Next year’s March for Life in Washington, D.C., will be held on Friday, Jan. 27.
The change of date from the traditional Jan. 22 — the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court’s ruling that legalized abortion — is because of the presidential inauguration, which will be on Jan. 20, 2017.
And for those of you who really like to plan ahead, the March will be held on Jan. 19 in 2018 and Jan. 18 in 2019.
They were uncomfortable, they were scared, they didn’t know if they could make a difference. But last autumn, students of St. Michael the Archangel High School boarded a bus and traveled to the 40 Days for Life vigil in Manassas, Virginia — and learned how they could help save lives. A film crew chronicled their visit. A great video (8 min.)!
And here’s Week 4 in Rockland.
Please join this peaceful campaign of prayer and fasting.
9 a.m. to 6 p.m. — Perlman Drive, Spring Valley (on public property)
6 p.m. to 9 a.m. — Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration Chapel at St. Gregory Barbarigo Church, 21 Cinder Rd., in Garnerville.
For information call 845-429-6709.
UPDATE:
Supreme Court Appears Sharply Divided as It Hears Texas Abortion Case (3/2/16)
5 Key Exchanges From Biggest Abortion Supreme Court Case in a Decade (3/2/16)
THE SUPREME COURT’S DECISION WILL PROBABLY COME DOWN IN LATE JUNE.
Today the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the biggest abortion case in twenty years — Whole Women’s Health v. Hellerstedt.
The Court is being asked to weigh in on the constitutionality of a Texas law requiring commonsense safety regulations for abortion clinics and admitting privileges to hospitals for abortionists.
Read more about it here: Abortion Case Returns to Supreme Court After Loss of Scalia and here: Abortion Proponents Should Care About Safety If They Are Truly Pro-Woman
Today marks the halfway point. Tomorrow will be the first day of March, and that means there are 20 days left in the spring 40 Days for Life vigil.
Did you know that the 40 Days for Life in Rockland continues through the night? In the wee hours of the morning, there are still prayers for life arising from the Eucharistic Adoration Chapel at St. Gregory’s, on Cinder Road in Garnerville. This is a perpetual adoration, so the chapel is open during the day too. If you would like to be part of the second half of the 40 Days of Life by offering prayers for the unborn at the chapel, please call for more information (845-429-6709).
Please join this peaceful campaign of prayer and fasting.
9 a.m. to 6 p.m. — Perlman Drive, Spring Valley (on public property)
6 p.m. to 9 a.m. — Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration Chapel at St. Gregory Barbarigo Church, 21 Cinder Rd., in Garnerville.
For information call 845-429-6709.
In that terrible cold snap two weeks ago, the pipes burst at Good Counsel’s Daystar home in Harrison, NY. The local building inspector condemned the building because of the resulting damage, and now six of the seven moms from Harrison have been relocated to the home in Spring Valley.
Good Counsel is now facing an incredible and enormous expense of relocating and reestablishing the mothers who lived in Daystar. Please help!
Read more about it here, and, if you can, please send a donation to help out to: Good Counsel, Box 6068, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Please note in the memo or on the envelope: Harrison Emergency Appeal. Thank you!
“Those 40 Days for Life people don’t have enough sense to come in out of the cold.”
You wonder how many people passing by in their cars might have been thinking that about us as we stood praying on Perlman Drive this week.
It’s been quite a couple of days weather-wise. Our signs bent in the wind, the banners flapped furiously. Driving rains beat down and on two days the temperatures nosedived to near-record levels. It snowed.
And yet, there we were. Praying our way through the first week of our vigil to end abortion.
Yeah, it looked crazy. But if you really care about something, you take a little risk, you do crazy things.
How about the thousands of fans who fill football stadiums in subfreezing weather? Or all the New Year’s celebrants who wait in the cold all afternoon in Times Square just to be there when the ball descends at midnight. Or the massive crowds who stood on security check lines for hours at Central Park just get a glimpse of Pope Francis passing by. Do you think they would gone away if it rained?
It’s about caring, ultimately.
It drives you to do things that others consider crazy. For us it’s keeping a commitment to pray, in public, for 40 days, no matter what. Ending abortion is just that important. It’s our way of showing how much we care.
And if our message can somehow move our world even the tiniest bit away from abortion — what’s a little bit of discomfort. No big deal!
Please join this peaceful campaign of prayer and fasting.
9 a.m. to 6 p.m. — Perlman Drive, Spring Valley (on public property)
6 p.m. to 9 a.m. — Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration Chapel at St. Gregory Barbarigo Church, 21 Cinder Rd., in Garnerville.
For information call 845-429-6709.
During Black History Month, we remember Dr. Mildred Jefferson, one of the founders of the National Right to Life Committee and president of the organization from 1975 to 1978.
She is also credited with converting Ronald Reagan to a prolife position. In a letter to Dr. Jefferson, Reagan wrote: “You have made it irrefutably clear that an abortion is the taking of a human life, I am grateful to you.”
Statement of Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life, on the death today of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia:
We are deeply saddened by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. Justice Scalia steadfastly defended the right of elected lawmakers to enact laws that protect unborn children and their mothers and he often issued powerful critiques of the judicially manufactured barriers that limited such legislative efforts. Our thoughts and prayers are with Justice Scalia’s widow and family.
Deacon John Kelly of St. Gregory Barbarigo Church in Garnerville leads the prayers at the opening session of the Rockland 40 Days for Life on Perlman Drive in Spring Valley on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 10.
The winter 40 Days of Life Campaign began on Wednesday.
Granted, it looks like a cold, lonely vigil, standing on the side of Perlman Drive in Spring Valley in February, praying for an end to abortion. And at times, it may be. But it’s a hopeful one – and a peaceful one.
The Planned Parenthood office is out of sight, far across the parking lot. There is no confrontation. We’re not even sure which of the cars entering the little strip mall is headed there.
But we hope they see us — and our message. It’s ultimately one of love and consolation: Life is a sacred gift. And that there’s help for those involved in crisis pregnancies, for whom powerlessness and impossibility may seem so overwhelming.
Please join us. Don’t be afraid. It’s not a protest. We’re there to offer up our prayers for the babies, the sorrowful parents, and all the troubled players in the tragedy that is abortion.
You may want to check this out. This did not take place here, but describes the experience in a unique and powerful way. Last Word: A Vigil — Praying the Rosary Outside Planned Parenthood.
Please join this peaceful campaign of prayer and fasting.
9 a.m. to 6 p.m. — Perlman Drive, Spring Valley (on public property)
6 p.m. to 9 a.m. — Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration Chapel at St. Gregory Barbarigo Church, 21 Cinder Rd., in Garnerville.
For information call 845-429-6709.
ROCKLAND RIGHT TO LIFE COMMITTEE 