and actively seeking opportunities to deepen her knowledge of the Faith. Time of testing When Sylvia and her new husband visited Cindy and Eric at their home in Virginia, the two couples went to Sunday Mass together. Afterward, Sylvia confided to Cindy that she was uncomfortable with the church they had attended, where there were no kneelers, statues, or images of the saints. As she considered her mother’s words, Cindy realized that, without kneelers, the congregation never knelt; without images or statues, “I never thought of the Blessed Mother or St. Joseph.” At one Mass, a woman had performed a dance after the Gospel in place of the priest’s homily. And so, in 2000, Cindy and Eric chose a different church. Eric, however, did not stay long. Disillusioned by the priest sex abuse scandal, he stopped going to Mass altogether. Cindy continued to attend but hesitated to register as a parishioner. “I felt like something was happening to me,” she says. “I felt like the Lord was preparing me.” The following year, Cindy and Eric learned that Ryan, then 15 years old, had begun using drugs. They turned instantly to their Mother in Heaven. “We grabbed our Rosaries, made Ryan sit down, and started praying frantically.” To Cindy and Eric’s prayers were added those of Sylvia, who offered “tons of Rosaries for all her grandkids.” Time of learning In 2002, Cindy joined Sylvia at a “Call to Holiness” conference. “This was a major turning point for me,” Cindy says. “It was a waking up.” At a vendor’s table, a copy of the Divine Mercy Image caught Cindy’s eye. “I didn’t know anything about Divine Mercy,” she recalls, “but I was so moved by the Image that I bought it.” Cindy likens this time of learning about the Church with “living in the same house for 42 years, and someone knocked on my door and brought me to my backyard and told me to dig. And there was a great treasure and I said, ‘You mean this was in my backyard the whole time?’” After the conference, Cindy renewed her search for a permanent parish. In her spiritual reading, she kept encountering the name of St. Benedict, so when she learned about a nearby Catholic church named for that saint, she went to Mass at St. Benedict’s Church. “As I sat there, I felt completely at home, and I didn’t know anybody,” she recalls. It was Advent of 2002. In January 2003, Cindy registered as a parishioner. She began volunteering, attending daily Mass, and praying the Rosary. The following December, Cindy attended a Rachel’s Vineyard retreat to seek mercy and healing from her abortion. She became active with 40 Days for Life and joined the church choir. Meanwhile, Heather and Ryan continued to struggle. Both suffered from addictions. Heather was married to a man with mental health problems, while Ryan moved from job to job, unable to settle down. In 2013, he moved back in with his parents. In 2019, Heather died of pneumonia. God’s grace, and the trust Cindy had learned to place in His Divine Mercy, prevented the grief from becoming overwhelming. After Heather’s death, Cindy was consoled by dreams in which her daughter looked “so happy and joyful.” All the while, like a modern-day St. Monica, Cindy continually interceded for Ryan, through prayers, the Divine Mercy Chaplet, and the Rosary, asking the Blessed Mother, “Take my son to your Son.” During First Friday overnight Eucharistic Adoration, which Cindy coordinated at St. Benedict’s, she and other women offered midnight Rosaries for their children and grandchildren to practice the faith. Encouraged by the testimony of Fr. Donald Calloway, MIC, of his own troubled youth and subsequent conversion, Cindy kept turning Ryan over to God and “praying for patience and perseverance.” Regrets into prayers Finally, last spring Ryan told his mother that he thought it would be “cathartic” for him to go to Confession. On May 2, after daily Mass, Cindy saw Ryan and Eric enter the church together and join the line outside the confessional. It had been 25 years since Ryan’s last confession. Since that day, Ryan has been attending Mass and praying the Rosary with his parents. Cindy is overjoyed, but there are twinges of sorrow when she remembers her children’s early years. “There are so many things I would do differently if I were raising my kids now,” she says. “I try to turn every regret into a prayer.” As she mourns lost opportunities, Cindy prays for parents who are raising children today, especially those who are becoming discouraged. For her son, Cindy sees every reason to hope. As he continues his journey to God through prayer and the Sacraments, Ryan has also begun to grow closer to Mary, preparing himself for Marian consecration through the traditional 33 days of prayer. “Ryan’s story is not over,” says his mother. “It’s just beginning." Like a modern-day St. Monica, Cindy prayed unceasingly for Ryan, asking the Blessed Mother, “Take my son to your Son.” Marian Helper • Fall 2024 • Marian.org 5
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