Book Talk at the Gospel of Life Society in Norwalk, CT

Eileen Bianchini, Leticia Velasquez and Mary Rose Garych

I was honored to be invited by my friend Eileen Bianchini to address the Gospel of Life Society at St Mary's in Norwalk, CT on April 13 after a lovely Mass in in the Extraordinary Form. St Mary's is a beautiful traditional church which features Mass in both Novus Ordo and EF. The parish is a mix of European Americans and recent immigrants from Africa, Asia and Latin America, a truly Catholic group. Fr Markey, the pastor is a wonderful homilist and inspires his parish to make a difference in the world for Christ.
 The Gospel of Life Society meets once a month after Mass to read from Blessed John Paul II's encyclical "Evangelium Vitae" and to pray for a culture of life. Then, after prayers, they roll up their sleeves and get to work. Most months a speaker will address the group on current issues affecting the culture, and many times they will respond to urgent legislative issues in Hartford. An most recent example is when legislators in Hartford considered a bill on Physician Assisted Suicide, while the bill was still in committee. Eileen Bianchini sent out various emails instructing the group how to contact committee members with pertinent information of the dangers of PAS and many members of the group arrived in the Capitol to wait all day to testify to the committee, supported by forces commanded by PeterWolfgang of the Family Institute of CT. The hearings began and thanks to the GOLS the members had heard the rebuttals to the lies told by the pro-death side promoting PAS. Their arguments fell flat since the truth had preceded them and the committee had to admit they did not have the votes for the Physician Assisted Suicide Bill to pass and it died in the committee. Thanks be to God!
I gave Eileen Bianchini the nickname "Terror of Hartford" for her amazing work defeating a bill which has lead to a tragedy where it has been legalized, in the state of Oregon suicides have risen 41% since approving PAS. Surely physicians are called to heal not to kill.
My talk, to a capacity crowd which included my Facebook friend Mary Rose Garych and many lovely families blessed by children with Down syndrome was warmly received and a lively question and answer session followed. Then I had the chance to meet the families and sign some books. I hope to meet with them again soon and give more talks, to medical students, doctors and all those who are helping mothers whose child has received a prenatal or postnatal diagnosis of Down syndrome to understand that their children are indeed blessings from God and opportunities to grow in holiness.

Mommy of Many Trades reviews A Special Mother is Born

Thank you Jessica Heeran of "Mommy of Many Trades" blog for your thoughtful review of "A Special Mother is Born". Not a bad photo of Chrissy and I either!

My book just received The Catholic Writer's Guild Seal of Approval!

 

Dear Ms. Velasquez,

Thank you for submitting your book, A Special Mother Is Born, for the Catholic Writers Guild Seal of Approval. 

After completing the review process, we are excited to award you the Seal of Approval for your work.

Congratulations! If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact either of us.

Blessings,

Sarah Reinhard                                     Ann Lewis

SOA Committee Chair                         President

                   

"A Special Mother is Born" interview on "Catholic Answers Live"

Patrick Coffin the eloquent host of Catholic Answers Live, graciously permitted me to reprint an article he wrote about his daughter Naomi Rose who lived a brief but love filled life. He interviewed me about the blessings of a child with Down syndrome here. 

Wrap up of reviews and interviews for "A Special Mother is Born"

I sent out a letter today about the publicity my book has received and decided to post the links here as a wrap up of what has been a fantastic publicity campaign for "A Special Mother is Born" in case you missed some of the posts on this blog.

A chapter preview on Amy Julia Becker's Patheos blog Thin Places. 
Down with Love on National Review Online

Review by author Theresa Thomas at The Integrated Catholic Life

Interview on AirMaria.com's roving reporter on Catholic Online

Review by Rebecca Taylor on Life News

Review on Catholic Mom.com with a podcast on Special Chronicles

A review in National Right to Life News

Interview in "The Long Island Catholic"

A review in Catholic Lane; Why the World Needs Special Kids. 

An interview for Zenit. 

And one for Patheos which ended up on Catholic Lane

A podcast Each Life is a Masterpiece at Among Women with Pat Gohn

Nancy Valko is a registered nurse from St. Louis, president of Missouri Nurses for Life, a spokesperson for the National Association of Pro-Life Nurses, and a Voices contributing editor.She contribute her story to "A Special Mother is Born" and wrote this review on Voices, the magazine for Women for Faith & Family. 

A review by Examiner columnist Elizabeth Katheryn Gerold Miller. in "Celebrate Life" magazine. 

I was on various Catholic radio shows across the nation, including nationally syndicated Catholic Answers Radio Program with contributor Patrick Coffin,  SonRise Morning Show on EWTN radio, "A Closer Look" with Sheila Liaugminas,  and "Pathways to Learning" with Sr Marie Papas on the Catholic Channel on Sirius XM Radio.
I have been interviewed on "Faith & Culture" and at the March for Life on EWTN, "The Michael Coren Show", Catholic TV's "The Gist", "This is the Day" and for various diocesan TV shows. 

I have been conducting my own book signing tour in the Northeast since October, the highlight of which was my presenting twice at the Family Research Council. in Washington DC twice; First Down Syndrome; Death Sentence or Divine Smile? and I coordinated and spoke at this conference in January.Conference on Poor Prenatal Diagnosis. 

A Special Mother is Born Celebrates its First Birthday

CCC 166          Faith is a personal act — the free response of the human person to the initiative of God who reveals himself. But faith is not an isolated act. No one can believe alone, just as no one can live alone. You have not given yourself faith as you have not given yourself life. The believer has received faith from others and should hand it on to others. Our love for Jesus and for our neighbor impels us to speak to others about our faith. Each believer is thus a link in the great chain of believers. I cannot believe without being carried by the faith of others, and by my faith I help support others in the faith.

