ABOUT THE STEWARD:

A Life Before Christ

Linda Grace is a Catholic convert whose journey to the Catholic faith began with a profound encounter with the mercy of Jesus Christ. Although her path into the Catholic Church unfolded gradually through prayer, study, and spiritual formation, her first encounter with Christ was sudden, unexpected, and life-changing.

Before entering the Catholic Church, she spent many years deeply involved in New Age spirituality and the occult. She became widely known online as a psychic and medium, amassed a large public following, and eventually opened a physical séance parlour.

Although outwardly successful, inwardly she was increasingly weary. Within a relatively short period of time, she experienced the loss of her childhood friend, her stepfather, and her beloved dog. The weight of grief, combined with a growing dissatisfaction with life and the direction of the world, left her feeling exhausted and spiritually restless.

Despite years spent studying healing modalities, spiritual practices, and self-development, she found herself trapped in an endless cycle of searching, striving, and attempting to heal herself. No matter how much knowledge she accumulated, lasting peace remained elusive.

An Encounter with Jesus Christ

One evening, sitting alone on her couch, she broke down in tears and cried out in desperation. Following the beliefs she held at the time, she addressed what she understood to be the universe and her spirit guides.

Weeping, she asked:

"What is the purpose of my life? I'm tired. I'm tired of trying to fix myself. I'm tired of searching. I'm tired of learning all these different healing modalities and trying to heal myself. What am I here for?"

Despite years spent pursuing spiritual knowledge, self-development, and alternative healing practices, she felt exhausted, empty, and lost. No matter how much she learned or how many answers she thought she had found, she felt like a hamster running endlessly on a wheel, constantly searching but never arriving.

Within moments, she heard what she describes as a powerful interior voice clearly repeat three times:

"Jesus. Jesus. Jesus."

At the same time, she saw a vision of a man radiating light.

Raised in a family with no Christian faith and little knowledge of Jesus Christ, she was completely shocked by the experience. Yet as she repeated the name she had heard — "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus" — there came an immediate and overwhelming certainty that He was God and that He was the One she had been searching for all along.

She was overcome by a love unlike anything she had ever known. Tears flowed freely as she experienced an overwhelming sense of warmth, peace, and love. At the same time, there arose within her a powerful desire to surrender completely to God.

Dropping to her knees, she found that the sins of her life came vividly before her mind. Through tears, she began asking forgiveness for each one. She experienced an overwhelming warmth and tingling throughout her body and an intense interior pull to surrender herself completely to God. In that moment, she knew her life could no longer continue as it had before.

That night marked a complete turning point in her life.

In the light of Jesus Christ, she came to recognise that the occult practices she had embraced were not from God. What she had once considered a spiritual calling, she now understood to be spiritual deception and participation in practices opposed to God. What she had once embraced as truth, she now recognised as a path that had drawn her away from Christ.

That very night, she renounced her work as a psychic and medium. She publicly apologised to her followers, both on her large public platform and on her personal social media accounts, for leading others into practices that she had once believed to be true. She began shutting down her business, walked away from her career, and abandoned the spiritual identity that had defined much of her life.

The change was immediate and radical. What had taken years to build was surrendered in response to a single encounter with Jesus Christ.

Looking back, she sees this moment not as the end of one chapter but as the beginning of a new life founded upon the mercy of Jesus Christ, who answered her cry, revealed Himself to her, and called her out of darkness into His light.

A New Beginning

The following morning brought one of the lighter moments of her conversion.

After sharing with her husband everything that had happened and explaining that they needed to find a church, he listened carefully before responding with a smile:

"Well, does that mean you don't talk to aliens anymore?"

She laughed and replied:

"Absolutely not."

The exchange brought a moment of humour to what had otherwise been a profound and life-changing experience. Yet it also revealed something unexpected. Through that conversation, she discovered that her husband already believed in God, something she had not fully realised before.

As she began learning about Christianity, reading Scripture, and seeking to follow Jesus Christ, she knew that her life had changed forever. The Lord who had answered her desperate cry was now leading her step by step into a deeper relationship with Himself, though she could not yet have imagined where that journey would eventually lead.

A Longing for Reverence

Following her conversion to Jesus Christ, Linda began attending Protestant churches and eagerly immersed herself in Scripture, prayer, and learning about the Christian faith. She remains deeply grateful for this season of her journey, which helped establish a love for Jesus Christ and a sincere desire to follow Him wholeheartedly.

Yet even during this time, there remained a persistent longing for something more. While she appreciated the emphasis on faith in Christ and loved many of the people she encountered, she often found herself searching for a deeper sense of reverence, sacredness, worship, silence, and awe before God.

