ABSTRACT
I was visiting Mary in her home when she told me that something very unusual had occurred at church the week before. “There was something that happened last Wednesday that I wanted to tell you about,” she volunteered. “My husband and I have been attending this class that teaches us about the Holy Spirit. One of the women who teaches in it, Silvia, was going around praying for different people, and she came to me with an impartation.” Mary briefl y explained that an impartation was the act of transferring a divine blessing one had received on behalf of another. For this, Mary explained, Silvia liked to pray by standing face-to-face, hand-over-hand with palms touching. That night, as Silvia prayed over Mary in this manner, Mary had a vision of heaven. In hushed tones she described for me her vision, an aerial view of an alabaster city fi lled with glimmering fountains, and her reaction to the sight, her quiet sobbing and the deep, almost anesthetic peace she had experienced. “When it was done,” she told me, “I was just softly crying and I said ‘I saw the Holy City.’ Silvia looks at me and she says, ‘I know. I saw it, too.’”
