The Final Day of the 40 and a Tricky Encounter

As a vigil neophyte, I had not quite appreciated the strain put on the English language to misconstrue the purpose of our signs and indeed our mere presence. I had not realised that praying quietly and passively on a street corner amounted to the ‘obstruction’ and ‘intimidation’ of those seeking ‘healthcare’. Having directed the lady speaking to us to our two signs and asked about her objection, we were told that suggesting women deserve something better than abortion is to shame them. We then learned that both this sentiment and the boards’ stock image of a mother and child, offers of help with clothing, housing, and immigration status are all ‘implied’ acts of intimidation. Moreover, we were informed that our stance aligns us with the forces of ‘fascism’ and the ‘far right’. I can only suppose that in her charity, the lady speaking to us took our offer of referrals to immigration help as proof of how our succour to nefarious forces was at least an unwitting one. 

Calumny is hardly a novel tactic and much of the above is nothing new under the sun (though is no less bewildering for that). My only purpose in relaying this encounter is to remind us that even when faced with unobjectionable sentiments and an offer of help to those at the mercy of often terrible circumstances, our opponents will persist in constructing windows into our souls that reaffirm their very worst prejudices about us. That, then, should prompt us to be found perfect in our intentions and to act as we are prompted in 1 Corinthians: with love. When we smart at defamations and fail to endure them by responding with malice, pride, or impatience, then in that moment we fail our cause and fail to confound the prejudices of those who lie about us. 

I cannot ultimately say what effect, if any, our encounter with the lady at the vigil yesterday will have in the long run. From her emotion towards the end of our encounter, I strongly suspect that abortion is something proximate to her and the motivations she ascribed to us came from a place of great hurt and perhaps having been horribly wronged by men in the past. I was sorrowed seeing her upset and am sorrowed to recall it now. Perhaps hiding the full reality of the things that we do from our own sight can be a mercy at times, and who am I to suppose myself to be any less guilty of terrible omissions in other areas of my life? I only hope that, when the hour comes, I might be shown the loving mercy we should feel in our hearts for those Brixton passersby who are so wracked with suffering and anger but do not quite know why. 

Nathan

For help in pregnancy see here or for help when suffering after an abortion see here

DONATE TO SUPPORT OUR WORK

Donate by Bank Transfer to:

The Guild of Our Lady of Good Counsel

Sort Code: 40-06-30                       

Account Number: 13994678

By Credit Card over the phone:

Call 0207-723-1740

Monday to Friday, 10.30-6pm

Via Paypal: Paypal.me/SaveLivesGCN

or donate here

Many Thanks to Everyone at 40 Days for Life in Brixton

A huge thank you to all our 40 Days for Life volunteers. For forty days, in all kinds of weather and at all hours, you showed up to complete the 480 hours of prayer vigils. We had over 160 volunteers, which is an astounding number!! Hope you all have a very blessed Holy Week and a very Happy Easter, it is well deserved. Sorry to anyone who missed out on this wonderful 40 Days for Life in Brixton, but don’t lose heart there is always our regular Pro-Life vigils!

The Help And Support Of Professionals

Although we at the Good Counsel Network do all we possibly can to provide help and support to our clients, it sometimes happens that the client needs the specialist advice of a solicitor or of an immigration, employment or family law professional - as happened recently with a client who needed immediate family law and mediation advice.

In the last few years I have noticed that there are fewer free advice agencies offering the kind of expert advice our clients may need and I’ve been told by some groups that they have lost funding, do not have the staff and/or can no longer offer the services they once did.  Whilst this can be quite challenging when I need to get the best specialist advice I can for a woman, some wonderful professionals who support the work of the Good Counsel Network have occasionally stepped into the breach in order to offer their services free of charge.

This help might consist of a brief text, email or conversation, ongoing advice or even in some cases the professional working directly with a mother to help her navigate a difficult situation. The professional may not understand just how impactful their help was or will be on our client, but I see lives improved and fear lessened by this generous giving of time and specialist knowledge.  Plus, it gives a mother more confidence in navigating through her particular situation.  This confidence and support can mean a woman who is contemplating abortion decides to choose life for her baby.

In the recent case I mentioned above, our client’s fear was alleviated just knowing that she was better prepared for the difficulties she faced and she was happy to see that her informed preparation had a positive impact on her situation.

