Parishioners light candles, sing, and pray at memorial service for the aborted

The B.C. Catholic
MAPLE RIDGE



A memorial in Maple Ridge for aborted children had the gravity of a funeral.

About 120 people were in St. Patrick’s Church for Scripture readings, prayer, a testimony, music, and lighting of candles June 10.

“All those who have died: today we come and we seek to remember them,” said pastor Father Matthew To. “We say they are not forgotten. They are truly special and beloved in our eyes.”

In his address, Father To said the number of children killed in the womb each year is tragic and “truly beyond reason.” He also spoke about God’s mercy for those who seek healing and forgiveness.

“Today, we hear in the Gospel of Jesus and the encounter with the woman, the prostitute, and we come to realize how truly our God looks at us,” he said.

“We can beat ourselves up for our sins, and they are many, but let us look and understand how God looks at us, how He sees us. If He is willing to give His very Son for us, it means He is truly madly in love with us and wants to give mercy to us and to our world.”

Elizabeth Sutcliffe, a peer counsellor at Hope for Women crisis pregnancy centre, shared her story of shame, regret, and healing after an abortion 15 years ago.

She and her fianc‚ had moved in together to save money for their wedding and were five months away from the big day when she realized she was pregnant.

“I felt like all my dreams and hopes were crashing down. I couldn’t be pregnant in my wedding dress. What would my parents think? How was I going to tell them?”

Sutcliffe said fear drove her to go to a clinic. About six or seven weeks pregnant, she received one pill to take immediately, and another to take at home.

Her child died and her body expelled it the next day. “I was alone in a corporate bathroom in downtown Vancouver when my baby was aborted. That medical abortion is one of the most traumatic, because typically women are alone when it happens, as I was.”

Sutcliffe left the stall, dried her tears, and returned to work.

“I don’t know how I got home that day, and in fact, because of post-traumatic stress, I don’t even remember that week. What I do remember is I felt regret right away.”

Sutcliffe felt hopeless and bound for hell. She didn’t talk about the abortion with her husband or friends and refused to pray. Eight years passed before she gained the courage to tell someone.

The woman she told “was one single bright light in the darkness that reminded me that we have a Father Who keeps His promises, and His mercy is great.”

She now works at a crisis pregnancy centre in Abbotsford and speaks for the Silent No More Awareness Campaign.

“Abortion isn’t just a women’s issue. You can tell by the number of people here, even if you haven’t been directly involved in abortion, it has touched you.”

Event organizer Stephanie Gray, founder of Love Unleashes Life, a pro-life ministry, said the memorial was the first of its kind in the area and will not be the last.



“I heard a couple of stories of people who had connections with abortion in some way, and it was healing for them.”

Participants included a person who had financially helped a woman get an abortion, and someone who had been unsuccessful in convincing a family member to carry a child to term.

“It was heartbreaking for them to experience that, and this (event) provided closure.”

Three counsellors and two priests were on hand for participants who needed someone to talk to or to confess to.

Gray is planning another memorial in the fall, and hopes other churches will also pick up the initiative.