A friend sent me on a video from Msgr Rossetti on "Casting out Mental Torment". It was very helpful. Msgr Rossetti mentions the 3 R's -" Reject, Rebuke, Renounce" in Jesus' name when under attack spiritually.
The presense of the Holy Spirit in the soul, the Indwelling Christ, reminds me of a river or stream watering the gentle valleys within us. However in times of darkness this stream goes underground at times so far underground it can hardly be felt. In addition to this as St Teresa of Avila informs us physical troubles such as sickness, lack of money, gossip, lost of friends and so on may mount up. Everything seems to fall apart. I remember when I left the monastery, I had just entered the very blackest of Dark Nights , God having seemingly gone to the Dark Side of the moon. No job. No money. No prospects. No friends. Nowhere to live. Having been rejected by my fellow monks and told by my Abbot that I had mental health problems. Suffering from entering into a world so different from the one from which I had been expelled. Full of self doubts , wondering if I was mad, if I had committed some terrible sin, loosing any chance of becoming a priest. In otherwords at crash bang bottom. But God was always there and things were always working out just fine. It may not have seemed so but they were. Still it reminds me of the words of Jesus. My God , my God why have you deserted me? Psalm 22[a] For the director of music. To the tune of “The Doe of the Morning.” A psalm of David. 1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish? 2 My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest.[b] 3 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the one Israel praises.[c] 4 In you our ancestors put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them. 5 To you they cried out and were saved; in you they trusted and were not put to shame. 6 But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by everyone, despised by the people. 7 All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads. 8 “He trusts in the Lord,” they say, “let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.” 9 Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you, even at my mother’s breast. 10 From birth I was cast on you; from my mother’s womb you have been my God. 11 Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help. 12 Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me. 13 Roaring lions that tear their prey open their mouths wide against me. 14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted within me. 15 My mouth[d] is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death. 16 Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce[e] my hands and my feet. 17 All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me. 18 They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment. 19 But you, Lord, do not be far from me. You are my strength; come quickly to help me. 20 Deliver me from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dogs. 21 Rescue me from the mouth of the lions; save me from the horns of the wild oxen. 22 I will declare your name to my people; in the assembly I will praise you. 23 You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! Revere him, all you descendants of Israel! 24 For he has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help. 25 From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly; before those who fear you[f] I will fulfill my vows. 26 The poor will eat and be satisfied; those who seek the Lord will praise him— may your hearts live forever! 27 All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, 28 for dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations. 29 All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; all who go down to the dust will kneel before him— those who cannot keep themselves alive. 30 Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord. 31 They will proclaim his righteousness, declaring to a people yet unborn: He has done it!
Thank you for posting all this.. I had just watched that video by Msgr. Rosetti and happened to be brought to the forum by an email notification, and then read the last few posts above. We are seriously trying to resolve an issue with a son by/at the end of the month and it's major. I don't know what to expect as he has serious mental health mood disorders and it may go south so God has reminded me through all this that HE alone is in control and whatever the outcome, it is his will. Reading all this just now is such a blessing. Pray for us!
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant. From this day all generations will call me blessed: the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name. He has mercy on those who fear him in every generation. He has shown the strength of his arm, he has scattered the proud in their conceit. He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. He has come to the help of his servant Israel for he has remembered his promise of mercy, the promise he made to our fathers, to Abraham and his children forever. Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
She is the heavenly diamond the jewel of the Holy Trinity, she is the co-redemptrix & mediatrix of all graces.
Sometimes I dont know what is coming from God and what is coming from the evil one, such as accusations and spiritual darkness, but I continue to pray. The battle can be intense at times but trying to trust in God and His mercy.
This is why we all need wise persons with whom to sift thoughts and feelings; thus Jesus created His Catholic Church. Few are called to be hermits!
Accusations are not the way the Holy Spirit acts. He shows us what we need to see. Scripture calls Satan the accuser of the brethren. Soo that clearly shows us where the accusations come from. Thats why calling on the Blood of Jesus is so important. Little short prayers that affirm your faith in Jesus. Short scriptures. " He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse of all unrighteousness" "Hewho calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved" Use them like karate chops at the enemy. Seriously. Fight back Accusations are not from God.
The easiest way to discern what is coming from God and what is coming from the evil one for me is as follows. And, this is only an analogy that I use for visualization. I think of the person of God as a sphere. This God sphere is the source of all things good, and nothing dark can enter it nor come from it. Anything evil is repelled due to the nature of God and has to stay outside the God sphere. So, a loving God being the source of all things good, wouldn't accuse you all day long. Because it is impossible for God to do so. God is also Love. God even loves the fallen angels and the worst of sinners, even if they are in hell. God doesn't love because some people deserve it, but rather because it is the nature of God. It isn't in His nature to accuse and hate, so it is impossible for Him to do so. God, having the nature of Love and Goodness, would have mercy and help you in a loving way during your hardship. Matthew 5:44,45 But I say to you, Love your enemies: do good to them that hate you: and pray for them that persecute and calumniate you: That you may be the children of your Father who is in heaven, who maketh his sun to rise upon the good, and bad, and raineth upon the just and the unjust. Above the Son expounds on His own God Nature and encourages us to emulate it. Therefore these kinds of accusations you keep going back to are not coming from God and you can be confident of it. Sometimes we project our personal beliefs onto things we are going through, and if we are going through a dark time those thoughts will be dark. Keep focusing on God, calling on His Name. When your mind takes you into self-accusations of condemnation, recall that God is All Good and God wills that no one is condemned. That He in fact died for you. Recall that these kinds of dark thoughts are false and that it is ok to ignore them while focusing your attention on the love of God. Be like St. Peter walking on the water, have faith and don't look away.
