble and shameful sign of our alienation from God and from our true identity, we risk becoming unwitting instruments of discord, resentment, and division. All the more reason, then, to remain committed to the ongoing conversion that deepens self-knowledge and exposes the prideful jealousies that can wreak such havoc in our relationships, undermine authentic community, and deprive us of that fullness of life we honor in a special way today—life, that is, from the first moment of conception reaching into our final entrance into the fullness of Eternal Life.

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