From addictions to alcohol and drugs to a new life in the Spirit
A testimony of Adam St Laurent I grew up in a broken home. There was no faith in my life. I didn’t even know a person that went to church. I had an absent alcoholic father and mother that worked 2 jobs. I remember being 9 and telling my friends what my father was going to do for me when I turned 10, but he never showed up. I was looking for love and found none. “Something must be wrong with me” I found myself alone and scared with no one to help guide me in life. I turned to drugs and alcohol at the age of 11 to numb the pain of being alone. I started to surround myself ...

From the suffering of war to a new life in Christ
My name is Brendan McNally. I am an artist, a language teacher, a war veteran, and a father to a beautiful 8 year old daughter. So that sounds like a lot of things, and it is. I have been many things in my life, but most importantly for this testimony tonight, I am a recent revert back to the Catholic faith.  To give a bit of background on my faith journey, I was raised Catholic and attended Catholic school until the age of 10. It’s truly unfortunate that I left the faith at such a young age, which is of course a long story on its own, but it’s a story for another time. Tonight, I’m going to focus on ...

From the anxieties of the world to peace in God
A testimony of Bruna Bloise Before my experience with God I was feeling lost, I couldn’t find true peace, it was very fleeting. I had a very great desire to get closer to God, to understand Him more, and even to understand more about the Church, but felt like a lost mission and I didn’t know where to start. I began to pray more and I believe that the Holy Spirit guided me to Shalom. There, I went to the retreat during Lent in 2022 and had a profound experience with God. I left the retreat with a happy heart, in such great peace and I went back to my day-to-day life and Jesus began to inspire movements within me ...