500 Crosses for Life Prayer Procession, 12th November 2011

500 Crosses for Life - Prayer Procession
12 November 2011, starts 1:30 pm at Westminster Cathedral, Victoria Street, SW1P 1EP

European Pro Life Prayer Procession in remembrance of unborn babies killed by abortion beginning outside Westminster Cathedral at 1.30pm and finishing at Westminster Abbey at approximately 4.30pm. From Victoria Street the procession turns down Great Smith Street, then Horseferry Road, across Lambeth Bridge and along Lambeth Road to cross Westminster Bridge and thence to the Abbey.

Join this great witness of people in peaceful Intercessory Prayer for the unborn and for the end to abortion in this Country and throughout the world.

More Information:
http://www.europrolifeuk.org

Notification email:
europrolifeuk@gmail.com

One Priest & his dog helping to end abortion

(URGENT UPDATE; There are rumors that pro-death/pro-abortion supporters will hold a counter demo on Wednesday 2nd November at 1pm, so please come then to support the vigil for life, if you can.)

While praying at Bedford Square abortuary (26-27 Bedford Sq, London, WC1B 3HP), as part of 40 Days for Life, I was very pleased to see Fr Sherbrooke, the local Parish Priest join us, while out walking his dog! By the time my phone was ready to take this photo, he was half way across the road to say hello. Father is always supportive of Pro-Life work in his Parish & in his old Parish which also had an abortuary around the corner!

Juventutem organise monthly Masses at St Patrick's in support of The Good Counsel Network, with the permission of Father. You still have time to come and pray at Bedford Sq abortuary, as 40 Days for Life continues until Sunday 6th November. Bishop Hopes will be there on Friday. After that you can join us there each Wednesday 11am until 1pm or Monday to Friday 9am-1.30pm at Whitfield St abortuary (108 Whitfield Street, London, W1T 5EA). For these and other vigils see here.

Mass for Good Counsel tonight

For awhile a group of youngsters have been coming to the Good Counsel Mass on the 2nd Friday of each month at Corpus Christi, Maiden Lane, at 6.30pm. After Mass they would go out for dinner. They have now started to have Mass at St Patrick's details below. As well as this the Mass at Corpus Christi will still continue. (Photo)

Juventutem London have moved to St Patrick's, Soho. The High Old Rite Mass at 6.30pm will be offered for the Good Counsel Network. (But the collection will be for Juventutem)

For more details about the Masses organised by Juventutem London click here. We're especially keen for people to realise that the Mass is not only for people between the ages of 18-35, but that the social afterwards is!

Stuart McCullough

English Bishop to help end abortion.

Roman Catholic Bishop Alan Hopes will join 40 days for Life London to lead us in prayer for an end to abortion. Bishop Hopes will arrive at the abortuary at 26-27 Bedford Square London, WC1B 3HP, for 7pm on Friday 4th November.

A few months ago Bishop Hopes joined the Helpers of God's Precious Infants in Twickenham to lead a pro-life vigil at another BPAS abortion facility (Report & Photos).

We feel very blessed to have Bishop Hopes with us. This will be the first time 40 Days for Life London has had a bishop join us in prayer at the vigil.

You are warmly invited to join us and bring a friend or anyboby else if you don't have any friends.

Stuart McCullough

Deerstalker tip to John Smeaton

De donde eres, Apostolic Nuncio?

While having a drink and a bite to eat at Archbishops House (Westminster, London) the other night a Bishop came over to introduce himself. "Pleased to meet you, I am Archbishop Antonio Mennini, The Apostolic Nuncio", he said. "De donde eres?" said I, thinking to myself, that's not right! "Italy" came the reply! Peter covered for me then by saying something nice about The Good Counsel Natwork and our Pro-Life work. To which the Italian Apostolic Nuncio, said keep up the good work.

We also had a chat with Vincent Archbishop Nichols, in English about Pro-Life issues. We also had a chance to catch up with Fr O'Leary.

So there you have it, 'Soy idiota'. (Note for those who don't get it, I spoke in Spanish!)

