11/11/23 - like the dealing with demons post,
better than reading below, please go to CatholicExorcism.org and watch video under resource tab, or get the app.
This is a reply to a woman who cursed herself and her family with a “love spell”. The following response to her is posted publicly to assist anyone who has had dealings with witchdoctors, curses, spells, “love spells”, tarot, palm readers, numerology, new age, alternative healing, transcendental meditation, ouija, summoning spirits or ghosts, seance, voodoo, hoodoo, necromancy, communicating with demons, horoscopes, yoga, blasphemy and/or taking God’s Name in vain, etc., other occult dealings.
An article on why Sage won't undo curses, demonic possession, etc.; An exorcist speaks on why Psychics, Magicians and Sorcerers cannot remove curses, perform an exorcism, or deliverance as well as a lay person who prays and rejects Satan and his works; prayers to rid your house of ghosts, Jung on Yoga
An article on why Sage won't undo curses, demonic possession, etc.; An exorcist speaks on why Psychics, Magicians and Sorcerers cannot remove curses, perform an exorcism, or deliverance as well as a lay person who prays and rejects Satan and his works; prayers to rid your house of ghosts, Jung on Yoga
See also, Divine Mercy II: the Kingdoms of Light and Darkness for an explanation of the battle between good and evil within a person's soul and the power of Divine Mercy Chaplet to overcome the Dark.
It is also useful information for someone seeking a deeper spiritual life.
For the response entitled “dealing with demons,” in which a woman requests help for demonic spirits in her household who are scratching her and her struggles with getting hold of a priest who will help her, click here. The information and cures mentioned in that article are also relevant to this case and should be studied and the advice followed.
Dialogue:
1) I will be married 7 years this December. And my husband and I have been separated in the last year. We still remain intimate and still tell each other we love each other But this reconciliation has not been moving along. So instead of me being patient and waiting on God, I foolishly Requested a love spell from a doctor in Nigeria... I'm poor but I still paid little money Because I was willing to do anything for my family. I was told it was unnsuccesful and I was told that a spirit will come after me and my family unless I pay more money. I believe its a scam but I still I pray in the name of Jesus Christ, That all spells, curses, witchcraft, and black magic, And anything of darkness formed against me and my loved ones Shall be destryed by Our Lord Jesus Christ. I pray we remain protected And safe under his blood. In Jesus name, Amen.
BoldRadish Response: Danna,
Please pray to sever all ties with the doctor in Nigeria. Do not remain connected in any way. Close the connection and renounce all spells. Some experts say that an invisible line is attached to you from this doctor. If this is so, cut the line, in Jesus' name, and renounce the doctor. Confess your sins and become blameless.
I will pray for you. My daughter is writing a longer response to your prayer request, and it will be posted here. In the meantime, I wanted to send this as quickly as possible to you.
God bless you!
BoldRadish Response: Danna,
Please pray to sever all ties with the doctor in Nigeria. Do not remain connected in any way. Close the connection and renounce all spells. Some experts say that an invisible line is attached to you from this doctor. If this is so, cut the line, in Jesus' name, and renounce the doctor. Confess your sins and become blameless.
I will pray for you. My daughter is writing a longer response to your prayer request, and it will be posted here. In the meantime, I wanted to send this as quickly as possible to you.
God bless you!
2) Thank you for your reply. I'm deactivating my email account that he has. and I will renounce my spells I paid for in Jesus' name. Is there anything else I need to do to make this official? Please inform ur daughtwr to reply to this newest comment. my old account will be deactivated since that doctor has it. God bless and I'm anxious for your reply.
BoldRadish Response: I think disconnecting the email connection is a great step in the right direction. My daughter was struck with a terrific headache while writing out the long response, so she may not be able to finish today. But we will get back to you as soon as possible.
BoldRadish Response: I think disconnecting the email connection is a great step in the right direction. My daughter was struck with a terrific headache while writing out the long response, so she may not be able to finish today. But we will get back to you as soon as possible.
3) I too am dealing with a terrible headache. I should have known better I just wanted my husband back so badly. I want you to know I also have burned and flushed down the toilet the money transfer receipts going to him (there was two) and as they burned, I renounced all spells and. severed ties with him and also begged for forgiveness from my lord and savior. I pray this will protect me and my loved ones... I'm such a fool. I just want to cry
BoldRadish Response: You also have a terrible headache!? My daughter has had to go to bed because her head is aching so badly. I'm so happy that you have taken action against the spells. God bless you!
BoldRadish Response: You also have a terrible headache!? My daughter has had to go to bed because her head is aching so badly. I'm so happy that you have taken action against the spells. God bless you!
4) Yes I did. It was dreadfully hurting while I was praying as I burned the documents. I'm not sure why, bit it is cleared up QUICKLY. And IMMEDIATELY after I flushed the burnt documents... I felt that sense of terror leave me. I'm praying that's God forgiving my foolishness. I feel so silly. I just wanted my husband bacl so bad. we habe had so many issues but he won't let me go and I believe its because he still loves me. he's just weak in his decisions and scared to jump back in because I have been so verbally cruel to him. Now that I think of it, my headache is COMPLETELY gone. I haven't even taken meds yet.
BoldRadish Response: I'm glad to hear that your headache has left. My daughter's headache sent her to bed and she's still in it. I hope we can get back to you soon. God Does Forgive!
BoldRadish Response: I'm glad to hear that your headache has left. My daughter's headache sent her to bed and she's still in it. I hope we can get back to you soon. God Does Forgive!
——Intro ———————
There is a lot of anxiety in your replies, which is understandable. I want you to try to remain as calm as possible while dealing with this situation and when learning and absorbing new information about this situation. Anxiety precedes all sin. I believe if you had been thinking clearly or had been less anxious, you may not have contacted a witchdoctor.
