Brian Jenkins

Dear Friends of Life,

What kind of prayer warrior are you?

Pictured below are three important warriors participating on a daily basis in the prayer vigil for the end of abortion – the 40 Days for Life.

We see John, Charlotte (seated) and Sr. Leah. Each represents a different and essential component of the team praying outside the Morgentaler abortion mill on Saint-Joseph Blvd.

John shows up three times each day. First, he arrives at about 8:30 a.m. and immediately dons two signs about his neck and proceeds to pace along the sidewalk for up to forty-five minutes. He returns for a second 45 minute stroll in mid-afternoon and yet another just before closure at 7 p.m. He represents a first type of prayer warrior.

A second type is personified by Charlotte. Less peripatetic than John, she comes at the beginning of each day, seating herself, keeping a firm hand on the vigil banner and providing a joyful banter to one and all. She spends a few hours at the site before heading out, though when called upon, longer.

Yet, a third type of warrior is Sister Leah. Member of a local Franciscan community of sisters whose convent is nearby, she spends much of her time in the community’s chapel praying before the Blessed Sacrament. Like John, she enjoys her walks and so visits those of us at the vigil a couple of times each day, offering words of encouragement. She also provides me with a daily bowl of warm soup.

So, what kind of prayer warrior are you?

I suspect that you are your own personal and unique type.

We are unique one from the other. Every child knit in his mother’s womb represents something intrinsically new and never to be replicated. As this child grows and develops, such is done in a never seen way, before or ever after.

How this child matures in his or her relationship with God is unique as well. Whether a John, a Charlotte, or a Leah, we all will blossom at our rate as along as we remain open to God’s will for us on a daily basis.

I have seen as much during this and past vigils. Yesterday, for example, Qui’An came to join me at the vigil location, bringing along a devotion that I had never seen before – the chaplet of Saint Gertrude. For the next thirty minutes she coached me through its recitation. I considered this blessing.

I’ve been graced with the same from others. Here’s a sampling:

• Margarida: Devotion to the Sorrows of Mary
• Maria Pilar: Way of the Cross
• Andre: Chaplet of the Precious Blood
• Carole: Chaplet of Rosa Mystica The graces are flowing.

On a Thursday mid-afternoon, I was approached by a young woman. She told me that she had made the momentous decision to keep her baby. She was scheduled that afternoon to abort her eleven week old unborn child at the Morgentaler mill but instead had a change of heart. She got up, left,and crossed the street to tell me about her decision. May God be praised.

The results of our prayers are not always as tangible. Yet in faith we continue to ask God to heed us.

So, what kind of prayer warrior? Let me know.

Until then, thank you for your on-going support of our ministry, both in prayer and financially. It helps to promote values important for our society and to come to aid in a very concrete manner, outside an abortion mill in a very impious sector of Montreal.

Wishing one and all a Blessed Easter,

Brian A. Jenkins, Outreach Coordinator