I was ordained a priest in 1990 and was working as an assistant priest in the Salford diocese, when one day my bishop, Patrick Kelly, who is now archbishop of Liverpool called me into his office. He told me that he had something in mind for me and that he wanted me to become the spiritual director at Ushaw seminary.

To equip me for this he wanted to send me to the United States to do a two year MA degree in counselling and psychology and he wanted me to start this in the autumn. When I enquired about the course, however, I realised that I didn’t have the right entry requirements as I needed a BA in psychology. The university agreed to waive this, however, on the condition that when I arrived I took some extra exams in six of the subjects we would be covering to show my proficiency in the field.

This was a bit daunting as I had no time to prepare for the exams and I had to get everything organised at very short notice, just to get there by the start of the September term. God was with me, however, and although most of the flights to the States were all booked up as the Olympics was happening there that year, a parishioner who had contacts managed to get my visa and tickets and everything sorted in five weeks. This was a bit of a miracle in itself. Even so it was a rush and I only arrived on the night before term started and went straight into my first lecture the next day. I was expecting someone to come up to me and tell me when I was supposed to do the proficiency exams. But nobody did, so, relieved, I just kept going to class. After six weeks, however, I still hadn’t done these tests so when I went to see my head of department about another matter I mentioned this to her.

When she found out that I was doing the course even though I didn’t have the proper entry requirements she was a bit shocked, and said I would have to do the proficiency tests later on in the summer. But as this proved impossible she said she would waive this as long as I got a B+ average in all my subjects to show that I was up to the standard. This was quite a challenge as I’m someone with average intelligence and I never got above a C at school. I was also finding two of the lecture courses in particular very difficult and to be honest the content was way above my head and I couldn’t understand it at all.

It was my custom, however, to do a holy hour in front of the Blessed Sacrament each day. So when I came home in the evening I started to take my books with me into the chapel where I was staying and I would say to the Lord, “I don’t understand this” and I would talk to him about it. I felt sure I was where I should be and it was necessary for me to get good results if I was going to get my degree and do what the bishop wanted me to do so I trusted that the Lord would somehow help me with this. Sometimes I would get up early and do my Holy Hour at 7 in the morning in the Adoration chapel on the campus. This particular day I was talking as usual to the Lord about my difficulties when I was struck by the statue of Our Lady of Fatima in the chapel. I felt called to kneel before this and told Our Lady “I am dedicating this MA to you and I am asking you to clear the fog in my brain about these subjects and help me to understand what I am studying.” I don’t know exactly what happened, but suddenly I found I could understand everything that was being said and at the end of my two year course, out of the 16 subjects I studied I got 13 As and 3 Bs which was quite amazing given my background. The whole experience really helped me to grow in my faith and trust in God and in the intercession of Our Lady.

I feel that when you pray to God it is not just about saying set prayers but talking to him about the reality and problems of your life. My experience taught me a lot about how near God is to us and He does help in ways we can’t imagine. Nothing is too difficult for him. We can tell Him how it is and we can be sure that if it is for God’s glory and our salvation He will always help us. When I collected my degree rather than feeling a sense of achievement I just felt a deep sense of gratitude at what God had done for me. What I learned has helped me a lot in my ministry both as a spiritual director at Ushaw and more recently as a parish priest here in Moss-side. God knew what I needed for his kingdom and helped me to achieve it and I really praise Him for it!

Fr Pat Deegan is the parish priest of Our Lady’s church in Moss-side Manchester