Im not sure if they are always on the make and if its that simple. I visited Achill when it first opened and I was very impressed by what I saw of Christine Gallagher. However I would not go there now after all I have heard about the money investments etc. I do believe that she had a genuine experience and calling but as in many such cases human weakness and pride allowed space for satan and she has been led astray. I must remember that there for the grace of God goes any of us. Any visionary has human failings and they can loose their way if they are letting pride in. We must pray for all such people including all on this forum who have so generously shared their experiences to encourage us on the right path. I find it difficult to swallow any 'investigations' by the Irish media as they are certainly not 'independent'. Definitely anything they report should be taken with a pinch of salt.
First I would myself read her book(s) and discern before answering anyone who asks your advice. I myself have read both books and would have no problem telling someone that it is good to read them. I have found that they only increase my knowledge of God and Our Blessed Mother. The way we know if they are from God is by the peace we receive when reading (or listening) to them. If they are not from God, we would feel anxious and disordered. God bless you. Remain in His Holy Will.
You know Mary I always do a little check on the forum and myself from time to time to see if things are still honkey dorey. If I thought it had gone bad I would close it down in a heart beat. You can never be too careful. Pride is like a poison gas it sneaks in everywhere..not only pride , either there are many bad things out there, just waiting.. Its a bit like having to check your freezer from time to time to see nothings going bad in there. Perhaps as you say Christine failed to do this and missed her sell by date.
Padraig, I think the whole story is very sad for Christine and those who believed and continue to believe in her. I gather that the house still draws large crowds. All of them good people who pray. I suppose all those prayers said in sincerity will not go astray. Pride is a problem for all of us and the only solution is to fess up when we mess up. One of my daughters was a very spiritual child and I confess I became quite proud of her. Well Satan started attacking her on all sides and by the grace of God she has come through but it taught me a valuable lesson in humility. Your next fall is only a step away. Its good to know that. I liked Charlie Johnson's article on how he begged his son not to ask for special spiritual favours like he himself has. They are quite a load to carry. Im sure you can attest to that.
Anything, or anyone to do with Our Lady , as you know, Mary the devil particularly hates and is just bound to attack. I wonder sometimes if people who have a great Devotion to Our Lady always realise this? Of course the devil hates all Christians but those close to Mary he utterly detests. I am smiling at this because it sounds like a very good reason not to have a Devotion to Our Blessed Lady. But Our Lady is our General the Spiritual Leader of the Army. So Like and good Warrior will always fight on the front line. Anyone then who loves her will of course be right out there in the front line too. So I believe Marian Warriors got special protection and graces for the place were they are. I think the main grace given is circumstances and helps to deepen humility. If we have humility I think basically the devil is helpless. If we don't have it, heaven is helpless. So Mary's Army is the small and little ones. Once we are no longer small and little we are no longer part of the army. We are like a sheep that wanders away from the sheep fold and shepherd and so become food for the wolves. But the fact that we may be in a good place now does not mean we may be in a good place in the future for as St Paul warns, Philippians 2:12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed--not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence--continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, and as St Peter warns: 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. View attachment 2180
Please pray for this Marian forum, it will always, always always be under fierce attack. View attachment 2181
This forum is like a safe refuge ( which is interesting given the recent discussions about safe houses and refuges in the event of persecution). I have found it an increasing comfort especially recently, with all the signs after signs around us: wars, plagues, evil and suffering. I find myself lifted up by the faith of the people here and, unlike other Catholic blogs or chatroom sites, it is characterised by a spirit of gentleness. Even when the debates get quite heated, it seems that the peace of God is still flowing freely beneath the surface, and people usually know when to cool off or not reply. people also say sorry here to one another when they have become intemperate. I love that. It's how families should be.
I have learnt soooo much about how to interact with people on matters that are boiling hot inside me. The great thing for me is that the interactions here are in slow motion because of the post/reply set up. So I feel it has really helped me to slow down my reactions in the real world, and I'm not as inclined to hit the 'go nuclear' button when people have those ridiculous opinions that are different to mine . Thank God for all our differences, and our similarities. Love you all.
I do not mean to upset anyone by my post, but I will say what Our Lord wants me to say and if it is in the way of an experience I have had, then it will be so. I do not promote nor condem Christina, but only pray for her. People in the eyes of many can be mislead by the enemy. Judge by the fruits. Blessings.
I would just like to say that Michael is also against Medjugorje. He is very orthodox on the Church's teachings, but I do not think he is spot on pertaining to prophetic voices of today. I lived outside the gates of Mother Angelica's Monastery and from what I understood, she believed in Christina and even had her on the show (EWTN - Mother Angelica has very good discernment). Now, as I said, the enemy is very capable of tricking even the most spiritual persons, but that is God's Will and He always tests us. She may have been mislead. Several friends of mine visited the House of Prayer in Ireland and met Christina - half came back not believing and another one built the House of Prayer in Florida (I know her very well) with funds from those who did believe. As far as MDM, you only have to read her messages to find out she is a fake (this has been proven by several very holy Priest who discern these things). As far as Michael's comment that these people cause "division" - that can only happen if we let it! We must learn to discern for ourselves and not listen to those who would be negative without even having read the messages or books. There is no division - only Love! God bless you.