Try to put aside feelings of justification for your actions and also anger at yourself and your frustration with you situation with your husband as much as possible while figuring out what to do. Please remember at all times that it is possible to make it out of this situation and to recieve peace from God, whom you are already starting to turn more and more towards. With God, all things are possible. Do not despair.
Also keep in mind that your decision to turn towards God when you realized the mistake you made is an act of humility and bravery and trust in God. It is a very wonderful and beautiful grace that is beginning to be acted out in your soul. You have been very brave to turn to Him. Many people would try to put the situation down and just walk away from it, or bury it, instead of facing it head on and dealing with it. I will explain why:
Think of people’s mistakes with the occult (or with grave sin) as a cut on their souls, on their lives. They think if they walk away from the cut, if they leave it alone, it will heal. But the opposite is actually true: a “cut” from the occult or grave sin is inherently infected. If left alone and untreated, the “infection” spreads to every part of the person’s soul, every part of the person’s life, until the soul or life is destroyed. At any point along the spiritual “infection,” the person can turn to God and be healed, but the sooner the “infection” is dealt with, the less pain the person has to undergo and the less permanent damage may be done to the person’s life.
It can be uncomfortable to deal with, to humble yourself and admit your mistake, and to humble yourself to change or do the things you need to do in order to fix the problems in your life. But keep in mind that you are very, very brave to do so, that bravery is a rare gift, and that you will undergo a relatively small trial now so that you may have peace later on. Those people who deny their problems and ignore the long term fixes for those problems will not undergo the difficulties of healing, but they will also not experience that healing, that peace, that peace which is far greater and more wonderful than discomfort, and greater than living with a festering soul and life. Their wounds will continue to fester, yours have the opportunity to heal. That is something that you can rejoice greatly in and thank God deeply for. How much better your life will be for this!
So please keep in mind that your bravery in turning away from this occult and from turning towards God is serving you well, it will save your life. Let this information encourage you and strengthen your resolve, your bravery, your humility. It is very wonderful.
Also remember that God is bigger than all of your problems, all of your fears, all of your anxieties, all of the mistakes and sins your husband has made, and all of the mistakes and sins you have made. “Where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more” (Romans chapter 5).
—— Net ———————
The larger problem is a relationship with God that needs deepening. God sometimes allows us to make mistakes and sin if He knows we will repent, turn completely away from them and turn towards Him, so that we might have a closer relationship with Him. It is very likely you will develop a closer, stronger relationship with Him because of this, which will be very beneficial to you. I will address this later, right now I will explain to you what a curse is (a “spell”) and the ramifications of it.
I put “spell” in quotes because typically when people think of spells they think of things in works of fiction, waving a wand and some sort of magical energy causing magical things to happen. Spells in real life are not like fiction: they involve a supernatural element, external of the person, that gives power to the “spell.” This external element is a non-human spirit that is not subject to the person casting the “spell” and does not have to listen to obey that person, although it may lie that it will in order to work through that person. That is also how a curse works, or any other occult toy, like fortune telling or ouija, is “powered.” You can read more about real life occult in books by Ed and Lorraine Warren. Lorraine is the only clairvoyant approved of by the Catholic Church (a Church with a successful rite of exorcism) and Ed and Lorraine Warren were approved of to deal with the supernatural occult.
Any dealings with the occult (or the committing of grave sin) invites in demonic spirits. There are angels (“angel” translates to mean “messenger”) in Heaven that serve God out of love. They are called good angels, or just angels. They help people out of love for God. The fallen angels, also known as evil angels or demons, chose to be away from God. They serve their leader, another fallen angel, out of hatred and in bondage. They are only capable of lying and sometimes disguise themselves as good spirits or promise us something useful, like love, to convince us to work with them. Because they serve in bondage and hatred, when we open the doors to these spirits, they bring with them the bondage and oppression that they chose to experience by rejecting God.
“Angels are spirits, but it is not because they are spirits that they are angels. They become angels when they are sent, for the name angel refers to their office, not their nature. You ask the name of this nature, it is spirit, you ask its office, it is that of an angel, which is a messenger.”—Saint Augustine
(The evil angels’ power of deception is why personal visions are considered dangerous and have to be investigated thoroughly before they are approved of. When Saint Bernadette has the vision that led to the healing grotto of Lourdes, France, she splashed Holy Water on the vision to first make sure it was actually from Heaven and not a deception, because Holy Water would make an evil angel flee.
Saint Gemma Galgani used to have encounters with malicious spirits who appeared as good spirits. She would say to them, “Hail Jesus and Mary!” And if they were good angels, they would respond, “Hail Jesus and Mary!” But if they were evil spirits, they would just respond with “Hail!” because they couldn’t stand saying the holy Names of Jesus and Mary in a positive or honoring way, even to lie. You can read Saint Gemma Galgani’s biography and about her on this website: [ http://www.stgemmagalgani.com/ ]. “To know Saint Gemma is to love her. It is impossible to read her writings and not be touched by the fire of her extraordinary love for God, which she expresses so well in her diary, autobiography and letters.”)
When we cast a “love spell”, or have a witchdoctor cast it, it is the same as a curse. Curses can also be cast informally, without the person doing the cursing being entirely aware of what he or she is doing. If a person musters enough demonic hatred, it curses the recipient of that hatred. For example, a parent prone to bouts of fury could curse her child with her anger, without necessarily doing a formal curse with a witchdoctor. This is why Jesus says that if you have anger in your heart, it is murder to the person it is directed towards. It is not typical frustration but an actual desire of hatred, to see that person not only dead, but suffering forever. The person who can muster this sort of anger curse at another person is not in a state of grace, ie, they’re in a state of sin, or spiritual death (despite being physically alive).
There is no difference between a curse of hatred or a curse that is intended to force the person to “love” the one doing the curse. (Love must be chosen through free will or else it is not technically love, it is slavery, or robotic. The reason God gave us free will is because He desires love, and love could not exist unless we chose to love Him of our own free will.)
