Pro-life demonstrator displays sign in front of the Honolulu Planned Parenthood clinic in last year’s 40 Days for Life program. (HCH file photo)
By Patrick Downes
Hawaii Catholic Herald
“It was intimidating,” Paulette Vernay said. “It was scary.”
The administrative assistant of the diocesan Respect Life Office described the trepidation of her first time participating in pro-life prayer vigil on the sidewalk in front of Planned Parenthood’s Honolulu clinic a year ago.
But as she settled into her rosary she felt the flush of peace. She became convinced that simple prayer was a powerful means “to bring the culture of life into being” — to do a small thing with enough dedication and perseverance so that “God is attentive.”
Vernay was participating in 40 Days for Life, a national pro-life program of prayer and fasting for an end to abortion. The program also targets abortion clinics in each state as sites for peaceful round-the-clock prayer vigils.
She acknowledges that there are few material or social alternatives she can offer a woman intent on having an abortion, but she can make a more powerful contribution, a prayer that God flood the woman and her unborn child with his mercy.
She wants others to do the same.
The diocesan Respect Life Office is encouraging Oahu parishes to get on board United 40 Days for Life, a national non-denominational pro-life program that targets abortion clinics in each state for peaceful round-the-clock prayer vigils Sept. 28 to Nov. 6.
“We are not activists,” said Vernay, “We are peaceful vigil-ers, but we need to be seen.”
“We encourage priests and religious come out to lead their flocks,” she said. So far she knows of no priests who participated last year. In fact, there were very few people in general.
“Let’s make it different this year,” she said.
The site for Hawaii’s prayer vigils is Planned Parenthood, 1350 S. King Street, in Honolulu. The rally is planned for the public sidewalk outside the facility. Planned Parenthood is one of the largest providers of abortion in the country.
Delegates from United 40 Days for Life plan to visit all 50 states during the 40-day campaign. The Hawaii stop is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Oct. 25 outside Planned Parenthood.
Parishioners are being instructed to go online to www.40DaysForLife.com/Honolulu and sign up for an hour of prayer time, one day a week. The goal is to have 24-hours of daily prayer throughout the 40 days.
Participants are being encouraged to be “loving, kind and merciful” to those they encounter outside the clinic. They suggest that the vigil would be a good opportunity to promote services, such as Rachel’s Vineyard retreats and Project Rachel post-abortive counseling, for those who already have suffered through an abortion.
According to the United 40 Days for Life website, more than 650,000 people have participated in the program through prayer and fasting since it started in 2004. More than 240,000 people have conducted street vigils outside of Planned Parenthood centers and other abortion facilities. And 10,331 children, that it knows about, have been saved from abortion.
