By Sister Helen Prejean, csj

Sr. Helen Prejean, a nun in the United States, was asked by a death row prisoner to be his spiritual director. She said yes but never realized what anguish awaited her. Her story has appeared in the famous movie Dead Man Walking. Here she shares it with us.

I went into the women’s room because it was the only private place in the death house. I put my head against the tile wall and grabbed the crucifix around my neck and said, Oh Jesus God, Help me. Don’t let him fall apart. If he falls apart, I fall apart.” I was scared out of my mind. I had never watched anybody being killed right before my eyes.