Letters of Conversions

by Our Lady of the Roses, Mary Help of Mothers

Jewish chemist

July 22, 1986
To whom it may concern,

     It is with deep gratitude that I give this testimony of my conversion at the request of my dear friend, Virginia.
     I am using my business stationery (Henry Wiegand Corporation) to emphasize the fact that I am not given to imagination, having been a chemist. Having been raised in an orthodox Jewish home, I never was interested in Christianity.
     Even though I married a Protestant girl, who later on became a Catholic, and our children were raised Catholic, I never considered changing my religion.
     My wife had been receiving literature from a well meaning friend stating that the Virgin Mary was appearing in Bayside, New York.
     My wife paid little attention to these rather frightening reports of the coming chastisement due to increasing sin in our world. But she became troubled, wondering whether there could be some truth in it after all.
     On October 4, 1974, she prayed in front of the Virgin Mary in our parish church in Charlestown, N.H., asking for an answer in regard to these alleged apparitions. 
     After having completed her prayers, she went to the rectory where she spoke to the parish priest, his housekeeper, and another parishioner. They did not speak about church related matters. My wife had an old Rosary with her which she had put on the kitchen table. This Rosary had turned rather black with all the years. All of a sudden this very Rosary turned, within a minute, into the most beautiful gold color. When my wife showed me her Rosary, I did not believe that this was the very same 20-year-old Rosary that I had fixed many times, as the links were coming apart.
     My wife still had the flyers from Bayside, and we decided to go down to the apparition grounds to get more insight. I said, "If God wants me to become a Catholic, something has to happen to me--this is Your sign."
     We drove down to New York on the Feast of the Holy Rosary with Virginia. Many people had given us their Rosaries. Also, I had a Rosary that belonged to our son. He was not that devout any longer, even though he still attended Sunday Mass....
 
     I had checked every Rosary to assure no false claims could be made. I had put all Rosaries into an open compartment of my car; we were a half-an-hour from home when I noticed something shiny. Among the Rosaries I could see our son's Rosary turning in front of our eyes. The Hail Mary beads turned into a gold color while the Our Father beads turned into a copper color. There was no logical explanation for this. Having studied chemistry, I could not find an argument to disprove what had happened.
     I spend three of the most troubled weeks of my life trying to cope with this unmistakable call of God for my conversion. I could not sleep. I read the Bible, the New Testament especially, and as many books as I could get my hands on in regard to apparitions--like Lourdes, Fatima, La Salette, etc.--also books on stigmatized saints, and the Catholic Faith in general.
     Finally, I realized that I had to follow God's call. At the Easter Sunday Vigil Mass 1975, I was baptized into the Roman Catholic Faith, and I thank God and Our Blessed Mother every day for the great gift of faith. We attend daily Mass, and we are very active in our Church.
     I am presently the president of the parish council and I try to serve God in every capacity.

from Charlestown, New Hampshire

    
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Revised: March 27, 2010