It was three years ago when Uma Krishnan says she first
dreamed of the Virgin Mary. It was January 2006 and she was
living in Singapore with her husband, Kumar, and her son,
Karthi. In her dream she saw a “very humble lady” surrounded
by candles.
She and Kumar were devout Hindus and they knew the lady in
Uma’s dreams was not a Hindu god. They knew little of
Christianity, but they thought this lady might be the Blessed
Mother. Still, because they came from a long tradition of
Hinduism in India, they didn’t give the dream much thought.
Later that year Kumar got a job that took him to San Diego. A
few months later, he found a new job in McLean. Uma and
Karthi joined him that December.
This past April, Uma began to have more dreams of Mary.
One night she dreamed she was walking into a church she’d
never seen before. Once inside, she turned right and found a
little room where there were red candles and a statue of
Mary.
The second night, she was in the same room, but this time she
saw a big cross made of palm leaves.
Another night, she dreamed she was in a boat. On her right
was a black woman with dark hair and on her left, a lady
wearing a blue scarf and holding a Bible. The woman in blue
showed Uma some verses to read to make her worries disappear.
In her dream, Uma read the Bible verses and both women
disappeared.
Uma and Kumar talked about the dreams and, by the fourth
night, they decided to visit a church to see what was
happening.
Kumar typed “St. Mary Church Fairfax” into Google and entered
the address from the first result into his GPS device. The
address was for St. Mary of Sorrows Church in Fairfax.
When they got to the church, Uma was shocked. On the outside,
it looked just like the church she had dreamed about the
first night. When they went inside and turned right, there
was a small chapel with red votive candles, a statue of Mary
and a cross. It was just like her dreams. Uma started to cry.
“The moment was so touching,” Kumar said. “We were not even
Christians and we were not even worshipping when we got such
a thing. We were Hindus and we didn’t exactly know how to
pray, but we just sat there and said, ‘Thank you. Thank you
for all these visions and thank you for bringing us here. We
don’t know what to do, you tell us, you guide us, show us
what has to be done.'”
After the first visit to the church, a few days passed and
Uma and Kumar didn’t return. Instead, they went to their
Hindu temple.
Uma had another dream. She saw the statue of Mary on the
outside wall of the church. Mary’s arms were out and there
was a bright light coming from behind. In Uma’s mind, the
statue seemed to be saying, “Come back to me.”
When Uma told Kumar, they decided to go to St. Mary of
Sorrows that day. It was a Wednesday, and this time, they
went into the main meeting room, where the Charismatic Prayer
Group gathered. They shared their story and prayed with them.
After that, Uma and Kumar began to attend Mass and the
Charismatic Prayer Group every week.
Uma’s dreams continued, but the couple also started
experiencing strange “spiritual disturbances.” Uma would have
nightmares, and during the day, alone at home, she would hear
strange laughing, heavy breathing or footsteps. Sometimes she
would feel a pressure on her neck and would have trouble
breathing.
The disturbances were so bad that Uma was afraid to be alone.
Kumar would drop her off at St. Mary of Sorrows when he went
to work in the morning and she would stay at the church all
day.
Frightened, Uma and Kumar talked to Father Stefan Starzynski,
St. Mary of Sorrows parochial vicar.
Starzynski told them the disturbances might be coming because
they were moving away from Hinduism. He told them not to
worry and that they’d be okay if they just went toward the
one, true God.
“Even as Hindus they were coming to the prayer groups and the
healing Masses and praying the rosary every day, so I think
something was trying to stop them from entering the Faith
fully,” Father Starzynski said.
Kumar and Uma decided to get rid of all of their Hindu
belongings and devote themselves entirely to Catholicism.
Because of their circumstances, the parish had a team of four
parishioners teach the couple a condensed version of the
traditional yearlong Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults
program. Uma and Kumar went to the program every Saturday to
learn about the sacraments and to discuss the Bible.
“It sounded like Mary was calling them to us and I felt like
we had a responsibility to them,” said Father Starzynski.
“They told me they wanted to become Catholic and they were so
excited and eager that I thought this was an opportunity to
be flexible.”
By the end of August, the group decided the family was ready
to become Catholic. Sept. 12, Uma, Kumar and Karthi were
baptized and the couple received the sacraments of
confirmation, Communion and marriage.
In the days leading up to the ceremonies, Uma and Kumar feel
they received lots of help from Mary.
Though they had a very limited budget and hardly any time to
plan, Uma and Kumar wanted to have a nice wedding ceremony.
They only had $400 to spend on a wedding dress for Uma, but
their son found a perfect dress for $399.
Then, after deciding wedding photographers would be too
expensive, a photographer from the parish offered his
services for free.
Before the baptism and wedding day, Uma had another dream.
This time Mary was standing outside the historic St. Mary of
Sorrows Church, with a big smile on her face. She was holding
two wedding rings and three rosaries – red, orange and
yellow.
The couple decided to use those colors in Uma’s bouquet and
on the wedding cake, all donated by fellow churchgoers.
On the actual day, the whole parish was invited to see Uma
and Kumar receive the sacraments. A reception was held in the
hall of the historic church, decorated with red, orange and
yellow flowers.
“Even though we hadn’t planned things, God had planned for
us,” Kumar said. “He planned everything so perfectly and he
took care of everything, right down to the photographs. It
was like he has predicted this marriage for us. We are so
glad and so thankful and so lucky to be here.”
Father Starzynski said Uma and Kumar’s conversion story shows
that God works in mysterious ways. He felt honored that he
could be there to help the family.
“I think it speaks to how beautifully God can work and does
work,” he said. “It makes you think, are we flexible enough
to understand the ways God may work that are outside the box
that we have constructed?”
Since they received the sacraments, Kumar and Uma say the
disturbances and nightmares have stopped. Uma feels stronger
and is able to stay home by herself with no fear.
“We feel like the Holy Spirit in her has just given her this
total protection,” Kumar said.
The couple says they are constantly impressed with the parish
community.
“I feel like I’ve been wandering all over the place and that
I’ve come home,” Kumar said. “I never heard of such good
people, such good Catholic people.”
And through it all, Uma’s dreams of Mary continue.
“Whether it’s good or bad, we want to share them with
everybody so everybody knows about it,” Kumar said. “Some may
take it badly, but we want to share it. We are very
fortunate. I feel lucky, I feel honored and I feel blessed.”
