Notre Dame, my Mother

Ten years ago,Lacy Dodd a student of Notre Dame Catholic University approached her own Commencement ceremony with some conflicting feelings; at the time she was three months pregnant.

"That March, I had gone—alone—to a local woman’s clinic to take a test. The results were positive, and I was so numb I almost didn’t grasp what the nurse was getting at when she assured me I had “other options.” What did “other options” mean? And what kind of world is it that defines compassion as telling a young woman who has just learned she is carrying life inside her that she has the option to destroy it."

In her confusion and turmoil, Lacy describes how she sought the help of Our Lady:

"Of all women, Our Lady could surely feel pity for an unplanned pregnancy.
In my hour of need, on my knees, I asked Mary for courage and strength. And she did not disappoint."

Here is her moving story,which concludes with this pertinent comment:

"There have been many things written about the honors to be extended to President Obama. I’d like to ask this of Fr. John Jenkins, the Notre Dame president: Who draws support from your decision to honor President Obama—the young, pregnant Notre Dame woman sitting in that graduating class who wants desperately to keep her baby, or the Notre Dame man who believes that the Catholic teaching on the intrinsic evil of abortion is just dining-room talk?"

Thanks to first things