Faith Leavitt Smith Nyquist, 58, transcended this life on 20 September 1990. 

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She was born 11 January 1932 in Colebrook, New Hampshire, the 3rd child of Henry Walter and Marion Rebecca (Covell) Leavitt. Through both parents she descended from 3 of the oldest families in the North Country.  On her mother’s side, she was a 6th generation descendant of Isaac Covil, one of the petitioners for Colebrook’s charter in the 1700’s. On her father’s side she was a 9th generation descendant of Thomas Leavitt (Samuel), brother of John Leavitt. From both immigrant brothers descend all the Leavitts in America. She was especially proud that one great grandmother (Marie DuBois) was French/Indian.

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A further inheritance from both parents was outstanding athletic ability. She was an enthusiastic outdoor girl who excelled in all sports. In high school she was crowned Carnival Queen. She graduated from Colebrook Academy in the Class of 1950. This was the end of her formal education.

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In 1953, married to Robert G. Smith and living in Providence, Rhode Island, she suffered a cerebral stroke that left her blind and severely paralyzed – the earliest such case on record at that time in New England for a person her age. Doctors only expected limited recovery at best. She was living in Florida when, in church one Palm Sunday, she experienced a total miraculous healing. The event transformed her life.

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( See Faith’s Testimony –“MY CONVERSION” )

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Guided by revelation and visitations from Jesus, she became an internationally admired lecturer and teacher – often compared to St John of the Cross – a man she’d never heard of, let alone read. She laughed at her lack of college and dismissed it by saying, “I have my MASTERS’S degree”.

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She converted to Catholicism but her ministry remained interdenominational. She became a friend and disciple of George M. Lamsa who translated the Holy Bible from ancient Easten manuscripts. Her study of the Aramaic – the language of Jesus – gave truth and authority to her teachings.

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Her true life encounters would in themselves make a fascinating book. At one time Catherine Marshall ( “A Man called Peter”, “Christy”) considered writing a book based on Faith’s life and the two of them spent dozens of hours taping her testimony.

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Faith established a House of Prayer in Lantana, Florida, whose works spread to other states, to Chile, the Dominican Republic, the British Isles and Ireland which became her second home.

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She travelled and lectured extensively: in convents, at retreats, to foreign audiences and to groups large and small. In the Philippines she dined with a Prince of the Church and later comforted murderers on the eve of their execution. One memorable Easter sunrise was spent high in the Andes and she rejoiced at the echo when she shouted, “JESUS CHRIST IS ALIVE”.

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Faith knew great joy in her life and she also knew great sadness. Her own mother died when Faith was eight years old and two of her three sons, Peter and Jim, died tragic deaths. Her first marriage ended in divorce.

In 1980 she married Conrad Nyquist, a psychologist and minister with the World Healing Crusade in Blackpool, England, now called the World Healing Centre. Her work in Ireland flourished. 

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She kept in touch with friends in Akra Tours to the Holy Land, Ireland to Catholic shrines throughout Portugal, Spain and Italy. Her annual visits to Lantana were splendid times.​

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Following her burial in Park Cemetery, Lytham-St-Annes, near Blackpool, a memorial service was held at Unity of the Palm Beaches in West Palm Beach, Florida. On Sunday evening 28 September, a more intimate service was held at the Lantana House of Prayer where her life was celebrated with music and sharing. Simultaneous services were held in Britain and Ireland.

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Her life was dedicated to healing the division between mental understanding and human experience in our relationship with God. “To know God is to experience God. Know the truth and that knowing (experiencing) of the truth will set you free,” she taught. For Faith, our separation from knowing and experiencing God deprived us of our birthright to live freely as children of God. She taught that this deprivation was caused by:

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1. Childhood traumas, parenting practices which hindered rather than helped the child to grow from dependence to interdependence.

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2. The parental lack of awareness of their own spiritual and human dignity depriving them of experiencing love themselves. Without such an experience they could not be as loving caretakers of the ‘child of God,’ their offspring, as God would wish.

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3. Unloved children become alienated from their inner life and identity. Without this identification with their spiritual sacredness, they enter into relationships that are unfulfilling, thereby perpetuating the separation of God from humankind.

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Faith taught that healing of the generations begins:

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1. By changing our concepts of God. Through religious indoctrination we learned to believe in and follow a distant, impersonal God. By returning to the authentic teachings of Jesus and of the prophets, we can purify our conceptual faith with the living truth. This truth, she believed, was incorporated in the Aramaic translations of the scriptures by Dr George Lamsa.

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2. We can overcome inhibitions preventing us from relating to life in loving ways through spiritually based healing of emotional hurts.

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Faith shared her revelations and inspirations through her international retreat work, participating in international and national conferences and extensive series of audio-tapes, books and articles. Innumerable experiences of God’s love filled her life and were shared with those whom she met. Countless experiences of her love have enriched the lives of those who knew her.

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Healing experiences of deep hurts and entangled lives were constantly witnessed by those who knew Faith.  The freedom she brought to others lives and the dignity she unveiled within their souls, was remarkable. The opening of hearts to a nurturing and nourishing relationship with a personal and enlightening, caring Creator, is the pearl of great price, revealed by the life of this Lady of Prayer.