Religious instruction was very special to me. I don't know what my other lives were like but when the nun sat up there and told us about Jesus, I believed her. For some reason, I figured that anyone who wore black and white and didn't go out very much was someone to be believed. So, when she told us about Jesus, I accepted every word of it. She would march us to the church and show us pictures of people burning in hell and purgatory. I loved the whole system; it was fascinating. So, this is some of how we were prepared for our first Communion day.
On May 18, 1958, my parents were having a big dinner party at the house. It was part of the celebration of my first Communion. I was raised by Polish parents in a Polish neighborhood in Buffalo, New York, ninety-nine  percent Catholic. (I didn't  know what a Protes-

tant was until the end of grammar school when the Reformation was explained to me by another nun.) May 18 was a very special day for me. I remember going to Mass that morning. There was a large procession to the church. The Knights of Columbus were there, if any of you know who they are. Everyone had outfits on, the choir was singing, the candles were lit, the incense was burning. We had practiced this over and over and finally it was time to go to Communion for the first time. I was told that when I went forward to that altar rail for the first time, Jesus was literally present in the bread (Catholics are really big about this), and that when the bread was put on my tongue and I swallowed that bread, Jesus was going to come and live inside me. I understood it and I was ready. And so I sat through that service with a very big heart waiting for Jesus to come. When it was time to go forward, I walked up to the Communion rail, received Communion, and I was filled with the most beautiful sense of peace and joy. I remember walking to my pew and just bursting into tears. I was so elated. It was the first time that I physically and spiritually felt this close to God and I loved it. It was a wonderful experience. When I look back at that now and at what has happened in my life, when I hear the dates May 17,18, and 19, and Baba coming to the States, landing in New York and me being in Buffalo, New York at the age of seven and having that experience, maybe it's another fantasy but I really feel that maybe Baba had something to do with that. You know, He was in New York doing something to me there in Buffalo in order for me to have that experience. My parents had a beautiful party that day. I was so filled with God's presence that I didn't want to be at that party. I would sneak off into the upstairs bedroom and I would close the door in my bedroom because I just wanted to be with Jesus.

I must have been steeped in Catholicism in another lifetime because I really got into it. I mean, you're talking about spending allowance money on statues and candles. Do you know how serious that is? When I get together with my parents, I look at them and think, how did they do it? What would you do if you had an eight-year old who came home with a new statue for his room? What would you do if your eight-year old had his bedroom door closed and he was laying prostrate in front of the Blessed Mother, and you asked him, "What are you doing?", and he said, "Praying for the poor sinners on this planet."