My first healing in Christian Science was instantaneous. I had experienced a great sorrow, and life did not seem to be worth living; moreover, my health was in a very bad condition. In this extremity the saying, "The darkest hour precedes the dawn," was proved. At that time, quite unexpectedly, I met a friend, a Russian lady, a refugee from Moscow. Knowing the events which had caused her flight, I was surprised to see her so calm, so sure that the good which God bestows can never be lost. I could not help silently desiring to have such an unshaken faith in God. When she heard about all my sorrows, she told me of Christian Science, of Life ever present, of man made in the image of God. I felt at once that this truth could make me free. I received a Herald of Christian Science, from which I learned that "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy explains the Science of being. At that time—it was in 1919—the censorship was very severe and no foreign literature could enter our country; therefore it was not possible for me to order from abroad this textbook I so earnestly desired to have. When I learned from my friend that she possessed a copy of Science and Health, I asked her to lend me the book for a few days. Her answer was that she needed it constantly, and that she seldom gave it out of her possession; but she offered to let me have the book the next evening from nine o'clock till eight o'clock in the morning.
Although I was very grateful for this offer, I was also disturbed. I had been suffering all my life from very weak eyes. I could read but little without fatigue, followed by severe pain in the head. I had been told by several oculists that in order to conserve my sight I must spare my eyes, and never work or read by artificial light. But the next evening, when I had Science and Health in my hands, the desire to know more about God filled my thought to such an extent that I forgot all I had been told about my eyes. I read without intermission for two hours. I was filled with joy; the truth I learned had opened a door towards eternal Life and divine Love. I was completely healed; fear, pain, and fatigue had vanished. I knew that my sight in reality had never been weak.
Christian Science has since been my only help in trouble. I am deeply grateful to our Leader, Mrs. Eddy, for the understanding of the words and works of Christ Jesus which her discovery has brought to the world; grateful for class instruction; for membership in The Mother Church, and for the work I have the privilege to do in serving the Cause of Christian Science.— Chizinau-Kichineff, Bessarabia, Rumania.
