Lately I have been meeting Protestants who have converted to the Catholic Faith. They all have great stories to tell about their journey and how they came about coming to embrace the Catholic Faith as truth.
I have also noticed that these people who I have met and talked to have something in common, they have said that though they knew in their heart and soul that the Catholic Church was Christ’s Church but they all had a hard time excepting the Marian Doctrine.
For some it only took a few good books to understand a Catholic’s devotion to Our Lady. For others it took years and constant prayer.
One woman I recently met is a daughter of an ex-Catholic Protestant preacher. Right away I knew her story was going to be good. She married a Catholic man who was not devout, but he did not want to give up the Catholic faith. This woman challenged her husband to either give up the Catholic faith or “be Catholic.” Her husband took this challenge and started to learn about his faith. In the woman’s words, she said her challenge “backfired.” Her husband became devout and along the way he taught her about the faith.
This woman came to the conclusion that this was the truth and became Catholic, but she had some problems with Mary. Her husband took her to see Scott Hahn speak about Mary, and she prayed about what would be the right thing to do.
As she was at Mass she asked our Lord to help her with this and show her how to be close to our Lady. After Mass she walked outside and she said some random man walked up to her and gave her a miraculous medal, and then walked away. Well you can guess how she feels about the Blessed Mother now. I love her story because all through it you can see how God has placed husband and wife together for the sake of each other's souls. And also how our relationship with Mary is so valuable.
Her story got me thinking about my relationship with Mary. A few years ago I decided to read the Secret of Mary by St. Louis de Montfort, and considered concentrating myself to Our Mother. During that time my prayers were much deeper than they have ever been. I really can’t explain the feeling I had as I drew closer to Our Mother, but I knew it was right. Then I had feelings of doubt. I wondered if being so close to Mary was offending Jesus. Even I, a cradle Catholic, was having trouble with Mary.
A week ago my husband told me he was going to concentrate himself to Mary, this caused me to get out my book The Secret of Mary and read it again. I also read Hail, Holy Queen by Scott Hahn, I highly recommend this book by the way. Then these Catholic converts keep crossing my path with their Mary stories.
In the book Hail, Holy Queen, Scott Hahn writes about God being a family in himself. We have the Father and the Son. But would God leave a family like that? No, God knows how important a Mother is to the family, and since God is perfect he would give us nothing less than a perfect family. That includes a Mother.
I have never felt more close to Our lord than when I kept his Mother close to me. Thanks to my husband, good books, and a handful of Protestant converts, I know how important it is to love our Mother and to accept her entirely as Jesus gave her to us.
May we be assisted, we beseech Thee, O Lord, by the worshipful intercession of Thy glorious Mother, the ever-Virgin Mary; that we, who have been enriched by her perpetual blessings, may be delivered from all dangers, and through her loving kindness made to be one heart and mind: who livest and reignest world without end. Amen.
3 comments:
it is always nice to hear people's convertion stories and to see their journy.
Conversion stories are like a shot of adreniline, aren't they?
I remember reading St. Louis' True Devotion and thinking, this isn't so strange, it all makes sense. Our Mother is such a comfort.
I believe Our Lady touched me on the shoulder. Let me explain.
I was baptized a Lutheran at age 30 and was very happy in their Church and made many good friends. But oneday at Christmas the Pastor gave a Sermon and said to paraphrase, 'Mary was just like any other woman, there was no difference in her.' That did not sit right with me. I went in search of Mary, and read every book I could find on her, many of them on the Apparitions(hence I am an expert on Marian apparitions;) ). I KNEW there was something special about Mary, something beautiful...something mystical. I was right and after praying about it for a year I converted to the Catholic Church..My mother followed me (she never made it through RCIA as she was dying of cancer) but she was baptized a Catholic and I remember my mother would lay in bed gazing with almost rapture at a picture of Mary....My mother had a most wonderful devotion to Our Lady...So in my case it was my questions about Mary that convinced me that the True Church IS the Catholic Church.
Beautiful post Thankyou:)
Peace and JOY to you:)
Marie xooxox
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