Our October vigil was at St. Patrick’s Cathedral with Fr. Rossi on October 12th. It is so great to see consistent participation among our regulars, and this month we saw some new faces as well.  The sidewalk is getting a bit noisier than usual–especially with new pro-abortion supporters regularly on the sidewalk.  Luckily we now have walkie-talkies so that our Helpers group can spread out on the sidewalk AND hear each other pray.  Our presence as the Charlotte Helpers is formally tied to the Eucharist and Holy Mass, so it’s incredibly important for us to be this kind of witness each month.  God Bless!

Our September 28th vigil at St. Ann’s with Fr. Reid. After Mass we went to pray at Latrobe to correspond with the 40 Days for Life campaign. Afterwards Fr. Reid prayed his “special prayers” (exorcism prayers) before we headed back to St. Ann’s for Benediction.  This was our first vigil using the walkie-talkies!  That way we can hear each other pray while being spread out in a large group.

Msgr. Phillip Reilly has been a priest for 53 years. He holds a degree in Philosophy and History from Immaculate Conception College in New York; a degree in Theology from Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.; a Masters of Arts in the Classical Languages from Fordham University’s Graduate School of Arts in New York City.

Msgr. Reilly served as a parish priest for five years and was a professor and rector of the high school seminary for 26 years. For the last 21 years he has been chaplain to the Sisters Adorers of the Precious Blood, who live as contemplative nuns at the Monastery of the Precious Blood in Brooklyn, New York.

For the last 45 years Monsignor has been actively involved in every aspect of the pro-life movement in the United States. Since October 1989 he has been the Founder and Director of the Helpers of God’s Precious Infants. In this capacity he has traveled worldwide, sharing with others the methods and spirituality of the Helpers and establishing local chapters. Locally, he has also been present outside abortion clinics in Brooklyn and Queens six days a week for over 43 years (when not traveling), reaching out to vulnerable women seeking to end their pregnancies by abortion. He has had a hand in closing 25 abortion clinics in Brooklyn and Queens, NY.

His pro-life work in New York began before the Roe v. Wade decision of 1973.  Monsignor has received many local, diocesan, national and international awards recognizing his work on behalf of human life.  He received the Pro Vita Award of the Diocese of Brooklyn from Bishop Daily in 1991, the Terence Cardinal Cooke Right to Life Award from Cardinal McCarrick in 2003, the Cardinal Von Galen award in Rome from Cardinal Raymond Burke in 2008, as well as many other awards in the United Kingdom, Hungary, and Romania. Most recently he was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science degree from the State University School of Medicine in Tyrnava, Slovakia.