My name is Eileen Donnelly. I was born on July 5th, 1911 in a small village just outside of Montreal. I grew up in a strictly Catholic home with two brothers and two sisters. At school I was taught the basic doctrines of the Church by Catholic nuns.
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How could Mary have an immaculate conception and still proclaim that Christ was her Savior? If she needed a savior, she was a sinner like everyone else, no matter what a good woman she might have been.
In July 1928, at the age of 17, I decided to follow the example of my teachers and become a nun in the school system myself. So I spent the next 55 years in a monastery where I was completely absorbed in my work and I loved it. I've had teaching assignments in Chicago, Illinois; Detroit, Michigan; Windsor, Ontario; Silver Spring, Maryland and Montreal, Quebec. I was happy and my life flowed like a river. Of course there were ups and downs, but never in such a way that I staggered or looked back.
Led on a new path
It wasn't until around 1972 that the charismatic movement brought me into regular contact with “born again” believers. I had never owned a Bible, let alone heard of a rebirth or spiritual gifts. I had a lot to learn. Reluctantly, I gave in to the urging of a work colleague and attended prayer meetings. At that time, after 38 years of teaching, I was involved in social work.
I understood that the Lord wants us to get to know and love him more and more. This realization touched a susceptible chord in me; For weeks my heart and soul was filled with it. She motivated me to keep going to meetings where Christians used the gifts God had given them. They arranged a small prayer group for me, in which I gradually got to know the way of the Lord.
Resistance to His Leadership
Looking back on those years I have to laugh at myself, as I see how gently the shepherd drew me more and more to himself and to his flock. If the leader of the small prayer group hadn't been the man he was, I would have got out, because the following years were a path of death the likes of which I never experienced before or after.
A Catholic nun in the group told me that the Lord had shown her that my belief was wrong. However, she did not elaborate on her statement and I felt left alone like a lost sheep, unable to help myself. I wanted to know what areas I was wrong in, but at the time I couldn't find an answer. The Lord led me in His own way and gradually led me, step by step, to His truth. Had it not been done so gently, the shock might have completely destroyed my faith.
The first thing I did was break my understanding of Holy Communion. I firmly believed that Christ was physically present in the Eucharist and found nourishment for my soul in it. Since I was 16 years old, I had never voluntarily missed the daily mass. My whole religious life revolved around the Eucharist. Whenever I got stuck, I went to the tabernacle and asked my Christ, who lay there in the form of a host, for support and guidance. And I am adamant that he overlooked my ignorance of his true presence and still met my needs. My prayers were often answered very specifically.
One day, while I was praying, I began to wonder, “Why am I still not a saint, even though I have received Christ daily in communion for years? Why isn't it more real to me? Why do I need the love and support of friends to continue my life as a nun? ”These questions could have broken me if the Lord's protective love had not preserved me. “Why don't I know the Lord much more concretely when He is really and truly present in the Eucharist that I eat every day?” I felt betrayed, abandoned, as if something essential was missing in my life. Was I guilty and didn't know why? What was the cause of this intense feeling that something was missing and that nothing could satisfy my desires?
Today I know that my Shepherd slowly and patiently led me to the realization that he is not physically present in the Eucharist, as I was wrongly taught. Because He planned the timing so perfectly, I found it easier to accept that realization. The Lord used the prayer group leader, who used to be a Catholic himself and had gone through some darks before he came through to the light, to show me where my beliefs were wrong. In a typically Irish way, I initially rebelled at the very thought that believing in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist could be wrong. I based my argument on a Bible verse: “If you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life; and I will raise him up on the last day ”(John 6,54:1,9). How could I be wrong? The leader kept repeating: “Stay close to the Bible, lean on the word.” And Paul also said: “As we said before, I say now again: If someone preaches something other than the gospel to you than that which you have received, let it be cursed ”(Galatians XNUMX: XNUMX). If something isn't in the Bible, don't believe it even if an angel tells you. How then should I accept that the real presence teaching was wrong? It was in the Bible. I fought an uphill battle, to say the least!
If Christ was not physically present in the Eucharist, then the basis of my religious life broke off. What was left? I was devastated, but the Lord gave me the strength to hold on. I stayed and kept fighting, praying and studying until I accepted it in obedience because he who taught me was a sincere and obedient follower of the Lord. He walked this path before me and he survived and loves the Lord, why shouldn't I be able to? In no uncertain terms, however, I told the Lord, “You yourself will have to teach me,” and He did just that.
