News

With Easter upon us, I’m writing to wish you and your loved ones a most blessed Easter season.

Further, I’m writing to you only days after the Quebec Life Coalition’s annual Lenten 40-day prayer vigil for the end of abortion has ended. On the final day of the vigil, Sunday, April 2, 2023, between thirteen and fifteen of us came out to pray and witness publicly for the protection of unborn life.

Background: For the past fifteen years, the Quebec Life Coalition (QLC) has hosted twice annually – during Lent and in the fall, public prayer vigils near abortion facilities, inviting people of faith to gather and pray and witness for the end of abortion.

It was a beautiful sunny day from start to finish. The closing ceremony began 3pm, reciting some final prayers, doing a half-hour of Eucharistic adoration, and fellowshipping in a local restaurant over some fine Italian food. Many thanks to the prayer volunteers who were able to make it today; and to the many who could not, thank you for your warm wishes.

This Lenten season, since Ash Wednesday, February 22, 2023, when the vigil began, close to eighty different people have prayed and witnessed to the importance of unborn life at the intersection of Berri and St. Catherine Streets in downtown Montreal. These persons have logged a combined total of about 500 hours of prayer/witnessing time.

Under the onus of building a Christian culture that defends faith, family, and the human person from conception to natural death, the vigil combined two of the three foundational elements of our organization – aid to women and education, with the third being political activism.

Regarding the latter, my colleague Arpad Nagy is the active agent in the latter movement while a dedicated team led by QLC President Georges Buscemi works daily to update our website and social media to inform you of events impacting faith, family, and life.

This year the 40-day prayer vigil had a very distinctive quality to it – helping pregnant women.

Since February 22, 2023, we have been privileged to meet and assist three women pregnant experiencing difficult in their lives.

The circumstances regarding each varies.

For instance, one of these women came to see me while I was vigilating on the streets. At the time I was alone, yet the day did not begin that way. From 8am, prayer volunteers came to the site, replacing one another. The flow stopped at around one o’clock when I found myself alone. Then about an hour and an half later, a young couple, mid-twenties, came to speak to me.

The woman began speaking.

With tears gradually filling her eyes, she shared that she could not carry through with her abortion appointment. She recounted that on finding out she was pregnant and having a busy lifestyle as a student, she resolved to abort her child. She made an appointment for the following week and on the appointed day, presented herself at the abortion facility. This is when her epiphany happened. She realized that she was about to end the life which was budding inside of her; a life depended on her.

In tears, standing in front of me she expressed contrition over her initial decision.

I congratulated her for her courage and gave her my contact information saying that if there was anything I could do, I would gladly help.

As for the two other pregnant ladies we are helping, both are resolved in keeping their child, yet because of difficult social circumstances, they and their unborn child are vulnerable prey to our social planners. We are helping them build a support network which will permit them and their children to grow and live in security.

This is just a small part of the work with QLC that your donations help to fund.

Our faith is our strength and so we organize prayer vigils to defend our faith, families, and life.

Wishing you a blessed Easter Season

Sincerely Yours,

Brian Jenkins
Outreach Coordinator
Quebec Life Coalition

{{broadcaster.name}}
{{settings.site.full_url}}