Amazing thread....I go in an out of Dark Night....but my recent experiences have brought me a peace unlike anything. That no matter how difficult praying is and maybe I'm not getting anything out of it, It is being deposited for the needs of others and has more value I think because I got nothing out of it.... Twice recently, hospitalization with sepsis, 103 fever 3 days that wouldn't break for an abscess....and on Tylenol and Advil and still burning up and thinking this it.....this is how I am going out......then came the hemorrhage and i lost half my blood in my body....this is it, this is how I am going out. But the peace I felt when the Blessed Mother prayed over me......man, I will do anything to feel that again.....Like nothing of this earth. So I will suffer here so I can finish the race and get to heaven. We are all meant to be saints, yes?
Joe we are both a work in progress. If Our Mother gave you that exquisite simple prayer you may be further down the road than you think.
Thank you for your kind encouragement AED. I am often reminded these days that we are not dealing with flesh and blood (or metal and motors ) but with principalities and powers. I was on my way home from Akita when I had my crash and I had a mission that only became clear in the following weeks and months. This mission centred on the words of Our Lady of Akita, “I alone am able to save you from the calamities that approach. Pray very much the prayers of the Rosary. Those who place their confidence in me will be saved.” I was to commission four carvings after the fashion of the miraculous statue in Akita, to send them out to the world and place them on four continents. Including the original carving in Akita, this ensured that Mary’s promise made to the world thru sister Agnes in Akita became materially present to Africa, America, Europe, Asia and Australasia. My crash was Satan’s pathetic attempt to prevent me completing my mission. (As it happened this was only one step in his plan.) Thank God for Our Lady - you’d think Satan would get fed up getting his old skull crushed by Mary’s heel and his eye poked out by St Michaels’s spear. I acknowledge that my mission was a great gift to me but I find that I still must be careful not to let it go to my head. It’s big enough already ha. I ask pardon for having gone off the topic of The Dark Night of the Soul. I will shut up.
1 Peter 5:8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. I would say most Catholics nowadays do not believe in the Devil in any real effective way. At best they beleive in him as a kind of vague someone, 'out there'. A thing that has no real effect in their days to day existence. This is because Lucifer is a superbly intelligent General of the Infernal Hosts and has chosen the strategy of remaining hidden in the World so that poor people like dumb sheep imagine he does not exist or does not matter. But he exists he simply hides in the bushes ready to spring.
Revelation 12:12 Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and of the sea! For the devil has come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.” For the soul in the Dark Night is may be very, very different. There is no point in the devil hiding for through Faith the soul knows he lies crouching , even hidden in the bushes. So here he may very well come out in the open. In my own case I have found this very much to be true, very often in dreams. For instance I dreamt last night I was in a large empty house and knew the devil was present. As I prepared to confront him I noticed that I was missing a dog and concerned went down to get him even though I was not quite prayerfully ready. I was confronted with a series of demons on the stairs who appeared as characters for the Great Protestant Rebellion in England including King Henry viii. I prayed before them and they disappeared. However a doorway opened and I was confronted by a especially powerful demon. I sued the holy name of Jesus on him quoting scripture as follows, these demon appeared to in the dress of the period Philippians 2:10 The Attitude of Christ …9Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name above all names, 10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.… Eventually after a struggle this demon knelt, bowed his head and went away. Is it possible for dead people, the damned to come back as demons? I believe it is. However I recommend as far as demons and devils are concerned it is very, very shocking at first but you get used to it and it becomes water of a ducks back. Thoguh from time to time it can be more severe. But the devil is on a tight leash. If he is there he is only there because God permits him to be there for your own sanctification. Don;t let it worry you and don;t dwell on it. Psalm 91:11 My Refuge and Fortress …10no evil will befall you, no plague will approach your tent. 11For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.12They will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.…
Padre Pio is alleged to have once said to a doubter, “So you don’t believe in hell - you will when you get there.”
Don't dwell on demons just treat them like roaches when they come at you and get shot of them. Then move onto other things. never fear them.
I was once advised in confession with regard to temptation, never to dialogue with the devil. As you say Padraig he is much more clever than us. In The Screwtape letters it is suggested that its not what Satan puts into our minds that does most damage but what is kept out.
I know we are told not to be afraid but I must admit feeling great fear when Satan visits. I spray the room with holy water and pray like hell!
You're at it again Joe. That didn't take you long. I repeat the phrase , 'pray like hell' was wrong. Period.
As soon as you posted “You should not say ‘pray like hell’ it was clear to me you were at your old tricks again. It was a simple figure of speech. Nothing else. But you know that. I hope the forum members see that too. You were spoiling for a fight and seeing if I would take the bate. Your invitation for me to re-enter your forum was ingenuous to say the least and lukewarm at best. As in the past I feel welcome by the forum but not by you. I will not gang around for you to sully my name again. It would be both foolish and ill advised for me to encourage your abuse. It serves no useful purpose. I say good riddance to bad rubbish. “Weep not for me but for your self (your error) and for your children” (those you have led into error) May God bless the MoG forum members of good will and thank you for your kindness. Padraig’s level of malice towards me makes my continued presence here unconscionable.
