From Communist to Roman Catholic ~ Hamish Fraser
I Know That Prayer Can Convert Russia
by Hamish Fraser
Mr. Hamish Fraser is well qualified to speak about the conversion of Communist Russia. In 1933 this Presbyterian Scot joined the Young Communist League. He worked for the Communist forces in Spain during part of the Spanish cινιℓ ωαr of 1936-39. Between 1933 and 1945 he held key positions in the Communist forces throughout the British Isles. Then he came to know the falsity and barrenness of Communist doctrine and practice, realizing the truth of Pope Pius XI’s grave warning that “Communism is intrinsically perverse” and he was converted to the Catholic Faith
Disillusionment, however, is one thing; the conversion of a disillusioned Communist to the Faith is quite another.
The very fact that a person has been a Communist means that he has lived for five, ten, twenty or thirty years in an atmosphere of undiluted materialism. So steeped is he in materialist prejudice that it is part of every fiber of his being: it is in his very bones.
To such a person the very name of God simply does not make sense. Such a person may be in full possession of his reason; but he is not free to use it for the simple reason that his prejudices will not permit him to reason except from premises which support his erroneous conclusions.
And, needless to say there is no use expecting such a person to pray for his own enlightenment. He will not. Prayer to such a person is just nonsense: a mental disorder of children and old women. Such a person is a victim of his own unbelief; and because of the nature of the spiritual malady from which he is suffering, he is unable to attend to his own spiritual needs; he is a helpless invalid in the spiritual sense.
Depends on YOU
Such a person is completely and entirely at YOUR mercy. Whether he becomes a Catholic or remains in the Marxist wilderness of the soul depends almost entirely on you: on your begging for him the intercession of Our Lady.
I have no time even to try to describe to you how the grace of God operated to my own advantage. The most I could do, had I the time, would be to give a few examples of the curious ways by which the grace of God slowly but surely literally forced me to my knees – against my own will.
I did not seek the Faith: Rather it would be true to say that whenever and wherever I encountered it I fought for my unbelief with all the strength of which I was capable. The last thing I wanted was to become a Catholic.
Nevertheless, I ended up by making the most willing surrender: eventually finding myself with an insatiable hunger for the truth which is Jesus Christ.
But if I received the gift of Faith without asking for it I do know now (I did not know then) that there were others who were praying on my behalf. I do not consider it illogical, therefore, to conclude that my own conversion was an answer to their prayers.
Our Lady of Fatima said “If My requests are heeded, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace; if not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer, several nations will be annihilated.” One of the instruments Our Lady has given us to defeat communism is the daily recitation of the Rosary. YOUR daily Rosary may be the last one needed to overcome militant atheism.
I Do Not Believe, I KNOW
As a result of my own personal experiences, therefore, I cannot say in all honesty that I believe that prayer can convert Communists. I KNOW that prayer can convert Communists.
And, because the conversion of Russia and the conversion of Communists is one and the same thing, neither do I believe that prayer can convert Russia: I know that prayer can convert Russia.
(full text)
http://www.fatimacrusader.com/cr04/cr04pg02.asp