What la lovely story. It reminds me of the story of St Teresa of Avila. She was travelling to found another Carmel. It had been raining a lot, there was a lot of mud and her cart got stuck. She got out to push and fell flat on her face and got covered in muck . She was feed up and prayed to Jesus for help. The Lord answered her, 'This is how I bless my friends with suffering'. To which St Teresa replied , 'Well then, it's no wonder you have so few of them!' St Teresa had a great sense of humour and a ready wit, she reminds me of St Bernadette in this.
This is great kicking of point for another story of when I was 11 years old and got more scared than I ever been in my entire life, before or since. I call it: Ministeracres. Ministeracres is a Passionist Religious House in the north of England , very old like many old houses a little bit spooky with lots of nooks and crannies. Let me see if I can find a picture. ahhh here it is here, they even have a video!! http://www.minsteracres.org/ 'Minsteracres is an 18th-century mansion house, now a Christian retreat centre, in Northumberland, England. It is a Grade II listed building. The house was built in 1758 by George Silvertop'
Since I was about five I always wanted to be a priest and since my uncles brother was a Passionist priest I became interested in the Passionists. When I was 11 they held a kind of retreat in Ministeracres an my brother brought myself and my brother, Sean to stay there for a few days. Now I don't know if you know it or not but the Passionists have a special charism for doing exorcisms . For instance if you lived in Italy and sought and exorcist likely enough he might be a Passionist. My spiritual director , for instance did an exorcism , the first in our Diocese for 45 years and the late Chief Exorcist of the Catholic Church , Fr Gabriele Amorth ,was an exorcist.
Fr Ripperger the exorcist priest says to always consecrate your dreams to The Sacred Heart before you go to sleep because we are so vulnerable when only our unconscious is awake. I think this is good advice. I have felt this evil from time to time too Soldier. Sometimes I awake from a disturbing dream but no sense of what the dream was about and like you I repeat the name of Jesus and beg the covering of His Precious Blood. My father told me of something that happened to him in the middle of the night many years ago. It is quite a story. He awoke to something so terrifying and evil sitting on him. He couldn't breathe he couldn't cry out. He couldn't do anything. But he said suddenly from within him came these words: In the name of Jesus Christ I confound you. He said this horrible thing moved away from him with an evil laugh and disappeared. He was so frightened he awakened my mother and she sprinkled Holy Water. What amazed him was the use of the word confound. He couldn't imagine why he would have used it. He looked up the meaning and found the ancient meaning is"to put in another place". He tried to talk to a priest friend and the priest didn't want to even discuss it. Later he heardMalachi Martin on Art Bells radio show speak of something similar and he felt much better. To me it was clear that his Angel spoke those words through him or the Holy Spirit. Curiously this happened right after he and my mother began fasting on Wednesdays as Our Lady had requested at Medjugorje and he was praying especially for his sister who had fallen away from the faith and had refused contact for many years.
He tried to talk to a priest friend and the priest didn't want to even discuss it. Later he heardMalachi Martin on Art Bells radio show speak of something similar and he felt much better. To me it was clear that his Angel spoke those words through him or the Holy Spirit. Curiously this happened right after he and my mother began fasting on Wednesdays as Our Lady had requested at Medjugorje and he was praying especially for his sister who had fallen away from the faith and had refused contact for many years. I will try to remember this the next time,(if it happens again) I pray that it does not. Funny how priests today do not want to discuss this. I feel that if I try to bring this up in conversation with my priests, they would think I am one of those religious fanatics that are seeking attention. Its quite sad, because I am sure there are a lot of people these days who are experiencing such things, and are probably giving in to the evil.
I knew a girl years ago who described this exact same thing happening to her one night after moving into a new flat. Unfortunately, at the time she was living with her boyfriend and so would not have had the protection of being in the state of grace or having recourse to prayer. She ended up committing suicide a few years later. I must try to remember to pray more often for her soul. How horrifying to be demonically attacked and not to have the spiritual resources to fight it off!
Oh how tragic. What was her name. I will pray for her too. How blessed we are to know what weapons we can use. My father felt he had divine help because he was too afraid to even think of a prayer. But suddenly these words came forth. Our Lord is with us always even though we forget He dwells within souls who are in grace.
Yo u are right Soldier. Very sad. This priest was a long time friend of the family. He knew my father was as solid as they come and not prone to fancies and still he wouldn't touch it. There is much needless suffering out there because shepherds are reluctant to defend the flock against these preternatural wolves. When you find a priest who knows the enemy and is not afraid you encounter great holiness. I know one such priest at a local monastery here. I feel blessed.
Thanks for offering to pray for her, I wasn't sure whether I should post that comment but now I'm glad I did so that others can pray for her too . Her name was Sinead. I didn't know her very well but she was a very beautiful girl.
