 |
Hector Rodriguez |
Most people already believe in the Holy Spirit, but there
are exceptions like Hector Rodriguez of Manhattan. Although Rodriguez wasn't
much of a believer in God, he went to Ramsey nearly seven years ago for a
reading at his pregnant wife's urging. He met Ramsey a couple of years earlier
through friends and was aware of his reputation.
Ramsey told Rodriguez his wife was pregnant and warned him
to expect serious health problems with his newborn. But Ramsey assured him she
- he predicted the gender too - would recover.
Rodriguez's daughter Cafega was born more than two months
premature. Among other problems, she developed hydrocephalus, an accumulation
of fluid in the brain. Doctors told the Rodriguez Cafega could end up with
cerebral palsy or mental retardation.
With the exception of a delay in walking some trouble
counting numbers in sequence and a slightly drifting attention span, Cafega is
a normal 6-year-old girl. Rodriguez attributes her recovery to Ramsey's
predictions and prayers.
"I'm a strong believer in God, stronger than ever
before," Rodriguez said. Ramsey only started exploring healing seriously
about 20 years ago. Once he became a teen-ager, Ramsey started to sup press his
healing ability and the brief flashes he had occasionally foreshadowing events
in even a stranger's life. The visions were frightening sometimes. He would
involuntarily see dark images of, say, a car wreck.
He grew up to be a carpenter by trade and in 1977 he moved
to Cuddebackville. A couple of years later his life was changed by an encounter
he had with a voice and image he believed to be Jesus. He described Jesus' face
as "white as a sheet." The voice encouraged him to open his eyes -
not his physical eyes, but his spiritual eye.
The voice said, "You're a healer," Ramsey said
"I want you to bring healing to my generation."
Seven other voices, he believed to be angels, reassured him
they would be with him.
In this vision, he was shown a church too. He found the church - the United Spiritual Scientist Fellowship - accidentally as he was walking down Middletown's North Street days later. He started attending and eventually conducted healing services each Wednesday.
People flocked to the church and even his home. In 1990, he
started Maurice's Healing Circle out of his home. Four years later, he added the
garage for Maurice's Healing Circle Online Inside the garage, a table with two vases of
silk flowers, a round glass container of water and three candles sit at the end
opposite the door. A stool sits in front of the table and a few stackable chairs
are situated in a semi-circle.
Ramsey doesn't charge for healing, but he accepts donations.
Gifts are determined by the visitor, whatever they can afford. The donation
could be $1 or $100. The workshops on self-healing, spiritual development and
guardian angels that Ramsey holds mainly in the spring and summer range in cost
from $10 to $65, depending on the length and intensity.
A few times the healing is instantaneous. Ramsey claimed
that a young boy who walked with an obvious limp ran - free of limp - from the
alter of the North Street Church. Some are not healed at all.
And he never advises that people abandon conventional
medicine. Because he doesn't keep track of successes, he depends feedback that
may come in a phone call or letter from the people who believe he helped heal
them. He doesn't keep track of the numbers of people he's seen or healed, but
Ramsey estimates he has seen more than 3,000 people, excluding hundreds in
churches.
"It takes a certainly quality to be a healer. And
that's love," Ramsey says. "This a true love I have for my fellow man
and I can't explain it."