                                                                                                                                     Michelle

The 40 Days for Life Prayer Vigil in Brixton will run for 12 hours a day, 8am to 8pm, seven days a week from Ash Wednesday until Palm Sunday. If you could spare an hour or more to come and pray with us, it would be of great help. The vigil takes place at the corner of Brixton Water Lane, London, SW2 5BJ. For more details or to book to attend please contact Gabriella on 07745711064 or 02077231740

To sign up for hours at the 40 Days for Life vigil in Ealing, West London contact Sarah on 07776256838, or email her at london40daysforlife@hotmail.com

For details about 40 Days for Life Prayer Vigils in Reading, Southend, Liverpool, Nottingham, Glasgow, Leicester, Bournemouth and Sheffield see here and for the rest of the World see here 

TRUMP FUNDED!

Since the current 40 Days for Life campaign started on Ash Wednesday, a number of people have taken to vandalising the ground near our peaceful prayerful Pro-life vigil. Some have marked the pavement with chalk just around the corner from where we pray. Others have taken to spray painting the ground in front of our vigil. Highly imaginative slogans, such as "Brixton is pro-choice" have been sprayed on the floor, along with "Weirdos" with arrows pointing to the spot where we stand and pray. The latest example had someone paint "Trump funded" with an arrow.

We do receive donations from a wide spectrum of people. No doubt, a wider spectrum of people than our graffiti artist spends their time with. Happily living in their own little bubble, probably makes them feel quite comfortable, until they come across something as terrifying as peaceful prayer. To be honest with you President Donald Trump has not, as of yet funded any of our life saving/changing work, as we continue to provide ongoing assistance and help to Mothers in difficult pregnancies. We are of course happy to receive donations from anyone.

If you would like to donate directly to support women who do not want an abortion, but feel that they have no choice. Please consider donating using one of the options below.

No doubt President Trump will be quite happy with the praise and adulation given to him by Brixton's graffiti artist. The fact that having not supported our work, as of yet, they are giving him the credit for having done so, will allow him to sit back quietly in the White House and take the credit for all of the hard work of our staff and volunteers. And as most of our staff and volunteers are extremely hard-working and humble, I'm sure that they won't mind in the least.

DONATE TO SUPPORT OUR WORK

Donate by Bank Transfer to:

The Guild of Our Lady of Good Counsel

Sort Code: 40-06-30                       

Account Number: 13994678

By Credit Card over the phone:

Call 0207-723-1740

Monday to Friday, 10.30-6pm

Via Paypal: Paypal.me/SaveLivesGCN

or donate here

Patron Saint Of The Unborn

Saint Gianna Beretta Molla was born on the 4th of October 1922 in Magenta Italy, she was the tenth child in a family of 13 children. Gianna studied medicine and went on to specialize in pediatrics. In 1955 she married and had four children, during her fourth pregnancy she faced a life threatening medical condition, she had developed a fibroma in her uterus. The doctors presented her with three options, an abortion, a complete hysterectomy, both which would take the life of her child, or removal of only the fibroma, which could save the life of her baby but with potential further complications. St Gianna chose the path that could save her child's life, she was willing to give her own life to save the life of her child. She gave birth to Gianna Emanuela but died a week later on the 28th of April 1962. She is known to have said, "If you must decide between me and the child, do not hesitate: choose the child." 

She is the patron saint of mothers, physicians and unborn children.

St Gianna Beretta Molla, pray for us!

The 40 Days for Life Prayer Vigil in Brixton will run for 12 hours a day, 8am to 8pm, seven days a week from Ash Wednesday until Palm Sunday. If you could spare an hour or more to come and pray with us, it would be of great help. The vigil takes place at the corner of Brixton Water Lane, London, SW2 5BJ. For more details or to book to attend please contact Gabriella on 07745711064 or 02077231740

To sign up for hours at the 40 Days for Life vigil in Ealing, West London contact Sarah on 07776256838, or email her at london40daysforlife@hotmail.com

For details about 40 Days for Life Prayer Vigils in Reading, Southend, Liverpool, Nottingham, Glasgow, Leicester, Bournemouth and Sheffield see here and for the rest of the World see here

The Mystery Of Motherhood

‘Mummy, Mummy, look at this flower!’

‘Darling, I hate to tell you this, but that’s not a flower. That’s a weed’ she replies, laughingly. 

I’m thinking, what does it matter? It’s the most beautiful flower I’ve ever seen. 

On the path leading up to the abortion centre in Ealing, the periwinkle sticks its head out through the gap of the fence of a very beautiful park. The periwinkle is not a flower, it’s a weed. 

I’ve always thought that if I was a flower, I would be one that is technically a weed. I would be a forget-me-not, because regardless of whether they’re weeds or not, they’re my favourite kind of flower. 

And let’s face it, we’re all a bit weedy. We’re sinners. We get in the way, we take up too much space without asking and cause havoc, demanding attention. We’re not always pretty, sometimes we ruin the view and some of us might even sting. 

Nonetheless, there is something very beautiful about a flower that is actually a weed. Where did it come from? No one planted it. What a miracle, what a surprise. 

