EXCLUSIVE – Marking Down Syndrome Awareness Day, Bishop Robert Barron’s publishing company, Word on Fire, is releasing a groundbreaking new book specifically designed to help adults with Down syndrome and other intellectual disabilities, who are disproportionately targeted for abortion, to pray.
Written by Mark Bradford, an advocate for persons with intellectual disabilities, the book – titled “Let Us Pray: Catholic Prayers for All Abilities” – features simplified traditional prayers, large print for readability, and an accessible font for those with dyslexia and other reading challenges.
Persons with Down syndrome are significantly more likely to be targeted for abortion. Between 67 and 87 percent of babies prenatally diagnosed with Down syndrome are aborted, according to a study published by the NIH.
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“Prayer is meant for every one of us,” Louisville Archbishop Edward Kurtz writes in the book’s foreword. (iStock)
There are an estimated 250,000 persons with Down syndrome in the United States, and millions more with other types of intellectual challenges.
Despite this, there has been no prayer book designed for adults with these learning challenges … until now.
“Prayer is meant for every one of us,” Louisville Archbishop Edward Kurtz writes in the book’s foreword.
Kurtz, who grew up with an older brother with Down syndrome, called the book a “beautiful gift” for those who desire to grow in their faith but have no means to do so.
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Bishop Robert Barron of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, is the founder of Word On Fire Ministries.
Bradford told Fox News Digital that he was inspired to create the new book when he saw his 20-year-old son Thomas Augustine – who has Down syndrome – having to use a book with “horrible illustrations” designed for small children to pray the rosary.
“There are no resources like this for adults with intellectual disabilities,” he explained. “I want this to be a resource that provides something beautiful to encourage adults with disabilities, and really anyone whose reading level is around the 3rd to 6th grade, to develop a habit of prayer using a book that was prepared just for them.”
Fox News Digital obtained an exclusive copy of the book. Bradford explained that through the book’s visually striking but not childish imagery, easy-to-read text, and engaging layout, it can help anyone, especially those with learning challenges, to form a habit of prayer.
According to Bradford, even the typeset chosen for the prayers is a unique font designed by a typographer in Holland specifically to assist dyslexic readers.
Despite the stigma often associated with Down syndrome and other learning disabilities, Bradford said that through “Let Us Pray,” he wants to send the message that “EVERY human person made in God’s image is called into a relationship with him.” (iStock)
“Let Us Pray” includes four main sections: “Making a Habit of Prayer,” “Getting More Involved at Sunday Mass,” “Devotions” and “Prayers for Special Times,” which includes “Prayers for Your Life’s Purpose” and “Prayers When Someone You Love Has Died or Is Dying.”
The book even includes a portion on “Prayers to End Abortion,” which acknowledges the “very sad” reality that many Down syndrome babies are selected for abortion because of their disability.
“When some women find out they are going to have a baby, they are very sad and afraid. They don’t want their baby — sometimes especially if they find out the baby will have Down syndrome or another disability,” the book reads. “They need us to pray for them every day so that they say yes, just like Mary did, and have their special baby to love.”
There is also a section at the end of the book for the reader to write down their own prayers.
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Bradford explained that through the book’s visually striking but not childish imagery, easy-to-read text, and engaging layout, it can help anyone, especially those with learning challenges, to form a habit of prayer. (iStock)
Despite the stigma often associated with Down syndrome and other learning disabilities, Bradford said that through “Let Us Pray,” he wants to send the message that “EVERY human person made in God’s image is called into a relationship with him.”
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“Those living with intellectual disabilities can have a rich and fruitful prayer life,” he said. “That needs to be honored with resources that encourage prayer and the development of that relationship with their creator that happens through prayer.”