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CradleCath
Guest
During the past week, I’ve read some beautiful conversion stories from some of you. They are so inspirational. Feel free to tell yours on this thread.
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Tietjen
Guest
What do I put if I was cradle, fell away, and then re-verted?
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Brenda_V
Guest
Sorry, your first response is from a cradle Catholic who has always had the Faith! I have also always known that I will never “know it all” and have continued in my journey in knowledge about the Faith (as a matter of fact I probably know as much or more than converts do because God has given me that yearning for knowledge 
)
Brenda V.
p.s. Tietjen, you are a Cradle Catholic but please share your revert story, I learn as much from these as I do from conversion stories and I am sure our OP feels the same way.
)Brenda V.
p.s. Tietjen, you are a Cradle Catholic but please share your revert story, I learn as much from these as I do from conversion stories and I am sure our OP feels the same way.
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Cristiano
Guest
I am a cradle Catholic and I have been a Catholic for more than 10 years. However my wife an my son claim that sometimes I behave like a six year old.
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AlanF
Guest
I think I’m a Cradle Catholic.
But I became an atheist at quite a young age
then I recently reverted a few months ago. 
So I suppose I’m both!
Alan
But I became an atheist at quite a young age
then I recently reverted a few months ago. So I suppose I’m both!
Alan
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NewUlm1976_2000
Guest
I am a Cradle Catholic for more than 10yrs (never really left).
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Pixie_Dust
Guest
I was confirmed Catholic 8-12-07, so I’m just a little over a year old, officially. I was Catholic-at-heart for almost a year before that. You can read my story here and here.
The latest update is that, while they all entered the Church at Easter Vigil, my eldest dd and I are currently the only ones in Church faithfully. I have to be there early for choir rehearsal and dh is supposed to bring himself and everyone else for when Mass starts but he hasn’t been doing that all summer, so eldest just rides with me as she’s the only other one who seems to care. Pray for my dh and my other 2 children!
The latest update is that, while they all entered the Church at Easter Vigil, my eldest dd and I are currently the only ones in Church faithfully. I have to be there early for choir rehearsal and dh is supposed to bring himself and everyone else for when Mass starts but he hasn’t been doing that all summer, so eldest just rides with me as she’s the only other one who seems to care. Pray for my dh and my other 2 children!
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Chancellor
Guest
I am an ex protestant seminarian who came Home 25 years ago. My wife is a cradle Catholic who returned Home after a long absence. She is from a mixed family and tried both expressions of the faith.
Now.
Who are the Tiber Swim Team??
You folks are all over these lists and almost always thoughtful and articulate.
An enquiring world wants to know.
The Chancellor
Now.
Who are the Tiber Swim Team??
You folks are all over these lists and almost always thoughtful and articulate.
An enquiring world wants to know.
The Chancellor
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Pixie_Dust
Guest
Thank you for your kind words! I try to be thoughtful but sometimes, in my zeal, it doesn’t always come out in the words I type.
“Tiber Swim Team” means someone who converted to Catholicism. You have to cross the Tiber River to get to Rome physically. So, for someone to swim the Tiber figuratively means they’re a former Protestant who is now Roman Catholic.
I think the reason that converts are so articulate about the Faith is that, speaking for myself, I had to do a lot of studying before I was even open to the idea of becoming Catholic! I know all of the typical Protestant objections and the Catholic answer to those objections, because I questioned the same things.
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Chancellor
Guest
Pixie Dust;
Many thanks, I guess that makes me Tiber Swim Team classof
1983. What an honor!!
The Chancellor
Pixie Dust;
I guess that
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CradleCath
Guest
WHOOPS! I should have put in a category for those of you who call yourselves “reverts”. Oh well, since I didn’t I think you fall under “Cradle Catholic”. I would love to read your story, as I have a brother who has fallen away, is in poor health & I’d love to see him revert to the faith he was born into… before it’s too late.
When I first mentioned that I was attending the Latin Mass in our city, he made the remark…“Now, I wouldn’t mind seeing that”, but when I invited him to attend with us, he said, “no…but thanks for asking”.
What brought you back??
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CradleCath
Guest
I read your story & LOVED it. From your link:
The emboldened part made me laugh. I was suspended from my very Catholic school for 3 days, 2 months before I was due to graduate…for the same type of behavior. Sometimes I think that, had it not been for my Catholic background, my inborn orneriness might have turned into something worse.
God bless you. It looks to me like you’ve been heading for Catholicism since you began your search. The other faiths were just a stop along the way.
I will be praying for your husband & other two children. It’s all new to them, so just keep attending Mass…they’ll follow, sooner or later.
