PRO-LIFE CHAMPION is the untold story of Monsignor Philip J. Reilly, who, almost single-handed, reclaimed the pro-life movement from a course of violence by setting it on a path to prayerful, non-confrontational witness to the sacredness of human life. In the course of rescuing the movement from an untimely death at the hands of pro-choice politicians, he has counselled thousands of distraught women on the street and trained hundreds of like-minded individuals to do the same, thereby saving an estimated hundred thousand lives. As for the effect of his intervention on the souls of countless parents bent on destroying God’s greatest gift, it is beyond telling. The Helpers of God’s Precious Infants, which he founded in 1991, has chapters in forty-five American states, as well as thirty foreign countries. This is the story of a Latin teacher and prep school principal who sacrificed an academic career in order to answer God’s call, a man who risked his life in order to awaken people to the devastating effect of destroying innocent human beings. With Scripture as his sword — “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you” (God to Jeremiah) and Isaiah’s rhetorical question, “Can a mother be without tenderness for the child of her womb?” — he organized police-protected prayer vigils led by Catholic cardinals with up to 2500 participants at a time. He has been on the receiving end of rotten eggs, vitriolic invective, and a $117 million law suit. Six times arrested (before opting for non-violence), he has likewise been dragged into court scores of times without ever losing his sense of humour. One of the organizers of the first March for Life in Washington, D.C., he counts among his students Joe Scheidler, founder of the Pro-Life Action League, and David Bereit, founder of 40 Days for Life. Frederick Marks, who holds a Ph.D. degree in history from the University of Michigan, has written an account of the life of Msgr. Reilly that is both gripping and scholarly, based, as it is, on seventy hours of interview time with its subject. This is more than a biography. It sets the work of a distinguished prayer warrior against the broader backdrop of the pro-life movement in general, taking the reader all the way from Colorado’s decision to become the first state to legalize abortion down to the present.
Link to Helper’s of God’s Precious Infants website.
http://www.helpersbrooklynny.org
Who are the Helper’s of God’s Precious Infants?
The Helpers of God’s Precious Infants are a group of people committed to maintaining a loving and prayerful presence outside of the abortion mills where God’s children are put to death. We unite ourselves with these victims, in solidarity with their pain, as they are put to death at this modern-day Calvary. We pray in reparation for the injustice being performed on their tiny bodies. Just as Mary and John lovingly stood and prayed beneath Jesus’ Cross as he died, we wish to remain with these children in the hour that they are crucified.
They pray to obtain God’s mercy for the abortionist and his staff who do the killing. Our peaceful presence outside their mill is a reproach to the dirty business they carry out inside. Some abortionists have stopped doing abortions because of the pressure from groups picketing outside their offices. Our prayerful witness outside the death center where he works tells the abortionist, and his neighbors, that we refuse to recognize or accept abortion as an appropriate or legitimate profession. The consciences of the abortion mill staff will be disturbed by our presence there, making them feel ashamed so that they can reform their lives and switch to a suitable line of work, one that will contribute to society, not destroy it. Regular people in normal jobs don’t have to pass by a crowd of people praying every time they go to their office. The workers at the abortion mill should feel uncomfortable when they come to work. It should not be pleasant to get up in the morning to come to destroy children. They should have to confront God each time they start their day of business, because it is His precious children they are attacking. The message of the Helpers of God’s Precious Infants to the abortionist and all who help him to kill God’s children is that, though we love them, we will never accept what they do.
They witness to those who pass by, praying that they will take notice of what is going on and be provoked to take action against the killing in their neighborhood. Many neighbors and businesses that surround the killing center don’t like having babies die right near where they live and work, but they have resigned themselves to the fact that the evil is there and seemingly cannot be prevented. When they see that something can be done, that it is not necessary to tolerate this death camp in their midst, they will be impelled to join us. We help the community to see that they, also, are responsible for the deaths of these children, happening so close to where they live. They have permitted it with their failure to rise up against the evil.
They plead with our voices for the lives of the babies being carried by the pregnant women who have scheduled appointments with the abortionist that day. We ask each mother to change her mind. We reach out to her with the love of Christ; we do not judge or condemn her for what she is planning to do. We simply promise her support and assistance if she should change her mind, and prayers for her healing and conversion if she should proceed with the killing of her child.
Most of all they love the unborn children who will be brought there that day. These children have been rejected by their parents, and are doomed to die. The only human love they ever encounter in their short lives may be from those of us standing outside.