There was a growing awareness that Christianity was not merely about knowledge, teaching, or intellectual belief. Deep within her heart was a longing for holiness, surrender, mystery, sacrifice, and true worship of God.

As she continued to pray and study, she became increasingly drawn to the history of Christianity and the life of the early Church. Questions began to arise. What did the first Christians believe? How did they worship? What had Christians believed before the divisions of later centuries?

The more she searched, the more she became convinced that the Christian faith was far richer, older, and more sacramental than she had previously understood. She increasingly sensed that something was missing, though she could not yet fully identify what it was.

Through Mary to Jesus

Throughout this journey, devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary became an increasingly important part of her spiritual life and formation.

Having come from a background that did not honour Our Lady in any meaningful way, she initially knew very little about her. Yet over time, she found herself increasingly drawn toward the Mother of Jesus.

What began as curiosity gradually became affection, and affection gradually became devotion.

Through prayer and what she understands to have been Our Lady's gentle guidance, she was eventually led to pray the Rosary. Although she approached it with uncertainty at first, she quickly discovered that the Rosary consistently drew her closer to Jesus Christ rather than away from Him.

The more she prayed, the more she came to understand what countless saints had discovered before her: that the Blessed Virgin Mary never keeps souls for herself but always leads them to her Son.

Looking back, she recognises the Rosary as one of the principal means through which Our Lady led her into the Catholic Church and ultimately into a deeper love of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist.

Learning Reverence

Long before the Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Society existed, there occurred a moment during prayer that would leave a lasting impression upon her heart.

While praying and speaking to Our Lady outdoors one day, she experienced what she understood to be a gentle interior prompting:

"Imitate me."

At that same moment, she saw a clear image of herself wearing a veil.

The experience was simple yet profound. She came away with a strong conviction that Our Lady was inviting her to embrace veiling as an act of reverence and devotion.

The invitation was not without hesitation. While willing to respond, she was conscious that such a practice would be unusual in modern society and would require courage. Recognising her own weakness and knowing that she could do no good thing without the grace of God, she prayed for the courage needed to respond faithfully to what she believed Our Lady was asking of her.

Trusting not in herself but in the Lord, she chose to embrace veiling as a personal offering of love, reverence, humility, and devotion, seeking to imitate the Blessed Virgin Mary and honour her Son in every aspect of daily life.

Over time, veiling became a daily expression of prayer, humility, and devotion. Although there were occasions when others looked upon it with curiosity or amusement, these moments only deepened her awareness that acts of reverence often require perseverance.

There were also seasons when the struggle came not from others but from within. At times her own desires resisted the practice, and what appeared outwardly simple became unexpectedly difficult.

Through these experiences there grew a deeper understanding that reverence itself can involve sacrifice and spiritual struggle. They reinforced a conviction that the answer to the distractions, irreverence, and spiritual confusion of the modern world is not found in drawing attention to ourselves, but in returning to Jesus Christ.

It is before Him that hearts are transformed, faith is strengthened, and souls learn once again how to adore.

Entering the Catholic Church

As her study of Christian history continued, she became increasingly convinced that the Catholic Church preserved the fullness of the faith handed down by Christ and the Apostles.

What had begun as a search for truth gradually became a journey home.

The deeper she studied the early Church, the sacraments, the writings of the Church Fathers, and the history of Christian worship, the more difficult it became to ignore the claims of the Catholic Church.

Eventually, the pieces began to come together.

The longing for reverence.

The desire for authentic worship.

The witness of Christian history.

The intercession of Our Lady.

All of these ultimately pointed toward the same reality.

The Catholic Church was not merely another denomination among many. It was the Church founded by Jesus Christ, entrusted with the sacraments, and given the immeasurable gift of His Real Presence in the Holy Eucharist.

What she had been searching for all along was not a place, a movement, or an idea.

It was Jesus Christ Himself.

Prayer for Life

As her faith deepened, there also emerged a growing awareness of the sacred dignity of every human life.

Before coming to Christ, Linda had experienced the sorrow of abortion in her own life, a wound that would later become part of her testimony of God's mercy, healing, and redemption.

Following her conversion, she found herself increasingly drawn to pray for unborn children and all those affected by abortion. What began as a quiet burden upon her heart gradually developed into a deep commitment to prayer for life.

During one particular season, she found herself repeatedly waking at 4:00 a.m. each morning to pray the Rosary for the protection of unborn children.

These became some of the most difficult Rosaries she had ever prayed.

Despite knowing the prayers well, she would often become overwhelmingly tired while praying. At times she found herself struggling to remember prayers she had recited countless times before, including the Our Father.

