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 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

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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!

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

"You're Not Welcome Here!"

"You're not welcome here! It's a woman's choice!" a woman yells at us from her car as she waits at the traffic light in front of our pro-life vigil in Brixton. The lights turn green, she turns the corner, and yells at us again. Certainly, it often feels like Brixton locals have firmly made up their minds on which side of the line separating good and evil they stand. The graffiti that appeared on the pavement around our vigil site—first in chalk, then in neon spray paint—drove that point home: "Brixton is pro-choice," it said, among other things. Is it true? Is our vigil an unwelcome intrusion, born of blind fanaticism, disturbing the otherwise perfect peace of the inhabitants of the People's Republic of Brixton?

I think not. Yes, it is true that we experience a lot of opposition from locals at the vigil. But we experience as much support. Locals stop every day to affirm us, to bless us, to pray with us. It is interesting to note the difference between those Brixtonians who oppose us and those who support us. I do not mean to insult our opponents—they deserve love and prayer, not scorn, being so firmly in the claws of the devil—but I must note that they tend to be financially comfortable, well-dressed, well-groomed members of the metropolitan laptop class: the kind who drink matcha lattes on their way to a Pilates class. In contrast, those locals who support us are visibly low-income, look like they work with their hands, or perhaps have to rely on benefits. We were affirmed by old ladies, retired bakers, Cockney blokes, African aunties, and Jamaican men.

One more difference: judging from accents and the occasional conversation, our supporters seem to be actually local to Brixton—born, bred, and grown old there—while our opponents tend to be recent transplants to Brixton from elsewhere in London, the UK, or the world.

What accounts for the split in attitudes between the two groups? There are two explanations, I think. The less interesting of the two is the natural one: our affluent opponents, unlike our struggling sympathizers, would have gone through many years of the liberal brain-grinding machine—first at university, then at their corporate or public-sector job. The supernatural explanation is more interesting: Poverty inclines a person towards things that matter—towards God, or at the very least, things adjacent to Him: family, responsibility, country. "It is good to trust in the Lord, rather than to trust in princes," says Psalm 117 (Vulg. numbering). The person to whom life has not been kind does not have the luxury to trust in princes—who lie to them and tax them to death—or in money, in their own physical beauty, intellect, or career prospects—none of which they have. The poor person is under no delusion as to their own imagined grandeur—they know God is the only thing they have. This is why Pope Benedict wrote that the poor are God's first love. St Paul, too, tells us "... The foolish things of the world, ... and the weak things of the world, ... and the base things of the world, and the things that are contemptible, hath God chosen" (1 Cor 1:27–28).

In contrast, those who haven't been brought low by life tend to see the world through a mist spread before their eyes by Satan (though he often outsources this job to mainstream and social media). Through that mist, everything appears very small to them, but they themselves seem very large and important. "The world is yours for the taking," says the old fiend. "Life is what you make it. Money? Yours. Advancement? Yours. Beauty? Yours. Sexual pleasure—yours. Always, at any time, and with no restrictions." When such a person encounters our vigil, they rightly consider us their enemies—we're the annoying, unwelcome reminder that a person is not the master or mistress of their own life; that they have responsibilities which are not up to them to choose or abandon; that they have a nature that was given to them rather than chosen by them; and that they violate that nature and shrink from those responsibilities at their own very peril.

Two things to conclude: Dear reader, you and I must always remember that our pro-life efforts will have no effect if we undertake them from a place of pride, because "God resisteth the proud" (James 4:6). We must never put ourselves above our opponents and flatter ourselves for being on the right side of this issue. Whatever good there is in, say, my contribution to the cause is due to God's grace alone, not my own imagined virtue. I contribute nothing to the cause except my shortcomings and failures. I must always remember I am spiritually much closer to the proud whom God opposes than to the humble whom He exalts.

Given that I'm no better than the opponents of our vigil (and indeed, in all likelihood, I may be much worse than them), I must also pray for them—principally for their conversion. My prayer mustn't come from a place of pride—"God, make that nasty woman less awful"—but from a place of charity: "God, convert that woman who yelled at us today. Bless her in every way and bring her to life everlasting, and may I embrace her as we rest in your bosom in the world to come."

(This is the theory, dear reader. Now, to practice!)

Philip K.

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 Power of Prayer

I don't have a lot of experience in Pro-Life work but since Brixton is on my doorstep, I thought I'd get involved for Lent. I've been struck by various things and feel very blessed to have had this experience.

Firstly, the amount of young, faithful people who want to pray with others and witness to our Lord and Saviour is beautiful and does my faith good!

Secondly, the depth of the wounds both personally and intergenerationally on our streets is palpable; the animosity and aggression I've seen must be signs of deep pain and we must redouble our prayers for the healing that only Christ, our divine physician, can deliver.

