Posted on 10/30/2004 5:49:52 PM PDT by Land of the Irish
Letter to Tradition in Action
I am a prisoner who would like to say thank you to Our Lady of Good Success.
Hollywood has a tendency to put all prisoners in the same category. There are those who are con artists, manipulators, deceivers, etc… Then there are those who fall through the cracks and are really innocent yet portrayed as guilty. They just released an inmate who was here 16 years before a witness who testified against him came forward and told the truth. Imagine that - 16 years for a crime one didn’t ever do. Not a good feeling.
Then there are those who repeat and wait for Heaven. I am in the last category. I will never get out unless I can outlive 120 years. It was not murder or rape. My crime was political. Obviously I had poor counsel as well. But what was meant for evil, God turned for good.
The institution I am in discourages religious activity - the only institution and one of the few in the country that has a Wicca witch as a chaplain. They hold our Mass on Saturdays instead of Sundays. Scapulars are considered a security item. They do allow a rosary and no chaplets. The rosary they supply.
The maternal goodness of Our Lady of Good Success touches a prisoner and brings about his conversion.
But anyway, I came in as a Protestant Baptist turned Pentecostal. I felt like my faith or the beliefs I had let me down. I read a book by Carrol Cruz on Eucharist Miracles. I thought maybe I could reach Heaven through Catholicism, but I was told that the Virgin Mary emphasis by Catholics was worship [of Mary]. So I started reading what books they had: on Fatima, Lourdes and Our Lady of Guadalupe, the most common and popular apparitions of Our Lady. Then I started to say the Rosary. A catalog was sent to me and I saw your first book on Our Lady of Good Success.
I saved enough for the book. The pay here is a kind of punishment. I was a banker, worked for a nationwide financial institution, and never thought buying a book would take so much time and effort! I got the book and that is when I met Our Lady of Good Success. After reading the first book, I was dying to read the second, but I knew it would take months to buy it so I had a few questions from the first book and wrote TIA. Well, you sent me the book out of the kindness of your heart. I am sure Our Lady of Good Success was pleased.
From my readings I learned it was not worship of Our Lady, but veneration. It took time but I began to realize all these aspirations were not conjurations of the mind. Since I have no family but just one brother and a good friend left, receiving a mother felt warm. Mother Mary was out there reaching for souls like mine. I began reading the novena prayer booklet you sent. I highly recommend it. My heart became alive again and warm to God again. I then decided to join the Catholic Church here. I joined July 3rd of this year.
I have a picture of Our Lady of Good Success that you sent me on my wall. I get up and say, “Good morning, Mother.” I have family again. So I pray to her, “I am looking forward to seeing you soon when you receive my soul to Heaven.” At 46, I am more than ready. I have only been in [prison] three years. But really, it wouldn’t hurt my feelings if my time for glory was now.
So I will continue to pray. I want to thank you for putting out the story of Our Lady of Good Success. She has been an inspiration to me. I am not sure if what I wrote here was worth printing, but I wrote it for Our Mother. To let her know I love her very much. And to say thank you for introducing Our Lady of Good Success to me.
May God bless you,
Yours in Jesus and Mary Our Mother,
Kirby
Ping
What a great story! Thanks for posting it. :-)
She is a balm, a true loving mother's balm. V's wife.
A 'political' in Irish prison? I wonder how many protestants he sent to meet the "Mother of Success?"
Irish?
Read before you rant.
"It was not murder or rape."
As a matter of fact, read twice before you rant.
P.S.
He came into prison as a Protestant turned Pentacostal.
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