Students from Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula have a tradition of Thursday prayer during 40 Days for Life.
That tradition was inspired by the death, over 25 years ago now, of a TAC sophomore who fell from a ledge while hiking in the mountains above the college. Angela Baird offered her death for the unborn, and over the years, students have continued the tradition she began of praying on Thursdays at the Ventura Planned Parenthood, with sometimes miraculous results.
They do this despite the fact that as one student told me, “It’s a horrible day” in terms of extra classes and other things that make it difficult to drive half an hour to Planned Parenthood for prayer. But they come anyway, faithfully, for six weeks in the spring and the fall.
Thursday, April 3: a group of TAC freshmen — young men– were praying at the 5:00 pm hour. They were surprised to get mostly positive reactions from passersby. Often young guys in front of abortion clinics inspire comments as people drive by. Sometimes the comments are angry; sometimes they’re angry and nonsensical, like the one a woman had yelled the week before: “That’s why you’re – MEN!”
The hour wore on, and they realized that no one was coming to replace them. 6:00 pm. It was dinnertime. But the clinic was open late on Thursdays so they decided to stay a bit longer. Five minutes later a car pulled in, with two teenage girls. The blonde girl in the passenger seat looked like she was on the brink of tears. The students’ hearts sank; it was pretty clear she was going in for an abortion, they said later. All they could do was give her a smile and keep praying.
Then, just a couple minutes after pulling into the parking lot, to their surprise, the car pulled out again and drove away. In the split second before it turned onto the street, they could see that the girl in the passenger seat was shaking.
What had taken place? Can’t say for sure, but it certainly seems that these young men saved a life Thursday night.
Angela Baird, pray for us!
“How senseless is everything that can ever be written, done, or thought, when such things are possible.” – All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Maria Remarque
– By Monica Seeley
God bless these Thomas Aquinas College freshmen for praying and proclaiming the word of God at an abortion clinic during the 40 days for life. End Abortion Now! Adoption is the option.
Reply to Restrainer: Here is a wonderful article from Catholic World Report titled: On the life death continuing witness of Angela Baird.
https://catholicworldreport.com/2022/04/27/25 years-of-thursdays-on-the-life-death-and-witness-of-angela-baird. I hope this link works.
Post hoc, ergo propter hoc fallacy.
Why not just get some of Elon Musk’s robots to stand there and hold signs. They can walk, too. You can probly program them to say things to passersby. Then you could do other things while the robots do the work of informing people about abortion. The robot revolution will be great.
Are you married? If so, to a woman or a sex-toy who can do housework?
I suspect you’re a man, correction, I suspect you’re male. Am I right? Men and women matter. Relationships matter.
Whoa, what’s rong with robots doing some work for us? Chill.
God bless and protect these young men who are being real Christian knights — seeking to protect both women and their children.
What an amazing story about dedication and faith! These college students from TAC make time to pray even with their busy schedules, showing how committed they are. It gave me goosebumps when that car drove away from the clinic – sometimes just having someone supportive nearby can help people make important life decisions. These young people continue Angela Baird’s tradition every Thursday. It’s truly inspiring to see how prayer and peaceful presence can make such a difference in people’s lives.