Drawn to the shepherd
One error after another came to light and I realized how wrong my theology had been. The rest was easier to assume since I could see everything clearly now. I wondered how I could be so blind. If you've been taught all your life that the Catholic Church is the only true Church and everyone else is wrong, don't expect heresy where you are. It doesn't even occur to you that you might be seduced.
One day the leader of our group asked me: “Eileen, why didn't you look for the truth?” Inwardly I puffed up and replied: “Why don't you start looking for another solution for 'two plus two'? It doesn't cross your mind because you take 'four' as proven. ”In the past, I have never questioned the teachings that have been given to me. It's different now! Now I am discussing with priests and nuns in a way that I would not have dared years ago. I am aware that they live in such dense darkness that they cannot see the truth unless the Lord opens their eyes. Jesus said: “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day ”(John 6,44:XNUMX).
Bible understanding
For years I didn't have my own Bible and didn't know the truth in it. If someone in the prayer group asked me to read Psalm 23, I might have started looking at Genesis. An example is the devotion to Mary and the saints. In the order to which I belonged, on December 1th, the feast of the Immaculate Conception is celebrated with splendor and glory. For years I sang the words of the Magnificat again and again in the monastery choir: "My soul exalts the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior."
It never occurred to me before to question the words “about God my Savior”. However, the truth was visible to everyone. Why did I never notice this contradiction? How could Mary have an immaculate conception and still proclaim that Christ was her Savior? When she needed a Savior, she was a sinner like everyone else, no matter what kind of a good woman she may have been. Furthermore, Christ says that he has become like us in everything except sin. Our mothers were not received immaculate, nor was Mary. Christ refuted the theory of their immaculate conception when he said: “Verily, I say to you, among those born of women there has appeared none greater than John the Baptist; but the least one in the kingdom of heaven is greater than him ”(Matthew 11,11:XNUMX). At that time, Maria lived.
More and more false teachings broke in. What about the apparition of Lourdes, which claims to be the Immaculate Conception? Maria would not have lied! So it was the seducer who appeared there, the father of lies! Catholics, however, are obliged to believe this lie of 1854 because the dogma that goes with it is proclaimed by our "infallible" popes. “But even if we or an angel from heaven
If you would preach something other than the gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be cursed! ”Paul writes in Galatians 1,8: XNUMX about such deception. Now I could see it clearly! The same is true of the dogma of the Assumption of Mary, that of Pius XII. was called out. The attempts of the Popes to proclaim Mary as the “mediator of all graces” completely contradict the Word of God, which teaches that Jesus is the only one
Mediator is between God and man (1 Timothy 2,5-6).
Next came the question of purgatory and mass grants, with which the torments of the dead souls are alleviated and they are to be ransomed from purgatory. None of this corresponds to the teaching of the Bible. An example from the Bible that reveals this false doctrine is the statement of Christ to the criminal on the cross "Today you will be with me in paradise" (Luke 23,43:XNUMX). A lifetime of sin was erased when the criminal recognized and believed Jesus Christ, and was promised to receive eternal life in Paradise that same day. Even Catholicism teaches that immediately after death the soul appears before Christ and is judged. When saved, the soul is taken to heaven, and when lost, it is doomed to hell. Given this teaching, why are devout Catholics encouraged to read mass after mass for years? The one who is saved does not need it and the one who is lost does not benefit from it, for there is no salvation from hell.
And what about the fair itself? In Hebrews 10,14:1 it is condemned: "Because of this will we are sanctified through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once and for all." The Bible also makes it clear that only God can forgive sin. We must confess our sins directly to Him. Jesus Christ is our high priest and whoever believes in him has a part in his royal priesthood. There is no need for indulgences, "and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin" (1,7 John XNUMX: XNUMX). Jesus paid in full for our sins. The list of Catholic teachings that contradict God's Word could go on indefinitely.
Personal guidance
I received personal guidance from God's Word through Isaiah 48,20:18: “Go out from Babylon, flee from the Chaldeans with a cheer! Announce this, let it be heard! Spread it to the end of the earth and say: The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob! ”Others confirmed my impression that I should leave the monastery. It was December 1982, 31. Within a week I had written a nine-page letter to the authorities of my community in which I commented in detail on the errors in the teaching of the Catholic Church which I had discovered. I justified my statements with biblical quotes and informed them that I could no longer lead a life that so obviously contradicted the teaching of the Bible. As of December 1982, XNUMX, I should therefore no longer be considered a member of their community. I also asked for a release from any legal obligations. I couldn't stay where
only rituals were performed.