Mother Teresa, in her home for the dying, has the mission of giving human love to the poorest of the poor who are dying abandoned by all. She picks up discarded people from the streets and cares for them, so that they will not die without ever having experienced the love of Christ.
This is what the Helpers of God’s Precious Infants do for the little ones in the wombs of their mothers. We recognize them as our brothers and sisters, welcoming them into the human family. We embrace them spiritually. We stand with them when they die.
No one wants to be alone when they die. When our loved ones lie dying in intensive-care units, we keep constant watch. Many prayers are said outside of the dying person’s room. Even Jesus did not want to be alone before He died. He asked His apostles to watch with Him in prayer through the night. Our loving presence for the children at their hour of death will comfort the Heart of God, because they belong to Him.
How do they work?
There are three ways that we help God’s Precious Infants:
(1) Prayer/Picketers
The prayer/picketers come to the abortion mill for an hour or more on any morning that the babies are going to be killed. They carry on a most important spiritual battle as they stand outside the mill. They pray in a spirit of reparation, for their own sins, and the sin of abortion, particularly the deaths that will occur while they stand outside that day. They pray for women going in to the abortion mill, for the abortionist and his staff, for the neighboring community, for the legislators, for the religious leaders of the nation, and for all who, through indifference, do nothing to try to stop abortion.
The prayer/picketers provide spiritual and moral support for the sidewalk counselors. They are essential. Before a mother is able to physically abort her child, a “spiritual abortion” must take place within her heart. By the time she arrives at the abortion mill, she will have already rejected her child. This “spiritual abortion” must be overcome by spiritual means before the mother can change her mind about the physical abortion. By their sacrifice and prayer the prayer/picketers obtain the grace of God that is needed to reverse the “spiritual abortion” while, at the same time, the sidewalk counselors are working to prevent the physical abortion of the child.
The prayer/picketers are also there to give a personal love to God’s infants who will die that day. Just as John the Baptist was able to leap for joy in Elizabeth’s womb because he was aware of the presence of the love of Jesus and Mary (remember that it was at the sound of Mary’s voice that he leapt in his mother’s womb), so also will the babies joyfully leap in their mothers’ wombs when they hear the voice of the prayer/picketers. They will know they are loved.
(2) Sidewalk Counselors
The sidewalk counselors are the ones who approach the woman going in to have the abortion and ask her to reconsider her decision. It is surprising that the woman often has not been given much factual information about what happens in an abortion. The sidewalk counselors educate her about the baby’s biological development in her womb, and help her to understand the exact manner in which the abortion will kill her child. They will also warn her of the physical harm the abortion may cause to her own body. The woman will be provided with literature telling of all the help available-financial, medical, and spiritual. The sidewalk counselors will also talk to the father of the baby. If the woman decides to go to see the abortionist anyway, she will be reminded that the Helpers of God’s Precious Infants will pray for her and be outside waiting if she, like others before her, changes her mind and comes back out again.
(3) Spiritual Supporters
There are some people who want to be present at the abortion mill but are physically unable to come. These spiritual supporters are present with the Helpers of God’s Precious Infants in spirit. They contribute prayers and sacrifices made during the week, and offer it up for the work of the Helpers.
Some of the spiritual supporters are small children who are still in school. They make small sacrifices, such as giving up one night of television. They pray the prayer card of the Precious Infants for the work of those who go out to the places where the babies are being killed.
Other spiritual supporters are “shut-ins” or terminally ill patients in hospitals, who offer their sufferings and the pains of their condition to God for the purposes and intentions of the Helpers. Also, there will be religious communities, called to a life of contemplation and prayer, providing powerful spiritual backup for the work.
What will they accomplish ?
Their purpose is to be faithful and pleasing to God, and we hope that this will save the physical lives of God’s precious infants through the spiritual conversion of their mothers.
They also hope for ourselves to become closer to God through experiencing the mystery of His Cross. We will deny ourselves comfort in the morning, and go find out what Calvary is like. We will more clearly realize Christ’s personal love for each one of us, and will know the joy of having responded to His call.
They will learn to pray, offer penances, and leave the results up to God. They will see that it is God’s power and love which will overcome the evil of abortion and soften the hearts of those who participate.
ETWN Msgr. Reilly talks with Fr. Groeschel about various aspects of abortion and the abortion debate as well as Msgr. Reilly’s work with the group Helpers of God’s Precious Infants.
Do we need a similar organisation in Ireland based on Fr Reilly’s group his friend Wolfgang Herring visited us in 2018 after the referendum and attended mass in Saint Anne’s in Sligo.