We will agree to disagree Lynn. My one last shot before riding over the horizon is this. The killer for me was and always is a purported 'visionary' collecting money. I hate to see money changing hands in the Temple. TO be honest even when official collections are taken up in Church in makes me uneasy. I remember years ago we got a new Parish Priest and he went up a million times when he said, 'I am only ever going to speak about money once a year in this parish and this is it'. Wonderful man. But the official Church Parishes, Missionaries, Apostolic Organisations yes...a little, but not visionaries with a prophetic role. Never, never, never.You can search the whole of Scripture and not find a Prophet finding a hand out..except may Elijah who asked for a little bread and oil of an old widow during a great famine. Money is the great killer and the root of much evil in the Church. For the Prophet I would say the Words of Jesus ring most true, Matthew 10:8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give. Look at the great Marian Sites of the world . Lourdes, St Bernadette, not a dime, St Catherine Laboure, the Rue DU Bac, nothing, the Children of Fatima again not a cent and so on. On the contrary God appears to seek out the very poorest of the poor and permit them to stay that way in imitation of Mary and Jesus themselves Luke 9:58 Jesus replied, "Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." Forgive me but Christine appears to have several quite considerable mansions to lay her head. I too have visited the House of Prayer on Achill Island on two occasions several years ago and my impression was nothing but good..as it was off the messages. But discernment on these phenomena has to be ongoing. It is the same thing with Medugorje I believe in Medugorje ,I always believed in Medugorje. However this does not mean like an old guard dog I don't keep one eye open and one ear perked for the false. It was the same when I was young with Padre Pio. I always believe in him but always kept an ear perked for the false. 1 John 4:1 - Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. It is not as with boarding a train with discernment. We do not step on a train and believe all is fine and we do not have to get off again to the end of the journey. Discernment is ongoing. When Mother Angleica said Christine was fine she was very probably right. But I suspect she would be having kittens if she looked into it now. Never let us be afraid of respectfully and charitablly disagreeing with one another on such matters Lynn, there is no harm in this. But the first duty of charity of course is to the truth. So that's it. My last post for now on Christine. Sometimes people like eggs, milk and bread can go sour and I think that's what happened here. Ezekiel 33:6 But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes someone's life, that person's life will be taken because of their sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for their blood.'
I'm 65 years and downsizing and getting rid of a lot of books. Years ago I was reading a lot of books on apparitions. Something about Christiana Gallagher, I forgot exactly what it was, didn't seem right to me and I lost interest. Something about having to go to Ireland, I think. That's one book I will be trashing. I just got through reading the Old Testament and am now reading the Catechism of the Catholic Church. I agree with the above video about what I should be reading. At my age, I don't have time to waste. I think this site is going to be helpful. I do love the Blessed Mother and try to say my Rosary every night.
At the time Jesus walked the Earth there were several false Messiahs. Rabbi Gamaliel actually mentioned one of these in the Acts of the Apostles. http://readingacts.com/2011/09/07/paul-at-the-feet-of-gamaliel/ Acts 5:34-39 34 But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, who was honored by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and ordered that the men be put outside for a little while. 35 Then he addressed the Sanhedrin: “Men of Israel, consider carefully what you intend to do to these men. 36 Some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men rallied to him. He was killed, all his followers were dispersed, and it all came to nothing Actually you heard this read out in Church just a few days ago , if you recall.
You may also know that much of modern Islamic Jihad, especially that of ISIS is based on false Islamic prophecy that centres on the coming of Mahdi, the Islamic Messiah and a kind of apocalypse, a final Holy War were non believers will be overthrown and a world Caliphate, or Islamic Government will be established all over the world and we all all be followers of the False Prophet Mohammed. (I will need to watch what I write here of I will get my head chopped off)
I would go on to say well over 90 per cent of so called visionaries are false...and do huge damage (instance ISIS) However there has to be balance here. How is God to speak to the world except through the Holy Spirit and how is the Holy Spirit to speak to our times but through the tongues of men? Scripture itself warns us: 1 Thessalonians 5:19 Do not quench the Spirit. Now imagine a relative of yours goes to a bad useless Doctor. That Doctor gives bad advice and treatment and your relative dies. Does that mean that you would avoid all Doctors in the future. Of course not. What you would do is use your commonsense, your discernment more closely in the future so that you would avoid bad doctors . We must be careful here not to throw the baby out with the bath water. There are for instance many bad, evil priests in the world at the moment. That doesn't mean I leave the Church. We walk a fine road in all this, but that is why the Holy Spirit was sent to us at the Sacrament of Confirmation. To guide, strengthen us and help us make wise Judgements. Michael Voris in my opinion , goes too far in these matters,. He lacks balance.