Other occult dealings, ouija, tarot, divination, etc., act the same way as a curse or “spell”.
When this curse takes place, the demon or demons enters into the life of the one doing the curse and the one who has been cursed. This is why the threat of the witchdoctor was absurd. He said a bad spirit would come after you if you didn’t give him more money. You saw through this, but I will explain for other people. The demon had already entered into your life, money would not make it go away. Giving into the threat would probably aggravate the situation because demons do recognize fear and increase attacks against those who give into their threats. Money is of no consequence to demons, other than they use it to destroy people by turning it into a false god, and the witchdoctor doesn’t have control over demons, but actually the reverse is true: they are using him as a conduit to people’s lives, whether he realizes it or not, or is even bothering to perform a curse/“spell” or not.
I would have suggested your headache was simply stress or anxiety, which may have certainly been aggravating it, but I had a headache, too: it felt like a migraine (which I don’t get; it was a very unusual headache too), at the same time you did without knowing you had one and while being physically very far from you. It seems to have been a supernatural occurrence. This is an example of the sort of unseen and far-reaching consequences of the occult.
“Besides full demonic possession (as in the film “The Exorcist"), evil can penetrate homes and exist in people in lesser forms known as “vexation” and “obsession.” Vexation usually takes place when someone has been cursed by black magic. This can manifest as physical attacks on a person. Obsession can be seen as evil spirits causing inner torment and anxiety, more of a mental than a physical attack.”—This is an article entitled “Exorcisms Are On The Rise: Priests Point To Growing Fascination With The Occult” [ http://www.ibtimes.com/exorcisms-are-rise-priests-point-growing-fascination-occult-1721561 ]
You should probably read the above linked article. I can’t diagnose the headaches as vexations or your anxiety as obsession because I am not an exorcist (only a priest can be a trained exorcist), but it points out the physical and psychological effects that the occult can have on people. From the same article, the exorcist was unimpressed by the demonic manifestations, and I think it is wise to follow his example (in other words, don’t be too impressed that evil forces were causing us both to experience a headache). “It’s not about focusing on the manifestations. It’s about staying focused on the prayers of the church,” he said.
The “Exorcist in the 21st Century,” a documentary about Father Gabriele Amorth, the exorcist, [ http://www.amazon.com/Exorcist-21st-Century-Gabriele-Amorth/dp/B00BI6SPLG ] features a young possessed woman. One of the symptoms of her possession is a deep depression. She was cursed by misfortune. When she was in a weakened, sad state, because of misfortunes, she became possessed. Demons are ruthless, they have no pity: they attack the weakened, the poor, the lonely and the unfortunate.
I remember another story by an exorcist of a woman who became possessed because she was tremendously lonely and cried out with her soul, “is anyone out there?” A demon took it as an invitation and entered her and she had a lot of problems and sorrows. The exorcist suggested that she could have prayed and asked God for company or asked a saint or good angel.
Important books by important exorcists Father Fortea and Father Amorth that discuss the dangers of the occult and the invitations to the demonic: “Interview with an Exorcist” [ http://www.amazon.com/Interview-Exorcist-Jose-Antonio-Fortea-ebook/dp/B004EPZ16A/ ], “An Exorcist Tells His Story” [ http://www.amazon.com/Exorcist-Tells-His-Story/dp/0898707102/ ], An Exorcist: More Stories [ http://www.amazon.com/Exorcist-More-Stories-Gabriele-Amorth/dp/0898709172/ ]. These are very important to read in order to understand what it means to dabble in the occult, including curses, spells, ouija, tarot, new age, (or blaspheme) and the repercussions of it.
Curses, or occult practices, can (but not usually, because demons don’t necessarily think it is important to always “perform” unless the think it will draw in new victims) have an effect, including making the person who is cursed appear they are in love again, or tell the future, or whatever the reason the person is turning to the occult. However, there is always deception involved, because demons can only lie. The devil is the “father of lies.” Opposite, God is truth itself and “is incapable of any lie.” [Quoted from the book “Prayers and Heavenly Promises,” compiled by Cruz.]
Any bond or relationship built upon either curses or grave sin eventually unravels because both grave sin and curses invite demons into the relationship, and demons bring with them hatred, which is divisive and destructive. So even if a curse/spell works on the surface initially, it eventually deteriorates. Usually fairly quickly because it is oppressive. People who are bound by sin to other people may be afraid to break the binds of sin, no matter how oppressive or painful they are, because it may dissolve the relationship. What they don’t realize is that the relationship will dissolve eventually, or deteriorate to a completely destructive level so that the relationship becomes hellish and it would be better for it to dissolve than continue. Curses and sin are death and so relationships based on them decay and become unbearable.
Some witchdoctors, occultists, psychics, etc., say they can remove curses. Because they use demons, they cannot. Father Amorth, the exorcist, explains why these people cannot remove curses: [ http://www.boldradish.com/2012/02/father-amorth-on-removing-curses.html ]
As previously stated, demonic ranks are held together with hatred and oppressive bounds. Inviting these spirits to join your relationship or life through occult means or grave sin invites this hatred and these oppressive bonds into the relationship or your personal life. These actions essentially repel love, which is neither oppressive nor hate-filled.
There is something called the silver cord, referred to in Ecclesiastes chapter 12 [ http://www.usccb.org/bible/ecclesiastes/12 ]. This is the connection of the soul to this world, the body. “Before the silver cord is snapped and the golden bowl is broken,” which is the line from Ecclesiastes, refers to death, the silver cord is snapped meaning the person’s soul is detached from the body. The silver cord is sort of like a spiritual umbilical cord.
The oppressive spiritual bonds are usually referred to as a net. In Saint Faustina’s diary, called “Divine Mercy in My Soul,” Faustina prays one night and has a vision of a net of sin and oppression over a town. She prays and sees Jesus, in His abundant mercy, cut the net with His Hand.