More prayers today. All this reminds me of the scripture: Revelation 12:10 And I heard a loud voice saying in Heaven, “Now have come salvation and strength, and the Kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ; for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, who accused them before our God day and night. The accuser of the brethren is of course Satan. He points the finger at us. Fulton Sheen says that before we sin the devil is our friend but after we sin he accuses us. It's all about mercy really. I find when I am accused like this to honestly admit I am a sinner. There can be no doubt about this , but then I turn to the Seat of Mercy.
Padraig said: [QUOTE St Therese of Liseaux is a superb example of these things and how to handle them. "I give thanks to my Jesus for making me walk in darkness, and in this darkness I enjoy profound peace. I only desire that my darkness may obtain light for sinners," and "It is good to serve God in darkness and trial!" [/QUOTE] ---- I consider St. Therese of the Child Jesus, who offered herself to God as a victim soul, one of the patron saints of victim souls. She can intercede for all who undergo sufferings in various ways. Sr. Faustina wrote in her diary (paragraph #150): “I want to write down a dream that I had about Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus. I was still a novice at the time and was going through some difficulties which I did not know how to overcome. They were interior difficulties connected with exterior ones. I made novenas to various saints, but the situation grew more and more difficult. The sufferings it caused me were so great that I did not know how to go on living, but suddenly the thought occurred to me that I should pray to Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus. I started a novena to this Saint, because before entering the convent I had had a great devotion to her. Lately I had somewhat neglected this devotion, but in my need I began again to pray with great fervor. On the fifth day of the novena, I dreamed of Saint Thérèse, but it was as if she were still living on earth. She hid from me the fact that she was a saint and began to comfort me, saying that I should not be worried about this matter, but should trust more in God. She said, ‘I suffered greatly, too’ but I did not quite believe her and said, ‘It seems to me that you have not suffered at all.’ But Saint Thérèse answered me in a convincing manner that she has suffered very much indeed and said to me, ‘Sister, know that in three days the difficulty will come to a happy conclusion.’ When I was not very willing to believe her, she revealed to me that she was a saint. At that moment, a great joy filled my soul, and I said to her, ‘You are a saint?’ ‘Yes,’ she answered, ‘I am a saint. Trust that this matter will be resolved in three days.’ And I said, ‘Dear sweet Thérèse, tell me, shall I go to heaven?’ And she answered, ‘Yes, you will go to heaven, Sister.’ ‘And will I be a saint?’ To which she replied, ‘Yes, you will be a saint.’ ‘But, little Thérèse, shall I be a saint as you are, raised to the altar?’ And she answered, ‘Yes, you will be a saint just as I am, but you must trust in the Lord Jesus.’ […] This was a dream. And as the proverb goes, dreams are phantoms; God is faith. Nevertheless, three days later the difficulty was solved very easily, just as she had said. And everything in this affair turned out exactly as she said it would. It was a dream, but it had its significance.”
---- I consider St. Therese of the Child Jesus, who offered herself to God as a victim soul, one of the patron saints of victim souls. She can intercede for all who undergo sufferings in various ways. Sr. Faustina wrote in her diary (paragraph #150): “I want to write down a dream that I had about Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus. I was still a novice at the time and was going through some difficulties which I did not know how to overcome. They were interior difficulties connected with exterior ones. I made novenas to various saints, but the situation grew more and more difficult. The sufferings it caused me were so great that I did not know how to go on living, but suddenly the thought occurred to me that I should pray to Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus. I started a novena to this Saint, because before entering the convent I had had a great devotion to her. Lately I had somewhat neglected this devotion, but in my need I began again to pray with great fervor. On the fifth day of the novena, I dreamed of Saint Thérèse, but it was as if she were still living on earth. She hid from me the fact that she was a saint and began to comfort me, saying that I should not be worried about this matter, but should trust more in God. She said, ‘I suffered greatly, too’ but I did not quite believe her and said, ‘It seems to me that you have not suffered at all.’ But Saint Thérèse answered me in a convincing manner that she has suffered very much indeed and said to me, ‘Sister, know that in three days the difficulty will come to a happy conclusion.’ When I was not very willing to believe her, she revealed to me that she was a saint. At that moment, a great joy filled my soul, and I said to her, ‘You are a saint?’ ‘Yes,’ she answered, ‘I am a saint. Trust that this matter will be resolved in three days.’ And I said, ‘Dear sweet Thérèse, tell me, shall I go to heaven?’ And she answered, ‘Yes, you will go to heaven, Sister.’ ‘And will I be a saint?’ To which she replied, ‘Yes, you will be a saint.’ ‘But, little Thérèse, shall I be a saint as you are, raised to the altar?’ And she answered, ‘Yes, you will be a saint just as I am, but you must trust in the Lord Jesus.’ […] This was a dream. And as the proverb goes, dreams are phantoms; God is faith. Nevertheless, three days later the difficulty was solved very easily, just as she had said. And everything in this affair turned out exactly as she said it would. It was a dream, but it had its significance.”[/QUOTE] How beautiful
