Ursula’s experience when we had parted.
This account would not be complete if I did not include what happened to Ursula when we had decided to part for good earlier that day. Here is the story in Ursula’s own words.
“I went back to my flat, accepting that I had to face the inevitable truth that my relationship with David had come to an end. I was deeply upset but, in my heart, was totally resigned to it leaving it alone.
It had been an emotionally exhausting day. Too much for me. I got into my room and simply let go, flopping down on the bed. Within seconds I had fallen fast asleep and was happily dreaming a load of rubbish.
Quite suddenly, the dream seemed to take on an entirely different feel. My memory of this is so fresh that, to this day, when I picture it, it is like remembering a real event.
I was in a passageway in a church or convent and lots of people were in front and behind me. We were all waiting to go through a wide corridor which seemed to connect the sacristy of the church to another room. A very old priest, who had just said mass, was now sitting on a wooden armchair at the end of the passage. The people shuffled forward, three or four abreast till they reached him, and the priest blessed each one. With some he would say a few words and put his hand on them before they went on.
Somehow, I knew this person was Padre Pio although I had only seen one photo of him as a young monk. David had talked quite a bit about him, but I had no devotion to him at all. I knew nothing about him or what he did.
However, I was quite curious and was happy to wait in line till I reached him.
I remember him clearly. He was wearing gold and white vestments and was very old. There was practically no hair on his head, and he seemed frail and strong at the same time.
He did not say a word but touched my head as I knelt in front of him before I passed on.
Some nuns came along and led me into a very large, nicely furnished room. It seemed to be some kind of parlour or meeting room which had glass windows, nearly floor to ceiling, on one wall. The glass windows overlooked a wide green area with sloping lawns, nearly identical to the lawns and buildings of Ampleforth College which I was to see many years later.
Then the nuns left. They smiled sweetly, telling me that I had to wait there till they returned.
As soon as they left the room, I noticed three or four large black dogs running around the lawn outside the window. When as they saw me watching them, they came rushing over and started jumping near the glass window, barking furiously and baring their teeth. At first I was surprised but unconcerned. However, it seemed to go on for a long time and their leaps at the window were becoming more violet.
I stood back in astonishment and hoped they would go away. Instead of going, they began to jump against the glass itself which began to shake with every leap. The barking was now frighteningly loud, and I became scared, thinking they would break through at any moment. I put my hands to my ears and ran to the door to call the nuns. The second I opened the door to call them; the barking stopped.
A nun came in and calmly asked me what the problem was. Still in my panicked state, I half screamed “did you hear those dogs barking? They nearly broke the window.”
From being a sweet, accommodating person, she suddenly glared at me as though she had just met a mad woman face to face who needed to be corrected and controlled for her own good.
Her words were spat out at me as she took hold of the door handle, ready to make a quick exit.
“There are NO dogs out there” she insisted. “There never were any dogs,” she repeated, slamming the door behind her.
I was left feeling lost, puzzled and just a little frightened. Did I imagine it? Was I a bit mad?
Then I heard a voice calling to me from the corridor I had passed through. I knew, without any doubt whatsoever, it was the voice of Padre Pio calling to me from a distance.
He simply said, “HOLD ON, HOLD ON, HOLD ON”
Each time he said it I knew exactly what was meant.
Hold on to God - and your faith
Hold on to your mind - you are not mad. This second ‘hold on’ also clearly referred to the many wonderful things that David had told me had happened to him over the years. One of our group had warned me not to go out with him as he was a ‘psychic’. This particular ‘hold on’ was telling me not to take any notice of these accusations.
Hold on to David - That needed no explanation.
I woke up with a start and jumped out of bed realizing that, if I did not act quickly, David and I may be split up for good. It was now very clear to me that I had to go and see David immediately. So, despite our resolution to part, I set off for his flat in Stockwell.
It was a great relief when I knocked on his door, to see that he was not very surprised to see me. After he related his own story to me, I knew that it was no co-incidence that I had been urged to go back and see him.
It was, in fact, a God-incidence”