Yes but telling the devil to go , is itself a grace. I appear to be in a total minority of one here, but I always think that Lucifer as a great Fallen Arcangel should be treated with a certain respect. I wonder if fighting fire with fire might not be to place ourselves in his power? I have noticed that one thing he hates above all is the sound of laughter, the sight of joy. The guy has no sense of humour whatsoever, no notion of joy. In either case sometimes like last night he gets to tie me down so well I can't do much but eyeball him.
He really hates the name of Mary though as well as the stations of the cross because in reciting the stations of the cross, he is vividly reminded of the Lord's triumph over him.
He fear so many things... It reminds me of an escaped prisioner. An escaped prisoner must fear pretty well everything around him because it might lead to his rearrest. In effect Satan has been on the lam since Calvary and beyond. What a terrible, terrible, terrible existence. If it were possible we might even feel sorry for him. But it has to be said he had it coming to him.
He destroys innocence. He mutilates. He tortures. He enslaves the youth. He gives feelings of demolisation, desolation, depression, despondancy, aloneness and hatred. He gets pleasure out of all this! I do not feel any sorrow for him.
No He is awful. I remember someone asked a lady who was in Ravensbruck Concentration Camp what was the worst thing she had seen in her time there. She replied, 'Hatred in the eyes of another human being!' I think, in effect we can ourselves reflect in our own souls the Light of Heaven or the Darkness of Hell. I noticed a few accounts of him in mysticism which describe him as a man, dark in appearance with a band of flame running through him. I always though this was good that though he appears at time simmune form punishment he is in effect in agony, being punished all the time and eternally. The best description I have heard of the devil came from a question asked by St Briget of Sweden who asked him who he was; to which he relied, 'I am darkness itself' Scary.
He is awful but I pity his choice and I pity those who choose to follow him. I would like to ask God what creation would have been like without the devil to destroy so many. Had he never fallen, would Adam and Eve have sinned? Obviously God knew upon Lucifer's creation what he would do so I guess it is still all part of the master plan.
I heard something strange but interesting about the Garden of Eden the other day. I ahve no idea how true this is. Anyway the priest was giving a sermon about the devil and he said when Eve was tempted by the devil to eat the apple part of the reason why she becme open to attack was that she left her husband and wandered away on her own. That by doing so she was trying to escape from under the authority of her husband. I don't know if this is stretching it or not...
that is a tough one to wrap your head around and seems to be a stretch for me but you never know. it actually seems to be referring to the concept that some believe of Adam having two wives; first Lilith who would not obey Adam and then Eve.
Quite possibly true. I also have heard or read (can't quite remember where) that if just Eve had eaten from the forbidden tree, and not Adam, she would not have fallen from grace and been banished from the Garden of Eden. If Adam had resisted and remained obedient, Eve would have been vindicated through his authority as her husband. It was because Adam also disobeyed that they fell and were banished.
The priest who said that about Eve is himself I believe an experienced Exorcist and a great preacher. I have been following a series of lectures of his on utube, it is listed under the title 'Sensus Fidelium';
I watched another great lecture a few days ago on GUardian Angles which taught me something special. The father said that if we ask our Guardian Angels to point out fault (s) of ours our Guardain Angels will be glad to do so. ..as this will keep us humble and on the right path. he says this is a great spriitual practise and penance at Lent . Well I thought to myself that this was a realy great idea and thought to give it a try, not for Lent (there is only so much truth you can take at the one sitting) but to ask my Guardain Angel to point out one single fault I could maybe get to work on. I was in real fear and trembling about this, I know he has plenty to choose from and was not looking forward to the curtain going up. But I gulped and prayed anyway. Anyway I prayed and sure enough my guardain angle showed up. But intsead of pointing out a fault he showed me three good things in my life that I was not aware of. The reason he did this, he explained was..and he was kind of laughing about this, was to show he (my angle was not such a bad guy, he loved me and I should not be afraid of his goins on. This was kind of funny but nice. One hing in my life he showed me was this. I am standing in on night shoft at the oment for a guy who is off sick. Well I have had a problem with this the last few years. They guy who was sick was a crazy hard worker, he turns too for work 3 hours early for isntance, takes no breaks on a 13 hour shift . So you know I couldn;t and did not want to compete with this. But the and the lady he works with always complete their work list, they think they have to, no matter how huge. When I few years back I started filling in and refused to sart hours before time, insisted on full breaks and refused to break my back. ..In other words behaved like a sensible human being. But the lady on the shoft was furious at me and comlained about me to several otehrs. She made life very ,very difficult. She was one nasty dude. But inrecent months I decided to forgive inand forget and came to work very early , changed break routine and generally break my back as she idd. So of course she sweetened. But I have flet guilty I did not change sooner and do as she wished. But my Angel Guardian showed me I was not wrong. He explained that anyone else in the hospital would have had the same reaction I did. They would ahve not come to work early and not gone crazy at workinghard just to keep her happy. He explained that it was kindness on my part to do this and I should not have felt guilty for not doing it sooner. He siad that what I was doing no body else in the hopsital would ever do and I should feel happy rather than upset I had not done it sooner or feel too pushed about doing more. So anyway..it was unexpected but nice. Expected a kick on the ass and getting three pats on the head, I mean.
