Ready for some good news? (via Pewsitter)
There is only one abortion clinic in North Dakota, and it sees patients on Wednesdays. And so the Catholic diocese of Fargo is opening a small adoration chapel ... right next door.
The chapel will offer Mass at 8 a.m. Wednesdays, followed by Eucharistic adoration and recited prayers until 3:45 p.m. It will be locked the rest of the week.
I am absolutely delighted by this approach: It sidesteps every possible legal struggle and every bogus claim of harassment, and sets aside all the infighting over strategy (Should we show graphic pictures? Should we give baby showers to teenage mothers? Are we allowed to deceive? How pro-life does a candidate have to be before we can vote for him?) and just goes straight to the source, the God of mercies.
“We believe prayer is so powerful and what we’re engaged in is a spiritual battle,” said Rachelle Sauvageau, director of the diocese’s Respect Life Office. “It’s a place where we need an intense and focused prayer and that’s why we feel the need to be right there.”
The Visitation Chapel fills the third floor of the Gibb Building, with its windows looking out on the clinic. Its name reflects the passage of biblical Scripture when Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth while both are with child.
Isn’t the name perfect? Mary brought the Savior of the world straight to the child in the womb, and tiny John the Baptist leaped for joy. Never underestimate what can happen when God is made physically present. Think of St. Clare, founder of the Poor Clares. In 1244, the Saracens were bearing down on Assisi.
St. Damien’s church, standing outside the city walls, was one of the first objectives. While the marauders were scaling the convent walls, Clare, ill as she was, had herself carried out to the gate and there the Sacrament was set up in sight of the enemy. Prostrating herself before it, she prayed aloud: “Does it please Thee, O God, to deliver into the hands of these beasts the defenseless children whom I have nourished with Thy love? I beseech Thee, good Lord, protect these whom now I am not able to protect.”
Whereupon she heard a voice like the voice of a little child saying, “I will have them always in My care.” She prayed again, for the city, and again the voice came, reassuring her. She then turned to the trembling nuns and said, “Have no fear, little daughters; trust in Jesus.” At this, a sudden terror seized their assailants and they fled.
Take that, Saracens! I wonder how often the Church could manage something like this: holding up the monstrance for the sake of its own defenseless children. Heck, Planned Parenthood is strategic about where it sets up shop: In our town, it’s across from the public library where teenagers hang out; in my hometown, it’s next to the pizza parlor. Maybe local Catholic business owners could donate rent for office space next to abortion clinics, and simple, focused chapels could be set up all over the country.
God bless the diocese of Fargo for this wonderful idea, and I hope it catches on!
NOTE: Thanks to my alert readers, I have made TWO corrections: Fargo is, of course, in North Dakota, not South Dakota; and St. Clare was St. Francis’ protege, not his sister! Sorry about that.
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This is awesome!
What a fabulous idea. Several years ago, in a small southern town, an abortion clinic opened up right next to the historic Catholic chapel. The pastor decided the best thing to do would be to begin having perpetual adoration there. Sixth months later the clinic was closed and never reopened. It works!
Good point!
But I have to add something - in st.Clare’s time there is no monstrance. The Eucharist was kept in a small box made of precious material(s) - gold, silver, ivory ...
Here in Dayton, there was a family who lived on the same block as an abortion clinic. In 1989, they decided to set up a clinic devoted to helping moms during and after pregnancy—-it’s called Elizabeth’s New Life Center. They didn’t picket, or protest, just started up their center quietly.
..
By 2000, the abortion clinic closed its doors. Elizabeth New Life Center is still going strong, and includes Holy Family Prenatal Care. It’s a fantastic place.
http://www.elizabethnewlife.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=58&Itemid=62
I love it! Our local 40 Days For Life has been trying to figure out how to get a Eucharistic procession around the abortion mill in our home town. Unfortunately, we’ve not had any priests willing to do this, but we keep praying.
I’ve heard that Fr. Larry Richards has used this strategy where he’s pastor in Pennsylvania, and it has worked to close the abortion clinic there on 2 different occasions.
I wholeheartedly agree that this is, indeed, a spiritual battle.
In Burlington VT the abortion clinics were set up across the street from the chancery office, and across the street from the Catholic high school. This is a great idea. The sad thing was that the Chancery wouldn’t even let us put up a sign with Birthright’s phone number on it. I hope that times have changed.
