The day I met Mary... & her message for me

The co-founder of Heroic Men converted from Protestantism, and until this moment, Mary had never meant much. That changed.

Having been a protestant for a couple of years, I really did not know Mary, even after coming into the Catholic church in October 2004. I never really put any thought into it.

I was not opposed to Mary at all, but I just didn’t see her as important to my journey.

After being Catholic for about 2 years, a friend of mine gave me a gift certificate for an overnight retreat for a place in Houston. It’s a religious order, and they have a convent.

I had never been to a convent before, and this was for an overnight silent retreat. I decided to go.

I drove down early on a Sunday afternoon. They had made half of their convent into a retreat center. Once I arrived, one of the Sisters showed me around, showed me where I’d be staying, and where I would eat. It was on a Sunday afternoon and there was nothing going on at all, so I just spent my time reading and praying.

I found it very, very peaceful. The few Sisters I met were very kind. As the day turned into night and after dinner, I continued to pray, read, and just being alone with God.

They had this beautiful church there with a small chapel. About 11 o’clock that Sunday evening, I decided I would go down to the church and just pray and just sit there with Christ.

I’m sitting there and have my journal with me. There’s no one there since it’s 11 o’clock on a Sunday evening. As usual, there is a statue of Mary on the left side and a statue of Joseph on the right side.

I was up toward the front of the church, so I thought, “Well, I’m going to go kneel in front of that statue of Mary and just pray.” So I go over to the statue of Mary and kneel down, and once again, I’m the only one there.

So I kneel down, and I say, “Mary, I don’t understand you. I don’t get you. If you have something to say to me, just go ahead and say it.” I was talking out loud.

All of the sudden this thought comes into my heart and my mind. It was not audible I don’t believe, it could have been, it’s hard to say.

Here’s what Mary said: “I want you to say this prayer. Holy Mary, Mother God, may I look upon all of your daughters with the purity that your love is for me.”

I’m kneeling there, and I’m like, “What?!?” Not in a million years could I have strung those words together on my own.

I was shocked.

It was very, very real. I grabbed my journal and wrote the prayer down exactly as she had quoted to me.

I sat there in the church a little while, just taking in what had just happened.

I didn’t tell anybody about it probably for a month or two. I was meeting with my spiritual director a couple of months later – he’s a great priest. I told him about it and he busted out laughing. He said, “That’s just like Mary!”

I was like, “Really?!”

So I call that my purity prayer and I’ve shared it with thousands and thousands of men.

It’s a very, very powerful prayer. It was given to me by Mary through the Holy Spirit, I guess.

So that’s how I met Mary.

Whenever someone asks me about Mary, especially a protestant brother, I explain to them how I met Mary, and how real our relationship is with Mary, the Mother of God.

I hope this is useful to all men in their relationship with Mary.

God bless.

Onward and upward.

Robert Tunmire
Co-Founder, Director of Mission Advancement