A Personal View of 40 Days for Life in Ealing

Sometimes we do something and we don’t know why. But then it makes sense afterwards. This sounds like a weaker description of what I have heard faith defined as - of believing in advance what only makes sense in reverse. With 40 Days for Life I have had this experience; of it making sense in reverse. There are so many good reasons to support this incredible group not least for the important work they do. In my case though I didn’t think, I just knew to go, gave up plans previously made and have been going ever since. In going I have been blessed to meet very special people there. This group seems to be a magnet for such people and each time I have really enjoyed it and found it a special experience in many ways.

This time every year the organiser, Sarah, gives up her Lent in order to make this happen; eight in the morning until eight in the evening everyday with at least two people outside the abortion centre. Sarah also organises several vigils throughout the night. The final vigil that went on for thirty-three hours and included one lady that inspired many. She used her one day off in the week to pray the whole night through, for this cause. This lady is among many that I have found truly inspiring in giving up their time and putting so much into this Lenten movement. Such people are the reason for many babies being born who would not have been without this group.

The power of this group is palpable given the number of mothers both this year and in past years who have chosen life for their children and been given help precisely because of this group – without which those same children may not be here today.

Sarah told me that she always finds it such a joy and still such a surprise when volunteers get so much out of it. She later suggested that perhaps it is because we often think we could do a bit more in Lent, but 40 Days for Life has all three Lenten disciplines - prayer, fasting and almsgiving (of time).

This is something that may seem to the world as something equivalent to hanging round in street corners or possibly something more insidious. But the truth is very different. The truth is that defending the unborn is an essential part of our Faith and anything against that is a direct attack on the dignity of human life made in the Imago Dei. To take part in this is to take part at the forefront of the spiritual warfare of our times, against the dangerous and growing culture of death that we have been previously warned about. This quote from Catholic philosopher Peter Kreeft brings to light the weight of what is at stake, “Abortion is the Antichrist’s demonic parody of the Eucharist. That’s why it uses the same holy words, “This is my body,” with the blasphemous opposite meaning.” 

I was also told about the history of the abortion centre that 40 days for Life, which set a fire inside of me in support of 40 days for life. I was sent the blog that goes through that history in detail. It used to be a chapel house that was set up by a woman called Dorothy Kerin who, was mortally ill. Yet on her deathbed she experienced miraculous healing in order that she may carry through her mission, that included prayer and ministering to the sick.

Alan Hopes, formerly Bishop of East Anglia and Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster said “The fact that Chapel House was founded as a house of prayer and healing, and is now home to an abortion provider is a tragic betrayal of the life and mission of Dorothy Kerin”. But things could have been very different, Dorothy was in the process of selling the building to a friend until that was blocked by the Middlesex County Council who forced its way into buying it with the threat of a Compulsory Purchase order. They subsequently sold it to Marie Stopes International in 1993. On MSI’s website they claim to provide “reproductive healthcare services”, which is possibly the most opposite description of something I have ever heard. Moreover, they provide this “healthcare” largely using our own tax money.

Dorothy, the same woman who experienced visions of angels and adopted nine children would likely be distraught that the house of healing has become a house of bloodshed. The building to this day still bears the plaque of Christ surrounded by a choir of angels with Saint Michael the Archangel below. This is such a profound insult to our Faith and what it stands for that I can hardly believe it. However, just as the crown of thorns was used by his executioners as a form of humiliation; we must remember that Christ (as only He can) used what they thought to be the ultimate insult, as His glory and final victory. In their vituperative outburst they crowned him king. More than that, it was the crown that Christ chose in order to display to the world His kingship. So too in this plaque remaining where it is, it signals hope of what is to come; as 40 Days for life holds on to that hope in prayer for the final victory in this place here. In Christ all is made right and the story of this “abortuary” is not over, as this very insult inspires hope for what is to come, for this abortion centre and all such clinics throughout the whole of England.

I’d like to end this post on one question - one that I invite you to ask others around you. A question that is essential to the mission of 40 Days for life and all those who take part in it. The answer will either, by implication, praise recent legislation to decriminalise abortion up until birth, or cause mourning for the deaths of the one third of children who were created by God to live a full life in this good country of ours.

The question: who are the unborn? This one question cracks open and defogs the entire landscape surrounding abortion. For if the unborn really are people, then this country will have to join a long list of those countries that have dehumanised and killed those that are inconvenient.

Thank you to this group and all the work that goes into it. It is something special and important and I very much looking forward to taking part in my own small way next year. I am and will continue to pray for this group and all its members, thank you again for all you do.

Tim

For details of other Pro-Life vigils 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 

Christ is with you at the Pro-life Vigil

Good Counsel has been plodding along helping Mothers for 29 years now, and we have learned in that time, the importance of the outreach to Mothers and of the prayers for them that happen at pro-life vigils. Despite the rising number of abortions, the ease with which abortions can be obtained now and the ever worsening legal situation around abortion in the UK, vigils remain a place where we can reach many passers by with a witness to life and an offer of help and support. Lighting a candle in a very dark world.

