Today, I joined a faithful band of crusaders who fight against the culture of death. No swords or clubs, just the Rosary and a picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe. We went from the Church of St Francis just a short walk round the corner to the Marie Stopes abortion clinic (abortions £420-£1600 depending on the age of the baby)
We said the fifteen decades of the Rosary and the Divine Mercy chaplet while Carole gave out prayer cards and information leaflets to young women passing by or going into the clinic.
It was good to chat afterwards over a cup of coffee in the Christian bookshop and meet some stalwart pro-life campaigners.
11 comments:
Dear Father
Thank you for doing this for the Lord and for the babies and their mothers.
Fr. Pavone has saved women and their babies by the powerful witness of being there as a Catholic priest in his Roman collar.
Whilst in the U.S.A. we heard of a woman who used to work in an abortion facility and then was converted by God's Grace! She said that in her 'bad old days' whenever a priest had joined pro-lifers for peaceful prayer vigils she had known that she was going to have a bad day!
We have a young priest friend in the north west of England who goes once a month to pray and his presence greatly encourages the faithful laity who go each week.
Thanks Father Tim
Alan and Angeline
Oh my word! They are so blatant and matter of fact about it all... AND they dare to use images of happy families with children who could so easily have ended up murdered in their facilities.
Come, Lord Jesus!
We are doing this same thing today. It's now 5:30am and I'm headed to the Adoration chapel at my parish ahead of the 7:30am Mass that will be celebrated by the local seminary rector.
About 150-300 people will then drive to a nearby parish where we process about 5 blocks under the banner of Our Lady of Guadalupe to two nearby abortion clinics during open hours.
We do this as part of an organization called, "Helpers of God's Precious Infants" which does daily sidewalk counseling, has a prayer network, and holds quarterly processions with vigil outside of two local abortion clinics.
There is one old woman among those who goes out there daily - rain, sun, sleet, or snow. She spends all open hours outside of that clinic and is probably one of the closest thing to a saint I have ever seen. She's all crippled up and stands out in that cold with the most loving, tender look on her face (which is so effective outside that clinic).
Perhaps I will have photos up later today. I try to make it to each event. Helpers is fortunate to get solid diocesan support when they ask for bishops and other priests of prominence to lead the vigil each time.
I have photos from past vigils linked in my post for today's event.
The President of our chapter says that 1 out of every 5 women turn during sidewalk counseling in which they are given alternatives to have their baby, and the necessary financial, material and spiritual support.
Prayer in this manner, is so much more effective than the confrontational ways of the early pro-life movement. It's like a maturing process.
Those confrontational methods made people shy away. My experience with this prayerful approach is that whole families get involved. Now and then some person may spew obscenities, but they are pretty much drowned out by the "Hail Mary's" of so many people.
In the spiritual battle against the devil's continued onslaught against the 'innocents' only the weapons of prayer and especially the Rosary are effective. Swords and clubs not to mention any modern day weapons are totally ineffective despite the fact that you can 'shoot' demons with salt and silver bullets in the movies, Ha-ha-haaaaa!!!
The image of Our Lady of Guadaloupe also seems to connect very deeply in some way with the human heart and any mother contemplating abortion cannot help but be moved by this most beautiful image of our Holy Mother to hopefully think again.
Wonderful work by the pro-lifers. It's God's work and God bless you all.
Hi there! You've won an award!
;-)
Well done Fr T and to all those who bore witness y'day to the sacred preciousness of every single life. Last year I attended as an "abortion activist" the Marie Stopes "Global Safe Abortion" conference in London: 800 abortionists from the 4 corners of the globe came to the black beacon that London now is (we have just passed the HFE Act allowing human/animal chimeras after all) to discuss promotion of abortion strategies. I chatted to many: one was an employee of the Marie Stopes clinic in Bristol. She commented unsolicited (I was there to listen/observe) - that when Catholics quietly come to pray the Rosary outside, pregnant mothers in 99% of cases walk away. Hopefully, they reconsider. The power of prayer to the perfect mother in human history should never be underestimated, even where the numbers of those bearing witness might be few. In our post-modern age of celebrity, affluenza and expedience, the truth will not draw crowds.
Good for you Father. A great witness.
I remember joining a 24 hour public sponsored fast with SPUC in front of the footsteps of Leeds City Hall in the late 1980s. I am still in contact with some of the people who were there. The Anglican bishop, David Hope, was the only clergyman who came near in the 25 hours I was there.
Pope John Paul II introduced the term the "culture of death" and how sad it is that the more we see the more obvious it becomes that somewhere along the line we have lost sight of Divine Teaching pertaining to the Sanctity of Human Life.
We’d just like to let you know about two new posts on our blog. The first is a report of a Mass in the Traditional Latin/Gregorian Rite in Co. Laois, Ireland.
http://catholicheritage.blogspot.com/2008/11/mass-for-st-paul-in-emo-co-laois.html
The second post is a report of news, just received, of a weekly Mass in Co. Meath, Ireland.
http://catholicheritage.blogspot.com/2008/11/mass-in-stamullen-co-meath.html
I hope that you’ll be able to feature both reports. Feel free to lift photos.
God bless you!
Saint Conleth’s Catholic Heritage Association
Congratulations to the brave pro-lifers in Maidstone. This kind of witness - and peaceful resistance to abortion, euthanasia, IVF and embryo research is an essential part of the pro-life movement, as is not obeying unjust laws and anti-life policies of the government. The presence of a Christian pastor at such events gives huge encouragement to the pro-life community. Many thanks Father.
Thank you, John. It always does me good spiritually to participate in these events.
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