A couple of weeks ago I was praying for a recently deceased lady and was shown she was deep in purgatory and would have another 40 years down there...in the ordinary course of events. May God have Mercy on her she seemed frozen in suffering, very,very far down there. I remember reading one mystic who said that 40 years is pretty average for souls in purgatory. Though I have to say that I would not expect a good Catholic who responded to her duties to go down so deep. to be contd... off to mass. I am so full of joy today. How good it is to live with and in the Lord, to recieve Him at mass what a joy. Psalm 23:6 The Lord is My Shepherd …5You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows. 6Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
Well, this is one of the complaints Evangelicals have about Catholics: that we practice a works-based religion and therefore can't be saved because we do not have a personal relationship with Jesus. That and the fact that we worship Mary. That's a big reason.
The Churches Teachings on Justification have always given me a headache, to fully understand them. I kind of think of it like a sandwich now as a kind of mental memo to understanding. That God gives us the grace to call us, that with and through grace we respond. But that it is grace dancing with us, our response. So there must be both grace and a response to grace dancing together. I understand Catholics and Lutherans have now come to a partial common understanding on Justification which is mind blowing. It may be we were all of us saying the same thing down the centuries but saying it a different way.
I was thinking about being told that this lady was deu to stay in purgatory for 40 years and my mind went at once to scripture and Christ's stay in the desert for 40 years. For of course Jesus did not stay in the desert was not in penance for His own sins ..since He was sinless but for the sins of others and wondered if souls are often cited as being in Purgatory for 40 years if ther emight be a relationship? Anyway. One thing I noticed is that when I was praying for this soul God pulled me up for this and reminded me I was being very casual in my prayer. I was not sufficiently being mindful of God's Justice, that the soul was not placed for a very long time for nothing. Imagine we heard of someone who was sentenced for forty years in prison . We decide to visit the judge who sentenced her for forty years to plead th case. Naturally enough if the Judge is good enough to hear our petiion he wil lexpect us to give arguments. What the judge will not expect us to do is to gradually wander into his house and demand a commutation. In other words we shoudl take matters seriously. I think it is the same with praying for the Holy Souls, especailly the deep down ones, we shoud of course always pray for them, but not with a casual attitude, getting them out early is not a small deal, as God reminded me.
That's an interesting observation. It makes me wonder whether some souls are permitted to spend an extended time in purgatory (extended beyond the time allotted for remission of their own sins, that is) in order to help or intercede for other souls (for instance, family members still living, or souls whom they have been responsible for leading into sin). Does God allow such a thing, I wonder?
I have never heard of such a thing and would doubt it. The Communion of the saints means that the Holy Souls can pray for others, including relatives , the only one they cannot pray for are themselves. They can continue these prayers in heaven so I can see no good reason to extend their stay in purgatory. If their stay was extended it would be an injustice like keeping someone in jail for a crime they did not commit. But there is no doubt some souls we just cannot get out of purgatory. Our Lady herself mentions this at Fatima when a soul from Fatima died ,a young girl Lucia asked if she was in heaven but Mary told her she would be in purgatory till the end of the world. St Margaret Mary mentions a similiar case with a sister in her convent a very bad nun indeed called, as far as I recall Sister Saumaise. The Sacred Heart emtned she to owould be in purgatory till the end of the world. So some souls we cannot get out of the pokey , so to speak. We cna comfort them, so to speak, but theirs is a life sentence so to speak. Till the End of Time. God is Merciful. He is also Just. I think , to describe in in human terms there are some souls in purgatory against whom God's anger burns fierce and bright and long. Very bright, very fierce, very long.
I think you are brave for doing this. I am tempted to try it, but am terrified of what my guardian angel would say. Of course it would help with giving a better confession next time! God bless, pcj
There is a story about the Cure of Ars , Saint John VIanney, the Patron Saint of Parish Priests , a great saint and one of the purest holist and humblest men who ever lived. One time he asked Godo to point out his sins and God at once began to do so , St John at once asked Him to stop, he was in agony. St John said if God had gone on a moment longer he would have died. I think we have all experienced this a little to some degree or other. To have an area of darkness in our life and suddenly discover it, or at least some of it, like a nest of roaches hidden under a rock. I think the worst thing about so horrific an experince is the understanding that the darkness existed and we appeared to know nothing, nothing at all about it. The thought at once occurs to us of what other areas of darkness exist? We can , all of us only handle so much. I think the difference between those of us who are at least at the beginings of the begining of the entrance very first step of humilty is the very distant understanding that such darkness exists in our lives. That sin is not a metaphor but a reality. The proud , on the other hand, are not at the begining of the beginnings of such knowledge. They live in permanent, self imposed ignorance. No one is holy but God.
