September 23, 2009
The 40 Days for Life Campaign began last night at Parliament Hill as approximately 250 participants heard from various pro-life speakers from a variety of backgrounds, including Dr. Mary O'Connor, Catholic Activist John Pacheco, Don Hutchison and Bruce Clemenger from the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, and Rebecca Richmond from Ottawa Students for Life from Ottawa University. Closing up the celebration was Fr.Christian Riesbeck with some encouraging words and closing prayer. Interspersed with the speeches was some great music too.
As is the tradition, vigilers made their way from Parliament Hill to the Abortion Mill at 65 Bank Street.
The evening was serene yet upbeat. There were about a dozen protesters who were remarkably civil and polite, even during moments of silence on the Hill.
CTV Coverage here.
Here are the videos:
Opening Prayer by Bruce Clemenger
Rebecca Richmond, Ottawa Students for Life
Song: They'll Know We Are Christians...
Dr. Mary O'Connor
John Pacheco, Socon or Bust
Father Christian Reisbeck, Concluding Talk and Prayer
Special thanks to Suzanne Fortin at Big Blue Wave for the Videos....and her dedicated work to the pro-life struggle on the her popular blog.
Here are some pictures:
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Hi John, MW and I were at ground zero for a few hours this morning. I made a comment on the registration link re small numbers of people being present for most of the time that we were there. I'm sure the momentum will build.
During the hours between 9:30 and 11:15 there was a heavy police presence. Around 9:30 two women officers arrived to discuss a complaint that some people were obstructing traffic and the entrance to 65 Bank St. For us, no 40 Days for Life vigil keepers were doing anything of the sort, nor anyone else that we could see. Two sidewalk counselors were a good distance from the door, one of the north and the second on the south side of the door. Four vigil keepers were silently praying on the west side of the street. The two police officers were quite respectful and said as far as they are concerned no laws were being broken. They then spoke with D. and the other counselor. Three other cruisers passed by whilst these conversations were taking place.
Around 10:30 or so another policeman arrived. By this time 5 pro abort women with signs were standing in the middle and on both sides of the door 65 Bank St. The signs advise women that 'we support your decision to have an abortion today.' The security guard was very social with these women. And a man who had been sitting in the entrance of 63 Bank also held one of their signs. He had been there all morning....a street person? This officer spoke to D. and the other counselor. during this conversation, one to the pro abort women came along stood close. She was clearly using a digital camera to record the whole scene. A minute or so later, the officer waved her off but she continued to record as she strolled backwards towards the door. He then spoke with the, by then two remaining pro abort women, and the security guard. Finally he took the security guard aside and spoke with him for at least 5 minutes. He then entered the door at #65. This all took place between 10:30 and 11:15. When I left at 11:15 he had not come out; his cruiser remained parked next to the building on the west side of Bank.
The rain was very heavy around 11:00 but what a small price to pay for the good that this campaign produces. Two of the pro abort women had cameras and took plenty of pictures, including of us on the west side of the street. It was interesting to witness that while we stood in silent prayer, they appeared to be restless, taking pictures, attempting to socialize with the police, the security guard, the man sitting at #63. To me, the contrast was startling. All the more reason that we must remain silent and to be seen to pray constantly. We did mention to each other how reassuring it is to know that God and His Blessed Mother are in our midst. We especially prayed for the side walk counselors while they were speaking to the police and we prayed for the abortion supporters, including the 'workers' on the third floor at 65 Bank St.
God bless you,
J.
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L.
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7:45 AM - I arrived at Ground Zero with another sidewalk counsellor. We took our positions on the sidewalk on the east side of Bank St. 8:00 AM - The security guard arrives. He is not the same one as for the last campaign. @ 10 minutes later, some employees arrive. The security guard comes over to us and asks us to go across the street. He says he has orders from the clinic to make us move. I tell him I understand he has his orders, but that it will take a more competent authority to make us move. He says he'll call the police. I say "So be it". Around 9:30 AM, two police officers arrived and spoke to the vigilers, then to the men praying with sandwich boards and then us. They confirmed that we were doing nothing wrong and that it was OK for us to be there. Around 10 AM, the pro-abort squad showed up with their signs. One of them had a camera and started recording us. At one point, a young man went up to them and started asking them questions. After a while, he came over to me and said "So, what's you side of the story". What ensued was an interesting and lively conversation which was brought to an abrupt halt just as he was about to tell me 3 reasons why he disapproved of the birth control pill. The pro-abort woman with the camera had approached us as she was recording. I let the young man know about it. He asked her not to be recorded. She just moved over and took him out of the camera frame, but kept the same distance (which seemed to us within the microphone range). He still didn't want to pursue the conversation with the camera rolling so he asked her again to stop recording. I said "cameras tend to have a dampening effect on conversations". She replied " I think you're the one who has a dampening effect", and walked away. I finally got to hear what he wanted to tell me. Not long after that, another police officer, who I knew from the previous campaign, arrived. He told us that what we were doing was fine. As we were going over the ground rules, the pro-abort camera woman approached as she had done with the young man. The police officer wouldn't have it. He told her to go away and that he was going to speak with her in just a few minutes. He actually had to insist once or twice because she wasn't moving far enough away for his liking. After he was done speaking to myself and N., another sidewalk counsellor, he went over to speak to the pro-aborts and the security guard and then went into 65 Bank. When he came out a long time after that, he came over and asked me if there had been an incident with the men with the sandwich boards who come to pray every day. I replied that I saw nothing out of the ordinary happen. I want to thank all of those who are praying, the vigilers present this morning, those present during the night and at the kick-off last night. All of these prayers are needed to claim this spiritual ground. The rampart of sin that was Sauna 63 has fallen. We have made some gains, but the spiritual battle is not over and will probably increase in intensity. Let us not be found wanting in prayer.
Doris
______________________________Greetings to you my incredibly blessed brothers and sisters in Christ and in the pro-life fight. I live in a small town in northern BC close to Alaska. We do not have an active pro-life group here at all. We have one hospital where abortions are done. Since nothing is happening here publicly, and I would so much like to be with you, I have decided to spend an hour each day in front of the Blessed Sacrament, pray my rosary, and fast from TV for these 40 days. During this time I feel as if I am `with` you, at least in Spirit. God Bless and protect you,
MS
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Dear MS: Greetings to you in the Name of Our Lord! I want to invite you to register in our 40 Days for Life @ 180º campaign. Its purpose is to formally involve people who do not have the 40 Days Campaign in their city, but still want to participate and have their participation noted. I encourage you to register here.
God Bless You,
John Pacheco
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