A WOMAN believes she was healed by a ghostly apparition known as the White Lady as she visited a church during a family summer holiday.
Diane Berthelot
had been unwell for months after having her gall bladder removed and was
taking antibiotics for an infection when she went into Worstead village
church in Norfolk to rest and escape the heat.
While
she sat on a pew close to the font and prayed for a full recovery, her
husband Peter and son David wandered around the empty church taking
photographs.
Mrs Berthelot remembers vividly
tingling all over and feeling “warm and comfortable” while sitting on
the wooden bench with her eyes closed and head bowed.
When
she felt better the family left the church and did not think about the
incident until six months later when the camera film was developed and
they held a slide show of their holiday snaps for their lodger at their
home in Chelmsford, Essex.
One photo clearly
showed a woman wearing a bonnet and dressed in light-coloured,
old-fashioned clothes, sitting facing Mrs Berthelot on a bench directly
behind her.
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“My
feet started to tingle. This sensation eventually engulfed the whole of
me. It was a pleasant, comforting feeling.” Her husband added: “I had
been walking around the church looking at various things.
“I
came back, saw Diane sitting there and took the photo. I couldn’t see
anyone behind her but it’s so clear on the image. It’s incredible.”
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| St Mary's Church in Worstead |
The
following summer they went back to St Mary’s Church in Worstead and
showed the slide to the vicar, who told them about a local legend that
the White Lady was a healer who appeared when there was sickness.
The
folklore also said that a man climbed into the church belfry on
Christmas Eve in 1830, boasting he would kiss the White Lady if he saw
her.
His friends later found him huddled in a
corner whispering “I’ve seen her, I’ve seen her,” before dying. However,
Mrs Berthelot, now 81 and living in North Walsham, Norfolk, believes
her contact with the ghost was a positive experience which has boosted
her health and spiritual well-being throughout her life.
And
for decades after that first encounter on Saturday, August 2, 1975 she
experienced the same tingling sensation every time she looked at the
photo. She explained: “I always felt it was a blessing because my whole
life seemed to change after we realised the White Lady had sat behind
me. It inspired me to write poetry.
“I can remember the sensation that engulfed me sitting on that pew as if it was yesterday.”
Mr
Berthelot, 82, said: “Every time we have been back to the church, it
has been a very calming experience. I definitely believe in ghosts.”
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