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CradleCath
Guest
Wow! You were studying to become a Protestant minister, when you converted?? That’s got to be a great story. Thank you so much for sharing that with us.
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Cecilia_Selby
Guest
I have the same situation. I was born and raised Catholic
(Catholic schools and all) I then became an Episcopalian for forty years. Ihave been back for one and a half years .
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Tietjen
Guest
I’m sorry about your brother, but who knows what God has in store for him.
I was born and raised Catholic for the first 18 years of my life. Unfortunately, although I went to Catholic school, CCD, Mass, CYO, etc., I was poorly catechized in my faith. It didn’t take long once I was on my own, to come to several misunderstandings (on my part) concerning certain dogmas of the Church as well as differences of agreement when it came to the sacrament of marriage. Without going too far into the specifics, one thing lead to another, doubts formed, and I eventually slid over into the Protestant camp for approx 15 years. During those years, I spent most of my time trying to find a Church that felt like home. I tried the Baptist Church for a few years; determined that it just wasn’t “home.” Next, I tried the Assembly of God Church, only to find out that Church didn’t feel quite right either. I moved on to the Lutheran Church and discovered that it felt closer, but still there was something missing. Then I decided to look at the Episcopal Church. That same month is when Gene Robinson (an openly homosexual clergy within the Episcopal Church) was made a Bishop. That slammed the breaks on my Episcopal experience. Finally, having never found a home, yet desiring peace, I swallowed my pride and went to speak with a Priest. We met a few times and I asked many questions which he answered but more than that, he, or rather God through him, ignited in me a desire to really study my faith. To seek out the answers to the questions I had concerning those things that I didn’t agree with or didn’t understand. That was 8 years ago, and I am happy to say that I have felt like I’m home ever since. AND, I continue to study and learn about my faith. I am certain that I will never learn it all but I have a real hunger to take in as much as I can. God is the most important Person in my life now and His Church is my home again and will remain so.
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moosears
Guest
Grateful convert to the True Faith! It has been a rocky, twisting, turning, road but I finally made it home to the true Church of Christ, which is Catholic. Both sets of grandparents remained members of the Church of Christ denomination until they departed this world. My parents, when they attended church which was not very often at all, went to the same. I was “saved” when I was about eight years old at a Baptist Church with my then best friend. We were both driven to tears by the preacher talking about the suffering that Jesus endured for us. I never went back to that church though.
Fast forward to age 19. Fresh out of school, no direction, no plan, no clue. At a wild party at my bachelor pad a buddy of mine had borrowed my truck to make a beer run and accidentally ran into the bikers car next door and didn’t bother telling anyone about it. After everyone except my sister left, a knock comes on the door. I opened the door and was dragged outside and slammed up against the wall with a knife up to my throat for the incident that I knew nothing about. I have never been a violent person and always avoided conflict (my Dad never was around enough to let any manliness rub off on me) so I prayed the stereotypical prayer: “Dear God, please help me out of this alive and I swear I will change my ways!” My 16 yr. old sister is jumping on them and swinging at them to protect me while I am praying for God’s mercy and examining myself to determine if I am ready to meet my maker. The bikers start laughing so hard they finally just left us alone.
Next day these Baptists come knocking on my door. I’m home alone still trying to understand what happened last night. They come in and I take that as a sign that God is still answering my prayer for help. I was converted that day and joined another Baptist Church. My new friends gave me a Bible and told me to pray to the Holy Spirit and ask Him to reveal all truth to me as I read the New Testament. This I did. Then I started asking questions like, “What ever became of Jesus’ Mother, Mary?” and “Where are the successors to the Apostles?”. No one could answer these questions for me and I started felling like an outcast. The straw that broke the camels back was when I told my new friend, when we were taking communion that day,“We are about to receive the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ in Holy Communion!” He corrected me on the spot rather harshly and said that Catholics believe that and proceeded to tell me other things that he thought the Church taught.
I left the Baptist church and fell in with some charismatic evangelicals. I tried several churches and came out felling so empty. I gave up and told God “I have tried to find Your church but it doesn’t seem to exist anymore so what am I supposed to do? I quit! If I find it along the way I will return.” I was 21, still no direction, no plan, no clue.
9 yrs later I have a wife and two children. I have always had a guilt ridden conscience. I knew that I was responsible for my children’s souls so I HAD to find the True Church. An old evangelist friend of mine had become disillusioned with the Faith Movement and was searching. He was having a book study at his house and the name of the book was “Will The Real Heretics Please Stand Up?” written by an ex JW who became an Anglican priest. Within this book he examines some of the early Church Fathers. St Ignatius of Antioch, St Justin Martyr, St Polycarp of Smyrna! I began attending the local Episcopal church and even praying the divine office with the priest. He gets me praying the Hail Mary and the Hail Holy Queen.
