Oh, that sights like this were commonplace!

I saw this on Fr. Z, who had picked it up from Philip Gerard Johnson’s blog:

What a witness!  What a source of inspiration!  Would that scenes like this would be repeated constantly throughout the nation and world!  It reminds me of the tale I was told by a local priest concerning how the bishop mobilized the priests and laity of the diocese to picket and ultimately close down a porn shop in town!  What faithful Catholic would not be inspired to join these men in prayer outside an abortion mill, strip club, or other den of iniquity?  What impact would this sight have on our increasingly amoral, paganistic culture?  Men, visibly given over to the service of God, praying in public!  How many consciences might be stirred by such a vision? 

I know mine would be.  Such scenes are vital if we are to re-assert the Faith in a public sense, to stop the long retreat and to live our Faith out in the world, as we are called to do by many Church councils and Sacred Scripture.  We’ve got to get out there and be Catholics in a visible sense.  Having our clergy (or seminarians, in this case) leading the way would be inspirational to millions.  It could literally change the world.

An abortion mill in Rockford, IL – a particularly nasty, combative, satanic mill – was shut down after repeated visitations by local priests, frequently in cassocks (it does make a difference!), who prayed outside for many long hours in all kinds of weather, and then, critically, performed an exorcism on the place.  It shut down within a few months of the exorcism.  I know we have priests active in the local pro-life effort, but not quite to this extent.  Who knows what good could come from greater involvement!  Wouldn’t it be glorious to have all the mills in this Diocese shut down, and Planned Parenthood exorcised from our presence?