Led Astray, She was Saved by a 'Ray' of Light

By Donna Early

I met my husband in 1993, and it was love at first sight. We married a year later. I was 25, a baptized Catholic. He was 26 and Anglican. We both believed in God, but unfortunately, neither of us practiced our faith. Hindsight being 20/20, that was to our own detriment. Little did we know what we would eventually confront.

Soon we moved to a small city. It wasn't long after that my dear mother passed away. She was a good Catholic, and I always looked up to her as a model of faith, particularly in how she always treated others.

I missed her badly, and my sadness led me to make a very bad choice. I bought a ouija board with the belief it would enable me to communicate with my mom. I also learned to do spirit writing. I honestly had no clue just how dangerous this was at the time. I was angry my mom was gone, and I wanted to talk to her one more time. I also became deeply involved with books from the "new age" section of bookstores because I thought they would lead me to enlightenment. I read Nostradamus and books by famous psychics, and I became totally obsessed with the Chinese zodiac system.

One night, I was heading to work the midnight shift at the nursing home, and as soon as I got in my car I heard very strange noises. I grabbed the rosary hanging on my rearview mirror (our neighbor gave it to us). I prayed a Hail Mary, and the noises got even crazier sounding - as if someone or some thing was being tortured. I kept praying. My next prayer was the Our Father. Same thing, the noises were like an awful dying creature. I kept praying until I got to work, and I jumped out of the car and ran inside, where I had to act totally normal, even though everything wasn't normal at all.

I remember wondering why it - whatever it was - didn't attack me physically. Somehow I just felt protected by the Hail Marys and Our Fathers.

I went into the seniors' home and turned on the TV. I was thinking, "This is insane!" No one had any clue what I was going through. As I caught my breath, a girl on TV said, "The devil hates you and wants to kill you." I looked around, and she was staring right at me, repeating over and over "The devil hates you and wants to kill you." She must have said it 10 or more times. I listened to everything she said, and I copied the number on the bottom of the screen. It was the number to a prayerline.

By the end of my shift, the sun was rising. I went home and told my husband of all the insanity and about the phone number I jotted down. He encouraged me to call the number. A very serious sounding man named Ray answered the phone. I told him my story, and he told me I was dabbling in the occult. I said, "What?" I had no idea that's what I was doing. Really. I was absolutely blind to that fact. Now I was really scared, and somehow my phone kept being disconnected as I spoke to Ray. The funny thing was that when I would call back to the prayerline, I always managed to get him on the line even though there were about 100 prayerline workers on that day.

Ray had asked me what my denomination was, and I told him I was baptized a Catholic but didn't attend Holy Mass. He told me to get to my nearest priest, asap! Ray also told me to burn everything I owned involving the occult and to pray as I did it. Needless to say, that's exactly what I did. I called Fr. Dave at St. Mary's Church in Elora.

He had the nicest phone voice I'd ever heard. When he answered the phone, it was like hearing a good, old friend that I hadn't spoken to in many years. I wanted to cry for some reason. Instead, I told him my story, and he told me to do exactly as Ray told me. He also told me to record all occult experiences on paper and to bring the paper to confession once I was finished cleaning.

Needless to say, I was a bit overwhelmed. But I did everything I was told.

Later, as I was sweeping under my bed, I pulled out an image of Jesus with the words underneath it, "Jesus, I trust in you." It was the Divine Mercy image. I sat on my bed and stared at it and read it aloud. I knew right then that Christ was with me. I cried a cry I've never cried before. It was a cry of utter repentance. No words can tell you the contrition of my heart. I begged forgiveness. I knew for the first time that the Divine Mercy message was truly from Him to me. I could feel Him come into my heart. When I finished crying I knew He'd forgiven me.

I think back to that incident in my car that night. I am certain that when I prayed the Hail Marys and Our Fathers that our Lord and Our Lady came to my rescue and never left my heart.

I went to visit Fr. Dave. After I'd read him all my involvement in the occult, he had me recite my baptismal vows. That felt great! Then, my husband did the same. Then Fr. Dave came to my house and blessed my home and car. I told him he should have worn a fire hat because he was soaked with holy water when he'd finished. By the time he left, the sun was shining so brightly on my house. It was an amazingly clean feeling. The morning dew had extra sparkle, and I knew in my heart we were safe in the arms of God's love. I knew we were going to be OK. The Blessed Mother brought me to her Son to be saved from the darkness. I never even thought I was on heaven's radar because I was so stained with sin and didn't know how to change. But all I had to do was ask!

My husband, my sister and I joined the RCIA. My sister and I were confirmed, and my husband was converted to Catholicism. Praise God! My statue of Our Lady now sits on my bedside table with a St. Benedict medal around her. Father Dave died almost exactly one year later. I went to his funeral, and I put the rosary that I used that fateful night in his coffin, in his hands. When I got home from the funeral, I had a sudden urge to turn on the TV. There was a blonde lady on the program. She interrupted her show and said, "Excuse me, but I feel there's someone out there who needs to hear this message," and she proceeded to say "the one who has helped you will remain faithful to you until the return of Jesus Christ" and then she repeated it again so that person would really hear the message. I know it was from Fr. Dave. I miss him greatly and visit his grave and pray for him daily.

There is a place called heaven and a place called hell, and I have personally had dealings with each. I know where I want to go when I finish whatever mission He has for me here, and it's up there with Jesus and Mother Mary and Fr. Dave and my mom. I know they're all waiting for me and praying for my husband and me.

Someone once said that if you just open the door and let in a little ray, He will do the rest. And I thought, "Hmm: Ray. Yeah, I let in a 'Ray.'" God certainly did the rest.

In His mercy and wisdom, God gives us the choice to open the door and let in a little ray. I asked Ray on the phone that day why God would let me do something so detrimental to my spiritual well being and eternal life, and he said, "God made the number one rule in heaven and on earth: freewill. You have freewill, Donna. He loves you that much."

Jesus, I trust in you!

Donna Early, a manager at a private business college, lives in the village of Elora, in Canada.
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