Today marks one month that Mary Wagner is being held in jail ~ " We are not bound by unjust laws, but we are commanded as Christians, to love where there is no love...."

Photo: Courtesy of Jacek Kotula 

Today, is one month to the day that Mary Wagner was arrested for witnessing for life at an abortion mill in the west-end of Toronto. And by "witness" I mean it in its profoundest, deepest sense: a martyr for the truth, that babies are being killed in there. Our word, martyr, etymologically derives from the Greek "martus", which means "witness". Canada is blessed to have two such pure witnesses for Life: Mary Wagner and Linda Gibbons. 

May God bless and reward them for their fidelity to Him and to Life. May Our Lady protect them. Let us pray for them and the unborn. 

The following is from a letter written to Mr. Jacek Kotula and his family in Rzeszow, Poland. Jacek invited Mary to Poland, and was the key organizer.

January, 7, 2015

Dear Jacek, Barbara and children, 

Greetings in the Light of the Epiphany and the Baptism of Our Lord! I hope this finds you well.  

Thank you so much for the letter and the photos. Thank-you for all that you are doing to promote the Gospel of Life in Poland and in Canada. Please thank your fellow Poles for their concern, for their prayers and petitions on behalf of Canadian babies in the womb. It is precious. Thank-you for your support of me, and for all the prayer and Mass Offerings.

I heard from my mom that a demonstration is being organized in Warsaw January 8th (that is, tomorrow). Thank-you for imploring the Canadian Government to stop the slaughter of unborn children. They arrest me because abortion is not against the law. In these private "clinics" these killings are just a "business", and my presence and outreach, interference. I am arrested because our government/courts have first decriminalized the killing of babies in the womb. I believe that they will continue to arrest me until abortion is no longer accepted by our justice system. If the courts refuse to give the babies justice, may God give us the strength not to refuse to give them our love and protection.  

When I returned to Canada, I called Bishop Matthew Ustrzycki and told him about the spiritual needs of the women in the jails. He referred me to a woman, Jakki Jeffs, who is a great pro-life worker here in Ontario. She has been very receptive to what I shared with her, in particular about the many women who have aborted and need reconciliation with God and healing. 

I do not have any news about the woman here who is in her seventh month of pregnancy and who told me she planned to abort/kill the baby girl. Please continue to pray. I sent a letter to the superintendent and to health care, begging them not to let this happen. It is hard for women to get proper medical and dental care here, but so easy to have their babies killed. Vanier guards drive them to the hospitals/"clinics". 

Do you have any news about your court cases? I go to court January 16th. I will not challenge these charges because they are the same as the ones we are now appealing, and it would cost too much to mount another constitutional challenge. I will not plead guilty, so it will still go to trial, and I expect trial in March. I am seriously discerning remaining silent: I said all I could say in the case now under appeal, and silence would remind us of the silence of the babies in the womb. They have no voice, and because they have no voice, they are completely vulnerable to the decisions of others. Please pray for these proceedings. 

Thank-you for telling me about the Polish custom of celebrating Epiphany (Three Kings). It is beautiful. Unfortunately, in Canada it is not a Feast that is so widely celebrated.  

Perhaps my friend Fr. Paul Hrynczyszyn has emailed you? I hope we can settle the matter of the relic very soon. I asked Fr. Paul to contact you if he did not hear back from Antoni Zieba by the new year. Fr. Paul visited me on the Feast of St. John, and I think he will soon come with the Blessed Sacrament. 

As well as praying for our government, you know that our Church here needs much fervent prayer also.  A special intention is for our "Catholic" hospitals. They do things contrary to our faith and to life. We are still documenting things. We do not hear a strong voice from our bishops. 

Many letter and cards are coming from Poland. I do not have my address book here, so if you would please do me a favour, would you please send Fr. Piotr Baltarowicz my warmest greetings? I did not hear from him for a few weeks, and I hope he is well. 

Please give hugs to all the family... Mom and Dad are OK. I can call them collect and we speak a few times each week. I call Linda [Gibbons] every other day - we are closer, so it is not expensive... 

God bless you and keep you. In Christ, 

Mary