On a recent episode of Catholic Views, host Renae Kranz sat down with Blake DeVries, a freshman at South Dakota State University, to talk about his journey into the Catholic faith. From anti-Catholic to embracing the faith, Blake’s journey is an inspiration and testament to the power of the Holy Spirit. Be sure to check out the full interview on our website sfcatholic.org. (Responses are edited for length and clarity.)
Renae
Blake, can you start by telling us a little bit about your background and where you’re from?
Blake
I grew up in Lake Benton, Minnesota, (about 30 miles east of Brookings on Highway 14). My dad manages a couple of wind farms in the area, and my mom is a speech pathologist who works in Pipestone with younger kids. I have one sister.
I grew up Methodist in a little church in Lake Benton. We were a very faithful family in general. My dad made it a point that I never missed church. I went to Sunday school every Sunday. We prayed before we ate as a family. My mom would pray with us before we went to bed every night. We’d pray for our friends, family and for things that we were thankful for as well as ask forgiveness. So that gave me the firm foundation of being able to know Jesus and grow in relationship with him.
Renae
Initially, you didn’t really view the Catholic Church very well. Can you tell us about that?
Blake
Yes, I watched a lot of YouTube videos, especially Seventh-day Adventists. I feel like during that age, when I was in junior high, most boys who were interested in faith were interested in the end times and revelation. So I would Google that, and the guy I would watch a lot basically made it sound like the Catholic Church was horrible and that the pope was the antichrist.
Some of my mom’s closest friends were Catholic, and I told my mom to stop talking to them. I would call Catholics “Mary worshippers” and tell them they were wrong. Anything negative, I said it.
Renae
Something changed your mind. What happened?
Blake
The Bible camp I grew up going to was held at the Broom Tree Retreat Center family camp during my eighth grade year. It was an awesome Bible camp, and I loved going. My friends there were part of the Church of Christ, and they said a person needed to be fully immersed during baptism and that the baptism needed to be your own decision in order for it to be valid. I asked some church elders who were there, and they basically said that if I wanted to go to heaven, I would have to be baptized this way.
That thought was very daunting. The last day there, we went to the St. Isidore Chapel to sing at midnight. I was bawling my eyes out, scared for my salvation, for my family’s salvation. I was asking for the Lord to guide and direct me, and then he dropped a bomb on my life.
That night, I had a dream, prior to which I had no knowledge of Our Lady of Fatima or really anything to do with Mary. In the dream, I was standing on one side of a wheat field, and she (Mary) was on the other side. On her right were two small children, and on her left was an adult. They were holding hands and walking toward me.
I asked for something, something worldly, money or something. Our Lady looked at me with her eyes kind of downcast, and they turned and started walking away. I stopped them, and then I asked for the world to know Christ, which, I didn’t know at the time, was the main message of Fatima. They turned and smiled and began walking toward me. Their clothes were changing a lot of different colors, which I didn’t understand.
After the dream, I decided to research the Catholic Church theologically and from a historical point of view, looking at the Church Fathers and the Bible. I eventually came across the story of Our Lady of Fatima who appeared to three children, two of whom died young and one, Lucia, became a Carmelite. That connected with my dream.
My parents let me attend CCD, and when I was in tenth grade, we went on a field trip to the Fatima Shrine in Alexandria. Father Kuhn talked about the miracle of the sun, how it was dancing and changing colors during the apparition, and the last part of my dream finally clicked.
Renae
You were just recently confirmed. Why didn’t you get confirmed sooner?
Blake
I was technically Catholic theologically for four years before I was confirmed. My town is really small. I wanted to become Catholic, but my parents thought it would cause a lot of drama within the family and within our church. They let me go to Mass, which I attended in Elkton and Flandreau.
Renae
It sounds like you’re bringing others to the Church with you now since your conversion. Can you explain that?
Blake
Two brothers were baptized in the Church but later started attending the Baptist church. I started inviting them to Mass. Another boy I did workouts with had fallen away from the faith. After talking to him, both he and his mom started coming back to Mass. I was his sponsor when he was confirmed.
In this upcoming Confirmation class, there are going to be four kids from Elkton who are going to receive First Communion and Confirmation. One will be my sister. I attribute this all to the intercession of Our Lady.
Elkton has a reverent liturgy. We have kids whose parents don’t go to Mass, who weren’t raised Catholic, who are now becoming Catholic. Father David Stevens is our main priest, and he does a lot of extra things like holy hours and vespers and the youth are going to those things. I think Elkton is doing a great job catechizing our youth and showing how to love Our Lady and how that helps you love Jesus Christ.
