One finds St. Michael in the most
unlikely places
… such as on the wall of an abortion clinic.
I was alerted to this fact by a prayer leaflet from the
GoodCounselNetwork, left in the church I attend. The full story, plus a
photograph of the plaque showing St. Michael, below the Marie Stopes signboard,
can be read here:
Briefly, it appears that the building, in Mattock Lane,
Ealing, was originally a house with a private chapel. Both chapel and house
were bought in the 1930s by Dorothy Kerin, a devout Anglo-Catholic who had
herself experienced healing, judged miraculous, from complications of
tuberculosis. Having previously rented a
house in Ealing called St. Raphael's as a House of Spiritual Healing, Dorothy
Kerin needed a bigger venue as St. Raphael's was proving inadequate for the
number of people coming to it. She
bought both the chapel (St. Michael's) and the house, and they were used for
healing until 1948, when she and her ministry moved to Kent. The buildings came into the possession of
Middlesex County Council, and it seems that St. Michael's was run as a
maternity home (though this is not entirely clear from the story on the
website), until in 1993 it was bought by Marie Stopes International since when
it has been run as an abortion clinic.
From maternity home to abortion clinic, how ironic is that?
The leaflet asks that we pray for the closure of the clinic, saying one Our
Father, three Hail Marys, and the prayer to St. Michael, daily if possible. St.
Michael is still powerful, and he is still there. Indeed, his plaque seems to
be incorporated into the wall, whereas the Marie Stopes board is an add-on and
could easily be removed if and when the clinic ceases to function.
By Prayer Crusader St Teresa of Avila
By Prayer Crusader St Teresa of Avila
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