AED, My wonderful wife, Geralyn, is much more down-to-earth than I. When she is alone praying before a crucifix she'll picture herself climbing in through Jesus' wounded side and praying from within His Sacred Heart. O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!
My wife wrote a poem in relation to what you say in your post she was inspired to write it after going through dark times in her spiritual life Ray of Hope Descending clouds of black and grey Are closing in, oh God I pray They’re closing in around my mind Unable to breathe, so full of doubt It’s getting hard to raise my head The weight it pulls me down instead The more I hope and try to see The dark clouds seem to follow me Evil searches out the pure The hurt, the pain that they endure It’s too much for my heart to bear The dark clouds seem to follow me A burst of light is what I need A hint of hope, my soul may feed The victims of mans evil freed Dark clouds ascending off of me The rays of light start streaming through They reach the heart and warm it new They whisper love and faith renew Dark clouds ascending off of me The innocence will have their say Their voices heard, for this I pray The earth will look to be renewed Bright sky’s are hanging over me.
Thanks QuD. That is a lovely poem. I am praying hard to Saint Michael the Archangel who seems to be getting through this
Our Lady definitely has my back on this one I feel! Going to keep praying to her. Thanks everyone for the prayers!
I prayed for you at Mass today and at my Holy hour. I think Our Lady and St Gemma Gallgani are on the case!!
I completely agree...the truly faithful...or those trying to be, are under extreme attack. My prayer group are all expressing horrible attacks....more now than ever....
I just came upon this thread. I am sorry to hear of your difficulties, Sanctus, and I will certainly pray for you. I have read each post on this thread with great interest because my family has also been navigating through excruciating spiritual attacks that have been growing in intensity since early October. November 7, was a very dark day for our family, and I actually think some sort of evil force revealed itself in an effort to tear us apart, and lead us to despair. I spent my life protecting my children from evil, and now it here it is on our doorstep. I did not realize that so many others are also suffering through these intense attacks. I have never prayed so hard in my life, and this is the only reason that I have been able to hold it together. In spite of everything, I am miraculously calm. ‘Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything’.
Offering up masses for Sancus and all of you. You make me feel a little guilty because things are going so well with myself. If I were superstitious I would touch wood in case I Jinxed myself. I was reading there were St Jose Maria Escriva used to keep asking people for prayers, even total strangers in the street. Such Faith!! The Traditional American priest I went to in confession on Sunday (Society of Christ the King) bent his headi n in silence for a long while. I wondered what he was doing ..maybe thinking. It was only later in the week I realsied he had been praying for me. I grew wings on my feet!! Sweet man. Anyway praying away for you all,especially Sanctus.
Jo I can relate. I spent a lot of years protecting my children from evil but now well into their adulthood they are part of the world. I prayed years fof my husband to be converted and join the Church. Miraculously he did! And God graced him with two powerful miracles. But 20 years later he walked right out again. All I can say is like you pray pray pray.
This is a book my Spiritual Director recommended when I entered the Dark Night. I read it over and over gain. Loved it so much; especially the Scripture quotes. The only book better was the Book of Job, but St Teresa of Avila and St John of the Cross were a big help. https://www.amazon.co.uk/When-Well-Runs-Dry-Beginnings/dp/1594711372
In a kind of way the Spiritual Life is very like being a soldier. We can dress like soldiers in beautiful uniforms. We can live in barracks. We can be trained in all kinds of weapons and tactics. We can eat drink, think and sleep soldiering day and night. But it is not until we have gone into battle and taken in the smokes of war, nearly died and watched other die, being hardened in battle can we truly say we are soldiers. Others soldiers will know this and not treat us seriously until we have done so. The only way to become a veteran is to go into battle. If we lived our whole lives in the military we would still not be soldiers until battle hardened. So too with the Spiritual Life. It is the oven of affliction that makes the yeast, the bread of our souls rise towards God. Without this we would up Eternal Pancakes. This is the price we pay ofr being poor sinful humans. Ephesians 6:10-18 The Armor of God 10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Oh yes I also loved the Letters of Padre Pio. I bought all the Volumes and read them again and again. They were expensive but worth every cent. Poor man. He certainly suffered.
Oh Padraig, this is so true. "Battle ready is so different than battle hardened" so very well put. Adding the words of Ephesians adds more strength. May by the grace of God we all become battle hardened.
My Spiritual Director used to say praying to the Holy Spirit , the Light in the Dark was great. I am such a huge fan of Our Lady, where to turn to but our Mother. Stella Maris. Deep interior suffering is a black flame. Purgatory on Earth.
Well you have very great courage saying this. I should be afraid too. There is a story from the Life of the Cure of Ars, St John Vianney probably one of the Holiest men who ever lived. One time he was praying and asked God to show him his sins as God saw them. God started to do so. But within seconds he had to ask the Lord to stop he was in such anguish. He said if God had not done so he would have died on the spot. I think if God were to even show me the very beginning of my sinfulness I would explode into flames like a tiny nuclear bomb. I have so grown to love the Jesus Prayer.
You know of all the sufferings mankind can endure none is more terrible than the black fires of interior sufferings. They are like Purgatory on Earth. Sometimes I think people who have not gone through this talk too easily of God's Mercy. Yes God is Merciful but He is a Just God too and His Justice is Terrible. The Fear of God is the beginning of Wisdom. If we read the writing of St Faustina in her Diary this comes across so clearly in her writings. Yes, Mercy, Mercy, Mercy. But yes, Justice, Justice Justice too. It's like black coffee and cream. The two things go together. Psalm 85:10 Mercy and truth have met each other: justice and peace have kissed.
