More than 5,000 students, families and other pro-life Catholics packed into the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., for a vigil service Thursday on the evening before the national March for Life.

Attendees filled the pews in the upper church, which is designed to hold about 3,500 people. They crammed into the various Marian shrines along both sides of the basilica to worship at the vigil Mass during the National Prayer Vigil for Life. Hundreds more flowed into the basilica’s crypt, which is similarly adorned with shrines to the Blessed Mother. 

Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas, was the primary celebrant and homilist for the Mass. Four cardinals and 21 bishops concelebrated the Mass, and 50 deacons and 300 seminarians were also in attendance.

“When we march tomorrow, we march as pilgrims of hope,” Archbishop Naumann said during the homily after the Gospel reading, which was part of the first chapter of the Gospel of John.

“With the love of God revealed and the Word made flesh in Jesus Christ, how can we not have hope?” Archbishop Naumann said.

The Gospel reading teaches us that “the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us,” which the archbishop related to the importance of defending the sanctity of unborn life, saying during his homily that Christ “humbled himself to be an embryo in Mary.”

Archbishop Naumann said during the homily that “culture is more significant than politics” and urged people to be “witnesses to your peers” to help transform people’s hearts. 

“To transform our culture, we must touch the hearts [with] efforts like Walking with Moms in Need, where we try to surround women in difficult pregnancies with a community of love and support,” the archbishop said.

Archbishop Naumann added that Christ told his disciples that “if we’re going to follow him, we have to follow him all of the way to Calvary — that we have to be prepared to take up the cross.”

Speaking directly to the young people in attendance, the archbishop told them they have “a unique power to be that light” for others, telling them to “be as only young people can be like” and cited Blessed Carlo Acutis, who died at age 15 and will be canonized as the first millennial saint in April.

“My good young people here, you’re called to be witnesses to your peers; you’re called to help them to come to know what brought you here tonight,” Archbishop Naumann said.

Archbishop Naumann celebrated the Mass in place of Bishop Daniel Thomas of Toledo, Ohio, who could not attend because of a death in his family. Bishop Thomas is the chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities. Archbishop Naumann serves on the committee and is a former chairman.

The archbishop also read some of Bishop Thomas’ notes that he provided, which emphasized that “every human person, preborn and born,” is made in “the image and likeness of God.”

Matthew Montano, a senior at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, attended the vigil with fellow Catholic classmates. He told CNA he made arrangements to travel to the march at the last minute, adding: “It’s the grace of God that brought me here.” 

Montano, who is attending the March for Life for the second time, said he hopes to help “bring to light the atrocities that are going on” by marching in defense of life, adding that the right to life is the “most important thing we have.”

Brenda Alcanta took five buses to get to Washington, D.C., from Wisconsin. She told CNA she was encouraged by a friend to attend her first March for Life this year and plans to attend every year going forward. 

“So many people coming together for one cause … just makes you feel like you’re making a difference,” Alcanta said and emphasized the importance of the vigil to “pray for women who are considering abortion.”

Before the Mass, the congregants prayed the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. Following the Mass, clergy processed down the aisles of the upper church of the basilica with the Blessed Sacrament and held adoration. Congregants also prayed the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary during adoration.