This Lent, the 2 London 40 Days for Life Campaigns have been blessed by the visit of many priests, a Bishop, an Archbishop and a Cardinal. What difference does that make to anything? Well, firstly, each bishop brings with him the authority of the Church, and the ability to bless us and our work and prayer in the name of the Church.  And secondly, when the clergy come to pray and witness with us, Christ comes in them in a particular way. Listen to Cardinal Michael Fitzgerald explain this from the writings of Cardinal Newman. 

Most of all, when the clergy come with us, they say with their actions "The Church is with you. Christ is with you. We support you as you preach the Gospel of Life from the Rooftops."

Clare

The 40 Days for Life Prayer Vigil in Brixton, where we reach out to expectant Mums, 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

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

Come And Join 40 Days For Life If You Dare

We’re two weeks into 40 Days for Life, almost half way. Our Lord is under the cross and we’re trying to be there with Him. People are mocking and cursing Him, He’s exhausted, the whole world is against Him but He keeps on going. Why? Because He loves us, and life is worth it.

Our Lady is there and she’s the only one that sees Him. For those that don’t make it, at the very least we were there, and we saw them.

‘I was in prison and you came to me’ (Matthew 25:36).

Lord, when were You in prison and when did we visit You?

I was a little unborn baby in the womb. My mother was taking me to the abortion centre because everyone told her I wasn’t a life yet. You stood outside and offered her help. You prayed for her and for me.

Good Counsel Network has its vigils going all year round, but for 40 days the ante goes up. I’m thinking back to the first day. It’s dark and pouring with rain, I’m trying to sort out the display and my umbrella’s blowing inside out. I’m having to think on my feet. I’ve been wondering when it’s going to get real, and this is really it I’m thinking. I’m looking across at my friend. He’s white with the cold and he’s saying God bless you to a man who’s just told us to keep freezing. This is really it I’m thinking.

 

If you’re not in the fight for life what are you doing? If you’re not fighting for life are you really living?

 

Clocks ticking, now I don’t think I’m blogging anymore I’m rhyming.

 

These days in the UK, your chances of making it out of the womb and into the world are slim, just over two in three to be exact. Life doesn’t make its way into this world without a fight. Does that sound like the kind of fight you want to miss out on?

 

How much does it take to bring a baby into this world? The Hand of God, the prayers of Our Lady, a man and a woman plus two frozen vigilantes. One of them wasn’t meant to be there this long, someone is late and he’s saying the Hail Mary like he no longer knows what it means.

I'm approaching the vigil. From a distance it doesn’t look like much, two little people and a couple of signs by the side of the road. It seems to me these things don’t look so small to God because you get there and it's war.

 

I’m standing there, and I feel like I’ve found the place I came from. Who would have thought, this pavement in Ealing. I know why it is, it’s because my Mother is there, and I’m there, suffering my little splinter of what she suffered for me to be here.

 

Come and join us for 40 days if you dare. You might just find out who you really are. You don’t want to miss this for the world.

 Anna Maria

The 40 Days for Life Prayer Vigil in Brixton, where we reach out to expectant Mums, 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

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

Forgetting How to Remember the Dead

The 11th of November 2025 was a damp, dim, grim day. I was standing at the pro-life vigil in Ealing when at 11 o’clock my Rosary was interrupted by the sound of a trumpet coming from the War Memorial just across the road for  the two minutes of silence.

There was a crowd of about four people standing at the Memorial. At the end of the two minutes, they made the Sign of the Cross. It hasn’t even been a hundred years since the Second World War, and how much our country has changed since then. To have been born then and to still be alive now must be to have witnessed the most astonishing decline in morality and Religion. Is it only those of us who remember how to make the Sign of the Cross, and think it right to do so, that can remember how to remember the dead? Once upon a time this country was Catholic, and now being Catholic in this country is like being some kind of psychotic alien. 

 

What struck me in those two minutes was how little we appreciate the peace those soldiers fought so hard for. They laid down their lives so that we could have ours, and how little we value it. 

 

People were a lot more alive back then than they are now, perhaps because there was something

obvious to fight for. It might seem like all this peace and comfort they have won for us hasn’t done us much good at all. I can’t remember which saint said it and what they said exactly, but it was something about there being more danger in times when everything seems peaceful because we are less alert to the spiritual battle. What our country does not realise is, we’ve still got just as much to fight for. The reality is, we are not living in peace at all. 

 

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Our Lady has put the pro-life vigil in Ealing right next to the War Memorial. I once prayed a Rosary with someone at the Memorial and they said; ´it’s different here, people don’t get angry with us. They just think we’re praying for the dead.’ 

 

Everyone wears a poppy, I even saw someone’s dog wearing one, but the amount of lives lost to abortion is something public conscience is far from being able to face. 

Anna Maria

And you can  support our Pro-Life work by donating here,

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Saints Francesco and Jacinta Visit London Abortion Centres and Planned Parenthood

Our Lady of Fatima last appeared to the three young Shepherd Children on the 13^th October 1917. On that day, tens of thousands saw the Miracle of the Sun, when the sun danced in the sky.

