gossip, and manipulation, and committed every sin imaginable. When did you leave? I was 33. When you can do anything you want, it’s no fun anymore. I joined a Baptist church for real, only to leave after three years and return to magic. How did you become Catholic? In 2007, I married Katie and was living in Vermont, managing a jewelry store at a mall. In early 2008, a woman named Mary Ann came into the shop. The woman purchased earrings, then she said, “Now I have something for you!” She handed me a small, golden disc — what I now know was a Miraculous Medal. And then she said the strangest thing I had ever heard in my life, and after 25-plus years of being involved in the occult, that’s saying something! She said, “The Blessed Mother is calling you into her army.” Then she told me that the object was very powerful. I felt sure that I would be able to tell whether this thing truly was powerful or not. So I closed my fist around it, and suddenly the world around me faded away. The customer appeared to begin telling me all of my past, the years of satan- ism and the occult; the magic; the abortions; the sins. Then the Blessed Mother appeared and took me by the hand and turned me around, and Jesus was standing behind me. This was what I was looking for. It was an instant conversion. I realized I had been doing it wrong all this time. I needed to find out where this woman went to church. That’s where I needed to go, knowing that this would be the right place to be. And when I opened my hand, I was back in the store, and Mary Ann was still talking to me. What role did St. Faustina’s Diary play in your conversion? It’s probably the most amazing book I’ve ever read. To me, it brought the saints into my house. They weren’t these people who had died 300 years ago or more, 2,000 years ago . Saint Faustina died not that long ago [1938]. She helped me to under- stand that Christ is alive in the world today and is calling us to a personal relationship with him. — Chris Sparks MARIAN HELPER NEWS Here is subject matter you don’t normally encoun- ter in a secular newspaper: “God gave Sr. Faustina, a Polish nun in the 1930s, the message she was to prepare the world for his second coming.” So writes Mary Zimmerman , a Marian Helper from Winona, Minnesota, who has managed to achieve the improbable: Her biweekly newspaper column, “A Matter of Faith” for the Winona Post , devotes much of its content to proclaiming the mercy of God and her devotion to St. Faustina. In a recent phone conversation, Mary told us, “Trust wasn’t a part of my life until I learned through St. Faustina’s revelations how God promises graces to those who spread the Divine Mercy message and devotion.” Her columns are wonderful. Take a look for your- self! Log ont o winonapost.com, type in “Mary Zim- merman” in the search field, and enjoy! * * * At some point deep into his 33-year prison term, Gene became a Marian Helper. The Rhode Island man, who recalls waking each morning during his boyhood in Boston to the comforting sound of Cardinal Richard Cushing reciting th e Rosary on WORL-FM, said it was in large part through the literature he received in prison from the Marians that his faith in God was reignited. “I came to understand God — that he is forgiving and he won’t turn his back on us,” said Gene, who was released from prison six years ago. Two years ago, Gene attended the Divine Mercy Sunday c elebra- tion at th e National Shrine of The Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. He remembers pulling onto the grounds. “I practically fell to my knees, I couldn’t believe it,” he said. “God has been so good to me. He has forgiven me for what I have done, and now, in turn, I have to do everything I can to witness for him and to try to encourage people to visit the Shrine.” Welcome home, Gene! * * * Anyone in northeast Pennsylvania looking to ramp up efforts to spread Divine Mercy in the region? Frank Pasquini of Wilkes-Barre says the Lord has put it on his heart to step out in faith and evangelize. Contact us a t
[email protected] and we will pass on your information to Frank. Have you got news you wish to share with your fellow Marian Helpers? Email us a t
[email protected]. M arian H elper • F all 2015 • marian.org 5 MH