Satan lurks everywhere, warns Phoenix Bishop Thomas Olmsted, but people must pay particular attention to abortion clinics because the devil is "especially active" there.
"We can be certain that when we're near a place where abortions take place, the Evil One is especially active there," Olmsted said, according to Life Site News.
"But we are not alone when we pray. We give thanks to God for that and that's why we pray there together. That's why we call upon Our Lady of Guadalupe to be with us and keep us under her mantle," he added.
Olmsted shared this message last Feb. 4 at Phoenix's St. Mary's Basilica to commemorate the spring 2016 40 Days for Life vigil.
The Catholic bishop believes that it is the duty of "those engaged in witnessing to the Gospel of Life" to seek and "defend the most vulnerable among us." The good news, he said, is that Jesus always sends a companion for his apostles.
"He sent the Apostles two by two," Olmsted said. "They were not to go alone."
Olmsted is a huge supporter of marriage and family. He even led a Good Friday prayer outside Planned Parenthood facilities last 2013, telling Catholic bishops, cardinals, and different leaders that American Christians must maintain their trust in the "tough truths" regarding marriage, family life, and religious liberty.
Mike Phelan, the director of the Phoenix diocese's Office of Marriage and Respect Life, said it is essential for Christians to gather in prayer during the 40 Days for Life vigil to put an end to abortion.
"Forty Days for Life is doing the most fundamental, foundational and probably important part of the pro-life movement, which is public prayer and witness," said Phelan. "There is a lot of spiritual battle that happens around these clinics."