As the hundredth anniversary of this apparition approached, Siobhán of the Good Counsel Network started 40 days of abstinence and prayer for the abortion centre in Ealing to close down and for the relics of Saints Francesco and Jacinta to visit there, before the 13^th October 2017.

Just days before the anniversary we received permission, out of the blue, to have the relics for this purpose and so we were able to take them, with the assistance of Fr Stephen Boyle and Fr Behruz Raf’at to the abortion centres in Twickenham, Whitfield St and Ealing. We were also able to take them to the Headquarters of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF). 

We even had time to stop at Good Counsel’s Chapel where staff and volunteers were able to venerate them before we returned them that evening.

Please come and join us at our three daily peaceful, prayerful Pro-Life vigils and please donate to help us to continue, through God's Grace to save hundreds of babies from abortion. See our website to watch interviews with some of the Mums and Families that we have helped.

Fearless Mum Takes on the "Experts" on Abortion Centre Vigils!

One of the Mothers we have been privileged to serve speaks here about the importance of offering help outside an abortion centre. The other women on the panel claim to speak for women entering the abortion centre, but only Alina speaks about her own actual experience of receiving, and later offering to other women, pregnancy support outside an abortion centre.

Please support our daily peaceful prayer vigils and donate to help us to continue to help those Mothers who are offered nothing except abortion by the other side.

Evidence of Harassment by Pro-Lifers is Non-Existant

We have had little time to fundraise or do so many other urgent things over the last 2 weeks, with constant media interest in our work following Ealing Council's decision to try to ban our peaceful pro-life vigil. Please help us with your prayers and by donating to support our work if you can.

The 50th Anniversary of the Abortion Act is approaching on Friday 27th October, and there is still time to have Mass offered for the end of abortion and in reparation for 50 years of legal abortion, as many of our supporters have already done. (If it can't be said on the date just have it said as soon as you can).

Here is another of Clare's recent media appearances defending peaceful vigils outside abortion centres. Please do consider coming to pray at our vigils, where hundreds of babies have been saved.

27 Mile March for Life

Please sponsor Stuart, Lorraine and Gabi as they take part in this year’s 7^th Annual GK Chesterton Pilgrimage. Gabi and Stuart, along with others, plan to walk the full 27 miles from Notting Hill to Beaconsfield. Grandmother of three, Lorraine will join them when they stop to pray outside the abortion centre in Ealing, where she prays regularly, and will walk the remaining 22 miles with them.

You can sponsor Stuart here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/gkcwalk17

And you can sponsor Lorraine here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/lorraine-coyne

To sponsor Gabi you will need to send a cheque payable to; The Guild Of Our Lady of Good Counsel, to, PO Box 46679, London, NW9 8ZT. All money raised will go to the Life Saving work of The Good Counsel Network (You can also send cheques for Lorraine and Stuart to the same address).

If you would like them to pray for anyone along the way, whether you sponsor them or not, please send an email to catholicgkcsociety@yahoo.co.uk

Details of the pilgrimage, which you are welcome to attend, and for copies of the GK Chesterton prayer in a number of languages, see www.catholicgkchestertonsociety.co.uk

Ambulance Arrives at Abortion Centre London

Safe, Legal Abortion?

Above: Marie Stopes Ealing - ambulance is called for client in the first week of 40 Days for Life, 13-22nd February 2013.

Ambulance Marie Stopes Ealing 28th February 2013

Paramedics and Ambulance attend Marie Stopes Ealing 1st March 2013

Ambulance Marie Stopes Ealing 9th March 2013 

Paramedics and Ambulance Marie Stopes Ealing 14th March 2013

Abortion Providers are always striving to portray Pro-lifers as liars, especially when we talk about the risks of abortion. marie stopes, that bastion of honesty and integrity, take it upon themselves to take our leaflets from girls as they enter their centres. And BPAS can be seen here on Twitter attacking that same leaflet.

Yet as the above pictures of ambulances show, abortion is far from the safe, simple procedure with no after-affects that these groups pretend it is. Since BPAS and marie stopes deny almost every complication of abortion, it is hard to believe that the women who were taken away in these ambulances were forewarned that this was a possible outcome.

Our volunteers have helped sick and faint girls to their feet outside the abortion centre when they are vomiting or weak and sick on leaving on several occassions.

So as we reach the final two days of the 40 Days for Life Campaign, we are aware of well over 20 women who have kept their babies, just from the vigils at Whitfield St and Ealing, not including those from the Bedford Square campaign.

We still pray there please come and join us in prayer; http://www.goodcounselnet.co.uk/Abortion--Clinic--Vigils.html

Please donate to Good Counsel so that we can continue to help the Mothers, who change their minds on the very doorstep of this abortuary.

As always, we have ensured that any women entering the abortion centre were NOT captured in any of the pictures taken.

Please note: These photos belong to the Good Counsel Network you may reproduce them on condition that you include a link to this original blogpost.

Clare McCullough