At St. Ambrose: 3,000 flags for the unborn

By Linda Reeves - The Florida Catholic Palm Beach

DEERFIELD BEACH | Carol Foster was 19 and in love. Thinking her childhood sweetheart was the love of her life, she made a bad decision, which led to more bad choices and not only physical but emotional suffering.

“I held it a secret for a very long time,” said Foster, clearly recalling her traumatic experience when she was a scared, confused and misguided teen who had an abortion that led to medical complications and much more.

“I think about it every day of my life,” she said. “I have to live with my choices. I think this is why I am doing what I do today. I am giving back.”

After the abortion, Foster, raised in a Catholic family, fell away from the Church. But she came back in 1991. Eventually, she married her true love, John, and they have two grown children, a boy and a girl.  

A parishioner at St. Ambrose in Deerfield Beach, Foster chairs the parish’s BLESS Ministry for Life, which she started a couple of years ago after returning from a 10-day pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

In October, BLESS Ministry for Life’s visual shout-out for the unborn undoubtedly captured the attention of thousands of people passing by St. Ambrose Church on busy Federal Highway. Members of the ministry, along with volunteers, erected small blue and pink flags on the grounds in front of the church, and the colorful lawn looked spectacular.

Father Edgardo De Los Santos, parochial vicar at St. Ambrose, led a blessing ceremony and sprinkled holy water on every single flag. The event was posted on Facebook.

“These flags signify 3,000 babies who die every day in the United States because of abortion,” he said. Then he prayed for the families suffering the aftermath of abortion and for the people working in the prolife movement, sending blessings to them for their work.

The flags remained erected through the entire month. On Oct. 29, 2023, the parish held a midday prayer service and released 20 doves “in memory of aborted children,” said Foster, who also gives prolife talks at gatherings, events and on Catholic radio.

BLESS Ministry is an acronym for Believe, Educate, Legislate, Support and Supply. It started with seven members and continues to grow with a strong core of about 25 members in the winter months.

“I try to go to the abortion clinic on Tuesdays and Fridays to pray for the unborn,” said Steve Foley, a ministry participant.

On Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays, BLESS ministry members meet for prayer in front of the East Cypress Women’s Center, located at 962 E. Cypress Creek Road in Fort Lauderdale, which offers abortion services.

Foley says giving up time to pray at the abortion clinic is well worth the experience. “You never know how many will see you praying and have a change of heart,” he said. “When you do see one change their mind, it is a moving experience.”

BLESS ministry meetings include group prayer every weekday at 10:35 a.m. at St. Ambrose Church. Members also meet for programs at 1 p.m. on the second Thursday of each month. 

Frank Laverty, 88, a secular Franciscan and parishioner of St. Ambrose, said he gathers with members to pray near the abortion clinic every chance he gets. “A baby was created by God,” he said. “People can’t take a life that was created by God. We need to pray.”

Foster has a good story about how the seeds of BLESS Ministry were planted during her trip to the Holy Land with her girlfriend.

Before the two women left American soil, they were warned that many people experience an “aha! moment” when stepping on the holy grounds in Israel where Jesus walked.

“One day during the trip, I was walking to one of the sites. I heard a man’s voice say, ‘Carol, Carol, Carol.’ I looked and no one was around,” Foster recalled.

She heard a voice a second time calling her name, but it was at the end of the trip, when she heard the voice again, that she understood loud and clear that God wanted her to take a leap of faith.

“I heard a man saying, ‘When you get back home, form a prayer circle around the church for unborn babies.’ Nothing has ever happened like this to me. I think it was the Lord trying to touch my heart,” Foster said.

After arriving home, she met with her pastor, Salvatorian Father Dariusz Zarebski, and told him about her experiences. “He told me that he would support anything I wanted to do.”

Foster says that BLESS Ministry continues to bring her blessings.

“I told my children about my abortion last year,” said Foster. “I had always kept it a secret.”

“I named my (unborn) baby Katherine Grace Foster. I gave her that name because by the grace of God, I know I have been forgiven and God blessed me with two children. I didn’t think I would be able to have kids after the abortion.”  

FIND OUT MORE

St. Ambrose BLESS Ministry for Life can be reached

• via its website, www.blessforlife.org;
• via email: [email protected];
• or by calling the parish at 954-427-2225.
• St. Ambrose Parish is located at 380 S. Federal Highway, Deerfield Beach.