Flying High with Mary- My Catholic Conversion

How I met Mary, Mother of the Church, at 35,000 feet

A sweet release

I wept silently on the plane for an hour, tears of sweet release flowing down my face as my grief about losing my earthly mum was displaced by joy and wonder. When the experience began to abate, I tapped my friend Anthony Evans on the shoulder. He spent the next hour explaining Mary’s role in redemption history to me, illuminating many scriptures about Mary, which as a Protestant, I had never been taught and had completely overlooked.

We completed our journey, and Mary's presence came with me.

We were staying at a monastery a few minutes’ drive from Vatican City and I was sharing a room with three other ladies from our party. In bed that night, I had an internal vision. I saw Mary standing next to Jesus on the cross and pointing towards her beloved Son. He was radiant with glory. I knew this picture confirmed that she would always lead me closer to Jesus, and never away from him.

The following day, I was in St Peter’s Basilica, when I experienced another locution. This time, Mary said she understood my concerns for a close family member who was going through a difficult time. Again, I received more comfort as Mary poured the love of God into my soul. When I got back to England, I found I had been healed of a very long-standing issue with insomnia. I hadn't related my inability to sleep with the loss of my mum in traumatic circumstances a decade earlier, but now I realised the connection. Mary had healed my broken heart and I was able to sleep peacefully once again (this is still true now, more than three years later).

Processing my conversion to Catholicism

My encounter with Mary was the beginning of a year-long transition from my Protestant faith to my confirmation in the Catholic Church. It was quite a journey; a real roller-coaster, because as soon as I returned from Rome, my brain went into overdrive. My heart had responded to Mary with gratitude and love, but my intellect was in a state of shock; I had so many questions.

My friend, Anthony Evans from Every Day Christian Marketing, answered many of my queries and referred me the book Rome Sweet Home by Scott and Kimberly Hahn, famous converts from Protestantism to Catholicism. As they are theologically gifted, I found many answers in the Hahns’ writings and I read many other books too. I spent a lot of time in prayer and I talked to trusted Catholic and Anglican priests. I wanted to be sure that I understood the basics of Catholic doctrine and that I could give my intellectual assent to them. It wouldn’t be good to make a monumental decision based solely upon my experience with Mary in Rome, I told myself, even though I knew that my experience had been real.

Then came lockdown. The churches were closed and I wasn’t enjoying worship on Zoom. I missed being with other Christians and taking Holy Communion. So, as soon as the churches opened again, I met with my local Catholic priest who was extremely helpful and happy to give me one-to-one instruction in the faith. We began by meeting face-to-face, but we had to use Zoom during the second lockdown. Finally, the church was open again, and I began attending mass twice a week. I quickly fell in love with the beautiful liturgy and the sacramental life of holy Mother Church.

By autumn 2020, a year after my meeting with Mama Mary, I was ready to make a commitment to the Catholic Church. I had reconciled my intellectual doubts, even to the point of accepting the doctrine of purgatory which had been one of my biggest challenges. I was prepared to accept all the church’s teachings by faith. I knew that God had led me into Catholicism through Mary, and He never makes mistakes. I was overjoyed to hear that I would be confirmed just before Christmas.

After making my confession on December 17th, I was received into the church two days later: I was so hungry to receive the body, blood, soul and divinity of Our Lord, Jesus Christ. I wanted his real presence to nourish my soul.

During the service, the priest asked me for my baptismal name, and I faltered. I hadn’t remembered that I would need one, so Canon Jonathan decided for me: I would be Mary. It was a very humbling moment and I felt so honoured to be taking Mother Mary’s name. I couldn’t ask for a better role model to inspire me in my new Catholic faith.

I would like to add that I am grateful to all of the Protestant brothers and sisters who have encouraged me and nurtured me in the Christian faith over the years.

The above is an edited and expanded version of an article I wrote originally for the Faith Companion magazine.

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