An Encounter with God

The following is written with utmost honesty. I hope that it transforms your heart as it did mine.

It was March of 2022. I was a freshman in college, and I had the opportunity to attend a silent retreat during Spring Break. After entering into silence, retreaters were encouraged to pray for four hours a day, and each day concluded with Eucharistic Adoration.

Throughout the retreat, I received many small consolations from God and entered into a more peaceful existence, but nothing too out of the ordinary happened for a while. Close to the retreat’s end, the directors spoke of eleventh hour graces, the graces which God pours out at the last minute, but I didn’t know what else I could possibly receive. I was already making so much progress in my prayer life, and I was content with simply talking to God a little longer.

The last night of the retreat, we had our final hour of Eucharistic Adoration. I remember sitting on the floor with my back against the wall, partially turned toward the Eucharist on the altar. I closed my eyes and tried my best to converse with God. For what felt like ages, I didn’t seem to be getting anywhere in my prayer.

Eventually, I hit a point of exhaustion, and for the first time ever, I told God that I give Him my life entirely. With sincerity, I said that my one desire was to do His will. Immediately after, with my eyes still closed, I saw my rib cage glowing and start to open up, almost like a pair of doors slowly swinging open. Confused, I opened my eyes and saw that I was still in Adoration, and everyone around me was still there like I remembered. I closed my eyes once more, and the sight of my glowing rib cage ensued. When my rib cage appeared fully open, I saw Jesus in front of me. I saw him reach into my chest and take my heart out. Then, I saw Him holding His own heart, and I watched as He put it into my chest. My rib cage closed back up, and I was left looking at Jesus. The voice I then heard is hard to describe. It wasn’t some booming voice from the skies that’s depicted in movies, but the voice was there nonetheless, and I heard Jesus say to me, “You have my heart. Now what are you going to do with it?”

Right after hearing those words, the priests came back in to conclude Adoration, and I quickly rose to kneel and join in singing the Tantum Ergo.

To avoid presenting anything but the facts of my experience, I leave it up to the reader to interpret what I saw and heard. But I will say that the experience I had certainly left an impact on my life, and I’m forever changed because of it.