 Finally, in an age of social media sparring, I’m struck by how powerful I’ve found it to be silent and remain in prayer when insults are flying. Our Lord did not speak back from The Cross and I’m inspired to keep quiet a bit more (which my friends may approve of!) To close, it’s been a privilege to witness to love and truth; may more folk come to know God and know the true value of human life.

Tori

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

The Clock Is Ticking for Abortion

And we're over the halfway mark of 40 Days for life, 18 days left to go! A huge thank you to all who have volunteered so far and if you have not yet volunteered don't miss out, the clock is ticking. Every day we're getting closer to the end of abortion! We're really starting to see the effect these vigils are having, people are starting to take notice in both positive and negative ways. As many of you will know the pavement around our vigil site has been decorated with graffiti, saying things such as "your body, your choice" and many other pro abortion slogans. It's often clear from the reactions and conversations at the vigil that we are touching people's consciences. 

It is important to remember through all this that no matter what people tell you we stand here for women and their babies to offer them real help and support. 

Rose

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

Those Helped By Good Counsel Share Their Stories

Some mothers who really were in difficult situations have kept their babies because of the pro-life vigils. 

One story I remember from a few years ago, is of a brave mother who changed her mind during 40 Days. She was living in a tiny one bed flat with her husband and two children and she had a lot of health problems. She also had financial problems because her husband had had to leave work because of her health. As a Christian she was not feeling good about her abortion appointment that day but she got our Good Counsel leaflet from someone outside the abortion centre and came to our centre to get the help she needed instead of going in for the abortion. The lady and her husband are always very grateful for the help received and we are continuing to help them today. The same lady stood up for us against the lies that were told about us to bring in buffer zones. She was a witness with other mothers and told the council how she was glad that we were there for her and for other mothers in difficult situations. 

A few months later her husband happened to be walking passed our vigil one day when someone shouted abuse at us. He politely told them the truth about the help we had given them so they stopped harassing us. 

That reminds me of another time we were at a 40 Days for Life vigil outside the abortion centre and one of the mothers we had helped was praying at the vigil with her child in the pushchair. A couple of young ladies stopped and were shouting at us and seemed very angry that we pro-lifers were there, and they were not in a hurry to go away. The mother who was with me, who had changed her mind about having an abortion years before, came over with her son and started explaining to these women about the help our centre had given her and her child, including help with accommodation, financial help and support and she pointed to her son in the pushchair. They were speechless and dumbfounded and walked away silently. But to my surprise half an hour later they came back and apologised to us and told us that they had changed their minds about us being there altogether!

Lorraine

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

These Pro-Life Vigils Do Work!

I've witnessed many women change their minds and not have an abortion during 40 Days for Life over the years since it began in 2010, especially before the buffer zones came in. Due to my working with the Good Counsel Network and taking part in the vigils, I can remember some amazing turnarounds that were definitely God's intervention. But even now with the buffer zones in place we are still receiving wonderful news from time to time such as recently a friend came to tell us that a woman she knew did not show up for her abortion that morning. We have also had people come up to us in the street now and again and introduce us to their child, the ones whose mothers or fathers saw us praying and decided not to go ahead with their abortions. We had not known they had kept their babies but they had witnessed the people praying at the vigils as a sign from God that they should do the right thing and continue their pregnancy. 

Lorraine

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

I See Your Archbishop And Raise You A Cardinal

Spending a large number of hours praying near an abortion centre at a 40 days for Life Vigil during Lent can sometimes be a bit disheartening, but to have the support of Priests, Bishops, Archbishops and Cardinals is very encouraging. Their presence can also be a great witness to mothers attending the abortion centre. Over the years we have seen a number of women choose life for their children when seeing a religious standing quietly in prayer. It can certainly give them something more to think about.

As you will have seen on this blog, Bishop David Waller of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, attended the 40 Days for Life vigil in Brixton, on Tuesday 17th February. This vigil was further blessed when His Grace, the Right Reverend John Wilson, the Archbishop of Southwark attended the vigil on Thursday 19th February.

Now we're very  pleased to say that the 40 Days for Life vigil in Ealing has been greatly blessed to have His Eminence Cardinal Michael Fitzgerald attend their vigil to lead the prayers today.

So that you do not feel left out by all of this. Please contact Sarah today 07776256838 to attend the vigil in Ealing, which will be run until 8pm on Palm Sunday. The vigil in Ealing like that in Brixton, runs seven days a week from 8am until 8pm each day.

