From Ann:

What happened at the abortion clinic today

Today was the third time I have prayed the rosary at the abortion clinic in Raleigh with the pro-life group from OLPH. Each experience has been different from the others. In July when we prayed, it was very quiet there-not a lot of ‘action’. I mean to say there were not a lot of people going in and out nor was the parking lot very full.

I had called Nina, the lady in Raleigh, who with her husband prays the rosary there every Saturday. I had called to ask her if she thought the clinic would be open on Labor Day weekend. Perhaps it would be closed since maybe a lot of people would want to vacation during the holiday weekend? She called back to say, oh no, I don’t think it will be closed. Come if you can and we will be there.

So we came again, twelve of us altogether-nine from OLPH, two from St. Peter’s in Greenville and one from St. John the Baptist in Roanoke Rapids. We got there a little late-they had just started praying the Joyful Mysteries when we got in line with them.

I stood in line with my rosary and began to pray with them. Many from our group fell to their knees immediately. I lifted my eyes up to look at the clinic and take in the surroundings. Someone commented later to me how the drought had made the grass look brown, the flowers no longer bloomed and it looked lifeless due to such little water. It did have such a feel of lack of life and hope.

As I looked around, I noticed many cars in the parking lot, the place was packed. A car drove in the wrong way, in through the exit door. They struggled to get into the wrong way parking space and a man and a woman get out of the car. The woman was dressed nicely, wearing high heels and she strode into the clinic, sucking on a lollipop, with her male escort trailing along behind her. The sidewalk counselor called out to them, please come and talk to me. I will tell you about alternatives to abortion. Choose life, not death. The woman held her head high and completely ignored the counselor. The man looked at the counselor and just shook his head, No, No, No, I do not want to hear it.

We continued to pray the rosary down the line. Another car drove up and a young man got out of his car. He is carrying folders and what looks like a textbook. Catching up on schoolwork while waiting for his sister, friend, girlfriend, or wife? He walked slowly into the clinic, stone faced and silent. As he made his way across the sidewalk, the lady who is leading one of the Sorrowful Mysteries of the rosaries has a catch in her throat. Already we have seen more people coming into the clinic in the first fifteen minutes than the entire time we were there in July. The tears began to flow. I cried. The lady praying next to me cried. What a sense of loss at that moment. Hail Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, Hail, our Life, our Sweetness and our Hope! To you do we cry, to you do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears!

A mother and her son knelt down on the sidewalk at the line we cannot cross. They stuck a medal in the grass, a Miraculous Medal given to them from the Sisters of Life during the Bike for Life pilgrimage. I saw them and remember, I have one too that I need to plant in the grass. I wondered, is my St. Ann medal, the one I had left in June, still buried there somewhere? Is Father Tighe’s St. Benedict medal, such a powerful expeller of evil, still there-holy objects somehow, someway bringing grace to this place?

A car pulled into the clinic but the parking lot is too full so they must park on the street. A man and woman got out. The sidewalk counselor walked up to them and began to speak. This time the man walked with purpose into the clinic, ignoring the sidewalk counselor. But the woman lagged behind. She moved so slowly as if each step was getting harder and harder. She never looked at us but her eyes told us she heard our prayers. The sidewalk counselor called out, come with us and we will take you to Birthchoice. The woman continued her painfully slow walk of death across the front of the clinic. A woman from our group called out, come pray with us! Come pray with us! But the slow walk continued until she reached the door where the man was waiting. They talked for a moment, then the man opened the door and ushered the girl in. The sidewalk counselor was near me and said, they are married, he is her husband and they already have other children. As I watched them disappear into the clinic I fall to my knees and think, it has been so long since I have been close to this. This feeling of helplessness. I reached into the grass and put my Miraculous Medal in too, with a prayer for all the little ones being lost that day.

All this time, a woman stood on the sidewalk with us, praying with us. She held up a sign that read simply, I regret my abortion. She is a testament to God’s Love and Mercy and Healing and Hope. Whatever could we do without the grace of God?

The rosary ended, and we all shook hands and talked. Yet none of us wanted to leave. There were too many people still sitting in the waiting room. There were too many cars lined up in the parking lot. They are mostly men in cars waiting for the women coming out after the procedure. We saw a few women come out and drive away. We still didn’t want to leave.

The woman holding the sign said I will stay here until the clinic closes at 2pm. I want to be here, I need to be here. We gave her hugs and told her goodbye and she stood there as we drove away. We went to the Perpetual Adoration chapel at Our Lady of Lourdes to pray for many things, in thanksgiving for the Eucharist, the graces and gifts the Lord has given us, the babies who were lost, the mothers and fathers who were wounded, and on and on. The Real Presence of Him who was crucified helps us cope with what we saw this morning. That He has overcome the world takes away the sting of death. There is always still hope.

Turn then O most gracious advocate thine eyes of Mercy towards us and after this, our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary. Pray for us O Holy Mother of God. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.