In the book Habakkuk, chapter 1 [ http://www.usccb.org/bible/habakkuk/1 ], the wicked, who may be thought of as either be a demon itself or a person closely allied with a demon, is depicted with a net (whom he worships as a false god): “He brings them all up with a hook and hauls them away with his net; he gathers them in his fishing net and then rejoices and exults. Therefore he makes sacrifices to his net and burns incense to his fishing net; for thanks to them his portion is rich and his meal lavish.” This the supernatural net cast by demons that may be cast over your family now because of the dealings with the witchdoctor. (Or whom another person may have cast over their life through occult dealings or by being cursed.)
Furthermore, there is also a connection between you and any demons made during moments of grave sin or occult activity. I encourage you to take the time to watch this [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4XW5jvR7R4 ] talk given by Marino Restrepo. His personal experiences explain, more vividly than this response can, the connections made to demons when we sin or dabble in the occult. He had a very powerful conversion from a very worldly man who even played around with voodoo. He was shown his sins in a very dramatic way and is now very devout, obedient, not teaching anything out of line with the Church or Biblically, and is a Catholic missionary. He also has a book, From Darkness Into the Light, available on amazon, although it seems the long talk in that video covers quite a lot of it.
God can sever these ties, these nets, these oppressions. Only God can. He is very willing to, also, when we turn to Him and reject the connections we have made that were bad. It was good of you to remove from your life a physical connection between you and the witchdoctor by burning it (I had found throwing it away in a trash outside your home that will be hauled off to a dump also works, as fire is a little dangerous) and to avoid the witchdoctor online and to cast him out in Jesus’ Name. You will probably have to pray to sever ties with him in Jesus’ Name several times, perhaps multiple times a day. It is as simple as the prayer you have already done.
However, this will not necessarily sever the ties between you and the demon. Furthermore, they know, right now, that you have already turned away from God once during a moment of weakness (the weakness being your pain and anxiety over your relationship). They may even leave you alone for a time to attack later, like a dormant disease that makes a person sick down the line.
——Closing Opened Doors———————
You used a witchdoctor to open this door the between you and the occult. You must use a priest to close the door completely and sever all the ties between you and the witchdoctor and the demonic forces. Even if you had used a device, like ouija for example, or grave sin, by the introduction of an outside force—a demonic tie—it would require an outside force to sever that tie. The demon is not apart of you, it is another entity besides yourself, and so it requires another outside force to remove. Again, it is like an infection: antibiotics are required to kill the bacterial infection and stop a disease.
Because only Orthodox Christian religions, like the Catholic Church or an authentic Russian or Coptic Church, can perform exorcisms, it is important to seek a priest out from one of these religions. You do not have to be a Catholic to ask a Catholic priest for help. Many exorcists perform exorcisms on non-Catholics. They serve anyone who is suffering, even though you are not going in for an exorcism. Just explain your situation to the priest and explain to him your religion or lack of religion or if you are a Catholic or not, whatever your spiritual and life conditions are.
It isn’t necessarily that you need an exorcism, but because of the introduction of the occult to your life, you will need a priest to sever the tie. This can be done with a blessing by the priest, it can be done during counseling with a priest, which also serves as confession. In the confessional, which consists of counseling with the priest and then receiving a blessing from the priest, Jesus severs the ties in your soul with demons. It is a sort of mini-exorcism. Like the rite of exorcism cannot be performed except by an orthodox Christianity, so this mini-exorcism that takes place in the confessional cannot be performed except by an orthodox priest. This will sever the ties and make sure the demons are gone. It may require multiple visits. As the article I linked to earlier states, an exorcism isn’t a quick fix (although it will sever the demonic ties). A longer term solution—remaining close to God and in His grace—is required. (More on that below.)
It will also be good for your anxiety and your relationship to get counseling. I have had counseling from priests (will explain how to choose a priest in a later section) and each time it was a very positive and wonderful, life-changing experience.
Furthermore, the confession produces wonderful experiences of peace and has many positive effects on the soul. “I tell you, in just the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance.”—Luke chapter 15 [ http://www.usccb.org/bible/luke/15 ]
Just the same way the occult invites demons into your life, confession severs ties with them and invites angels into your life. It also brings down the Holy Spirit into your life, much the same way it descended upon the Apostles. It is your expression of allowing God to come into your life and your heart, to heal you and your problems, and He often comes in in a beautiful and dramatic way, with profound peace not experienced in any other way. It connects you with God more deeply, the opposite of the witchdoctor connecting your life to oppression and the demonic. People who frequent the sacrament of confession (and don’t lie during confession) do not become possessed by demons.
Fear of, avoidance of, or hatred for confession (which is really going to a priest for counseling, honestly; it can even take place in a little office room at a desk) is from the “wrong side of the tracks,” so to speak. Those negative feelings are to try to keep you away from the healing and the severing of demonic ties being blessed by a priest will offer. Once you’ve gone through confession and talked to a priest once and it feels really wonderful and blessed, it will be obvious that those feelings were from a bad influence. See this chart, which can really be applied to all situations or tasks.
One experience I had after one of my first confessions: I was leaving the chapel after praying after the confession. I dipped my hand in the holy water by the chapel doors. It smelled very strongly of flowers. I was confused and thought it was really strange, it’s not perfumed water. After I left I realized that I had smelled the odor of sanctity. (The odor of sanctity is a scent of supernatural origin that smells like flowers, although those allergic to flowers aren’t offended by it. It emanates off of holy objects, such as the holy water, or off of saints, or sometimes when a miracle is about to take place. Stories of the odor of sanctity: [ http://www.padrepio.catholicwebservices.com/ENGLISH/Perf.htm ] )
It is not necessarily useful to constantly think about demons or that things in your daily life is caused by them. It is important to be aware that they exist, but it is equally important not to give them too much power by dwelling on them, once you have dealt with this instance. Like previously mentioned, be unimpressed by them and focus on prayer, on seeking God in all situations and avoiding the occult. But don’t dwell too much on demons. I had to explain them a lot in the last several paragraphs so you would understand what is happening and why it felt so bad to go to the witchdoctor.
