40 Days: Help and answered prayers

Photo by Jane Winstead

Deacon Jim joins parishioners for a prayer during the vigil on Tuesday, October 12.

By Maggie Moren

St. Raphael's prayer warriors came to the abortion clinic on Saturday, October 2, in hourly shifts to pray starting at 7 a.m. and ending at 5 p.m.

The clinic at 4131 Central Avenue performs abortions on Saturday mornings.

As St. Raphael members prayed, God heard their prayers and there was one save, which means that an abortion-minded woman changed her mind and is keeping her baby.

One couple who regrettably did have an abortion found that their car had a dead battery as they were leaving the clinic. The man went inside to get jumper cables but the clinic did not help them, so the woman reluctantly approached the St. Raphael group and asked them for jumper cables.

No one in the group had cables in their car. But Mary Lou Price, one of the prayer warriors, called her son Scott on the phone. Scott came down and helped the couple. The man was so grateful and thankful. He tried to pay Scott who refused, telling the man that he came down because he knew they needed help.

This group lived out their Christian faith and the couple experienced love from those praying outside of the clinic, people who wanted to help by demonstrating their concern and love, not condemnation.

Hopefully, the couple will seek further help from Project Rachael, realizing that people are out there wanting to help them.

Jamie and Ted Scarpino from Life Teens, along with several youths and their parents came down at noon to pray and sing songs of praise to Jesus during their hour.

The group apparently impressed and lifted the hearts of parishioners from other parishes. After they left the site, some participants called one of the leaders of 40 Days for Life to tell about their experience.

In turn, I received a call lauding the efforts of the St. Raphael group. I was told this group of young people and their parents were wonderful witnesses.

There were more than 18 people present during that hour. We had more than 40 parishioners from St. Raphael who came down to pray that day. Awesome.

Many thanks to those who came down to pray and those who could not come down but prayed with us from church or their homes.

If you're interested: St. Raphael's next day to pray in front of the abortion clinic is October 12, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Since it is a Tuesday, there are fewer who have signed up than for Saturday. Please consider coming down for an hour to pray with us. God bless.