You are so right - this is how Jesus would have us fight - on our knees with HIS power. Awesome!
I have heard of a group of lay Catholics focused on doing just this in my area…going around and finding ways to have Adoration Chapels right next to Abortion clinics. It really makes so much sense!!
Brilliant! Just brilliant! One might say “inspired.”
Glad to hear good news tied to an abortion clinic. I give them… a year tops before they’re out of business.
A brilliant idea. I agree with you, this needs to catch on and spread all over the country. Pray softly and carry Jesus.
This is fantastic!
Prayer is the most profound and powerful tool we have, and this is just an absolutely wonderful way to go about using it!
I lived in Fargo for five years, not too far from the abortion facility, actually, and I prayed in front of it a few times with 40 Days for Life. (You know what else is pretty close to the abortion facility? St. Mary’s Cathedral!)
This is WONDERFUL news, but not surprising considering Fargo’s FANTASTIC, orthodox, pro-life bishop. A big shout-out to Bp. Samuel Aquila!
Go Fargo! I can vouch for the extreme AWESOMENESS of this diocese, having grown up within it *and* having gone to college across the [Red] river in Moorhead for many a year *and* having been married in the Fargo Cathedral *and* ...
Well, I go on & on but you get the idea. And yes, Fargo is in NORTH Dakota and the Black Hills are in SOUTH Dakota and St. Paul is the capital of Minnesota, not Minneapolis, and thus ends your complimentary geography lesson of the day.
I love that! Beautiful idea.
In Albuquerque we have a chapel with adoration 50 feet from the abortion clinic. It is perfect for people who would rather not deal with the potential death threats and physical attacks that come from standing outside an abortion clinic praying. My wife quit doing that when a guy came by with his hand on his significant other’s neck and a gun sticking out of his belt. Having that follow on the heels of police harassment and detainment when all she was doing was praying was just too much for her with a newborn and toddler.
That is great news and a great idea!!! I wouldn’t be surprised if the place shut down pretty fast. There is room for other types of pro-life strategies as well. There is still a need to educate people to make abortion unthinkable in the first place. So instead of talking about “in-fighting” how about looking at it as one incredibly powerful tool. It is probably the most powerful tool in the tool chest, that has other important tools as well.
In Buffalo, NY where we pray in front the abortion facility there, a woman in our group is trying to get an Adoration chapel started—-I hope it happens like it did in North Dakota
I attended a Pro-Life Mass last Saturday. Then, a walk to a local Planned Parenthood for recesitation of the Rosary. In front of us with the priest leading the Rosary, a very large painting of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The painting was left in front of the clinic for around 5 or 6 hours for some of the day. I later saw a person kneeling in front of it with their hands folded and praying - in full view of a busy public street! What an unforgettable display of humility and courage - in a large city!
Maybe God just wants to see demonstartion of Our Faith in the face of hopelessness, to acknowledge that we absolutlely do rely on Him, and when we show it with our prayers and humble actions, and sincerely seek the Sacraments given to us by His Son, He will not be deaf to our prayers.
When good faces evil straight up in the light, good will always win.
I have maintained for 40 years that we do not need pro-life politicians, we need pro-life women, and prayer is the best means of conversion available. Let’s pray not just for our tormented, terrified sisters contemplating abortion but for all women of child-bearing age, to strengthen them in their maternal vocations, be that as mothers, as grandmothers, teachers, nurses or any other maternal role. Between prayer and maternal instinct, surely we can bring some of them to the light.
This is so awesome and wonderful!!!!!
Another amazing thing: Not one negative comment above! I’m sure that we all need good news and when it is great news like this, it is truly heart warming. Now if we could only get ALL the Bishops to be true MEN OF GOD, then this war would be a lot easier to fight. Praise to You, Lord Jesus!! +JMJ+
May God richly bless the faithful people of North Dakota—and the courageous leadership of Bishop Samuel Aquila!
David Bereit
National Director
40 Days for Life
In Washington DC, there’s a medical clinic (they do provide actual medical services) that also does abortions right in the middle of my college’s campus. You could literally walk out the door of one of the dorms and into the clinic across the street. They also have a back entrance through the spa on the ground floor of the building, in case a woman doesn’t want to walk in the clinic door. The university’s Catholic chapel is just a block away, and we do a Rosary for Life on Fridays.
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