Stuart McCullough

See you on Thursday at 40 Days for Life Vigil

40 Days for Life is now back in London. People will be praying and counselling outside the BPAS abortuary at 26-27 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3HP, 8am until 8pm everyday, until 6th November. It is a fact that many lives have been saved in London since 40 Days for Life started here last year. (Photo, Bishop McMahon of Brentwood, leading the Rosary outside another abortuary, as he does each year)


This Thursday, 6th October, Good Counsel will be at the abortuary from 8am-8pm. Please come and join us as we will be quite pushed that day as we have a lot on in the office as well as having the daily vigil at the other Central London abortuary. Nearest Tube: Goodge St or Tottenham Court Road.

(Photo, Bishop Hopes of Westminster leading the Rosary at another abortuary earlier this year)

"But I live near Birmingham!" That's great, see here. "Manchester?" No problem, see here.

And for other vigils at abortuarys around the UK, see here.

Stuart McCullough

Urgent Prayers for Fr Mike Williams

"Poor Fr. Mike has fallen unconscious with a mysterious lump on his brain. We visited him last night - he has been in critical condition on a life support machine since Thursday. Basically we need a miracle - if he is to survive he has to open his eyes in the next couple of days and then he will still need brain surgery.

He is also the only priest (that I know of) in this Archdiocese who goes to lead the Rosary outside the BPAS. He has brought souls back to God through his work as a full time hospital chaplain and is regarded in the Archdiocese for his maturity and virtue.

We are asking people to pray for a miracle to Blessed Cardinal JH Newman and as Fr Mike has devotion to St. Philomena - Powerful with God, to ask for her help too! A priest last night also suggested Blessed Pope John Paul II."

We recieved this from friends in Liverpool and having met Fr Williams a couple of time would ask your prayers for this very good Priest.

Stuart McCullough

Juventutem Mass offered for Good Counsel

Juventutem London Solemn High Mass (Old Rite), Ember Friday in September
6.30pm Friday 23rd September, St Patrick's Church, Soho Square, London.
The Mass will be offered for The Good Counsel Network

Followed by a Social (for ages 18-35)

Sacred Ministers:
Celebrant: Fr Armand de Malleray, FSSP
Deacon: Fr David Irwin
Subdeacon: Fr Stewart Foster

MC: Mr Gordon Dimon

Confessions
Confessions will be heard through Mass from 6pm by Fr Leon Pereira, OP. Absolution will be given using the traditional Latin form.

Music
Polyphony and chant provided by Cantus Magnus:

Orlande de Lassus Missa secundi toni (K, S, A)
Orlande de Lassus Benedic anima mea
Antonio Lotti Salve Regina

Servers
Men who are serving should be at the sacristy by 6pm with their own cassocks and cottas.

Social
Please assemble outside the Church after making your post-Mass thanksgiving. Please note that though the Mass is open (and welcomes) those of any age, the social is strictly for those aged 18-35 (clergy and religious excepted).

For more information see here and here.

Stuart McCullough

Mass for Good Counsel tonight

There will be an Old Rite Mass organised by the Latin Mass Society, on Friday 9th September at 6.30pm at Corpus Christi Church, Maiden Lane, London. This Mass is offered for the work of the Good Counsel Network.

(Photo of Benediction in the Good Counsel Network's chapel)

Stuart McCullough

Urgent extra National Day of Prayer and Fasting for Life, Tuesday 6th (or Wednesday 7th) September

On Tuesday 6th September(moved to 7th after we sent this out as an email!) in the House of Commons there will be a debate regarding Health and Social Care Bill. A number of amendments regarding the counselling of pregnant women in relationship to abortion will be debated. With the details that we currently have it is not clear what would be the long term outcome of these amendments. Although there are some serious concerns that pro-lifers have raised. The Good Counsel Network has therefore called for an extra day of prayer and fasting for life with the intention that God’s Will, will be done and that the bill and any amendments to it, will do nothing to hinder the pro-life movement and that it will also not lead to an increase in the number of abortions.



Therefore on Tuesday 6th of September (or on Wednesday 7th)please:



Fast



Fast from all food except bread and water for the day



Or



Fast from a particular food or luxury, e.g. chocolate, alcohol, cigarettes, TV.



Fast from whatever you can, given your state of health etc, but make sure it is something that involves a sacrifice to yourself.



Prayer



We are asking people to say a Rosary (or an extra Rosary if you say it daily already).



You could also offer an extra effort such as going to Mass (or an extra Mass) on the day, or going to Adoration. You can even pray before a closed tabernacle if Adoration is not available near you.

