Beginning at noon and Good Friday and continuing through the night and on until noon on Holy Saturday, people came to pray for the victims of abortion.
At this most solemn time of the year, they prayed that Planned Parenthood, the “modern-day Calvary,” will move out of our community.
The 40 Days of prayer and fasting to end abortion concluded at 3 p.m. on Sunday, April 1, with a prayer service at the vigil site near the Planned Parenthood office on Perlman Drive in Spring Valley.
Eileen Peterson, co-director of the 40 Days for Life project in Rockland, welcomed the 30 volunteers who attended the closing ceremonies and thanked them for their faithful witness for Life. She noted the mainly positive response from the pedestrians and motorists who passed by during the long vigil. Continue reading
As the 40 days have passed, we’ve seen the changing of the seasons at the prayer site on Perlman Drive. Now, it’s no longer dark at 5 o’clock and the shrubs that were bare when we began our vigil of prayer to end abortion are now covered with white blossoms.
Now there are just a few days left. How many lives were saved, how many hearts moved — these are things known only to God. But we know He hears our prayers and listens to the cry of the distressed.
And we know that the message of LIfe was seen by thousands of people who drove past the vigil site during those 40 days. Like the apostles, the faithful volunteers accepted the mission — and on the curbside near Route 59 and the Planned Parenthood building, they set out for the deep and let down their net for the catch.
EVERYONE IS TALKING ABOUT
OCTOBER BABY
“Tonight we went to the AMC at the Palisades Center to see ‘October Baby.’ Don’t miss it! The best we have seen in years and has a very emotional and powerful message. And wait and don’t leave until the final credits are shown at the end of the movie. You will be surprised.”
Here’s a link to the trailer for this incredible movie — the story of a young woman who discovers that she was actually adopted . . . after a failed abortion attempt. Bewildered, angered and confused, Hannah embarks on a journey with Jason, her oldest friend. In the midst of her incredible journey to discover her hidden past and find hope for her unknown future, Hannah sees that life can be so much more than what you have planned.
On Friday, March 23, Rocklanders took part in the Manhattan “Stand Up for Religious Freedom” Rally, which was one of 140 such demonstrations held in major cities across the nation. The group traveled by bus to the Federal Hall National Monument on Wall Street to protest the Department of Health and Human Services’ mandate that would force religious charities and individual employers to purchase insurance coverage for abortion-causing drugs, birth control, and sterilization.
Under the Obama administration’s mandate, people who opposed such “services” on the basis of their religious beliefs — for example, religious orders and laity that operate the many hospitals, schools, and social services of the Catholic Church — would nevertheless be required to provide them and so be forced to violate their consciences.
The rallies were organized to protest this assault on religious freedom.
The day began for many of the Rockland group with mass, which was celebrated by Msgr. Edward Weber, Vicar of Rockland, at St. Francis Church in West Nyack.
Before boarding the bus outside the church, rally signs were distributed by Richard Bruno, who organized the trip.
Also on board was Rev. Fredy Patino from St. Peter’s Church in Haverstraw, who offered the opening prayer as the trip got under way. The group prayed the Sorrowful Mysteries of the rosary and joined in singing hymns during the ride to Wall Street.
The passengers disembarked behind Trinity Church and walked the short distance to Federal Hall, the rally site, which is where George Washington was inaugurated. There they joined the 500+ others who assembled on the steps of the building and the adjoining plaza.
Among the speakers were Chris Slattery, the New York rally’s main organizer and president of Expectant Mother Care, and Chris Bell of Good Counsel Homes. Bell emphasized that the fines that might be imposed for refusing to comply with the mandate could result in the closing of the Good Counsel maternity homes, such as the one in Spring Valley.
This unprecedented intrusion of the government into how we practice our faith has further implications for all of us. If the government can demand that citizens jettison their convictions to comply with its vision of what “good” for us — watch out for what may come next.
The National Right to Life Committee stands with people of faith protecting religious liberty — with good reason!
Photos by John Ferrao
There are only about 10 days left. If you haven’t yet made a visit to pray at the 40 Days for Life prayer site on Perlman Drive, please come.
40 Days of Life for the end to abortion and closing of Planned Parenthood
Perlman Drive, Spring Valley
9 am to 5 pm thru Sunday, April 1
PLEASE TAKE ONE HOUR A WEEK — email Rachelminister@aol.com or call 845-492-6709
On Friday, March 23, thousands are expected to gather across Amerca in opposition to the HHS mandate on second anniversary of the health-care reform act. Read all about it here. There will be a bus leaving from Rockland to the rally in New York City.
Speakers at the rally will include Father Benedict Groeschel of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, Alveda King, the pro-life activist and niece of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Chris Bell of Good Counsel Homes. Continue reading
Sunday, March 18, was an absolutely perfect day for celebrating life at the AOH’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Pearl River. Among the marchers in the Respect Life unit were Rev. Jim McKenna, SDB, director of the Marian Shrine, Haverstraw Supervisor Howie Phillips and his wife, Arlette, and Peter Skae, who led the group as our piper. More photos follow. (Click on one to enlarge and then use the arrow to the right to advance thru the slide show.)
The parade is also being rebroadcast on Cablevision, channel 118. You can see it on March 19, 21, & 23 at 10 am, 2 pm, and 8 pm, and on March 24 at 2 pm and 8 pm. The Respect Life unit passes by about 46 minutes into the parade. Continue reading
“Planned Parenthood, for its part, has said that it has had two of the most difficult years in its history. Pro-life activism has increased dramatically; the abortion giant has faced one battle after another from pro-life forces. The graph below details Planned Parenthood’s trend of shutting down its facilities since 1995.” For the rest of the story, click here.
If you don’t see the slideshow, click on the headline.
“Every human being is called to solidarity in a world battle between life and death.”
Ignacio Ellacuria, Jesuit martyr in El Salvador
Doesn’t look like much of a battlefield does it? A bit of muddy ground on the side of the road next to a suburban strip mall. And these folks who come here – they look more like your friends and neighbors than any army in a “battle between life and death.”
And yet, that is what goes on here – every day. They come with their prayers and their love. And in this commonplace setting, these ordinary people quietly join ranks with all those around the world in prayer that hearts willl be changed, abortion will end, and lives will be saved.
If this is important to you, please come. The power of a single prayer cannot be underestimated.
40 Days of Life for the end to abortion and closing of Planned Parenthood
Perlman Drive, Spring Valley
9 am to 5 pm thru Sunday, April 1
PLEASE TAKE ONE HOUR A WEEK — email Rachelminister@aol.com or call 845-492-6709
Report — Number of Planned Parenthood Clinics Declines Again
ROCKLAND RIGHT TO LIFE COMMITTEE 