The 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

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

PLEASE DONATE TO SUPPORT OUR WORK AND THE MOTHERS AND BABIES IN MOST NEED

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

Valerie Bears Witness to the Truth of Pro-Life Vigils

Today, some leftists in Brixton decided to have a "Defend Abortion Rights" Demonstration to "send the message that shame and intimidation are not welcome in our community". It seems that the groups involved did not read our signs before deciding to take offence, or they would surely have seen that we are only offering alternatives to abortion to those who want them. Furthermore, we are not there to shame or intimidate anyone, and have had many conversations with those who have had abortions, whatever their views, without feeling the need to shame or intimiate anyone. They went on to say in their leaflet that "Reform UK and Nigel Farage are in support of these kind of ['anti-abortion'] campaigns" - another favoured trope of the pro-abortion campaigner that all pro-lifers are racist, anti-immigrant, right wing, gun supporting, vaccine hating blah, blah,blah. 

The truth is far more diverse. The pro-life movement is full of people of all colours and races and every strand of political belief. Many people come into the movement because of their own, or a loved one's abortion and it's aftermath. Many others arrive into the movement after finding that scientifically a newly conceived life can only be a very tiny human - "A person's a person no matter how small" as Dr Seuss tells us!

This group met on the steps of Lambeth Town Hall at midday and they ranted about those anti-choicers up at our vigil. Their demo was about to close when a brave black woman - I'll call her Valerie - stepped forward to speak. She told them that she did not agree with them, that she herself had had two abortions. She said her first abortion when she was only in her teens was in the Brixton abortion centre. She said that she wished the vigil had been there for her, and she might have been able to choose life for her child instead. She described the pain and suffering of having a second abortion, because no-one was there to offer her help or support. They began to respond and tell her she was only 1 person and not everyone felt like her. She refused to be brushed off by this and she said "There are others who feel like I do. You are criticising the people praying up the road, but what can you offer to people like me who are suffering after an abortion? You want me to have abortions and you want to demand my right to abortion, but I have had an abortion and I have the pain and trauma of going through that. What help have you got for me?" Of course the answer is "No help at all". But the protestors did not answer her at all. They began to walk away. When she told them "Abortion kills a child" they told her she was being agressive, and they all left. 

However, after they left, Valerie came up to the Vigil to meet with us, and to recount what had happened. 

While this was going on, up at the vigil, no doubt encouraged by the demo, a local jogger stopped to pointedly spit at our sign which proclaims "Women and children deserve better than abortion" and which bears our helpline number. Meanwhile a passing driver put their hand on the horn for a full minute while waving at us with just one finger. Then a local passing by came up to us with a confused look on his face and said "I've been up the road and down the road and I want to ask, - Why are people giving you such abuse?" - a very good question!

When Valerie arrived, she told us the whole story of what had happened. She too was confused by the fact that her story was of no interest to the self-styled "women's rights advocates". But as someone with a faith in God, she quickly recognised that their movement was all about politics and not about people. As she told them of her sorrow at the loss of her two children, they explained to her that 'there are too many children in the world anyway.' 

She thanked us and asked God to bless us. She said she had prayed about whether to come today, and felt that God wanted her too. She thanked God for sending her a son after she had gone through two abortions and she told us how repentant she felt about them. And before she left us, she encouraged us to keep praying, and she said "I've got your back!"

It's not easy being at a vigil. I take my hat off to the vigil volunteers who are there daily or several times a week and put up with all kinds of abuse from passers by. But on the worst of days, we need to remember the many "Valeries" out there, not all as brave as today's Valerie, and not all willing to speak up, but those who pass by quietly and offer a prayer in their hearts for lost children and those who try to reach out and help Mothers.

Clare

The 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

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

PLEASE DONATE TO SUPPORT OUR WORK AND THE MOTHERS AND BABIES IN MOST NEED

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

Abortion Centre Open On Sunday

The abortion centre in Brixton is open on Sunday. From 7 in the morning til 6 in the evening, women and mothers will be making appointments, attending appointments, bringing other women to appointments. Some of those women will go home with a bag containing a small but deadly pill, a pill that will end her baby’s life. Many of those women will be under pressure, from a boyfriend and father who would rather see a 'pregnancy terminated' than take responsibility. Many of those women will be told to choose where there is no choice at all.

Be at the vigil this Sunday, and help a woman and mother know there is more than one choice open to her. Be at the vigil, and let her know that she can choose love over indifference, hope over despair, life over death. That with the real help and support we offer she and her baby can flourish, and be truly happy. You don't have to tell her in words. Your prayers and witness will say more than any words can possibly say. God alone knows how many lives have been saved because a desperate mother saw a stranger with a rosary in their hand. We will find out on the last day.

“Amen I say to you, as long as you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to me.” (Matt 25:40).

The 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

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

PLEASE DONATE TO SUPPORT OUR WORK AND THE MOTHERS AND BABIES IN MOST NEED

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