(Photo of Benediction at Good Counsel on the eve of the Fast Day.)

Stuart McCullough

Pro Life Video & A Talk In London

Do watch this Michael Voris Catholic Pro Life video and then came and see him live in London.

"Living the Catholic Faith Radically!" by Michael Voris, Wednesday 24 August, at Regent Hall, 275 Oxford Street, London W1C 2DJ. Doors open 7pm. The closest tube station is Oxford Circus. Bond Street and Marble Arch are also within walking distance. All tickets are £5 and will be sold on a first come, first serve basis. You can purchase them via paypal at http://smeatonscorner.blogspot.com/2011/08/michael-voris-speaking-in-london-in.html

Do please try to attend and to spread the word.

Deerstalker tip to John Smeaton for the link to the video.

Stuart McCullough

Pilgrims on fire with the Faith!

Good Counsel T-Shirt spotted in Madrid! If you see him ask for a Good Counsel postcard and you could win a book by the Holy Father!

Signing in at the site, where the Pope will be tonight (6.30-9.30pm), and where he will offer Mass on Sunday morning at 7.45am. You can watch it all live on EWTN (sky 589), but you will need your own hose pipe!

Pilgrims on fire with the Faith at World Youth Day, get hosed down by local firemen!

Stuart McCullough

Three Pro-Life Pilgrims Lost In Madrid!

The news at the start of today from Gaelle, Eddie & Johanna, Good Counsel Pilgims in Madrid for World Youth Day, was clear "We're lost".



But don't worry they found a crowd and followed them! If you see them ask for a postcard to win the Pope's book.



"Arrival in Aluche to start walking to the aerodrome, after we stock up on food" (Real Hobbits!)

Stuart McCullough

World Youth Day, Book Prize

These three Musketeers are on their way to Madrid now for World Youth Day. On Saturday they will start handing out Pro-Life postcards from the Good Counsel Network to anyone from the UK. So, if you are in Madrid, find Gaelle, Eddie or Johanna, ask them for a postcard, fill it in, hand it back to them or post it in and you could win a copy of Light of the World by The Holy Father.



Please re-blog, retweet, Facebook, etc this.

700 Million People Could Watch Conor of Good Counsel Play Football Tonight!

Today at 7.30pm (English time) Wembley Football Club will play some other team in the first round of the FA Cup. You can watch the game live on Facebook, by searching for Budweiser UK.



My Nephew, Conor who works for Good Counsel, should be playing as number 4. When I asked him why his match was being shown, when the first round is never normally shown he said, "I think it is news worthy this year as we are favourites to win the FA Cup." So there you have it!

As 700 Million people use Facebook, and Cardiff City are not playing today, quite a few people may watch the game!

Stuart McCullough

Pro-Life Vigil, London Saturday 20th August

Are you pro-life? Would you like the opportunity to help stop abortions taking place in London? Could you give up a few hours this Saturday to help spread awareness in East London?



SPUC OUTREACH IN STRATFORD



Newham Borough in East London has the highest abortion rate in the U.K. (39.9 per 1000 women) and has the sixth highest number in Europe, with 2,341 abortions taking place every year. BPAS have recently opened a new abortion centre in the area, and so the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children will be doing a pro-life outreach there on Saturday 20th August. We aim to inform the local public about the positive pro-life services available, raise awareness about exactly what is happening in the area, and campaign against the new opening. Join SPUC this Saturday as help is needed to man the stall, distribute pro-life literature and engage with the public.



Meet outside Stratford Tube Station at 10.30am. We will finish no later than 2pm. Other details are on our facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=147099005375311&view=wall¬if_t=event_wall



Hope to see you there!



Any queries please contact: 02078203140



Daniel Blackman – danielblackman@spuc.org.uk



Very happy to let you all know about this, if you cannot be there please pray and see here for other vigils. Photo is of John Smeaton of SPUC praying at a Good Counsel Vigil.

Stuart McCullough

Saturday the 13th August is a National Day of Prayer and Fasting for Life

There is little doubt that when something which is as widespread and as evil as Abortion and has such a powerful grip on our society, good works alone will not rid us of this scourge. Therefore, there is a great need to increase our personal penance with prayer and fasting.

