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By Testimony,
“To have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part, according to God’s holy law, and this is my solemn vow.” I believed with all my heart in the words of the marriage vows made on the day of our wedding.
I knew that you couldn’t withdraw from a vow given before the Most High. We were united in an indissoluble marriage for life. God, after two years of marriage, had given us our son, a great treasure and joy. However, parenting and the responsibility connected with it overwhelmed us. More and more often, we quarrelled for any reason, blaming each other for everything. When our son turned four, my husband noticed that he was more independent and didn’t need him as much as before. I think he felt useless; men apparently undergo such a crisis when the child reaches more or less this age. Then all of a sudden our lives were invaded by another woman. She lived in our block, was ten years younger than us, was living with a man without being married and they had no children. My husband changed completely; he said that he was tired of our son and of constantly sitting at home, that he needed more space for himself. His behaviour aroused my suspicion, even more so when he came up with the idea of leaving home. He said that we had not been getting on for a long time and that he did not see any point in us being together. When I asked him directly about his meetings with this woman, he said that she was like his best friend and that it was always great talking to her; also, she was interested in the same things as he was and they were “on the same wavelength”. He also said that he would not give up that relationship, because she was a woman with “male genes” – a best buddy. For a long time, he tried to convince me, and I think also himself, that she was only a friend and nothing more. He started lying to me, phoning her behind my back, meeting her for a cigarette, going for joint walks with our son, whom he pulled into the lie (he told him it was their secret). In the beginning, when he was still attending church with us, he had headaches and couldn’t concentrate at Mass, which got me really worried. As time went on, he stopped attending church with us completely and began to blaspheme God. I was desperate and didn’t know what to do, I was broken inside. My whole world shattered to pieces and my sense of security was gone. That was when I met up with my brother, who told me about the Pompeian Novena, also called the “Irresistible Novena”. I decided to take on the novena recitation with the intention of saving our marriage. The prospect of reciting all the mysteries of the Rosary for fifty-four days was a little frightening. I was worried whether I could cope with it, especially since I found even reciting one rosary mystery a lot. However, I decided to entrust everything to Our Lady, with the prayerful support of my brother, sister, mother and bridesmaid. I knew that without God’s intervention, our marriage would be broken by Satan, working through the sin of adultery and this woman. The time of the novena recitation was very painful, and full of negative emotions between my husband and I. Later I understood that it was the work of an evil spirit, which was doing everything it could to discourage me. I was looking for answers to what was happening with my husband, and I got the answer that he was being tormented by an evil spirit. I saw it in a dream which was so real and frightening that I woke up in the middle of the night all sweaty and scared.
I was wondering how we had opened the gate to the devil. Then I remembered my visit to a friend at Halloween, when people were dressing up for the occasion. As a practising believer, I didn’t want to join in, saying that I didn’t recognise this pagan festival. However, when I arrived, a costume was already waiting for me and, because I didn’t have anything else, for the sake of peace I put on what I was given, which was a red dress with a tail and horns. Unfortunately, it didn’t even cross my mind at the time what I was doing and what consequences it could have in our lives … Dressed as a she-devil, I sent my photo to my husband’s phone. On my return home, I was greeted not by the husband who had said goodbye to me, but by a complete stranger, and in his eyes there was something that frightened me. It’s hard to describe; it was something terrible. Now, having studied articles written by exorcists, I know that we must not underestimate the devil. Just as there is a God, so there is a devil, who fights for our soul constantly and just waits for a lull in our vigilance. Satan tried different ways of discouraging me from reciting the Rosary. He worked in my husband so much that I didn’t recognise the man to whom I had been married for the previous six years. He was a complete stranger to me: cold and exceedingly cruel. He argued with me, called me names, said that I was mentally sick, that I invented things that didn’t exist and that I was insanely jealous and didn’t trust him. He was convinced that I limited his freedom. His eyes, which are the reflection of the soul, changed, making me anxious – they were full of contempt and hatred for me. I often cried, and I lost hope, but I continued to pray. I prayed even when I was arguing with my husband and when I was filled with hatred and anger towards him. In my prayer and entrusting, I was supported by my brother, without whose support and words of encouragement I wouldn’t have managed. Our Lady led me to Christian websites, where I learned that I was doing exactly what Satan, working through my husband, wanted me to do. Satan was tormenting my husband and leading him at will. I allowed myself to be provoked, constantly arguing with my husband. I felt hatred towards him and that woman for the harm they had caused me without remorse – as if they had no