the eucharist and the conversion of the atheist writer ... · the eucharist and the conversion of...

ANDRÉ FROSSARD20TH CENTURY

The Eucharist and the Conversion of the Atheist Writer

The conversion of the atheistwriter Andre Frossard, in thepresence of the Holy Eucharist,has had great repercussions inthe world. He himself recounted how his conversioncame about in his book, God Exists. I Have Met Him(1969). Up to his final years,up to his final days, he wouldonly say: “Since the time whenI encountered God, I havenever succeeded in growingtired of the mystery of God.Every day is something newfor me. And if God exists, I should speak of it; if Christis the Son of God, I shouldproclaim it loudly; if there isLife Eternal, I should preach it.”

rossard’s testimonial: “Having entered achapel in the Latin Quarter of Paris at 5:10in the morning to look for a friend, I left at

a quarter after 5 in the company of a friendshipthat was not of this earth. Having entered as askeptic and an atheist…and ever more skepticaland atheistic, indifferent and preoccupied with somany things other than a God to Whom I nevereven gave a thought even to deny... I was standingby the door, looking around with my eyes for myfriend, but did not succeed in finding him...

“My gaze passed from the shadows tothe light...from the faithful gathered there, to thenuns, to the altar...and came to rest above thesecond candle burning to the left of the Cross(unaware that I was standing in the presence ofthe Blessed Sacrament). And at that point,

suddenly a series of miracles unfolded whoseindescribable force shattered in an instant theabsurd being that I was, to bring to birth theamazed child that I had never been... At firstthe hint of these words, ‘Spiritual Life’ came tome... as if they had been pronounced in a whis-per next to me... then came a great light... aworld, another world of a radiance and a des-tiny that in one stroke cast our world amongthe fragile shadows of unfulfilled dreams... ofwhich I felt all the sweetness... a sweetness thatwas active and upsetting beyond every form ofviolence, capable of breaking the hardest stoneand that which is even harder than stone - thehuman heart. Its overflowing eruption, so com-plete, was accompanied by a joy which is theexultation of the saved, the joy of the shipwreckedwho is picked up just in time. These sensations,

which I find difficult to translate into a languagewhich cannot capture these ideas and images,were all simultaneous... Everything is dominatedby the Presence… of Him of Whom I wouldnever be able to write His name without fear ofharming its tenderness, of Him before Whom Ihave had the good fortune to be a forgiven childwho wakes up to discover that everything is agift… God existed and was present... one thingonly surprised me: The Eucharist! Not that it seemed incredible, but it amazed me that DivineCharity would have come upon this silent way tocommunicate Himself, and above all that Hewould choose to become bread, which is the staple of the poor, and the food preferred by children… O Divine Love, eternity will be tooshort to speak of You.”

© 2006, Istituto San Clemente I Papa e Martire / Real Presence Eucharistic Education and Adoration Association

André Frossard

Hans Friers, The living cross, FribourgF