Catholic during the Great Apostasy

Many years ago, a friend persuaded me to visit a fortune teller. I can’t remember exactly how many years have passed. She was his sister. He was definitely supporting the family business. During that period, I had put all my professional matters on the edge of a knife. There was an abyss behind me, so the only way was forward, but as it turned out later, there was also an abyss ahead. It didn’t seem like a good idea to me, but I thought to myself that I would mentally overcome it, and maybe I would hear something positive. Engaged in constant battles, I needed fuel.

The meeting wasn’t very interesting; the fortune teller didn’t really want to talk to me. I thought to myself that perhaps my inner strength had frightened her. Maybe it had, but at the end, she said something confidently and clearly:

“You are so strong that even an axe won’t kill you!”

What nonsense was she talking? I left somewhat dissatisfied but uplifted in spirit. My strength is indestructible. I couldn’t forget about that axe. I often thought about it. Over the years, I even concluded that someone would try to kill me with an axe and I would survive it, but the specter of being attacked with some kind of axe was not pleasant.

Years passed until I finally went through a general confession. As part of my penance, I was to read a passage from the Gospel and say prayers. I recited the prayers, but something kept telling me to start by reading the Gospel. Finally, I stopped and the first sentence I saw in the Bible was: “The axe is already at the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”

I cried, oh how I cried, I who had never cried before! A big strong guy, when he understood this, crocodile tears flowed in streams.

God had prepared everything so that I would believe unconditionally.

Arkadiusz Niewolski