Somewhere out there, a mother regards the life in her womb as a weed. She didn’t intend for it to be there, and she wants to get rid of it.

It’s not a life. It’s not a flower, it’s a weed. 

In my woundedness, I don’t understand why Our Lord doesn’t raise children Himself. Why does He give them to us when He knows we will hurt them? Why does He keep giving them to us when almost one out of three in them now are aborted? Weeds grow in places where they are likely to be trampled upon. Our Lord imprisons Himself in the womb of the mother in the same way as He imprisons Himself in the Tabernacle. Why did He decide to become a tiny piece of bread, a substance so vulnerable to destruction, placing Himself in our clumsy hands? 

It is the mystery of the Cross. Our Lord became a vulnerable human being, and He let us destroy Him. That’s how He saved us. Our Lady knew what was going to happen, and still, she gave Him to us. It is not the end of the story. 

There is an abortion centre in Ealing, and the sun still shines, the birds still sing. It is right next to a very beautiful park where flowers still grow.

Article & Illustration by Anna Maria, 

Good Counsel's Artist in Residence

The 40 Days for Life Prayer Vigil in Brixton will run for 12 hours a day, 8am to 8pm, seven days a week from Ash Wednesday until Palm Sunday. If you could spare an hour or more to come and pray with us, it would be of great help. The vigil takes place at the corner of Brixton Water Lane, London, SW2 5BJ. For more details or to book to attend please contact Gabriella on 07745711064 or 02077231740

To sign up for hours at the 40 Days for Life vigil in Ealing, West London contact Sarah on 07776256838, or email her at london40daysforlife@hotmail.com

For details about 40 Days for Life Prayer Vigils in Reading, Southend, Liverpool, Nottingham, Glasgow, Leicester, Bournemouth and Sheffield see here and for the rest of the World see here 

Catherine Scott, Remembering a Pro-Life Volunter.

Seek ye therefore first the kingdom of God, and His justice, and all these things shall be added unto you

Catherine Scott, a long-time supporter of GCN and a very faithful vigil volunteer died on Sunday 30^th October 2022 on the Feast of Christ the King (in the Old Rite). This past Sunday would have been her Birthday.

I can’t remember a time when Catherine wasn’t involved in offering alternatives and real support to women entering abortion centres. She was fearless at the vigils and often received much abuse from passers-by in her daily presence at them. But she had a deep empathy for the women entering, no judgement of them and a desire to politely offer each woman the choice of life.

So many Mothers we have helped down the years were befriended by her and she would chide us if she thought they didn’t get the help they needed quickly enough, and would remind us if they needed something or needed a call.

Catherine was always ready to give witness for Christ’s sake and had a deep devotion to Our Lady. From the Chartres Pilgrimage to the G.K. Chesterton Walk, The Rosary Crusade, The Helpers of God’s Precious Infants Retreats, Catherine could be found supporting Mary’s Meals and numerous other Catholic events and good causes.

She had an incredible humility that allowed her to put any desire for human respect away when boldly reaching out to help those in need. One busy morning she popped into the office with a pregnant woman she had met by the fridges in Tesco, who needed help with accommodation to safely continue her pregnancy. Somehow this soul got talking to Catherine and she was determined to get her some real help.

She was full of love and mercy for others and never had a bad word to say about those she volunteered with and those she helped. She did have real anger towards those who lied about the vigils and those who profited from abortion while knowingly taking babies’ lives and putting women at risk.

Regularly accompanying us on staff retreats and formation days, Catherine was an honorary staff member of Good Counsel who had worked with us longer than many of our staff! As our sacristan Gabi said, “I remember Catherine radiant in prayer. I miss her being there for us all, such a beautiful, giving person. I feel so blessed for having met her.”

Thank you Catherine for all your hard work, for your tolerance of our foibles, for your kindness and your focus on what really mattered. Thank you for all the lives you have impacted, for making yourself an instrument in God’s hands to save children from abortion and to save Mothers from the sorrow of going through an abortion. God rest your noble soul, please pray for us, I know you will.

Clare

I remember being at Whitfield Street with Catherine one day. She was counselling women by the entrance to Marie Stopes abortion centre. One woman passing by stopped and asked her for a leaflet. The woman slowly tore the blue and pink leaflets up into tiny pieces and threw them up in the air. They fell to the ground, many of them landing on Catherine. It was really rather beautiful actually, and she stood there looking like she had been anointed. She just quietly bowed her head and prayed. – Len, Volunteer.

I think Marie Stopes is closed today…good thing the funeral happened on this day! Like they had a respite in abortions just for Catherine! – GCN Staff at Ealing Pro-Life Vigil on the day of Catherine’s funeral.