Against the priests advice, I join an independent Catholic group who split from Rome because of the changes, but they have nuns and all of the trappings. Besides, when I went to the local diocesan church the priest had no interest in speaking to me and the Mass just seemed like a catholicized protestant service, in my mind.
Well after dealing with scandal after scandal and never knowing when the "board’ was going to discard the priest like a piece of trash and an ever diminishing “parish” membership it occurred to me that that tree was never going to bear good fruit, so this year, back in April, I brought my family into the One and Only, True and Authentic, Holy, Roman, Catholic Church and we submit ourselves to the authority and teaching of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI and his Successors for the remainder of our lives.
Sometimes it takes some time for God to direct our stubborn heads in the direction He wants us to go. That is one thing I have learned from all of this. The Church was right in front of me all of this time and I did not see it! What a numskull I am!
God Bless you all and please pray for on another!
Fast forward to age 19. Fresh out of school, no direction, no plan, no clue. At a wild party at my bachelor pad a buddy of mine had borrowed my truck to make a beer run and accidentally ran into the bikers car next door and didn’t bother telling anyone about it. After everyone except my sister left, a knock comes on the door. I opened the door and was dragged outside and slammed up against the wall with a knife up to my throat for the incident that I knew nothing about. I have never been a violent person and always avoided conflict (my Dad never was around enough to let any manliness rub off on me) so I prayed the stereotypical prayer: “Dear God, please help me out of this alive and I swear I will change my ways!” My 16 yr. old sister is jumping on them and swinging at them to protect me while I am praying for God’s mercy and examining myself to determine if I am ready to meet my maker. The bikers start laughing so hard they finally just left us alone.
Next day these Baptists come knocking on my door. I’m home alone still trying to understand what happened last night. They come in and I take that as a sign that God is still answering my prayer for help. I was converted that day and joined another Baptist Church. My new friends gave me a Bible and told me to pray to the Holy Spirit and ask Him to reveal all truth to me as I read the New Testament. This I did. Then I started asking questions like, “What ever became of Jesus’ Mother, Mary?” and “Where are the successors to the Apostles?”. No one could answer these questions for me and I started felling like an outcast. The straw that broke the camels back was when I told my new friend, when we were taking communion that day,“We are about to receive the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ in Holy Communion!” He corrected me on the spot rather harshly and said that Catholics believe that and proceeded to tell me other things that he thought the Church taught.
I left the Baptist church and fell in with some charismatic evangelicals. I tried several churches and came out felling so empty. I gave up and told God “I have tried to find Your church but it doesn’t seem to exist anymore so what am I supposed to do? I quit! If I find it along the way I will return.” I was 21, still no direction, no plan, no clue.
9 yrs later I have a wife and two children. I have always had a guilt ridden conscience. I knew that I was responsible for my children’s souls so I HAD to find the True Church. An old evangelist friend of mine had become disillusioned with the Faith Movement and was searching. He was having a book study at his house and the name of the book was “Will The Real Heretics Please Stand Up?” written by an ex JW who became an Anglican priest. Within this book he examines some of the early Church Fathers. St Ignatius of Antioch, St Justin Martyr, St Polycarp of Smyrna! I began attending the local Episcopal church and even praying the divine office with the priest. He gets me praying the Hail Mary and the Hail Holy Queen.
Against the priests advice, I join an independent Catholic group who split from Rome because of the changes, but they have nuns and all of the trappings. Besides, when I went to the local diocesan church the priest had no interest in speaking to me and the Mass just seemed like a catholicized protestant service, in my mind.
Well after dealing with scandal after scandal and never knowing when the "board’ was going to discard the priest like a piece of trash and an ever diminishing “parish” membership it occurred to me that that tree was never going to bear good fruit, so this year, back in April, I brought my family into the One and Only, True and Authentic, Holy, Roman, Catholic Church and we submit ourselves to the authority and teaching of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI and his Successors for the remainder of our lives.
Sometimes it takes some time for God to direct our stubborn heads in the direction He wants us to go. That is one thing I have learned from all of this. The Church was right in front of me all of this time and I did not see it! What a numskull I am!
God Bless you all and please pray for on another!
C
Chancellor
Guest
Thank you for your kindness. The process took about three years and was mostly a “dark night” experience of disillusionment at the shallow ranting of the evangelicals and the total lack of any contemplative sensitivity. It is highly unpleasant to lose a sense of calling. Retrospectively I can see that the path was well in God’s hands. I was finding solace in Thomas Merton, Therese of Liseaux, St. Francis of Assisi but it didn’t actually occur to me that I might convert.
