A little six-year-old Protestant boy had often
heard his Catholic companions reciting the prayer "Hail Mary." He liked
it so much that he copied it, memorized it and would recite it every
day. "Look, Mommy, what a beautiful prayer," he said to his mother one
day. "Never again say it," answered the mother. "It is
a superstitious prayer of Catholics who adore idols and think Mary a
goddess. After all, she is a woman like any other. Come on, take this
Bible and read it. It contains everything that we are bound to do and
have to do." From that day on the little boy discontinued his daily
"Hail Mary" and gave himself more time to reading the Bible instead.
One day, while reading the Gospel, he came across
the passage about the Annunciation of the Angel to Our Lady. Full of
joy, the little boy ran to his mother and said: "Mommy, I have found the
'Hail Mary' in the Bible which says: 'Hail full of grace, the Lord is
with thee, blessed art thou amongst women.' Why do you call it a
superstitious prayer?"
On another occasion he found that beautiful
Salutation of St. Elizabeth to the Virgin Mary and the wonderful
canticle MAGNIFICAT in which Mary foretold that "the generations would
call her blessed."
He said no more about it to his mother but
started to recite the "Hail Mary" every day as before. He felt pleasure
in addressing those charming words to the Mother of Jesus, our Savior.
When he was fourteen, he one day heard a
discussion on Our Lady among the members of his family. Every one said
that Mary was a common woman like any other woman. The boy, after
listening to their erroneous reasoning could not bear it any longer, and
full of indignation, he interrupted them, saying:
"Mary is not like any other children of Adam,
stained with sin. No! The Angel called her FULL OF GRACE AND BLESSED
AMONGST WOMEN. Mary is the Mother of Jesus Christ and consequently
Mother of God. There is no higher dignity to which a creature can be
raised. The Gospel says that the generations will proclaim her blessed
and you are trying to despise her and look down on her. Your spirit is
not the spirit of the Gospel or of the Bible which you proclaim to be
the foundation of the Christian religion."
So deep was the impression which the boy's talk
had made that his mother many times cried out sorrowfully: "Oh my God! I
fear that this son of mine will one day join the Catholic religion, the
religion of Popes!" And indeed, not very long afterwards, having made a
serious study of both Protestantism and Catholicism, the boy found the
latter to be the only true religion and embraced it and became one of
its most ardent apostles.
Some time after his conversion, he met his
married sister who rebuked him and said indignantly: "You little know
how much I love my children. Should any one of them desire to become a
Catholic, I would sooner pierce his heart with a dagger than allow him
to embrace the religion of the Popes!"
Her anger and temper were as furious as those of
St. Paul before his conversion. However, she would change her ways, just
as St. Paul did on his way to Damascus. It so happened that one of her
sons fell dangerously ill and the doctors gave up hope of recovery. Her
brother then approached her and spoke to her affectionately, saying:
"My dear sister, you naturally wish to have your
child cured. Very well, then, do what I ask you to do. Follow me, let us
pray one 'Hail Mary' and promise God that, if your son recovers his
health, you would seriously study the Catholic doctrine, and should you
come to the conclusion that Catholicism is the only true religion, you
would embrace it no matter what the sacrifices may be."
His sister was somewhat reluctant at the
beginning, but as she wished for her son's recovery, she accepted her
brother's proposal and recited the "Hail Mary" together with him. The
next day her son was completely cured. The mother fulfilled her promise
and she studied the Catholic doctrine. After long preparation she
received Baptism together with her whole family, thanking her brother
for being an apostle to her.
The story was related during a sermon given by
the Rev. Fr. Tuckwell. "Brethren," he went on and said, "the boy who
became a Catholic and converted his sister to Catholicism dedicated his
whole life to the service of God. He is the priest who is speaking to you now!
What I am I owe to Our Lady. You, too, my dear brethren, be entirely
dedicated also to Our Lady and never let a day pass without saying the
beautiful prayer, 'Hail Mary', and your Rosary. Ask her to enlighten the
minds of Protestants who are separated from the true Church of Christ
founded on the Rock (Peter) and 'against whom the gates of hell shall
never prevail.'"
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