The following is a synopsis of a speech given by Msgr. Philip Reilly, executive director of Helpers of God's Precious Infants, in 1995 as part of Defend Life's lecture series at Loyola College.

Msgr. Reilly has been a pro-life priest since his ordination in the diocese of Brooklyn 35 years ago.

He has served as moderator for his cathedral's Bread for the World committee, and has raised funds for Catholic Relief Services and for Save the Children campaigns. He is an advocate of Natural Family Planning.

In 1989 he founded Helpers of God's Precious Infants, dedicated to stopping the killing of the unborn through the prayerful practices given to us by Christ, Mary and the Church, namely, prayer, adoration, the Rosary, fasting and, of course, love.

We Americans have grown up to be obedient, and there's nothing wrong with that, as long as what you're asked to do is good and right and holy.

But circumstances can change rapidly, so that what was once the right thing to do is no longer so.

Henry VIII, for example, was given the title, Defender of the Faith, by the pope. But conditions in England changed so radically, so fast in a few years, that to sign the oath of supremacy to this same king was no longer the right thing to do. St. Thomas More died for refusing to do it.

Today it is hard to understand that our culture is radically different from what it was a short time ago. It is hard to understand that you cannot simply go along with the tide--that you have become part of the counter-culture and that, like Thomas More, you will be persecuted for standing up for the truth.

The Holy Father says, in the encyclical, Evangelium Vitae, that there is a clear, grave moral obligation to oppose the abortion/death culture. You cannot compromise your position, even if it is at great cost to you; you have to make a choice to be clearly, totally pro-life.

At this point, it's absolutely clear to all that with abortion, we are killing human beings.

When there is no outrage that we have killed 32 million babies since Roe v. Wade, no outrage when the method of partial birth abortion is described and discussed, this tells you that we are not only into the culture of death, we are buying it.

What was the effect on young people when Norma McCorvey, the Roe of Roe v. Wade, came over to the pro-life side? Nothing. Young people don't know who she is, and they don't care. They've grown up with a culture of death. It's a way of solving their problems.

Who will change it? How will we bring about a culture of life?

I've tried all the different methods--withholding my taxes, rescuing, protesting; I went to the first March on Washington, in 1974. There were 5,000 protesters then. Over the years, the number grew to

But there has been a great sense of frustration in the pro-life ranks. With the March on Washington, for example, the media always lied about the number of protesters. When we went to lobby the representatives, the ones you needed to see wouldn't be in their office that day.

We tried everything. We got to a point where we said, let's try God.

The Holy Father said, you're not dealing with flesh and blood, you're dealing with principalities and powers, and to think you're going to be able to overcome this simply by human techniques is foolish. Prayer and fasting alone will be the ultimate instruments of winning this battle.

In the pro-life movement there is need for long-range programs such as education and lobbying to change legislation.

But you will lose credibility if nobody is present at the spot where lives are being taken, because this is war, and no prisoners are being taken. The victims do not have faces you can put on TV. They depend totally on others to stand up for them.

Some people in the pro-life movement must go to this new Calvary, where innocent blood is being shed.

The blood of Christ is not a sign of death. It is a source of ultimate victory for those in the pro-life movement. Without it and the intercession of the Mother of God, this victory can't be won.

Operation Rescue went to the abortion clinics, but their approach became confrontational.

But the war is over. You're not in the front lines; get that out of your head. We lost the war; you are behind enemy lines. When you're behind enemy lines, in occupied territory, you have to fight differently.

If you go there and say, 'Babies are being killed, we've got to get them out!' they're going to take you away. You are not going to the clinics to save the physical life of the baby; you're going there for the conversion of the abortionist, the mother, the people going in.

A lot of pro-lifers who go to clinics are like Peter, ready to take out a sword and lop off a few ears. Jesus said, put away the sword. He shows us we must be there with the long-suffering and patience of Christ.

When you are present at Calvary, you have to be there beside Mary and John at the foot of the cross. You don't say anything nasty to the people who work there, you don't call them names, you don't intimidate.

You be there in a prayerful, loving, compassionate presence, and you will be amazed at what happens to the personnel and people going in. The more peaceful and prayerful you are, the more God takes over.

What did God give me to start the Helpers of God's Precious Infants with? Three grandmothers, one grandfather and a working girl.

We began at the largest clinic in New York City, called Choices, where 20,000 babies are killed each year. We have grown to thousands of volunteers, including 30 bishops and three cardinals.

In New York, Bishop Thomas Daily started going out with us five years ago. He has gone out 66 months in a row. In the Brooklyn diocese alone there were 43 abortion clinics when he started. Fifteen have closed; we're down to 28.

The Helpers of God's Precious Infants are incorporated as a nonprofit, nonmembership organization. Everyone that comes and takes part is a volunteer.

Because we are incorporated, we can take out a parade permit. The police then are responsible for our safety.

Each month we start with a Mass at a church near the clinic. After the Mass starts, there is no talking.

After the Mass we expose the Blessed Sacrament. Some people stay for adoration.

We have people at home who are offering up their sufferings. We have a spiritual support prayer that shut-ins, contemplatives and children use.

Because we have a parade permit, the police escort us. They meet us at the doors of the church and take us to the clinic. The clinic doesn't call the police on us; we bring the police with us.

We pray all the way there. At the clinic we say the 15 decades of the Rosary. A hymn is sung in between every decade. The only ones who speak to the women are trained sidewalk counselors.

After the prayer vigil, the police escort us back to the church, through the streets praying. At the church we have Benediction. It takes about three hours from beginning to end.

We have people all over the country making us Rosaries. Outside the abortion clinics we have distributed over 10,000 Rosaries to women contemplating abortion. When nothing else works, we ask them if we can give them a Rosary, and 'Mom' says yes.

When you go and you do this in the Lord, you are never there unsuccessfully. Your presence and your prayers may touch that mother's heart, maybe not today, maybe not five years from now--maybe 20 years from now.

Nothing done in the Lord is ever done in vain, united in the blood of Christ and done for the reason of conversion.

You are called at this moment in history to be the salt of the earth, to be light. For one reason or another, you know know more than others.

Maybe centuries from now, people will look back at you and say, my God, you were marvelous people!

When the world was going into darkness--and it is--you kept the light burning.

Go and do it. Thousands of people are doing it--because it's God's work.

In hopes of starting a Helpers of God's Precious Infants chapter in Baltimore, Joan Ferris and Sheila Wharam, members of the Archdiocese of Baltimore's Respect Life Committee, traveled to Philadelphia a few years ago and observed the operations of that city's two successful chapters.

William Cardinal Keeler, however, felt that in Baltimore not enough people would turn out on a monthly basis. He suggested instead that the vigils be held four times a year.

The Baltimore group has therefore held quarterly 'Rosary pilgrimages' (Joan says they don't use the name Helpers of God's Precious Infants because they don't go monthly). The pilgrimages are usually on Good Friday and in May, September and November. On average, about 40 to 60 people take part.

They begin with a Mass at 8 a.m. at St. Alphonsus Church, then walk to the Planned Parenthood headquarters on North Howard Street, where they say the 15 decades of the Rosary. They then return to the church in silence for Benediction.