Testimony of Healing February 4, 1933 Issue

I have always been grateful that I was reared in a religious...

Mary Beatrice Van Maanen

I have always been grateful that I was reared in a religious atmosphere. My father was very fond of explaining difficult Bible passages to his children, and he disliked narrow creeds, saying there was no Bible authority for them. These teachings served me well in after years. For many years I taught in Sunday school; then for a while I worked for the Salvation Army. Leaving England we came to the United States, and the whole family joined a so-called orthodox church in the South.

In 1913 an English friend lent me "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy. Until then I had never heard of Christian Science. This introduction was a revelation to me. I could scarcely put the book down; but as I had a family of eleven to attend to, some work had to be done. I read the book through in about four days and nights (mostly nights), then reread it to one of my sons; and, though I did not realize it at the time, I was healed of rheumatism of twenty years' standing. The attacks used to come on every few months and the pain was intense. I had done all I could to relieve the pain and the doctors could do nothing for me. My knees and elbows were stiffening, and I dreaded being an invalid. My husband, who was a ship's captain, had brought me many supposedly wonderful cures from abroad, one of which did seem to relieve the pain for a while, but it always returned. While reading Science and Health I was not thinking of myself, but only of what it would mean to the whole world if this was true. Since then there has been no return of the rheumatism. One of my little girls has been able to lay aside glasses which she had worn for seven years, and I have been healed of constipation from which I had suffered over forty years. We purchased a copy of Science and Health.

A testing time came. My husband passed on suddenly, leaving me with nine children; and, owing to some mistake on the agent's part, we lost all the insurance. One of my sons had gone back to England in 1914 to enter the war. The year that followed stands out as a bad dream of intense mental suffering; then came a letter from the British War Office saying my son had been seriously wounded. After he had been in the hospital four months, we heard that his feet were to be amputated. My prayers and the prayers of my church friends did not seem to help him, so in despair I turned to strangers who I had heard were Christian Scientists, and I surely received comfort and encouragement. For the first time I really learned what true prayer is and how to pray. All the misery I detailed to my new friends they reasoned away with Bible promises, especially the assurance, "Underneath are the everlasting arms." Just two weeks later we received a letter saying that my son had been discharged from the hospital, his feet completely healed.

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