I was told that the reasons I gave might not be enough to receive the Rome dispensation. I assured them that I would contact Rome directly if necessary and I meant it. On June 10, 1983, Rome officially granted my appeal for dispensation. But I have belonged to the Lord for a long time. He has been my Shepherd since I accepted him as my Savior. Since then my life has belonged to him and human traditions were no longer relevant to me.
God cares for all of my needs
A member of Verdun Community Church, Quebec, called the social welfare office where I had worked for the past thirteen years asking about an association for people with Parkinson's disease. I gave the woman the requested information and added that - judging from her words - she was providing help far beyond duty. I mentioned Jesus' statement: “What you did to one of these least of my brothers, you did it to me!” She immediately asked: “Are you a born again Christian?” When I said yes, she was determined to meet with me.
The following Sunday I went to Verdun Community Church and met the woman who had spoken to me on the phone. Since then I have been attending Sunday services in that church on a regular basis. Once more the Lord had guided me and met my needs. On July 8, 1984, I asked to be baptized. I had been thinking about the baptism that I received in the Catholic Church when I was 4 days old. I realized that this, too, was not in accordance with the Word of God. And so I was baptized on July 10, 1984 by Pastor John Kristensen.
My mission continues
Among other things, I see it as my mission to visit blind and weak people. I also pray a lot for those I left behind in the monastery that they too may penetrate to the light of his truth. As before, the Lord continues to fulfill in my life what is so beautifully expressed in a song: “Your faithfulness is permanent…. Tomorrow after morning your worries, I see. You have satisfied all my lack, your faithfulness is permanent wherever I go. "
Meanwhile, I am 80 years old. After 35 years of teaching, I went back to college and worked in social welfare for another 20 years. But even today I am not unemployed! God's commission is to bring people the good news that there is salvation because Jesus Christ shed his blood for us. This is what I do with all my might. I explain this good news in lengthy letters and send it to people I have found on the news broadcasts, newspapers, through direct mediation and phone calls, and so on. The Lord brings His work to me. Here are two examples: In a local newspaper I saw a picture of a “hooker” who, after working in the West for 10 years, was now terminally ill with AIDS. She was cared for in a city nursing home. The paper wrote how excited she was to be married to a man in the same position as she was. Both looked like death itself. I knew the nursing home where she and her fiance lived. Thinking of the mercy with which our beloved Lord had drawn Mary Magdalene to him, I prayed for wisdom to write to this dying woman. The newspaper reported that she was waiting for her wedding day. The home had prepared a dress for her, ordered the cake, etc. and she was happy again, but there was little time left to live.
In my letter I referred to her anticipation of the wedding day and asked her if I could tell her about a far greater joy that never ends. Then I carefully explained what it means to be born again and what a festival of joy breaks in heaven when the Shepherd brings back a lost sheep. Soon after I posted the letter, the same newspaper reported that she canceled the wedding and returned home to her mother. It is quite possible that the Lord used the letter and she shared it with her former lover, mother, and others.
A second example was a newspaper report about a woman with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). She too had only a short time to live. Her comment was, "At least I'll have time to prepare for my death." There was no address in the article, but it said the Roman Catholic priest went to give her communion. So I called the parish and asked for the address of that woman. I explained that I belong to a prayer group and that I would like to send her a card with greetings and prayers. The answer was that you never give out addresses. So I asked if I could send my message of greeting to the rectory so that the priest would take it to the woman on his next visit. That was answered in the affirmative. In the well-sealed envelope was a detailed explanation of the work system of the Catholic Church, which does not give any clarity about eternity until one stands before the last judgment. Then came the gospel, which is so different. Our debt is paid in full by the death of Jesus on Golgotha, where he took away all our sins with his blood. We can be certain of salvation when we believe and accept the salvation offered.
The harvest is great
I have found ways to tell the truth about salvation to politicians in ways they cannot refuse unless they are suppressing the truth (Romans 1,18:XNUMX). A pastor from England who visited me asked me to write my testimony down so that he could publish it. Several churches have invited me to share my testimony and, with my pastor's approval, I have shared many details with them. Our job is to present the truth of salvation as often as we can. We have to leave the rest to the Lord. It is a privilege to work in the Lord's harvest field.
A life full of gratitude
With my testimony, I want to extol the grace and love of my wonderful Shepherd and thank him for everything. He led me all the way; I just had to obey and follow him. Among many other things, I am especially grateful for the fact that he gave me the strength and will to obey him as soon as he called me; without looking back or worrying about how I should get along in this world on my own. I had broken with everything that had previously given me material security. Yes, really: “The Lord is my Shepherd; I will not lack anything. He refreshes my soul; he leads me on the right road for his name's sake ”(Psalm 23,1: 3 and XNUMX).