A conversion obtained by a mother who recited the Rosary daily

I was raised in a Catholic family in Portugal, but at the age of fifteen, I was apprenticed to a Freemason boss, and in a short time I started to doubt the Church. Only a vague aspiration for the spiritual remained in me. Eventually, I became a Pentecostal Christian.

At 39, I was employed in a Lisbon workshop, with a boss who was very different from the first. I was married but not in the Church, and our 3 children were not baptized. The people at work talked a lot about the apparitions in Fatima, but I wasn’t interested in these conversations. I tried to not show it too much, to avoid displeasing my very religious boss. But one day he invited to me to go with him on a pilgrimage to Fatima. I didn’t dare to say no, and with a sense of shame inside, I signed up for the pilgrimage.

So we went. Among other things, I took part in a candlelight procession. I bought a candle… and this is where the Blessed Virgin was waiting for me! There was not a breath of wind but my candle kept going out. No one else was having this problem! After relighting it for the fourth time, I felt a surge of anger, as it occurred to me that the Virgin Mary did not want my homage. A cold sweat came over me and I fell on my knees, but I was unable to pray.

Back home, I told everything to my wife. Our common conclusion was that we could not continue to live as pagans. We had to have our marriage blessed by a priest and our children baptized. Today we live as Christians and are very happy! I believe that this grace was obtained for me by my mother who recited her Rosary daily for my conversion!

By Antonio do Sà

Testimonial published in the Blue Army Magazine - October 1967