Saturday the 13th August is a National Day of Prayer and Fasting for Life (See our poster link). It is the vigil of the Assumtion and St Maximillian Kolbe, thus making this date doubly appropriate for such a day of prayer and fasting. We would ask you on that day to;



A great prayer for Life is urgently needed. - Pope John Paul II

And He said to them; This kind (of demon) can go out by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.

(Gospel of Mark 9:29)

On Saturday 13th August please pray and fast for the end of abortion and euthanasia.

Your prayer and fasting is urgently needed. Join us each month in Prayer and Fasting:

Fasting

Fast from all food except bread and water for the day

Or Fast from a particular food or luxury, e.g. chocolate, alcohol, cigarettes, TV.

Fast from whatever you can given your state of health etc, but make sure it is something that involves a sacrifice to yourself.

Prayer

We are asking people to say a Rosary (or an extra Rosary if you say it daily already). You could also offer an extra effort such as going to Mass (or an extra Mass) on the day, or going to Adoration. You can even pray before a closed tabernacle if Adoration is not available near you.



For information on the days of Prayer and Fasting contact The Good Counsel Network on 020 7723 1740.

Download a Poster about the Fast Day here

And the people of Ninevah believed in God; they proclaimed a fast and puton sackcloth, from the greatest to the least…God saw their efforts to renounce their evil ways. And God relented about the disaster which He had threatened to bring on them, and He did not bring it.

(Jonah 3:5,10)

Stuart McCullough

Mass for Good Counsel, on the Old Rite Feast of St Clare

There will be an Old Rite Mass organised by the Latin Mass Society, on Friday 12th August at 6.30pm at Corpus Christi Church, Maiden Lane, London. This Mass is offered for the work of the Good Counsel Network.

Stuart McCullough

Pro-Life Vigil in the rain, with the Bishop

Bishop McMahon of Brentwood, pictured just before the start of the Pro-Life vigil in Buckhurst Hill, Saturday 16th July. He was thanked, as this is his 7th year of attending this vigil!


It rained and it rained and it rained! Do contact the Helpers for information about other vigils and to get a recording of the Bishop's Homily.


And lastly, as this was the 7th anniversary of the funeral of Louisa, who was well known for Reduced to clear food here are the crisps I had.

Stuart McCullough

Pro-Life Bishop, Michael Evans RIP

On Wednesday 13th of July The Holy Sacrifice of The Mass was offered, in the Good Counsel Network's chapel, for the repose of the soul of Bishop Evans, who died on Monday. Here follows some information about the Bishop from John Smeaton's blog.

Michael Evans, the Catholic bishop of East Anglia, died earlier this week after a long period with cancer. I wish to put on record my gratitude for Bishop Evans' defence of the unborn when Amnesty International decided to campaign for the decriminalisation of abortion and access to abortion worldwide. Below are some extracts from the statement Bishop Evans issued announcing his decision to leave Amnesty International after 31 years of active membership. May he rest in peace.

"...[O]ur proper indignation regarding pervasive violence against women should not cloud our judgement about our duty to protect the most vulnerable and defenceless form of human life. The International Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1989, and became a binding treaty for those countries which ratified it. Its Preamble quotes from the 1959 Declaration on the Rights of the Child, that 'the child, by reason of his or her physical and mental immaturity, needs special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection, before as well as after birth'. This must surely be part of the body of international human rights law to which Amnesty International is committed.

The Catholic Church shares Amnesty's strong commitment to oppose violence against women (for example, rape, sexual assault and incest), but such appalling violence must not be answered by violence against the most vulnerable and defenceless form of human life in a woman's womb. Catholics would want to show practical compassion for such women, and ensure for them all the medical and spiritual care and support they need. But there is no human right to access to abortion, and Amnesty should not involve itself even in such extreme cases...

To support access to abortion even in dire situations compromises Amnesty's mandate to 'Protect the Human'. In time Amnesty may seek to develop this policy further, but even this current limited decision makes it very difficult for Catholics to remain members of Amnesty or to give it any financial support. Very regretfully, I will be ending my 31 year membership of Amnesty International, which included in the 1980s several years on the British Section Council and its Religious Bodies Liaison Panel...

[Amnesty's] regretable decision will almost certainly divide Amnesty's membership and thereby undermine its vital work. Among all human rights, the right to life is fundamental. Commitment to work to 'Protect the Human' can only be deeply compromised by any support for access to abortion..."

Stuart McCullough