I M taking this intention with me to Mass this morning. Must be Our Lord wants prayers for her and that is why you thought to mention it. I bet a lot of the forum people will pray too
I've had a couple of instances when God intervened and saved my life... I was a reckless young man and used to race on the freeways in Arizona. This one instance, I was switching lanes and the car I was racing against rear-ended me. At 100-120 mph, my car (a convertible, with the top down at that time) quickly swayed left to right. A few seconds into it I felt time froze and I knew one wrong move and my car would probably roll over and I would be in serious accident or worse. Amazingly, I was calm the whole time and was able to steer the car towards the median. The median wires stopped my car from going to the opposite lane, and except for a cut on my face from breaking the wires, I came out unscathed. The police, paramedics and tow truck driver were incredulous seeing me and my wreck of a car. Another instance on a tour in Iraq, my convoy was at a halt during a night security mission. We take this as opportunities to relieve ourselves when the need arises. I was about to get off the vehicle when a voice in my head told me not to. True enough, a minute later, a roadside bomb went off close to our vehicle, damaging other vehicles in the convoy and cracking our bulletproof windshield. Can't imagine what could have happened to me if I was outside the vehicle during the blast. I was living a sinful life during these times, not having gone to church nor prayed in years. Thinking about these now, I praise God in His mercy for giving me second chances. Of course being the stubborn me, it took years before I converted and went back to the Church, and this was through a medical condition and a series of dreams where I saw/felt myself plunging into an abyss at one time and walking with a crowd of souls with the most profound feeling of sadness in another. These gave me the jolt that I needed, so I went to confession a couple of years ago and have tried to live the faith ever since. Of course the enemy not wanting to be upended has been harassing me in my dreams. I've had instances when I dreamed about fighting off demons, which would wake me up in the middle of night with some pretty bad chest pains (due to my medical condition) and with my heart racing like it was going to explode out of my chest. It can get disconcerting since it feels like the enemy is attacking my subconscious when I'm "vulnerable" and unable to consciously defend myself to get a physical effect. I would pray the guardian angel's prayer and the Hail Mary repeatedly until I fell back asleep. Spiritual battles are definitively real, and I guess it gets more explicit the more one tries to live the faith.
Thanks for sharing your story JoMen. God has definitely been protecting you. I am betting someone was praying for you during your wild days. As for the attacks it is normal. In scripture says "son be not surprised at trials when you come to serve the Lord". It actually proves you are doing exactly the right thing. God bless.
Just got thinking JoMen. You might want to get invested with the town scapular of Our Lady of Mt Carmel. It is very powerful protection through Our Lady. Also pray the St Michael prayer before you go to sleep. You can also pray in Jesus name to bind every spirit not of the Holy Spirit around you and send them"to the foot of the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ for Him to deal with as He wishes". I heard that binding prayer from an exorcist priest. God bless.
I will pray for you JoMen. It is a terrible battle. But keep your eyes fixed on the prize at the end, there is nothing on this earth that can compare with eternity in heaven. When things are at there worst for me that is what I think of and I turn it over to God and say to him"Ok you are in control lead me, keep me strong, you are everything without me and I am nothing without you."
Before I started reading this forum several years ago, I use to think just the opposite. I use to think that I was being attacked because I was not close to God. Thank you to everyone who has step forward and shared. We all keep each other strong.
Thanks for your service JoMen! I've had one or two of those 6th sense events in small and large ways. I've learned to be on the look-out for them as there has been times I've ignored that nudge from my Guardian Angel and wished I hadn't! GOD SAVE ALL HERE!!
AED, I had something similar happen to me some years ago when both my wonderful wife, Geralyn, and I worked in downtown Syracuse. I used to ride in with Ger, and she would park near the hospital where she worked. I would then walk about a mile to my workplace. Once, on the sidewalk walking toward me was a man who acted as though he was high on drugs. As we passed, I turned sideways to allow him more room, but he chose to shift his body and ram his shoulder into me. I was both startled and scared, but chose to ignore him and keep walking. Suddenly, I heard a scream, and turned to see this man charging toward me. He was no more than 10 or 12 feet away so I had little time to react. Should I stand my ground and be ready to fight? Should I turn and flee? Amazingly, not I, but the Holy Spirit suddenly inspired me to voice the following command, "Be still in the name of Jesus Christ!" Though he had a lot of momentum, the man stopped abruptly just inches from my face, growled, and then turned and walked away. How did these powerful words come together in my mind? I am positive God put them there since I had no time to rationally form such a response. It gives me great joy to share this with you all. Why? I am just simple Terry who tries to be a good Catholic. If the Holy Spirit could come to my rescue in such a manner, then how close He must be to each one of us on the MOG forum. Praise His Holy Name! Safe in the Presence of God!
Job 33:14 For God speaks in one way, and in two, though man does not perceive it. Truth suffers, but never dies. St. Teresa of Avila