The experience left a lasting impression upon her. Through these prayers there grew a profound awareness of the spiritual battle surrounding the dignity of human life and the importance of prayer, sacrifice, and reparation for the unborn.

What began as a personal burden gradually became a lasting commitment to prayer for unborn children, mothers, fathers, and all those carrying the wounds of abortion.

Through the mercy of Jesus Christ, she came to understand more deeply the value of every human life and the healing power of God's grace.

Discovering the Eucharist

As her journey into the Catholic faith continued, there emerged a growing awareness that the Holy Eucharist stood at the very centre of the Christian life.

What had first drawn her toward the Catholic Church through history, doctrine, and devotion ultimately led her to a far greater discovery: Jesus Christ truly present in the Blessed Sacrament.

The more she learned about the Eucharist, the more she became convinced that this was the treasure she had been searching for throughout her life.

The longing for reverence.

The longing for worship.

The longing for holiness.

The longing for God's Presence.

All of these found their fulfilment in Jesus Christ present in the Holy Eucharist.

Through Eucharistic adoration, sacred liturgy, and contemplation before the altar, there emerged a profound love for Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. She became increasingly convinced that the Church's renewal would come not through novelty, entertainment, or accommodation to the world, but through returning to Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist.

In adoration she discovered silence.

In silence she discovered prayer.

And in prayer she discovered a deeper intimacy with Christ.

The Eucharist became the centre around which the rest of her spiritual life revolved.

As her love for the Holy Eucharist deepened, there also grew a greater sensitivity to the reverence due to God.

Within ordinary parish life, she increasingly became aware of how easily the sacred can be forgotten amidst the distractions of modern life. Whether through noise, casualness, or a diminished awareness of the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, there appeared to be a growing need for hearts to rediscover before whom they stand and before whom they kneel.

These experiences did not lead to discouragement but to prayer. Rather than focusing on what was lacking, they strengthened her conviction that the answer to irreverence is not criticism but deeper conversion. The Church is renewed when souls return to Jesus Christ, adore Him, love Him, and recognise Him as truly present in the Holy Eucharist.

At the same time, there emerged a growing conviction that authentic renewal would not come through the Eucharist alone, but through returning both to Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament and to His Blessed Mother, who continually leads souls to Him. The deeper she entered into Eucharistic devotion, the more she discovered the maternal role of Mary in drawing souls toward her Son and helping them remain faithful to Him.

Throughout Sacred Scripture, reverence before God is inseparable from authentic worship. From Moses before the burning bush, to Isaiah before the throne of God, to Saint John falling before the glorified Christ, those who encounter the holiness of God are moved to humility, awe, and adoration.

This conviction became one of the foundational inspirations behind the Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Society. The mission of the apostolate is not merely to promote adoration, but to help foster a renewed awareness of the holiness of God, the sacredness of the Mass, the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist, and deeper consecration and devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

It is through returning to Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament and remaining close to His Blessed Mother that hearts are renewed, priests strengthened, vocations awakened, human life protected, and the Church transformed by the grace of God.

A Love for Priests and Vocations

As her devotion to the Holy Eucharist deepened, so too did her appreciation for the sacred priesthood.

She came to recognise more fully that every Mass, every absolution, every sacramental encounter with Christ, and every Holy Communion was made possible through the ministry of priests.

This awareness gradually gave rise to a deep burden for the sanctification of priests and an increase in holy priestly and religious vocations.

She became increasingly aware that without priests there is no Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and no Eucharistic Presence upon the altar.

The need for holy priests became especially apparent within ordinary parish life. At various times, the parish she attended experienced the challenges that come with relying upon visiting clergy and the absence of a permanent parish priest.

While grateful for the faithful service of those priests who ministered to the community, these experiences deepened her conviction that the Church desperately needs holy priests, faithful vocations, and strong spiritual fathers.

The more she prayed before the Blessed Sacrament, the more she found herself drawn to pray not only for priests, but also for those whom God may be calling to religious life and the priesthood.

The Birth of the Apostolate

Over time, what had begun as a personal journey gradually unfolded into something larger.

The various threads of her spiritual life began to come together.

Her conversion through the mercy of Jesus Christ.

Her devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Her love for the Rosary.

Her longing for reverence.

Her commitment to prayer for life.

Her love for the Holy Eucharist.

Her concern for priests and vocations.

These were not separate callings.

They were all leading toward the same mission.

Through prayer and discernment, there gradually emerged a quiet but persistent conviction that the Lord was not simply calling her to seek holiness for herself alone, but to pray and labour for the renewal of the Church through Eucharistic adoration, reparation, prayer for priests, prayer for life, and devotion to Our Lady.

