The annual 40 Days for Life vigil of peaceful prayer and fasting for the protection of the unborn returns to Toronto in coming days.

The Toronto vigil begins Sept. 25 and lasts through Nov. 3, bearing physical witness to those considering abortion as volunteers gather publicly in the parking lot of St. Charles Borromeo Church at the corner of Dufferin Street and Lawrence Avenue West.  

Together for 40 consecutive days, pro-lifers will gather in prayer and unity from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. as a collective beacon of hope and belief for those seeking an abortion. 

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“We currently have around 50 people who are fully dedicated to this cause and that only accounts for people who have signed up,” said Maria Fernanda Abondano, the current leader of 40 Days for Life Toronto. “We also have walk-ins, people who aren’t registered who see us and come to join us in prayer.” 

In Canada, volunteers for 40 Days for Life are required to gather on the edge of a 50-150 metre “bubble zone” as pro-life expression is forbidden directly in front of abortion facilities. In Toronto, volunteers will be situated approximately five minutes from Women's Care Clinic Toronto, which is located just west of St. Charles Borromeo. 

The pro-life vigils have attracted controversy where they take place, and have drawn fire from pro-choice organizations and individuals who have claimed the campaign condones the harassment of nearby clinic patients and bystanders. In past years, vigil attendees have even been assaulted. 

Abondano was adamant that her experiences, as a volunteer and a leader, have been entirely peaceful as the initiative calls for.   

“We always do (the vigil) in a peaceful way. We simply pray, often in silence, and we hold signs that have phrases like ‘We can help you. You don’t have to do this today,’ ” she said. “We are connected with many pregnancy centres and the Sisters of Life in case the women need help, we are there to provide that for them. We try to make abortion visible while being merciful to everyone.”

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Abondano said the importance of the campaign's duration relates directly to Scripture where Jesus fasts for 40 days in the desert. 

The 40 Days for Life initiative goes back to the construction of a Planned Parenthood center in Bryan/College Station, Texas, in 1998. After four members of the local Brazos Valley Coalition for Life underwent an hour of prayer together in search of solutions, the idea of a 40-day campaign consisting of prayer, community outreach, fasting and an ongoing vigil was agreed upon. 

The plan birthed what is now known as 40 Days for Life, with campaigns having spread across the United States in ensuing years. In 2007, Campaign Life Coalition brought the campaign into Canada for the first time, hosting the country’s first 40-day vigils in Toronto, Ottawa and Halifax. In the following 17 years, Campaign Life volunteers and similar pro-life groups have organized 40 Days For Life campaigns in more than 20 cities across Canada. 

The organized initiative has since gone global, with over 1,000 cities in 64 nations having participated in the campaign since 2007. According to 40 Days for Life, that equates to roughly 1,000,000 individual volunteers across 20,000 churches and 12,358 similar local campaigns across the mission's international outreach. 

The vigil has borne much fruit as nearly 25,000 lives have been saved worldwide since 2007 along with 155 abortion centres having closed and 263 abortion clinic workers abandoning their positions.  

Abodano is hopeful that those planning on attending this year’s journey in Toronto develop a similar mindset to hers — to pray for one is to pray for all. 

“This is the time that we can be there for an hour and save a life because you never know what happens with the car that is passing by and seeing you. It can be hard to persevere without seeing the results, but feel it in your heart,” she said. “I remember the words of Fr. Tom Lynch, the president of Priests For Life Canada, who said after doing pro-life work for more than 40 years that he only knew of two babies that were saved because of all that work. However, to him, that was enough. We never know what we will accomplish but it is important to do it anyway." 

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40 Days for Life Toronto is also hosting two further events in support of the unborn: a memorial Mass on Sept. 21 at St. Joseph's Centre of Hope for Women and a gala dinner in Woodbridge, Ont., Oct. 23 featuring guest Abby Johnson, a prominent pro-life speaker.

To register for Toronto’s campaign see: https://www.40daysforlife.com/en/toronto