To make a long story short I did a retreat at Gethsemani Abbey in Kentucky two years later where, oddly enough, the parish priest from the university that I was on my way to for graduate school was also on retreat. I told Father Charlie about my struggles and he simply accepted me as I was and said that I would be welcome at his parish.
Just accepted and welcomed.
T.C.
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PraRFLEsEkHm
Guest
Hi all
I was about to give it all up and start my own church back in '05. Seriously, I went through I think just about every denomination and several other religions before I looked here (both the Forums for info and the RCC in general).
Once I started to look (with an open mind) and learn…wow things went quickly! Information, insight, answers, really awesome experiences came one after the other. I can’t even begin to describe what happened to me over the next 9 months or so.
RCIA was actually boring in a way because I was way beyond the basics offered in my understanding of the Church, and constantly ( I am told) forced my Sponsor to go and bug our Priest for answers. We both grew and learned so much.
My biggest hurdle was Our BVM Mary. That almost drove me back out again. When I began to doubt and mistrust again, the hurt was indescribable.
I got so angry, I actually started to write a book against the Church - using the teachings of the Church against it.
Then, the inevitable happened. As I was researching and writing, thinking and learning more - the Truth reached up and smacked me. Bound to happen if you learn enough.
From there I had one experience I will share here, again. I was praying and asking forgiveness for doubting, praying for Mary to forgive me also, saying that I understood the part she’s played in my life - all of my life, in bringing me to the Lord. ( That’s for all of us actually) when I sensed (heard at the same time? I dunno) this little snap right under my nose. First I smelled earth, wet moist earth. Then green things, then a flowery smell, then the overwhelming smell of Roses. I cried. My heart swelled and burst with joy. I’ll never forget that moment.
My thanks and prayers to all who inhabited these forums, then and now, for my education.
Peace and all things good
John
I was about to give it all up and start my own church back in '05. Seriously, I went through I think just about every denomination and several other religions before I looked here (both the Forums for info and the RCC in general).
Once I started to look (with an open mind) and learn…wow things went quickly! Information, insight, answers, really awesome experiences came one after the other. I can’t even begin to describe what happened to me over the next 9 months or so.
RCIA was actually boring in a way because I was way beyond the basics offered in my understanding of the Church, and constantly ( I am told) forced my Sponsor to go and bug our Priest for answers. We both grew and learned so much.
My biggest hurdle was Our BVM Mary. That almost drove me back out again. When I began to doubt and mistrust again, the hurt was indescribable.
I got so angry, I actually started to write a book against the Church - using the teachings of the Church against it.
Then, the inevitable happened. As I was researching and writing, thinking and learning more - the Truth reached up and smacked me.
Bound to happen if you learn enough.From there I had one experience I will share here, again. I was praying and asking forgiveness for doubting, praying for Mary to forgive me also, saying that I understood the part she’s played in my life - all of my life, in bringing me to the Lord. ( That’s for all of us actually) when I sensed (heard at the same time? I dunno) this little snap right under my nose. First I smelled earth, wet moist earth. Then green things, then a flowery smell, then the overwhelming smell of Roses. I cried. My heart swelled and burst with joy. I’ll never forget that moment.
My thanks and prayers to all who inhabited these forums, then and now, for my education.
Peace and all things good
John
C
Chancellor
Guest
John
May you be showered with heavenly roses. Isn’t it wonderful that we can have such a good friend and Mother as the Blessed Virgen. As we come to know Nuestra Senora we learn that everything she does points to Jesus.
I am rembering the wedding at Cana where Mary says two things:
“The people have no wine”. She is fully able to intercede with Christ.
And
“Do whatever He says”, She is fully surrendered to the Lord .
I don’t know why this has to be so difficult but it took me many years after my conversion before I finally got it.
May you be showered with heavenly roses. Isn’t it wonderful that we can have such a good friend and Mother as the Blessed Virgen. As we come to know Nuestra Senora we learn that everything she does points to Jesus.
I am rembering the wedding at Cana where Mary says two things:
“The people have no wine”. She is fully able to intercede with Christ.
And
“Do whatever He says”, She is fully surrendered to the Lord .
I don’t know why this has to be so difficult but it took me many years after my conversion before I finally got it.
P
PraRFLEsEkHm
Guest
Thank-you, and you as well. I don’t know why either, I suspect there is a whole lot more we will learn when we come face to face with Her and our Lord.
Peace
John
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