40 Days for Life FALL 2022
The 40 Days for Life Fall Campaign begins soon.
Our kick-off event will be on Wednesday, September 28, from 4 -5:30 PM at Davanni’s on Cleveland and Grand. We will have a few pizzas ordered and people may order their own food if they would like. After this all may join at Planned Parenthood for the Opening 40 Days candlelight vigil from 6-7:30 PM Families with children are welcome to attend either or both parts of the evening.
Along with Nativity of Our Lord, St. Mark’s has chosen two dates to adopt for our combined parish prayer days:
Wednesday October 5th, the Memorial of St. Faustina Kowalska, and
Tuesday October 18th, the Memorial of St. Luke, Evangelist.
In addition, there will be a clergy led prayer on October 9 at 1 PM.
As always, we invite the entire parish to keep the victims of this ongoing tragedy in your prayers in a special way during this time.
What is 40 Days for Life?
The global crisis of abortion is enormous. A tragedy of epidemic proportions, abortion is the leading cause of death in the world, taking what some estimate to be 56 million innocent lives every year. It crosses every race and socioeconomic background. It seems overwhelming to wonder “What can we do about this terrible situation?”
In 2004, the four founders of the 40 Days for Life movement gathered around an old wooden table in College Station, TX for an hour of intense prayer, asking God this very question. During that hour, they all found themselves drawn to the time-frame of 40 days—a time-frame God consistently uses throughout salvation history to transform His people. As that hour of prayer progressed, they felt themselves called to launch a 40-day campaign of prayer and fasting, community outreach, and a constant, peaceful vigil to end abortion. They also vowed that even if no one else would join them, together they would cover the entire 40-day, 960-hour, around-the-clock vigil.
That first campaign exceeded all expectations. In less than six weeks, more than 1,000 new volunteers helped ensure all 960 hours of the vigil were covered. This grassroots, door-to-door effort reached more than 25,000 households. The local abortion rate dropped by 28 percent. Their efforts have since grown to over 493 cities in 30 countries for this fall’s campaign.
We, too, are called to respond.
If you are new to 40 Days for Life or are interested in finding out more and helping out with our local efforts, please go to: 40daysforlife.com/history or contact John Shrake at shrake@usfamily.net. Thank you to all who have participated in the past and in advance to all who will prayerfully consider joining us this fall in our peaceful, prayerful efforts to end abortion. Stay tuned for exciting details regarding the kick-off event and sign-ups for prayer vigil.