Prayers for the Oppressed: A Visit From Our Lady

I never wanted to be Catholic. In fact it was a last ditch effort to find a church before my husband and I started a family. I was terrified when I saw our priest. I'd never seen a priest in real life, but there he was, all in black and so eager and excited to see a new face. 

My husband fell in love with the faith. Growing Protestant, we had lots of questions that were all answered solidly. We decided after much prayer and study to dedicate the rest of our lives to being Catholic, to raise our children Catholic, and to grow as close to God as possible through the Mass.

Once we made this decision, things started happening. My priest called it an infestation of our home, but it only seemed to affect me. I had just found out that I was pregnant and we were dedicating our lives to the Catholic faith, and the evil one didn't like that. 

I began having nightmares of demons who were branded on the chest in strange writing. I wrote it down one night when I woke up and showed it to my priest. He said it looked like Hebrew. I searched the letters and found that it spelled "Lord of the Flies". Only a few days before this started happening, our home was suddenly filled with hundreds of flies that were very difficult to get rid of.

My saint medals, that I kept on my bedside table were thrown around at night. The shade on the lamp on my bedside table was knocked off several times. The bible on our home altar was shoved off with great force. A crucifix in our home was knocked off the mantle. I heard loud banging in our home when I was alone. My husband would wake me up almost every night from a nightmare where I was speaking Hebrew, specifically words that meant Satan, and Come now God. 

Our priest did two house blessings with Holy Water, incense, and Blessed Salt. It seemed to calm things down a lot. But only after he performed a Mass in our home, at our home altar did things stop completely.

Two days after the home Mass, my husband and I left for our babymoon: a 2 week pilgrimage to Europe. We visited 21 churches and attended Mass at St. Hedwig's in Berlin, St. Mary Major and St. Peter's in Rome, and Notre Dame in Paris. It was the greatest two weeks of my life.

Now you're probably wondering what all this has to do with Our Lady. I believe that God let this oppression come over me, in order to prepare my heart for what was to come: a mission from Our Lady.

While in Paris, we visited Sacre Coeur. I was roaming around with hundreds of other tourists, when I felt my name being called. It became so overwhelming that something was trying to get my attention. I turned around and around until I saw it. The most beautiful statue of Our Lady of Grace that I had ever seen. It stood about 3 feet tall with a blue veil, and real gold accents. I knew Mary was trying to tell me something. The harder I tried to understand, the further the knowledge slipped from my grasp. She simply wanted my heart and mind to be open to her news.

The next morning, my husband and I attended Mass at Notre Dame. I was consumed with this question of what Mary wanted from me. As the priest delivered his homily in French, I zoned out. I didn't understand the language so I began to pray to myself silently, asking Mary what she wanted of me. "Please, Mary," I said, "Please show me what you want of me. I will do it if it is God's will." 

As I opened my eyes, she appeared over the altar. No one else reacted, so I knew this was a vision just for me. She put an image on my mind of her. Her heart was on fire for the Lord and a light shown out of it. At her feet was a demon who had fallen powerless to her love of God. She was in all white, with 12 stars hovering over her head. She said to me, "Give this to the oppressed, that they may know the power of Love if they follow my Son."

I kept this to myself for a few weeks, praying and discerning if it was real. I had read that sometimes demons will imitate holy people or things to pull us away from Jesus. This simply wasn't the case, though. She wanted me to bring people closer to her Son.

I told my husband and he drew the image that she gave me. I am in the process of making prayer cards to distribute to those in need. I am sharing this image with you. I hope it brings you comfort in your time of needs. 

My priest taught me a prayer that I will be putting on the back of the prayer card with her image: Jesus, I love you. Jesus, I trust you. Jesus, I need you now.

Please believe that Mary loves us and wants us to love her Son, to serve Him, and to do it all with purity of heart. I encourage you to share this image with any you feel are in need of it.