conscience. Seeing my tears, my husband would say with a mocking look: “You’re crying again; you’re weak”, and he would look at me with eyes full of contempt. Three times I was ready and packed and wanted to move out with my son, but Mary was watching over me and didn’t allow me to do it. Despite these difficulties, I continued with the novena. Not until I read other people’s testimonies did I learn that the condition for the prayer to be heard is forgiveness for the person who hurts you, and the understanding that they are unwell, because their thoughts and actions are governed by evil. Then as I changed my behaviour towards my husband, I calmed down and for the first time truly began to trust God and surrender to His will. I started going to Mass every day and receiving the Eucharist, and whenever I felt some anger, I would go to confession. I confessed what I had done at Halloween. I knew that the Lord could save our marriage only when I completely trusted Him and didn’t get discouraged from doing His will. Thanks to the intercession of Our Lady, the Lord God arranged for the woman’s partner to get transferred to work in their hometown; they moved out and left our town. Towards the end of the novena, I was taken over by the grace of peace, trust and total belief in Our Lady. I asked our parish priest for prayer and a Mass in the intention of my husband, to free him from the works of the evil spirit. I was to complete the Pompeian Novena on 10 February. Around 5 February, I discovered that even though the woman had left, my husband had been in touch with her all this time, talking to her on Skype, and that he had even opened an account on Facebook to keep in contact with her. It was a terrible blow for me. My husband said that it was his computer and he could use it as he wanted, and also that he wasn’t sure what to do, that he might, in fact, be leaving us altogether. I couldn’t control myself, and I told him that I’d had enough, and I wanted him to move out, because I didn’t want to live with such a man. He didn’t do that, however, and said that he would break off the relationship and not contact the woman any more. I promised myself that I would complete the novena, no matter what happened, and God would show me His will, to which I would surrender. I knew that the Lord Jesus and the Mother of God would not leave me and would help me through everything. Then I felt strength and inner peace. My brother, who convinced me to persevere and not throw my husband out, was praying for us all the time. The Mother of God provided for me some good people who supported me in that difficult experience. After completing the Pompeian Novena and after the Mass for the deliverance of my husband, which was held in Czestochowa on 13 February 2014 (the reading that day happened to be on how Jesus delivered a girl possessed by the devil), my husband became again the man I had married. The daddy who our little son loved so much returned – a caring and loving man. My husband’s eyes were once again full of kindness and care; he was affectionate and loving again. My husband started going to church with us, and on Ash Wednesday, he went to confession of his own free will. Even during the week, he suggested that he wanted to go to Mass with us. I would add that I had completed the second Pompeian Novena in the intention of my husband’s transformation and I was a witness of amazing miracles obtained for me by the Mother of God. I am a witness to the authentic conversion of my husband, who prays with me on the Rosary every day, and in addition to our prayer he also prays on the way to work and at work. He says that praying the Rosary gives him inner peace, which he never previously had. Before, he hated silence: there had to be television, computer and loud music on all the time. His life was continuous chaos, which prevented him from praying or concentrating on anything. Only now does he truly experience Mass, carefully listening to all the readings and sermons. We go together to May services and we stay for Mass, we receive the Eucharist and try to confess as often as possible. Together we watch the series The Bible. My husband even asked to buy the Holy Scriptures, so we could read them together. In the evenings, we pray with our son and tell him about God and the Mother of God, but we also talk about the existence of the devil and his works. I can see that my husband genuinely cares about the salvation of our souls, protecting them from eternal condemnation, and that when we die we will be together in heaven. A lot of people do not believe in the existence of hell and demons, that people can lose eternal life by lacking conversion and abiding in sin. That is how Satan lies and wins in the lives of many people. Thanks to the Immaculate One, we believe that the most important thing in our life is to seek salvation through total trust in Christ and by doing His will. There is God and heaven, but there is also Satan and hell.
I want to emphasise that we must never lose hope and should always trust in the Mother of God and in Her Son, Jesus Christ, because nothing is impossible for them! We should not ignore the existence of the devil and his work in our lives. Let us heed the teachings of the Church and be vigilant! “Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you. Discipline yourselves, keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour. Resist him, steadfast in your faith, for you know that your brothers and sisters in all the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering. And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the power forever and ever. Amen.” (1 Pet. 5:7–11). Małgorzata Source: https://loamagazine.org/archive/2016/2016-34/i-became-a-witness-to-amazing-miracles The above article was published with permission from Miłujcie się! in September 2020.
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