Meet Mayda Ratelle | Pro-Life Advocate/Orthodox Christian

We had the good fortune of connecting with Mayda Ratelle and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Mayda, is there a quote or affirmation that’s meaningful to you?
“Completely trust in God, leave everything in His hands, and believe that His love will act for your own benefit. Then God will take care of everything, because there is nothing He cannot do; everything is easy for Him. The difficult thing is for man to humble himself and leave everything to God’s providence and love.” + Saint Paisios of Mount Athos

Growing up I guess you can say I have had a pretty unique life. I grew up in foster care until the age of three. At the age of three I was adopted. I have struggled immensely mentally, emotionally, and spiritually due to my unique upbringing. My adoptive mother and I had a very strenuous relationship right from the start. She passed away in 2014. I was closer to my adoptive father but towards the end of his life we stopped talking. He passed away in 2015. Growing up I always used to “talk” to God and ask questions like “why am I here?” Does anyone love me? Why are you putting me through this? I don’t understand why I feel like my family doesn’t love me. Am I doing something wrong? I’m pretty sure most people ask these questions especially if you have had some sort of trauma in your life. I know the struggle of not feeling loved or belonging. I know what it feels like to stop putting your trust in God…Then 4 years ago, I was confronted with a decision that led me to put all my trust in God. I found out I was pregnant at the 5-month mark while going into liver failure at the same time. The doctor told me that I only had a 10% chance of making it through my pregnancy and suggested a medically necessary abortion. They said the probability of my baby making it through the pregnancy was also very low. I had to decide within a week whether I wanted to keep the baby or not. When you are put in this position it really puts things into prospective. You start questioning everything. I was so close to death that when you think about dying and where you’re going to go after you die you really start to look at all the bad and good that you have done in your life. I knew going forward that I just wanted to do good in my life. Now the decision was whether I was going to keep the baby or not. Knowing that every life is embedded with the image of God, left me with only one decision to make, and that was not to abort my unborn child. This is why I appreciate this quote so much. because I relate to it on such a deep personal level.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I am a Pro-Life advocate. I am also an Orthodox Christian. These two factors set me apart from the typical mainstream mentality in a very significant way. My main line of work is helping struggling women who are pregnant to find other options and resources that can aid them in ways so that they don’t have to feel forced into aborting their unborn children. I also attend what we call Pro-Life Prayer Vigils. These vigils are held in front of Planned Parenthood. I do not want people to confuse us with the typical Pro-Life activists that tend to frequent Planned Parenthood with their intimidating and provocative signs. Our vigils are held in the upmost kindness and respect for the unborn children and their mothers. We pray for healing, repentance, and salvation for the unborn. The reason why I do this today is because when I was put in a position where I had to choose whether to abort my daughter, I got so much negativity and shame for deciding to keep my baby. I felt like I was being pushed into a corner and almost forced to abort my daughter. Women should never feel like they have to abort a child for any reason. Attending these vigils can be extremely difficult at times. There are always counter protesters trying to provoke us and scare us away. Lately, just to put things into perspective Antifa has been showing up who are known for being very aggressive. When these challenges arrive the most important thing, I have learned is to stay calm and focused on prayer. another important lesson I have learned is to trust in God in everything you do and never let the evil one deter you from your true purpose in this life. Faith and works go hand in hand. The epistle of James is clear on this. You need to work hard to do good. Salvation is a daily struggle. Sinning is easy but will get you nowhere quick. Coming to Orthodoxy has opened my eyes to the true spiritual warfare that we are in the mist of in today’s society. What I want the world to know is whatever challenges and struggles you might face throughout your life, God will guide you through as long you are humble enough to completely trust in Him and leave everything in His hands. If you do this from the sincerity of your heart, miraculous happenings can occur!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Best Places to visit in San Diego- San Deigo Zoo (World Famous), Old Town, Seaport Village, La Jolla Cove, Living Coast Discovery Center (Chula Vista), Julian, Mt Laguna Cabins, Palomar Observatory.

Food Places: The Old Spaghetti Factory (Downtown San Diego), Ironside Fish and Oyster (Little Italy), Sevilla (Downtown San Diego). George’s at the Cove (La Jolla).

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Thank you to my loving supportive husband Mark Ratelle. Without you I would still be lost. Thank you for guiding our family and building a strong foundation of faith.

Thank you to my Spiritual Father John Kent Reimann for your support and guidance in our Orthodox Christian faith.

Thank you to St. Anthony The Great Orthodox Church for being so welcoming to our family.

Thank you to the OC Life team for guiding me in this ministry.

Book Recommendations: God’s Revelation to the Human Heart by Father Seraphim Rose

Spiritual Counsils Volume III Spiritual Struggle by Saint Paisios

Rock and Sand by Father Josiah Trenham

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mayda_ratelle/

Image Credits
Wedding Image credit: French In Firs