Metro Detroit — With September already here, a flurry of fall pro-life events throughout the Archdiocese of Detroit are just around the corner. And since October is traditionally Respect Life Month, pro-life groups are preparing with a plethora of activities to educate, support and witness to the culture of life.

 

Life Chains

On Oct. 6, Respect Life Sunday, nearly 50 Life Chains will be held throughout the archdiocese among 107 locations throughout Michigan. Dedicated to peaceful, prayerful witness, Life Chain participants will hold pro-life signs reading “Abortion Kills Children,” “Life: The First Inalienable Right” and “Pray to End Abortion,” along major roads. For a list of local Life Chains, visit www.lifechain.net.

Life Chains will be held in the Downriver and Dearborn areas along Fort Street from 2-3:30 p.m. Included in this Life Chain branch are Gibraltar Road between Fort Street and Allen Road in Brownstown Township; Huron River Drive at Sibley Road in New Boston; and West Road across from Trenton High School in Trenton.

An open house following this Life Chain will be from 3:30-5 p.m. at the Right to Life education office at 2010 Eureka Road, Wyandotte. For more information, call (734) 282-6100.

Another Life Chain will be in downtown Lapeer at the intersection of M-24 (Main Street) and M-21, from 2-3:30 p.m. For more information, call Denise Gabryel at (810) 834-2200 or email [email protected].

Additional Life Chain sites will be at the Womancare of Southfield abortion clinic in Lathrup Village, and the Womancare of Macomb in Sterling Heights. Both will be from 2-3:30 p.m.

 

40 Days for Life

The semi-annual 40 Days for Life prayer vigil will kick off Sept. 22 with Mass at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament at 11 a.m. The Mass will be celebrated by Msgr. Michael LeFevre, and will be followed by a guest speaker and a light lunch courtesy of the Knights of Columbus.

On Sept. 24, Fr. Joseph Gembala will offer another 40 Days for Life kickoff Mass at St. Malachy Parish, Sterling Heights, at 7 p.m.

The following day, Sept. 25, will be the first day of continuous prayer and vigil at the Womancare of Southfield abortion clinic, to be concluded Nov. 3.

 

Other pro-life events

• Helpers of God’s Precious Infants of Michigan, a pro-life witness, support and education group, will hold a formal prayer vigil at Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Grotto) Parish in Detroit on Sept. 21. Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron will celebrate Mass at 7:30 a.m., followed by a procession and vigil at Eastland Women’s Clinic on East 8 Mile Road.

• Right to Life of Michigan’s annual conference, this year celebrating its 40th anniversary, will be Sept. 27 at the Radisson Hotel Lansing on Grand Avenue. The conference will feature two general sessions and five workshops. Visit www.rtl.org to register or for more information.

• On Oct. 12, Fr. Joseph Ling will lead a pro-life rosary rally beginning at noon at National Shrine of the Little Flower Parish in Royal Oak.

• The annual Infant Mortality and Pregnancy Loss Mass will be at 11 a.m. Oct. 27 at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Detroit.

• Finally — while not for a few months — the fourth annual Life is a Gift Conference, sponsored by the archdiocese’s Department of Evangelization, Catechesis, and Schools, will be held at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit on Jan. 25, 2014. The conference will feature keynote speaker George Weigel, and the pre-conference Mass and opening talk will be held by Auxiliary Bishop Arturo Cepeda. The conference will also include a parallel all-day Just for Teens tract. For more information or to register, visit aod.org/lifeisagift.