Your husband, as well as you, was the recipient of the curse (“spell”) from the witchdoctor. It is important your husband is blessed, too. He cannot repent of going to the witchdoctor because he did not do it, but a curse can greatly damage a person, even though they are just being victimized by it. You can read about it in this article “Denmark’s Only Exorcist” [ http://www.vice.com/read/denmarks-only-exorcist-is-rather-busy-666 ] ). The exorcist mentions curses and victims of curses and also how people invite demonic activity into their lives.
The victim in the documentary "Exorcist in the 21st Century" did not play with the occult but was spiritually victimized after being cursed by her father's negligence and by a series of unfortunate events that weighed down on her and she had no spiritual armor to protect her. As previously stated, she became possessed. Having your husband get a blessing from a priest, praying over him, praying for him, having him pray are all important for him.
I have read accounts from exorcists in which people’s lives were greatly damaged because they had a curse (“spell”) put on them. They became depressed and suicidal, fatigued, and had tremendous problems, including problems with hating people, their spouses too, for no reason. Curses can be very destructive. Speak with the priest you find (see below on how to find a priest) on the effects of the curse on your husband and what the priest can do to lift it. (You can read about these accounts as well in Fortea and Amorth's books. An Exorcist Tells His Story: [ http://www.amazon.com/Exorcist-Tells-His-Story/dp/0898707102/ ] An Exorcist: More Stories [ http://www.amazon.com/Exorcist-More-Stories-Gabriele-Amorth/dp/0898709172/ ] Interview With An Exorcist [ http://www.amazon.com/Interview-Exorcist-Jose-Antonio-Fortea-ebook/dp/B004EPZ16A/ ]
——Finding a Priest———————
I suggest contacting your local diocese. If you are in the United States, that can be done here [ http://www.usccb.org/about/bishops-and-dioceses/diocesan-locator.cfm ]. I would suggest emailing or calling someone (once you have found the diocese, website and contact information will be listed) and you can explain your situation. Explain that you paid a nigerian witchdoctor to put a curse on your family and you want to repent and you think you need an exorcist’s blessing. They will give you contact information for the priest. (This is what happened in the Dealing with Demons article posted earlier on BoldRadish blog.) Once you have contacted the priest, you can explain to him in more detail the situation with your husband and tell him all your other information and your story. Include any and all details you think are relevant. He will guide you, he will tell you what to do. If you aren’t Catholic, let him know and he will help you and tell you what to do. He will understand the complexities of the situation and how to unbind you.
There are also Catholic priests who work in the United States who are from Nigeria. My counselor priest friend is one of them, he is very good. I would imagine if you found a Nigerian priest (recently from Nigeria, not just ethnically Nigerian-American), he would probably have a good understanding of this sort of thing and be able to help you because probably a priest from Nigeria has to engage in a lot of spiritual warfare. Contacting a diocese and asking for an exorcist is going to definitely make sure you get someone who helps you. (If you read Dealing with Demons post, you will see that there are lots of priests in the United States who refused to acknowledge the supernatural, despite the fact that their religion demands they acknowledge the supernatural and their current pope, Pope Francis, talks about the reality of demons and how we must battle them in the Name of Jesus in almost every single one of his homilies.)
A final note, I’d like to say that Nigerian curses operate under the same “rules” as any curse, it doesn’t matter that they are from Nigeria. A priest who is humble and wise and everything he is supposed to be, whether American or any country of origin, could deal with this. There are many American and other priests who are very good who could and would be willing to help you. However, if you choose to search for them, you may run into priests who are falling short of their priestly duty. (See “Dealing with Demons” post.) I can think of many American priests I have known who are excellent and very helpful, even in these situations, as well as Canadian priests and priests I’ve had the pleasure of being helped by from Vietnam and India and various countries in South America.
101 Inspirational Stories of the Power of Reconciliation [ http://www.amazon.com/101-Inspirational-Stories-Power-Reconciliation-ebook/dp/B00B55ISF8/ref=pd_sim_kstore_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=0A7ZYQD3Q5SWWXN3X2MD ] is a book made of up people’s personal stories and experiences dealing with reconciliation. (It costs $1 for kindle. If you don’t own a kindle, you can still purchase it for kindle, I believe, and read it on your computer with a special kindle reader.) Reading about stories of other people’s prayers being answered and other people’s experiences with confession (which is part of a larger process called reconciliation, in which one reconciles with God) is a great way to build up your faith in God and strengthen your bond with Him, which will help you turn towards Him and away from the demonic.
“How to get rid of evil spirits, demons & ghosts,” an article on Mystics of the Church: “Also, those who have ever engaged in dark practices such as demonic worship, invoking and calling upon the dead (thru ouija boards, medium and psychic practices etc) the occult, dark forms of witchcraft and wicca, black magic etc. MUST RENOUNCE THESE PAST PRACTICES before God and sincerely repent and ask for forgiveness for having engaged in them. Such practices offend God and open a portal to the demonic, and therefore the portal must be closed through sincere repentance and the desire for the mercy and forgiveness of God.” [ http://www.mysticsofthechurch.com/2010/08/how-to-get-rid-of-evil-spirits-demons.html ]
—— Trust ———————
I definitely encourage you to increase your knowledge of the power of prayer and to strengthen your knowledge of God’s love for you and submission to His holy Will. I believe it is possible that if you had better knowledge of the miracles God could perform, you would not have strayed after a witchdoctor, looking for a miracle from him, but would have more vigorously turned to God.
