Shayne Smith was born into a world of organized crime. He and his three brothers endured abuse at the hands of their step-father and ultimately took after him as full members in a motorcycle gang. Robbery and violent crime became their full-time jobs. 

But then, Smith and his brothers chose to abandon this way of life. U.S. government intervention enabled them to safely leave the gang, relocate, cover their gang tattoos, and reintegrate into society. The government also helped Shayne secure employment with a non-profit that assists and cares for young men with severe autism. This was a transformative experience—one step toward his eventual conversion. 

Now a devout Catholic, Smith spent most of his life devoid of belief in God and even dabbled in the occult. He credits much of his radical conversion of the heart to a personal encounter with Our Lady of Guadalupe.      

“I was praying for the first time in my adult life in a church. And I saw ‘Her.’” 

Not knowing who this mysterious lady was, Shayne continued speaking directly to God.

“Mary decided to intervene in that and revealed herself to me, which, in that moment, should have been terrifying.” 

But it wasn’t. 

“I saw ‘Her’ and she just sort of reached out and touched me, and then she was gone, and I was different.”

Smith knew there was no going back: “After encountering ‘Her,’ I intuitively grew closer to Jesus without understanding who she was, what her role in the plan of salvation is, or anything else.”

While the change of heart was immediate, his acceptance of Church teaching came gradually. “My heart is converted. I give my life to Jesus. I’m all in. I’m chomping at the bit to get baptized,” Smith said, “but [then] I began to struggle with doctrine. And that’s when I realized I need to convert my mind.”

Through the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas, and study of Natural Law, Smith’s worldview continued to shift; and with it, his life. It became clear that his approach to his career—now as a successful comedian—needed to change. So, he jumped in with faith and left everything in God’s hands. 

Now living a life of mission, Smith says he knows his duty in this new apostolic age: “I do think that we live in a pagan society … full stop. Everything about it is pagan, from the way we view humans in the womb to the way we engage with art and culture and the worship of money and all these other things. … And just like the Christians that came before us, our job is to baptize these people and this culture.”

His remedy is not to strip away from today’s popular culture, but to embrace each medium and use it as a channel to communicate truth. Commenting on his personal love for heavy metal music, Smith said, “Christ gave us music to raise our hearts to the Lord. And so, I think we need to take these things from the pagans and show them what the most authentic and best version of them are.” 

Now, Shayne Smith uses his voice in service to God. His conversion reassures those afraid to take the leap into a radically different life. His tattoos convince those afraid of losing themselves that in Christ their true identity can be found. And his career exemplifies that God has a distinct plan for every one of His sons and daughters. 

“They see me listening to heavy metal, still enjoying being tattooed, and not being ashamed, and they realize … ‘Oh, I can be modest, I can be weird, I can be eccentric or silly or goofy, but I can still live a sacramental life.’ And so, my favorite thing about my conversion, for sure, is basically getting all the freaks and weirdos into Mass.”

Shayne Smith recently visited Cincinnati in support of The Serenelli Project.