DETROIT — As the month of October approaches, the pro-life message will be sounded loud and clear in the Archdiocese of Detroit with a number of events to coincide with Respect Life Month, including a student art, writing, music and video contest.

The third annual Life is a Gift student contest sponsored by the archdiocese and the Michigan Knights of Columbus invites students in grades 4-12 to submit entries conveying why life is a gift from God and why courage is needed in our times to defend it. The deadline for entries will be Nov. 5, and winners will be honored at the annual Life is a Gift conference in January.

Auxiliary Bishop Francis Reiss will kick off the twice-yearly 40 Days for Life prayer vigil campaign with a Mass at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament at 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 23. A 40-day continuous prayer vigil will begin at midnight Sept. 26 outside the Womancare abortion facility in Southfield and will conclude Nov. 4.

Archbishop Allen Vigneron will also lead a Prayer Vigil for Life starting with Mass at 7:30 a.m. Sept. 22 at St. Joan of Arc Church, St. Clair Shores. After Mass, the archbishop will lead a six-block rosary pilgrimage on foot from St. Veronica Church, Eastpointe, to two nearby abortion clinics before returning to St. Joan of Arc for Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament.

On Oct. 14, Archbishop Vigneron will offer individual blessings with a relic of St. Gerard over couples seeking to have a child through pregnancy or adoption during an 11 a.m. Mass at the cathedral, 9844 Woodward, Detroit. He also will offer prayers for parents who have lost children, born or unborn. St. Gerard is the patron saint of expectant parents.

And the familiar Life Chain will be back in force at more than 100 locations across Michigan on Life Chain Sunday, Oct. 7, with participants seeking the attention of passing motorists and walkers with signs witnessing to the evils of abortion.

Finally, another round of Stand Up For Religious Freedom rallies will be held at noon Oct. 20 to protest the federal government’s contraceptive, sterilization and abortion-drug mandate for religious employers.