I suggest reading the miraculous stories associated with the Rosary of Liberation. There is a prayer video of the Rosary of Liberation. I transposed several stories of the Rosary of Liberation and have transferred them to various sites I’ve worked on over the years. I was going to create a forum with prayer information on it, but abandoned that idea and started helping my father work on his BoldRadish religious site. However, I created a long post that had all of the Rosary of Liberation stories that I had previously transposed, as well as wonderful information about the power of that prayer. You can read it here [ http://www.boldradish.com/p/rosary-of-liberation.html ] and I suggest you do so. You can pray to set yourself free, your husband free, your relationship with your husband free. The important part is to pray it while in your heart, humbly telling God that only He can heal you, only He, Who created your life, can recreate it. You will notice that many of the people who received a miracle prayed for a long time, humbly and diligently, while submitting to God’s Will, accepting whatever the outcome will be, trusting in His plan even if it seems different from what we want.
Yesterday I received this advice from a priest when discussing my own problem. I think it is relevant to your issue and so I will post it here: “Jesus said that we need to pray persistently- he talked about banging on the door at midnight (Lk11:5:-13), pestering God w/o stop (18:1-8). But both of those passages are framed by reminders that the best thing we can ask for is that God’s will be done. that’s hard sometimes b/c what we want is itself good… We are always limited. God isn’t but He respects our wills and often acts thru us.”
We must always wait on God and persistently pray to Him. “No ear has ever heard, no eye ever seen, any God but You doing such deeds for those who wait for Him.” [ http://www.usccb.org/bible/isaiah/64 ] He works for those who constantly trust in Him and actively pray to Him with their whole hearts, even when things seem to not be getting better. He works for those who do not stray after false gods (false gods being whatever we put in importance before God, whether that's love spells, relationships, medicine, ourselves, other people, addictions, etc).
I will give you a personal example of submitting to God’s Will. I had prayed a rosary novena for a boyfriend and had one. He turned out to be a very horrible person, he was a sociopath and very manipulative. I wasn’t aware of this at first because he was very good at lying. I had a lot of problems because of him and we didn’t last long. I submitting to God’s Will and prayed often for him to convert and not to go to Hell (I was very afraid he would because he was very bad and cruel). I even submitted his name to every Benedictine monastery in the world that I could contact and asked them to pray for him.
He eventually gave me PTSD and I got very sick because of it and had to drop out of school. Now, despite all of these apparent bad things that were apparently “caused by” God, I continued to trust in God and continued to pray to Him and tell Him that I loved Him. A little while later, my ex boyfriend died of an aneurysm. Looking back on it, there is no real reason I should have been as afraid as I was of him going to Hell because I might have thought he would live a long life and eventually turn from his ways. I believe God gave me that fear for his soul so I would pray for him, without me fully realizing why it was so crucial. I had no idea and no inkling that he would die so young.
But God did not stop at using me to save another person with no regard for my life. On the contrary, He used my PTSD and sickness to heal me. Before I got sick, I had no relationship whatsoever with my parents or sister. I hadn’t for years and it was a more crushing burden on me than PTSD or a psycho ex-boyfriend combined. When I became sick, it brought us all together. I was finally able to voice my complaints and be heard. Years and years of childhood problems and a lifetime of isolation and abuse was eradicated and a strong support system was put into place. I had been struggling and fighting off suicidal ideation for a decade and finally I was surrounded by people who cherished me and were truly, sincerely, effectively helping me.
I also learned to value my own health and how physical health effects mental health. I also know so much about depression and healing from it now that I have experienced it and actually gone through healing that I am able to share my knowledge of anxiety and depression with people and hopefully help them in their own struggles.
I also realized I didn’t have to go through life alone in that I could reach out to people who were trained to help us live better lives and solve our problems. I had never gone to a priest for counseling before, thinking I wouldn’t find one that understood my problems. But it was the most wonderful thing and I don’t know how I ever thought I could navigate life without a holy, god-fearing priest to help me. I also got advice from nuns. That is why God makes those people. It is so important to Him and He loves us so much that He inspires people to dedicate their whole lives to solving others’ problems, and He grants them His wisdom and guidance so they can do it. Our problems and pain mean that much to Him and He wants people to help and support and love each other for love of Him that much.
And on top of that, my life, my career path, would have been miserable, horrible, overworked, stressful and a waste of my natural talents and passions if I had continued on the path I was on. It was completely derailed because I got sick—and it is so wonderful that it was! Only a huge problem like that would have gotten me off of those tracks because I wasn’t discouraged by hardships and would always keep working on the path I was on. I had to be forced to a complete stop and now I am able to assess my life from a healthier point of view, a more comfortable one, and choose where I want to and where would be best for me to go.
“This word came to Jeremiah from the LORD:
Rise up, be off to the potter’s house;
there I will give you my message.
I went down to the potter’s house and there he was,
working at the wheel.
Whenever the object of clay which he was making
turned out badly in his hand,
he tried again,
making of the clay another object of whatever sort he pleased.
Then the word of the LORD came to me:
Can I not do to you, house of Israel,
as this potter has done? says the LORD.
Indeed, like clay in the hand of the potter,
so are you in my hand, house of Israel.”
The above paragraph is about how only the God who created you can recreate your life, transform it, transform your heart. I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to continue to trust God even when it appears that everything is falling apart or we are continuing in pain or our prayers aren’t being answered like how we want them to be answered. He sees more about us and what we need than we ourselves see. He gives us more than we could ask for or more than we could think to ask for. He reshapes our life like the potter reshapes clay, He will make it beautiful every time it starts going wrong, even if that means we have to experience the discomfort of change. When He does something we don’t understand, we trust in Him, keep trusting in Him, and then we will look back on what He did and understand and appreciate it.
