From Antique Shop to Conversion: Kira’s Journey
- Guest Contributor
- 2 minutes ago
- 5 min read
A chance encounter with the Blessed Mother, a family Cathedral connection and a whole lot of grace brought Kira home to the Catholic Church.
By Kira Roark
Grace
Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. Luke 1:28
It was a hot summer afternoon. I strolled into the cool quiet of an antique shop on South Broadway when a large old painting called to me. It hung on the back wall, a bit crooked, its gesso frame dusty and tattered with age. I drew closer. As I stood before the painting, inexplicably, I began to cry.
Two thoughts flashed through my mind: “What in the world is happening to me?!” and “I must bring this painting home.” I carried the painting up to the woman at the counter.
“Beautiful, isn’t she?” the woman said kindly, “Our Blessed Mother.”
When I got home, I didn’t know what to do with myself. So I propped the painting against a wall and sat down before it, cross-legged on my meditation cushion. I was captivated by her softly downcast gaze, the folds of her teal-blue robe, the golden Art Deco-style halo around her head. I felt overwhelmed by her beauty. So I closed my eyes, and my mind slipped into a familiar, peaceful state. Suddenly, I felt something. A welcoming presence. I noticed it and went back to meditating. Then there it was again — or, should I say, there she was again. Mary Immaculate. Holy Virgin. Blessed Mother. Her love embraced me with such gentle goodness, with such tender attention, with such infinite grace — I am still moved to tears at the memory of it.
Metanoia
Metanoia [repent], for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Matthew 4:17
A few days after this encounter, I visited the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Denver. I wasn’t Catholic. I wasn’t Christian. I was raised in a home without religion. But I felt called by Our Lady, and I wanted to honor my great-grandmother, grand-aunts and grandmother, all of whom belonged to this parish for 75 years. As I sat in the mid-morning silence, something in me stirred. A mystery I did not understand and could not ignore. I returned to the Cathedral Basilica for Mass that Sunday. I was completely lost, and I loved every moment of it. After Mass, I introduced myself to Father Samuel Morehead, the cathedral’s rector at the time, and told him about my family connection. He listened and smiled warmly as he shook my hand.
“Welcome home,” he said.
After Mass the following Sunday, I learned about the Order of Christian Initiation for Adults (OCIA) and the Cathedral Basilica’s Credo program and signed up immediately. I joined class each week, part of a large and loving community taught by Father Morehead and Father John James Arcidiacono, CSJ. I attended daily Mass, prayed the Rosary and studied the Catechism. What began as an intense emotional encounter was slowly maturing into an intellectual and moral understanding of our faith. In a perpetual process of conversion, my heart fills, my intellect assents and my will follows.
I was welcomed into the Church during this past Easter Vigil, receiving the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and the Holy Eucharist — the most profound joy of my life! It was a milestone and also a beginning. I had undergone metanoia, a fundamental change of mind. I realized that I could no longer live as I had lived. I was determined to use my life in a new way: to do God’s will and to share my love for Jesus Christ and his Church.
Mission
Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. Psalms 96:1
Grace led to metanoia, and metanoia led to mission. But how would my mission take shape?
For the past few years, I’d been a graduate student in the Literary Studies PhD program at the University of Denver. I had loved teaching college English many years ago and wanted to return to it. But the more I turned toward the Church, the more I turned away from the ideologies that permeate secular academia. I prayed and prayed, and through the gifts of the Holy Spirit, I decided to sacrifice my PhD ambitions and withdrew from the program. I had no idea what would come next for me. I reminded myself of the wise words of St. Teresa of Jesus (my patron saint): “Patience achieves everything. Whoever has God lacks nothing.”
Sometimes life moves slowly, then all at once. A chance meeting with an archdiocesan executive introduced me to the Augustine Institute. I soon applied to their graduate school, was accepted into the Catholic Education MA program, and began my first course this summer. I am humbled to be in the company of the other graduate students, who are priests, missionaries, parish staffers and Catholic school teachers. I’m enlivened by the intellectual rigor of our studies. My hope is to teach at a Catholic institution, where I can share my instruction with joy, where I can sing my “new song” to the Lord and to all the earth.
Why I'm Catholic
The difficulty explaining why I am Catholic is that there are 10,000 reasons all amounting to one reason: that Catholicism is true. G.K. Chesterton
I have perhaps described the “how” of my becoming Catholic but not the “why.” Why I’m Catholic — contemplating that question illuminates my mind, heart and soul, but when I try to articulate my answer, it becomes ineffable. I’m reassured that I’m not alone in this. St. Augustine writes, "Insight floods the mind as with a sudden flash of light, whereas speech is slow-moving and drawn-out and of a very different nature" (Instructing Beginners in the Faith by Augustine of Hippo, translated by Raymond Canning). I could — and often do — quote pithy Chesterton and say I’m Catholic because it’s true. But here, I shall try to say more.
I’m Catholic because I want to know, love and serve God, to learn from Jesus Christ the Son of God, who teaches us through the Catholic Church. I’m Catholic because the Catholic Church built Western civilization, and more than any institution, the Church honors the dignity of the human person. I’m Catholic because fidelity to our liturgy stretches back millennia and connects me to all Catholics past, present and future. I’m Catholic because the Church embodies Truth, Goodness and Beauty through its rites, sacraments and traditions. I’m Catholic because the Way of Beauty — our holy cathedrals, sacred art, ancient incense, Latin chants, angelic music — leads me to God. I’m Catholic because I love Jesus Christ above all things, I believe he is truly present in the Most Blessed Sacrament, and I desire to possess him within my soul (see A Spiritual Communion by St. Pio of Pietrelcina). I am Catholic because it is my inheritance.
