Written by Adrian Devlin
Adrian Devlin, a regional coordinator for FLI, has come up with a simple and effective action every Catholic can take, to further the pro-life cause. Acknowledging that offending the All-Good God is the greatest sin contained within abortion’s crime, Adrian asks that Catholics arrange regular monthly Masses in reparation for abortion at their local parishes. When a small stipend is offered, then the stipend has the added benefit of supporting our Priests – even if they aren’t known for promoting the pro-life message in its entirety. Adrian explains more about his wonderful initiative below:
This article is dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Unborn Child, my Queen, my Advocate and my Mother.
I thought I’d start with an explanation of the way this project came about. In mid-July of 2022, I did some research into the hours of the Macquarie Street Abortion mill opposite the NSW Parliament. Finding it was open six days a week (Monday – Saturday) – more than we had realised – I had a number of ideas flash before me. These ranged from daily prayer vigils, establishing Eucharistic Adoration pro-life Holy Hours before the Blessed Sacrament, and somehow increasing the number of Masses for the unborn child.
One evening, a few days later I was reading the beautiful, personal, loving, caring and motherly words of the Virgin of Guadalupe to Saint Juan Diego, after which I prayed the Rosary and made extended devotions to Our Lady of Guadalupe. During the prayers, I was constantly reminded of the innocent unborn children paying the ultimate price at the what is the “modern day Calvary” (as Monsignor Philip Reilly would say). However, with the reminder came a strong image and sense of Our Lady of Guadalupe. By the end of July 2022, I was doing a pro-life prayer vigil Monday to Saturday and with Our Lady’s help have been able to continue this.
In early May this year, I was at the vigil praying and after watching some heartbreaking situations involving young women going in and out of the place. I was thinking and praying to the Virgin of Guadalupe for inspiration as to what else could be done? The idea of regular Masses for the unborn child came to me. And by getting the laity and priests involved, awareness of the issue would be heightened. The response has been overwhelmingly positive with doors opening and this has given me many opportunities to both promote and establish the initiative in many parishes in cities, towns and interstate. Some Priests have offered to say Masses of reparation on a monthly basis, without being approached by their parishioners.
Parish Masses of Reparation are meant to act as a counter to the heinous crime of abortion by offering up the supreme Sacrifice of the Eternal Son of God in Holy Mass. We know the value of the Mass and the tremendous graces that come from the One, True and Holy Sacrifice.
God is the supreme and only good so let us use this Divine Goodness. “Since Christ, Himself, has said ‘this is My Body’ who shall dare to doubt that it is His Body” – Saint Cyril of Jerusalem (313 – 386).
There can be a tendency to think that activism is the primary role of the Catholic pro-lifer, but this is false. Prayer reaches God, not activism. You see, activism may have some role to play, yet it has more to do with a physical/material element. However, prayer reaches beyond the material world that we see around us.
A good understanding of this came when attending my fourth pro-life vigil one Saturday morning in February 1999. The vigil was at a privately operated abortion mill. We started with pro-life counsellors near the clinic and the prayer group across the road. The traffic on the road was pretty busy as usual for that area of Camperdown (Sydney) and about 40 minutes into the two hour vigil the clinic door was thrust open by none other than the doctor who was in a rage and he shouted at the counsellors and prayer group.
“Stop praying, it is driving me mad! Shut up, just shut up!” he yelled, then went back into the clinic and slammed the door. That day told me a lot about the power and effectiveness of prayer and how God can use that against those committing acts of evil like this.
You may be wondering why I am so passionate about ending abortion. This is my story: My Uncle and Aunty made a belated visit to wish me Happy Birthday on my 12th year. It was lovely to see them and, as they were leaving, they said to my Mother, “He is still special!” After they left, I asked my Mother to explain what my Uncle and Aunty meant.
These are my Mother’s words:
“I was losing weight and had been feeling weak, unwell for a little while. But things got worse very quickly and I was admitted to hospital. The medical tests and examinations I went through revealed that I had aggressive malignant tumours in my womb and it required immediate surgery. The complication was that in the middle of the cancerous tumours was a baby. I was 41 at the time.
“Your Father was holding my hand as I was very weak when the doctor told us. The doctor advised the easiest option was a full hysterectomy which means the baby will be terminated. It was strange, the doctor went very quiet and suddenly asked, “Do you want the baby, Mrs Devlin?”
“I said “yes”. The doctor said, “Very well, I will do my best to save the baby and move him to a safe place [still inside the womb], but I cannot guarantee he will survive.” As he finished speaking, he held my hand in a caring way. Your father was emotional and very concerned and had words with the doctor outside in the corridor.
“I went into surgery one day and woke up two days later in intensive care with tubes everywhere. I had needed a blood transfusion during the operation owing to complications of which we [meaning my mother and I] almost died. So to keep us both alive, I had 32 drugs a day. I spent over 4 months in hospital after the surgery and then other complications arose for you, and on April 25 I was given a caesarean section. You were born 3 months premature.
That’s why your Uncle and Aunty said, “You’re special”.
For further enquiries or information about the Masses of Reparation please contact:
FLI-AUSTRALIA
(02) 9519 9111
Email: info@fli.org.au
Website: fli.org.au