“What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and what has not entered the human heart, what God has prepared for those who love him.” [ http://www.usccb.org/bible/1cor/2:9 ] I had never even thought to ask for all of the things He gave me. I thought most of my problems were just what life was, because that is what I had experienced. But God has so much more insight into what life is and what life is capable of being, how much better it could be, and what “better” is. He wants that for us. We just have to continue to trust in Him and pray to Him.
“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who lives in a land of gloom a light has shone.” Isaiah chapter 9. [ http://www.usccb.org/bible/isaiah/9 ]
So even though your relationship seems so frightening and is so painful, keep trusting in Him and turn to Him with your whole heart. Fear not, “all things work for good for those who love God.” [ http://www.usccb.org/bible/romans/8 ] (The love of God keeps us turning towards Him in prayer and also prevents us from purposefully sinning, for if we love Him we will try not to offend or disobey Him.)
Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane that He would not have to undergo His Passion and Death, that He wouldn’t have to be betrayed by His friend or led off as a criminal and taken in front of a judge for a crime He didn’t do, but He said “yet not my will but Yours be done.” Even though He was in pain and agony, so much distress that He sweat blood, He still trusted in God’s plan and said, “yet not my will but Yours be done.” If we strive to imitate Him, as best we can (obviously we won’t be as perfect as Jesus, but to the best of our ability), we will glorify God with our trust in Him and He will resurrect our lives while we live.
God will use this trial in your life to increase your knowledge of His love for you and so that you might learn to cling to Him alone, realizing that all things come from Him and that when you need something, you must turn to Him first before working for it.
The book Haggai in the Old Testament is about how the people of God allowed God’s temple to fall into disrepair. They neglected God and did not put Him first, so in order to prevent them from putting false gods before Him (their work and their own interests had become their false gods), He allowed bad things to happen to them so they would remember Him and return to Him with their whole hearts. The people decide to build up their relationship with Him and rebuild the temple.
The temple represents our relationship with God. If you learn more about His love for you by reading books by holy saints, and you pray to Him and stay away from the occult, and put Him above everything and everyone else in your life, you will be building up your relationship with Him and all good things will flow from that relationship with Him and that love. These acts are the “stones” that you are laying, building up the “temple” that is your relationship with Him.
“Now reflect, from this day forward—before you set stone to stone in the temple of the LORD,
what was your experience?
When one went to a heap of grain for twenty ephahs,
there were only ten;
When one went to a vat to draw fifty ephahs,
there were only twenty.
I struck you, and all the work of your hands,
with searing wind, blight, and hail,
yet you did not return to me—oracle of the LORD.
Reflect from this day forward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month. From the day on which the temple of the LORD was founded, reflect!
Is there still seed in the storehouse?
Have the vine, the fig, the pomegranate,
and the olive tree still not borne fruit?
From this day, I will bless you.”
God promises things will be different in the future, He will bless them, because they have returned to Him and begun putting Him first. [ http://www.usccb.org/bible/haggai/2 ]
Other books about God’s love include “How to Converse Continually and Familiarly with God” by Saint Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the Church. [ http://www.amazon.com/How-Converse-Continually-Familiarly-God/dp/0895557975 ] This is a most wonderful book, it is largely responsible for my conversion (even though it is so short and so seemingly unknown!). I could quote every line from it, every line is such a wonderful treatise on God’s love for us and how we can accept that love into our hearts. “Acquire the habit of speaking to God as if you were alone with Him, familiarly and with confidence and love, as to the dearest and most loving of friends. Speak to Him often of your business, your plans, your troubles, your fears— of everything that concerns you. Converse with Him confidently and frankly; for God is not wont to speak to a soul that does not speak to Him.”
Saint Therese of Lisieux, another Doctor of the Church, wrote Story of a Soul, another beautiful treasure of God’s love. You can listen to an audio recording of it here [ https://archive.org/details/story_of_a_soul_ab_librivox ] or read it online here [ http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/16772/pg16772.html ] (it really starts at chapter 1, scroll down). It is the autobiography of the saint, written to the Mother superior (who was also her biological sister) so it is a bit longer than the above mentioned book. Her way to God was love of Him and she shows us how we can love God in our every day lives with our simple, every day actions, if done out of love for Him. She also shows how much love He has for us.
As previously stated, reading books about answered prayers is a great way to encourage a profound trust in God. Rosary of Liberation stories, online free, very powerful stories [ http://www.boldradish.com/p/rosary-of-liberation.html ], 101 Inspirational Stories of the Power of Prayer [ http://www.amazon.com/101-Inspirational-Stories-Power-Prayer-ebook/dp/B00B5JYRQS/ ], 101 Inspirational Stories of the Rosary [ http://www.amazon.com/Inspirational-Stories-Rosary-Patricia-Proctor-ebook/dp/B0051XS986/ ], 201 Inspirational Stories of the Eucharist [ http://www.amazon.com/Inspirational-Stories-Eucharist-Patricia-Proctor-ebook/dp/B00B6ACO34/ ], Shower of Heavenly Roses [ http://www.amazon.com/Shower-Heavenly-Roses-Stories-Intercession-ebook/dp/B00OX75FEC/ ].
Prayers and Heavenly Promises [ http://www.amazon.com/Prayers-Heavenly-Promises-Joan-Carroll-ebook/dp/B00CSVQ0CG/ ] is another very inspirational book, including devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus and His Holy Blood and the promises He gives us associated with those devotions.
These are just a few books I have read that really foster a love of God and remove ignorance of His Love for us. They are very wonderful and touching. Reading them will help inspire you. After even reading the Rosary of Liberation stories, let alone several of these books, you will wonder how you ever thought to turn to a witchdoctor. You will have a lot more confidence about throwing yourself into the Arms of the God who loves you and created you.
—— Prayer ———————
Prayer is a very important aspect of gaining a better relationship with God. After all, you can’t have a relationship with someone if you never communicate with them. Prayer is also the easiest thing we can do. Also, if we don’t have a healthy relationship with God, we can’t have healthy relationships with other people. All things flow from God. He demands we put Him first. He is also all merciful and all loving and perfect and adorable and lovable in every way. If we can’t love Him, how are we supposed to love humans who are less likable, less perfect, less lovable than God? Loving Him open us to more fully and completely loving the people around us.
