Today August 22nd, 2022 is the celebration of the Queenship of Mary. The day falls on the octave (8th day) after the Assumption and celebrates the coronation of Mary Queen of Heaven.
It is also the the second anniversary of this blog which was started on August 22, 2020 and my birthday.
Usually, in the days leading up to all of that I pause to take stock of my life and work and make plans for the coming year. While I haven't really done that this year, I do know that I want to increase my devotion to the Blessed Mother in the months ahead and to start spending more time on my Etsy shop and home projects.
I don't see any big changes looming in terms of my writing or media. I just want to continue on as I have been. It is my prayer, however, that a renewed focus on the Queen of Heaven will inform all of everything I do.
Thanks to everyone who has been keeping me company on this crazy journey!
I was walking through my hometown on the feast of the Assumption when I happened upon this beautiful Mary shrine. I decided to take some pictures and didn’t notice the ray light until I shared them later online.
Ransomed From Darkness
I read Moira Noonan's account of her experience in the New Age in 2018.
Back then it seemed like everyone who'd ever left the New Age and occult had done so in order to become a born-again Protestant.
But Noonan had returned to the Catholic Church. Her book, Ransomed From Darkness (affiliate link), was a resource I referred to again and again. It helped me understand that I could come back to the Catholic faith I had left behind some twenty years earlier, if I chose to do so. And finally I did choose, with the help of God's providence.
So when I decided to write my testimony, I hoped that my story might play a part in someone else's return to Catholicism - the way Moira Noonan's had in mine.
My Testimony
Unfortunately, the closer I got to finishing the book, I now called New Age To Catholic, the more reservations I had about publishing it. Finally last month I realized why that was.
I'd set out to write a story about New Age and occult deception and where that deception had taken me. And I'd ended up with a book that was mostly about intelligent evil.
I'm not saying that story isn’t worth telling because maybe it is.
But it isn't my testimony.
My testimony isn't about demons or darkness or how far I fell. It's about God and God's providence and how I came back to the Catholic Church.
So I decided to just tell that story - the God and Church story - in its shortest possible form and post it here on the blog.
I will continue to talk about the dangers of the New Age and occult here, and in the podcast. But, for now at least, I am setting the full length account of my experience aside.
Which leaves me space to do other things - like work on my novel and do media and make things for my Etsy shop. And, for now, that's enough.
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To read my online testimony please see My Story.
Please note, this post contains affiliate links. This means that if you purchase through one of my links, I may earn a small commission at no cost to you.
The Assumption of Mary Novena is started on August 7th and finishes on August 15th. The feast day of the Assumption of Mary, which is a holy day of obligation in the Catholic Church, is on August 15th.
Novena Prayer*
Eternal Father, you graciously looked upon the humility of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and made her to be the Mother of the Word Incarnate, Jesus Christ our Lord. Grant we beseech you that we who honor her Assumption into the Kingdom of Heaven, may by her Motherly intercession also come to share in the inheritance of those whom you have redeemed by the precious Blood of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.Most holy Immaculate Virgin and my Mother Mary, to thee who art the Mother of my Lord, the Queen of the world, the advocate, the hope, and the refuge of sinners, I have recourse today, I who am the most miserable of all. I render thee my most humble homage, O great Queen, and I thank thee for all the graces thou hast conferred on me until now. I love thee, O most amiable Lady; and for the love which I bear thee, I promise to serve thee always, and to do all in my power to make others love thee also. Dearest Mother bring before the throne of your beloved Son the prayers and intentions I ask during this novena.
(Here we mention our prayers. Pray for the intentions of our Holy Father the Pope, and for all the clergy. Pray also for the sick and dying, and for the suffering souls in purgatory)
I place in thee all my hopes; I confide my salvation to thy care. Accept me for thy servant, and receive me under thy mantle, O Mother of Mercy. And as thou art so powerful with God, deliver me from all temptations, or rather obtain for me the strength to triumph over them until death. Of thee I ask a perfect love for Jesus Christ. Through thee I hope to die a good death. O my Mother, by the love which thou bearest to God, I beseech thee to help me at all times, especially at the last moment of my life. Leave me not, I beseech thee, until I am safe in heaven, blessing thee, and singing thy mercies for all eternity. Amen.
The Memorare.
Assumption of Mary Prayer Card
About This Episode
Podcast
Video
- To read my testimony please see OfLightAndDark.com/p/my-story.html
- To download my testimony as a free PDF please visit my author website here BarbaraGraver.com/new-age-to-catholic/
- To learn more about the SSPX please check out SSPXpodcast.com
- Watch the documentary on Archbishop Lefebvre here youtube.com/watch?v=Cf9oy7wDkms
- To subscribe to my YouTube channel please visit YouTube.com/c/BarbaraGraver
- And please don't forget to follow my podcast, New Age To Catholic, on most major podcast apps, if you don't already!
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