David’s Experience with Mary
I remember myself standing in front of a church in 1988, not long after I had turned my life over to Jesus. I looked at the statue of Mary outside the church and thought not about the statue itself but about what it represented. I was not worshiping her; I simply thought about the Mother of Jesus. All I knew about her was what I had seen in nativity scenes as a young boy and some odd joke about “a virgin having a child”.
In my life I had had many negative experiences with women. I had been emotionally hurt by some women and I felt wounded. I had even cut off relations with my own mother altogether. I never thought I could care for or love any woman again. It was then that this happened to me with Mary, who was the Mother of my Lord and Savior (to whom I had consecrated myself a month earlier).
I quickly fell in love with her. I did not even know that the front of the church where I had stopped was that of a Catholic parish. I did not know the differences between Catholics and Protestants, and I did not know that for a good number of Christians to think, speak, and teach about this feeling toward Mary was blasphemous. I only knew what my heart was telling me.
I immediately sought to join a church. I looked into many denominations. I went through dozens of churches and was bewildered to see that many of those churches did not even mention Mary. I wanted to tell them my secret, but I was very shy at the time and did not speak or ask questions. I did not know the interdenominational dynamics regarding Mary.
So I went back to that church where the statue was. It is the parish I belong to today. If it had been of a different Christian denomination, I probably would have joined it too. I simply loved the fact that they honored the most beautiful woman, the one who helped me heal my relationship with women and with my mother. If you or I can work miracles in the name of Jesus, why not her? (Mt. 10:1). She showed me that I could love women again, beginning with her.
Once in the church, another miracle happened to me. I knew something of the Bible but nothing about angels or religion. There was a painting there of Mary holding up the Child Jesus with an angel on each side, called “Our Lady of Perpetual Help”, which was painted in the first centuries of Christianity.
While I was sitting in silence, I asked Mary who those two angels in the painting were. I clearly heard a woman’s voice in my head saying with great tenderness: “Saint Michael and Saint Gabriel”. Six months later I found in that church a pamphlet explaining the painting. If you look at it closely, there is Greek writing above each angel which, translated, means: “Michael” and “Gabriel”. I do not read Greek! For me this was the confirmation, through that miracle, that I was in the right place.
Someone might say: “it was the devil fooling you”. In any case, let us look at the result of this experience. “The tree is known by its fruit” (Mt 12:33). The fruit of this tree is that I was led to deepen my personal relationship with Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, the son of Mary. “No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor 12:3).
Some of my evangelical friends told me that icons are idols. Thank God they never did so before this miracle happened to me. It seems God was not so worried about my looking at an icon. In fact, He decided that a miracle would happen to me while I was looking at an icon. Thank you, God, for your Catholic antiquities. Thank you, God, for giving us Mary as mother. Thank you, God, for the miracles you work through her.
We should remember that the apostles Peter and Paul worked miracles in the name of Jesus. Even modern pastors do it, miracles in the name of Jesus. We Catholics believe that Mary can also do the same.
And there was another miracle that Jesus worked in me through Mary. I suffered from a terrible eating disorder —anorexia/bulimia— for several years. One day I said to Mary: “Mary, you fed your baby Jesus for all those years, I bet you could feed me”. This was a decisive moment in my recovery, and since then I have never again suffered from those disorders. I have remained at a normal weight for 12 years now. I believe she worked the miracle in the same way that the first Christians healed people in the name of Jesus.
An invitation -pray to Jesus about Mary-
I hope I have not stirred up animosity with this article. I only wish to help build a bridge between Catholics and Protestants. I do not believe that avoiding Mary helps in this bridge-building endeavor. I cannot see this point as beyond discussion, at least in my own life as in that of millions of Christians who live in the spirit of Christ and have been enriched by the relationship with Mary. Time devoted to Mary does not separate us from Jesus, just as the time we devote to other Christians does not separate us from Jesus.
I would like to conclude with an invitation that might be very difficult and perhaps impossible for some. I would like to ask you to forget everything you have heard about Mary, everything you have read about her, including what I have said here.
I want to invite you to pray to Jesus. Most Christians will agree that it is totally safe to pray to Jesus about anything. I want to invite you to pray to Jesus about Mary. Simply ask Jesus to show you the truth about his mother. Ask him to guide your thoughts about her. Ask Jesus whether his mother is alive with Him. Ask him whether Mary is praying for us. Simply pray to Jesus about her. Try it every night for six weeks. I am sure that He will lead you to the truth about his mother.
Source: Davidmacd.com
IMPORTANT: This testimony has been reproduced by ApologeticaCatolica.org with the express permission of Mr. David McDonald; if you wish to reproduce it, you must contact him directly.
