What happens when prayer warriors are confronted by radical
liberals
(A battlefield report of the 40 Days For Life Rally
and March in Washington, D.C.)
On February 11, 2017, 40 Days For Life organized
a nationwide peaceful prayer rally and march. It was one of the most contested
prayer rallies any of us could recall.
Members of the Institute of Sedes Sapientiae, a
3 year college level TFP study course, and students and staff from St. Louis de
Montfort Academy joined 40 Days For Life in Washington, D.C. Thanks to radical
liberals, it was anything but peaceful. They tried to block us at practically
every intersection. They pushed and shoved us. They pursued us. They shouted
and screamed at us. They had one intention, to prevent us from reaching the
Planned Parenthood facility.
We started in front of the U.S. Supreme Court
with a short prayer. At around 9:15 we began the 1.7 miles march to the Planned
Parenthood facility on 4th and Florida St. NE.
We numbered around 80. They numbered around 80.
We had a marching band. They had their slogans. We filled the air with chants
of God Bless America and Hail Holy Queen. They filled the air with shouts of
“Pro-life is a lie. They don’t care if women die.”
They tried to block us from marching to the
facility at least nine times. The first time was soon after we started
marching. They rushed ahead of us in order to block the sidewalk we intended to
march on. As the two groups approached, there was a lot of uncertainty. The
liberals were convinced they had us checkmated but we kept marching forward. We
looked at the police. They kept telling us to march forward. The tension was so
intense and the suspense so dramatic, it seemed scripted by a novelist. But
this was pure unscripted fury versus conviction, morality versus fallacy. At
the very moment of collision, the police intervened and let us march on the
street. That was the first blockade we evaded. Eight more were yet to come.
We continued on undeterred. Our band was called
Holy Choirs of Angels band. It was aptly named and fit the event well. It was
truly angelic to hear the harmonies of the fifes, pipes, brass and drum corps
play patriotic tunes like God Bless America and Catholic hymns like Immaculate
Mary. This was in stark contrast to the cackles and screams coming from the
liberal activists.
The second clash came all too soon. This time
the pro-abortionists repeated the same play that has deterred so many morning
commuters nationwide who found their local highways and beltways suddenly
blockaded with arm-locked protesters. In the minds, the liberals may have been
puzzled why we were still marching. Why didn’t the blockade tactic work? It work
the first time around. After all, liberals have been using this tactic with
much success since 2014 when it came to the forefront of liberal awareness
perhaps made popularized by the Ferguson riots.
So, there they were, arm-locked and three deep.
And, there we were, marching to the tunes played by the band. As we approached,
we were uncertain of the outcome. Not only were they blocking the sidewalks,
they were blocking the road! It seemed like they had done it. They stopped our
advance. They have prevented the practice of our freedom. They have silenced
our voices.
However, before the impending clash, the Capital
police made an heroic effort to open a narrow lane for us. That was all we
needed. We slipped through their barricade harrowed on all sides but barely
skipping a step. This was the gesture that gave us confidence that Our Lady had
sent guardian angels to protect us.
This clash was more than a clash of causes. It
was a clash of convictions, methods, spirits, and faiths. It was a clash of
law-abiding citizens and law-breaking brigands. One pro-abortion woman tried
blocking TFP Student Action director, Mr. John Ritchie. As Mr. Ritchie marched,
this woman jumped in front of him. Apparently she expected to either stop Mr.
Ritchie or to provoke him to anger. He simply walked around her. She kept
jumping in front of him attempting to slow him down or stop him. We quickly
wisened up to her tactic and engaged her in a discussion. We asked her why she
was preventing us from exercising free speech. She claimed she was doing no
such thing. We pointed out that she was doing exactly that by blocking Mr.
Ritchie. Her convictions were visibly shaken so we pushed the point home. She
eventually walked away.
Another woman decided to walk in front of the
lead banner with her pro-abortion sign. By doing so, it would seem that she and
her friend were leading the march and made it look like a march of
pro-abortionists. We employed the previous line of argument on her. We accused
her of trying to censor our free speech by blocking us. Unwillingly, she let
her boyfriend pull her away from the lead banner.
