Archpriest Peter Guryanov is the rector of the Church of the Queen of All Icon of the Mother of God in Dimitrovgrad, Ulyanovsk Province, Russia. He also serves as head of the Information and Publishing Department of the Melekess Diocese, Chairman of the Diocesan Commission on Family, Protection of Motherhood and Childhood, and member of the Dimitrovgrad city Cultural Council.
Photo: dzen.ru
I met the heroine of this story online. There are many pro-abortion groups on social media where girls consult with each other about where and with which doctor it’s better to have the “procedure.” I join these groups and I read the comments and respond to them—I ask them to write to me. If the comment isn’t anonymous, I write to the person myself and we have a dialogue. I never condemn these girls, even if I can’t manage to talk them out of having an 
Family Matters: Abortions“I am disappointed in human beings,” was the first thing I heard, when I answered the phone call from a priest I knew. This priest was a father of five, a quiet and collected person, who was no stranger to moderate and appropriate humor and absolutely averse to melodrama.
“>abortion. Either way, I keep in touch with them.
I ask what drove them to this decision. Sometimes, it’s right then that the girl needs to pour out her soul. After all, such decisions are often made rashly, when they have no support—especially not the support of a man. I explain that you can’t build happiness on the blood of murdered children, and I offer all kinds of help, including taking care of the child.
Anyway, I had another conversation with another one of the girls from these groups—no husband, she got pregnant “by accident.” Her parents agreed with her decision to get rid of the child: She’s only twenty-one, they said, with her whole life and work ahead of her…
Then one day I found out that … she was going ahead with the abortion and had already left for the hospital! I rushed off immediately.
The surgical building is right across from the church where I serve, so I got there quickly. I got up to the right floor and I saw she was already in line for a referral for the “procedure.” I sat down next to her and started talking to her. I told her the same thing I always say when I talk to girls who find themselves in this situation: I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live (Deut. 30:19).
When the doctor came out of his office to call her in, he saw me and understood what was going on. He didn’t try to kick me out, even though I didn’t really have the right to be there. The girl was faced with a choice—to go with the doctor or with me. “Where are you going?! Keep your baby!” I exclaimed, and I led her away from there sobbing and weeping. There was no abortion for her that day.
This girl called me not too long ago to tell me that she was registered at the hospital to give birth. She also said I would be the child’s Godfather.
This is one of my recent victories. I’ve been dealing with the problem of abortion since 2008. Over the years, 396 babies were born whose lives were at risk, and I became the Godfather for 97 of them.
