https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2mZ4cZ_ees

Renowned Broadway and Las Vegas entertainer Lola Falana introduces the pro-life music video, "Don't Cry, Mary", written and performed by Joseph Lee Hooker. The artist, along with his wife, Bridget, have championed the pro-life cause for decades via music, writings and witness.

Originally written as a song of healing and conversion, "Don't Cry, Mary" first appeared as an acoustic single on Joseph Lee Hooker's 1993 studio album "God Calling". Later reorchestrated with world class production, "Don't Cry, Mary" kicked off Hooker's 1997 pro-life work "Say Yes to Life". Available on itunes, cdbaby and amazon.com, "God Calling" was digitally remastered and re-released in 2011, with "Say Yes to Life" to follow in 2014.

This music video, depicting the rocky relationship between a young couple about to decide the fate of their unborn child, is an excerpt from the the video documentary "Bridging the Tears", directed by Executive Producer Father John McFadden and produced by Drew Mariani of Marian Communications, Ltd. "Bridging the Tears" continues to air on pro-life channels and at pro-life events worldwide.

Lola briefly but boldly shares her story from Las Vegas riches, fame and fast cars to fulfillment in humility and reliance on God. Her pro-life witness is compelling, direct and irrefutable, yet somehow uniquely simple. The video, appropriate for all ages as a thought-provoking teaching tool, presents food for thought in the pro-life debate.

Lola Falana had been involved in show business since she started dancing at three years of age. She sang and danced in several Broadway productions, and had her own television shows in Italy and on ABC. She did a world-wide performing tour with Sammy Davis, Jr. in the '70s and afterward became a headliner in Las Vegas, where she was v**ed “Female Performer of the Year” by the American Guild of Variety Artists, as well as “Most Popular Entertainer of the Year” in Italy.

Tragedy struck in 1987 when Lola awoke one morning to discover that the entire left side of her body was paralyzed. After a series of tests, she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS), and told that she would never sing or dance again. With that, she turned immediately to God and placed her alarming situation into His merciful hands.

Now a convert to the Catholic faith, Lola has dedicated her life to giving testimony to the miracle that has healed her. She urges audiences at every opportunity to embrace God. “I am not a star. I don't want to be called that vain word,” she is fond of saying.

Broken by disease and reborn, “I am confirmed in Christ. I am absolute in Christ,” she says. “Ain't no man in the world can compete with my Lord. I got a guy who can walk on water.”

The Healing Power of God

Now, she lives on an uncertain income largely free of her disease. She is unsure whether it will return, yet she says she is largely content. She advocates a dependence on God and devotion to the Blessed Mother in language that is sometimes childlike, as when she urges listeners to her radio appearances and audio tapes to “choose your daddy,” and “love your mother.”

Her story involves a claim of a specific encounter with the healing power of God — an episode she describes as a tingling warmth ebbing slowly down her neck, past her paralyzed throat and tongue and into her useless left arm and hand as she lay abed at home, freshly stricken with multiple sclerosis in November 1987.

Over the next year, there followed slow healing, a deepening faith, several mystical encounters with Jesus Christ, Mother Mary, her own guardian angel, a glimpse of heaven and a close encounter with the personification of evil.

The process, she says, has left her a t***sformed Catholic convert, willing to speak out about faith, chastity and spiritual commitment — each one, she says, a hard-won souvenir of her own journey.

The Lambs of God Ministry

Recently Lola founded a new apostolate — The Lambs of God Ministry — whose primary mission is to come to the aid of some 13 million orphans in Sub-Saharan Africa — over one million of whom are afflicted with HIV-AIDS. Working in conjunction with Save Sub-Saharan Orphans, the Lambs of God Ministry desperately needs your prayers and support.

Presently she is revealing a powerful message she received concerning the September 11 attacks on the United States. She will be appearing live on a variety of radio and TV programs across the country, so be sure to tune in if you can. For a complete schedule, visit TheLambsofGod.com.