 

In 2002, I , the mother of two girls, became the mother of a baby girl with Down syndrome. It was something I never imagined I could handle, I rationalized that I didn’t have enough patience, that my marriage could not withstand the stress, nevertheless, one Sunday morning, while attending Mass halfway through my pregnancy, I heard a voice in my heart, which said, “You are going to have a baby with Down syndrome.” I doubted this voice, and tried to shrug it off, but a few minutes later, I was in the Communion line and the voice said, “I want you to accept this child as a gift from My Hand.” I accepted God’s will and His Body in tears saying, “yes, Lord, but please bring my husband along for the ride”. God used even my reluctant fiat to accomplish His will in my life.

 Four months later, Christina was born and the voice was proved to be prophetic; Christina did have Down syndrome  and was tiny at 5 lbs,but was otherwise healthy.  I was surrounded by an embrace of love. Phone calls came, meals arrived, and over one hundred people attended her Baptism, in the pouring rain on Mother’s Day. Their faith kept me afloat when I was weak, recovering from a C-section, dealing with her jaundice and nursing issues, as well as supporting family members who were still coming to grips with the fact that she had Down syndrome.

  My pastor connected me with the mother of a lovely 20 year old young lady with Down syndrome  who calmed my fears by telling me that Kristin was happy, working a job a local bakery, busy with family activities, and a godmother three times over. Another friend sent an Elizabeth Ministry package with a book and CD “Sometimes Miracles Hide” which was full of testimonies of parents of special needs children. My faltering faith was buoyed by a loving tide of support from my faith community.

Once I regained my stride as a mother, I began to notice that other mothers of babies with Down syndrome are not given such support.. I took Christina to her older sister’s softball game and brought tears to the eyes of a mother who had felt unequal to the challenge of bearing a child with Down syndrome, and made the tragic choice of abortion. My baby made this mother realize she had made a mistake; between 75-92% of moms who received a diagnosis of Down syndrome choose abortion. I resolved to share my story with moms  like this who feel overwhelmed, as I did, but who do not have the beautiful community of support I enjoyed. I learned that my doctors were not going to pass my phone number to their patients, so I took to the Internet. There I found a place to share how my little child with Down syndrome was a blessing to my family and the larger community. I shared how she was an example of faith by her simple prayers to God in times of need, her unconditional love of all those she met, and her boundless joy at Mass. Soon other parents shared their inspiring stories with me, and I collected them into a book A Special Mother is Born a collection of 34 stories from Catholic parents of special needs children who share what a blessing they are.

So many women have told me that these moving stories strengthened their faith, making them additional links in the chain of believers, and I am grateful to God for the grace to say “yes” to His gift of Christina a little girl with Down syndrome. 

I will be speaking at the Annual Conference of the Society of Catholic Social Scientists Saturday, October 27th

20TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE

OF THE SOCIETY OF CATHOLIC SOCIAL SCIENTISTS

FRIDAY OCTOBER 26TH & SATURDAY 27TH

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BIOETHICS INITIATIVES      Saturday October 27th    10:30-11:45am

 

This area of evangelization can literally be a matter of physical life and death. Local Catholic Health Professionals and Bioethicists are teaming together to effectively and ethically educate the Laity in many vital areas including:  Advanced Directives, DNR's, End-of-Life Care, Proper Comfort Care, Adult vs. Embryonic Stem-Cell Research Therapy, Special and Disability Needs Advocacy, Legitimate Alternatives to IVF, and Natural Family Planning.

 

Initiatives include but are not limited to: Catechesis, Blogs, Conferences, Lectures, Authoring of new books on critical topics, as well as informal counseling and consulting on a one-to-one as needed basis.

 

Moderator/Panelist:  Leonarda Capponi, RN   Catechist Our Lady of Mercy Adult Ed/RCIA

 

                                 Dr. Lisa Honkanen             Respect Life Moderator, Dix Hills

 

                                Leticia Velasquez               Co-Founder of KIDS(Keep Infants With Downs Syndrome) editor "A Special Mother is Born", contributor to "Encyclopedia of Catholic Social Thought, Social Policy Vol III". 

 

FEATURING

ROBERT P. GEORGE

Nationally Renowned Catholic Scholar

"Conscience and It's Enemies"

 

DR. PAUL VITZ

Professor of Psychology at New York University
and the Institute for the Psychological Sciences, Arlington, VA

"Catholicism and Psychology"

 

DR WILLIAM DONAHUE

President of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights

“Why Catholicism Matters: How Catholic Virtues Can Reshape Society in the 21^st Century”

 

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TO ACCESS COMPLETE SCHEDULE OF EVENTS, KEYNOTES, PANELISTS AND TOPICS CLICK ON:

FRIDAY

http://www.scssconference.org/friday.php

SATURDAY

http://www.scssconference.org/saturday.php

**MASS IS SCHEDULED FOR BOTH FRIDAY AND SATURDAY**

Bishop Murphy will be celebrating a Mass of anticipation on Saturday, October 27th, at 6 PM

in the KMHS auditorium.

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PRICING: $20 PER DAY

WITH ADDTIONAL COSTS FOR MEALS

Attendees can choose to attend one or both days and pay separately to attendany of the lunches or dinners rather than the all day Conference.

Note: To attend Lunch or Dinner keynotes,

you must be registered for that meal

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION INCLUDING A COMPLETE LISTING OF THE CONFERENCE PROGRAM OR TO REGISTER

WWW.SCSSCONFERENCE.ORG

OR CALL 516-292-0200 EXT 200

REGISTRATION DEADLINE: OCT 19TH!