Every first Saturday of the month we meet in the centre of Oxford to pray in public for the end of abortion. We meet outside the Clarendon Building on Broadstreet at 12 pm.

The reason for the public recitation of the Rosary is because in recent years abortion has not only skyrocketed, but is carried out in the secrecy of people’s homes due to the pills-by-post scheme that emerged during the covid pandemic. By standing in public to pray, we witness to the truth that abortion is wrong, we confidently affirm the sanctity of life and we defend, by our presence, the rights of the unborn child. Our public witness also testifies to the power of prayer, particulalry that of the holy Rosary.

The public Rosary Witness is a response to the messages of Fatima, where the Mother of Jesus appeared to three shepherd children in 1917.

One of the visionaries, Sr Lucia, related that ‘the final battle between the Kingdom of Christ and Satan will be over Marriage and the family.’ What is abortion but a direct attack on these two things? Our Lady is called the Queen of the family as well as Queen of the holy Rosary and She repeatedly urged Her desire and our need to pray the Rosary daily for the conversion of sinners and for peace in the world. By praying the holy Rosary we can believe that abortion will no longer stain our land.

During the apparitions at Fatima, Our Lady said to the children,

“Say the Rosary every day, to bring peace to the world and an end to the war.” Given that we are told that this final ‘war’ will be over Marriage and the family, we can be confident that Our Lady ardently desires that our petition for the end of the abortion be granted. As the Mother of the Word Incarnate, God cannot resist the prayers of His holy Mother who is also ours, as well as our powerful patron and protectress.

“He wishes also for you to establish devotion in the world to my Immaculate Heart. … My child … you must not be sad. I will be with you always, and my Immaculate Heart will be your comfort and the way which will lead you to God.”

“Make sacrifices for sinners, and say often, especially while making a sacrifice: ‘O Jesus, this is for love of thee, for the conversion of sinners, and in reparation for offenses committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.’”

Our public witness is also a sacrifice to Our Lady in response to her desires that we,

“Pray; pray very much…Many souls go to hell because no one is willing to help them with sacrifice.”

While Our Pro Life Rosary Witness is just once a month Our Lady made clear that She desires Christians to pray the holy Rosary daily, attaching 15 promises to those who so so faithfully:

1. “Whoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall receive powerful graces.”
2. “I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary.”
3. “The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies.”
4. “It will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of people from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire of eternal things. Oh, that souls would sanctify themselves by this means.”
5. “The soul which recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall not perish.”
6. “Whoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying himself to the consideration of its Sacred Mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune. God will not chastise him in His justice, he shall not perish by an unprovided death; if he be just, he shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of eternal life.”
7. “Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the Sacraments of the Church.”
8. “Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and the plenitude of His graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the merits of the Saints in Paradise.”
9. “I shall deliver from purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary.”
10. “The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of glory in Heaven.”
11. “You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the Rosary.”
12. “All those who propagate the Holy Rosary shall be aided by me in their necessities.”
13. “I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the Rosary shall have for intercessors the entire celestial court during their life and at the hour of death.”
14. “All who recite the Rosary are my children, and brothers and sisters of my only Son, Jesus Christ.”
15. “Devotion of my Rosary is a great sign of predestination.”

The holy Rosary is a simple but powerful prayer. It is also not just for Catholics, but for all Christians who wish to grow closer to God. Using the words of Scared Scripture we repeat the words of greeting to the Mother of Jesus said by the angel Gabriel and meditate on the different mysteries of the life of Christ.

Please join us in witnessing to life in this culture of death!