The liberals tried blocking us in the next
intersection. A patrol car came to lead the march. The D.C. police hoped this
would make it easier to break to blockade. No such luck. They locked arms and
refused to move. Again, the police’s heroic effort made an opening for us and through
the blockade we went. It became evident that the liberals were becoming more
violent against us, ripping our signs and our banners. One man attacked Mr.
John Ritchie and ripped part of his clothing off him. Many were in a shoving
match with the police. The police had to struggle harder to make the opening
for us.
The tension was very high. The chance of
violence was reaching a boiling point. The band director, Mr. Gregory Escaro,
shouted a prayer to saints and the band responded with spirited voices. Far
from being cowered, the pro-life marchers prayed with a militant conviction.
“St. Michael,” Mr. Escaro shouted. “Pray for us,” our marchers responded. “Our
Lady of Victory! Pray for us.” “Advance? Always! Retreat? Never.” Our prayers
filled the streets of Washington with militantly pious invocations.
Not surprisingly it woke up the neighborhood and
drew them out to their front door or balcony. They watched this heated exchange
between the liberals and pro-lifers stunned, perhaps not entirely sure how this
is happening in their own neighborhood. Some residents heckled us but some
residents cheered our merry band of pro-lifers. Some even came up to us to
shake our hands.
It must be mentioned how brave the participants
of the 40 Days For Life are carrying the lead banner. They were the first into
the fray and the first into the breech. Of note are Fr. Stephen Imbarrato,
Larry Cirigniano, Pastor Patrick Mahoney, and others.
The most intense confrontation was when they
decided to sit down on the ground, arm-locked, covering from the sidewalk on
the right to the sidewalk on the left and four deep. This time it seemed
impenetrable. To pass through, either we would need to step over them, inviting
so much trouble, or, be dragged off as one mass by the police, forcing a
potential lawsuit. If they were intent to stop us at the onset, at this point
they were even more committed. To blockade us sitting down arm-locked was their
final weapon against us and they deployed it with the conviction of radicals.
These are not your typical liberals. These are seasoned radicals employing
tactics straight out of Saul Alynski’s Rules For Radicals. They had
deployed one of their most powerful weapons. This weapon is used time and again
by liberals to make themselves as the persecuted underdogs. It seemed like our
road finally had ended, stopped only a few blocks away from the abortion
facility. So far, the liberals denied us the right to have a peaceful and
prayerful march. Will they deny us a peaceful and prayerful rally in front of
the abortion mill?
Once again, Our Lady intervened. A few marchers
went ahead and were inspired to pepper the leaders of the blockade with
questions. In the meantime, Our Lady inspired the guardian angels she sent us to
find the weak link in the human chain. While the liberal leaders were
distracted, the police, with commendable effort, managed to open a very narrow
lane for us. Once again the police broke through the blockade and once again we
passed through. It would be imprecise to say we went through that unsavory
crowd of liberals unmolested. The pro-abortionists struggled with the police
chanting angrily; “What will we do? We fight back!” The police had to push back
the angry crowd who refused to be denied a fifth time. They wanted to stop us
and law-abiding or not, they intended to demonstrate the power of the liberal
movement. Yet, we passed through.
We marched on. They tried to stop us a 6th, 7th,
8th or more times but at each confrontation Our Lady, through the cops, found a
way to let us pass through. At each instance, the liberal’s commitment to stop
us only grew, yet, we still passed through.
It was perhaps the most important lesson we
learned on that day. When everything indicated that we reached the end of
the road, suddenly Our Lady intervened. What seemed to have been a dead end turned
out to be only a lie of the devil. Satan only pretends to be all-powerful.
Sometimes we let him trick us into believing him. However, if we confide in Our
Lady, she will always find a way through.
When we reached our much contested destination,
the Capitol police separated the pro-abortionists from us. We held our rally in
peace. We heard many testimonies. We said our prayers. About half way through,
the pro-abortionists gave up and abandoned their corner. About half way
through, they stopped chanting their slogans. In the end, it was just the
pro-lifers singing a hymn to Our Lady, asking her to intervene to defund
Planned Parenthood and to shut down the abortion clinic in Washington, D.C. and
all the abortion clinics nationwide and worldwide.