What first appeared as a personal longing gradually unfolded into a deeper awareness that Christ desires to renew hearts, parishes, priests, vocations, and His Church through returning to Him in the Holy Eucharist.

This conviction eventually gave rise to the Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Society.

Placed under the maternal care of the Blessed Virgin Mary and centred entirely upon Jesus Christ truly present in the Most Blessed Sacrament, the Society exists to encourage Eucharistic adoration, reverence, reparation, prayer for priests, prayer for holy vocations, prayer for the protection of human life, and deeper devotion to Our Lord in the Holy Eucharist.

Through Mary to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament remains both the heart of this mission and the guiding principle of the Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Society.

The Call to the Holy Face

A particular aspect of Linda Grace’s spiritual life is her devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus, which emerged in an unexpected and providential way. Prior to this, she had no familiarity with the Holy Face devotion itself beyond awareness of the Shroud of Turin.

The beginning of this devotion was marked by a vivid dream experienced early one Sunday morning before attending Mass. In the dream, three men dressed in black, appearing as clergy or altar servers, stood holding a large processional crucifix. Before the crucifix, the image of the Holy Face, resembling the Face associated with the Shroud of Turin, appeared suspended and radiant. The scene remained still and clear until waking.

Later that same morning, upon arriving at church, a framed image of the Holy Face identified as Veronica’s Veil was displayed in the foyer. Although unfamiliar with the image beforehand, it was immediately recognised as the Holy Face of Our Lord.

During Mass, a forthcoming parish pilgrimage was announced. During the announcements, the priest explained that anyone interested in volunteering to assist with the pilgrimage should take a parish bulletin and use the contact details provided within it. Although ordinarily she would not have taken a bulletin, there was a strong interior prompting to collect one and to enquire about volunteering.

After Mass, while looking through the bulletin, her attention was immediately drawn to the contact details connected to the pilgrimage. It was then discovered that the email address explicitly contained the words “Holy Face Devotion.” Given the extraordinary sequence of events that had already unfolded that morning, this unexpected discovery appeared as yet another providential confirmation.

The dream of the Holy Face, the unexpected encounter with Veronica’s Veil, the interior prompting to collect the bulletin, and the discovery of the Holy Face Devotion contact details all unfolded within the same morning. Together, these events were received as a quiet but unmistakable act of divine providence and an invitation toward deeper devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus.

Through prayer and reflection, there emerged a deeper awareness that the Holy Face revealed within the dream had not appeared as Veronica’s Veil, but rather bore the likeness of the Holy Face associated with the Shroud of Turin. This distinction gradually took on greater significance. While both images draw souls toward the Face of Christ, the Holy Shroud is intimately connected to the Passion, Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Our Lord — the very mysteries made present in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and from which the Holy Eucharist flows.

This connection appeared increasingly providential. What initially seemed to be simply a call to the Holy Face devotion gradually revealed a deeper Eucharistic dimension. The Face seen within the dream was the Face of the Crucified and Risen Christ, directing attention toward the mystery of His sacrificial love and His living Presence. In this, there emerged a growing awareness that the Lord had been gently leading toward a mission centred upon Eucharistic adoration, reparation, prayer for priests, and the renewal of the Church through Jesus Christ truly present in the Most Blessed Sacrament.

Over time, it became increasingly clear that this call to the Holy Face was not separate from the Eucharistic mission toward which the Holy Spirit had been leading all along, but deeply united to it. The Holy Face of Jesus is not merely an image of Christ’s suffering, but a call to loving reparation, reverence, contemplation, and deeper consolation of Our Lord — especially toward Jesus Christ truly present within the Holy Eucharist.

Through prayer and discernment, there emerged a growing awareness that irreverence, indifference, distraction, and forgetfulness toward the Holy Eucharist deeply wound the Heart of Christ. The Holy Face devotion therefore became inseparable from Eucharistic adoration and the call to console Jesus through silence, fidelity, prayer, reverence, and love before the Blessed Sacrament.

This Eucharistic connection became even more striking through the Holy Face medal itself, which bears the Holy Face of Jesus on one side and the Holy Eucharist upon the other, revealing the deep spiritual union between devotion to the Holy Face and Eucharistic adoration. In this, there emerged a growing awareness that the call to console the Holy Face of Jesus is inseparable from consoling Him truly present within the Blessed Sacrament through reverence, silence, adoration, fidelity, and love.

In this way, the devotion to the Holy Face now stands united with the mission of Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament Society — drawing souls toward deeper Eucharistic adoration, prayer for priests and holy vocations, reverence toward the Holy Eucharist, and loving reparation before Jesus Christ truly present in the Most Blessed Sacrament.