I mentioned prayers in the “dealing with demons” post. Those same prayers are applicable to this situation. Saint Michael the Archangel, for example. When the evil angels became jealous of God and rebelled against Him, Saint Michael the Archangel replied to them “who is like God?” It was rhetorical, he was saying no one is like God except God, and certainly God’s creation is not on the same level as God. This statement was an act of humility, it was the battle cry of the good angels. Michael leads the army of good angels (which outnumber the evil angels; in other words, there are more who chose good than chose evil in that angelic battle). He was given the name Michael which means “who is like God?” after he said that phrase which caused the downfall of the evil angels. He defeated the devil and calling on Michael in prayer still defeats the all kinds of evils, including health issues. This is an incredibly powerful ally to call upon.
Revelation chapter 12: “Then war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels battled against the dragon. The dragon and its angels fought back, but they did not prevail and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. The huge dragon, the ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, who deceived the whole world, was thrown down to earth, and its angels were thrown down with it. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have salvation and power come, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Anointed. For the accuser of our brothers is cast out, who accuses them before our God day and night. They conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; love for life did not deter them from death. Therefore, rejoice, you heavens, and you who dwell in them. But woe to you, earth and sea, for the Devil has come down to you in great fury, for he knows he has but a short time.”’ [ http://www.usccb.org/bible/revelation/12:7 ]
“St. Michael the Archangel” booklet by the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration [ http://www.amazon.com/St-Michael-Archangel-Adoration/dp/0895558440/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1416020350&sr=8-1&keywords=st.+michael+the+archangel+book ] I have this, it is fairly short. I actually found it in a church. There are a lot of prayers in there, including prayers for breaking all kinds of curses, like trafficking witches (people who are astral projecting themselves, especially in dreams) and all sorts of specific hoodoo and voodoo and other powerful curse breakers. This is a great booklet for your situation. (Or really most people’s lives and negative situations.) This prayer [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLg2YauMuiY ] on YouTube is one of my favorite prayer videos of all time. It is very powerful.
Saint Rafael the Archangel is another powerful angel who fights against demons and helps people in their day to day lives. He has the longest account of any angel in the Bible, seen in the Book of Tobit in the Old Testament. The book follows Tobit, a pious Jew who runs into misfortune and blindness, his son Tobiah, and a woman named Sarah who is afflicted by the demon Asmodeus and is so miserable that she wants to hang herself. God hears their prayers and sends the Archangel Rafael to heal them all. You can read the story here [ http://www.usccb.org/bible/tobit/0 ]. Reading scripture is a form of prayer. Like the Rosary of Liberation, you can also turn lines from scripture into prayers. “Rafael” means “God heals.”
There is an approved Archangel Raphael Healing Ministry run by Father Whalen and volunteers. Father Whalen was a severe alcoholic before he had a conversion and was healed by the Archangel. The site is StRaphaelOil.com [ http://www.straphaeloil.com/ ]. There are prayers to the Archangel (and several other prayers) on that website as well as testimonials, a contact page and the opportunity to receive holy oil. Holy oil is wonderful for anointing yourself and is a very powerful sacramental. I used to ignore this sacramental, thinking it wasn’t that important, but it really is wonderful and now I anoint myself every time before I pray. (I put a tiny amount of oil on my forehead and ask God to forgive me and heal me.) I recommend you send away for the oil, they give you a big packet of information along with the oil that is very useful and cool, including testimonials and the priest’s own life story.
This [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zel81pJnmhM ] is a truly beautiful blessing video put up by Father Whalen. It’s very wonderful to pray and be blessed by this great priest, even virtually. I think this would be really wonderful for you for your situation. (He refers to instances in the New Testament where Jesus healed people.)
You have a guardian angel, too, who is very powerful in protecting you and is ready to come pray with you. You can ask him to pray along with you whenever you pray. “Again, [amen,] I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”—Matthew chapter 18 [ http://www.usccb.org/bible/matthew/18 ] You are never alone when you pray.
I learned about my guardian angel from praying to him and also from reading this book “All About the Angels” by Father Paul O’Sullivan. [ http://www.amazon.com/About-Angels-Paul-OSullivan-O-P/dp/0895553880 ] There is a lot of New Age things concerning angels that is all wrong, really occult and demonic stuff, but this isn’t any thing like that. After reading this book, I prayed for three days in a row to “put myself under my guardian angel’s care and protection” every morning. I was hoping that I would feel a sense of connection to him, that I would “feel” him. On the third day, I will filled with this immense, intense love for Saint Michael the Archangel. I realized that my guardian angel shared his intense love for Michael with me! All the good angels love Michael so much.
I don’t know what your angel will share with you or how he will help you, every one has a different personality. “We are like children, who stand in need of masters to enlighten us and direct us; and God has provided for this, by appointing His angels to be our teachers and guides.”—Saint Thomas Aquinas. “Make friends with angels.”—Saint Augustine.
The Chaplet of Divine Mercy, if you are concerned about God forgiving you, is a very wonderful prayer for you to pray. This is the site I first learned about it on [ http://www.ewtn.com/devotionals/mercy/ ]. I will quote from it and from the devotion on Divine Mercy. “The message of mercy is that God loves us—all of us—no matter how great our sins. He wants us to recognize that His mercy is greater than our sins, so that we will call upon Him with trust, receive His mercy, and let it flow through us to others. Thus, all will come to share His joy. … Devotion to The Divine Mercy involves a total commitment to God as Mercy. It is a decision to trust completely in Him, to accept His mercy with thanksgiving, and to be merciful as He is merciful. The devotional practices proposed in the diary of Saint Faustina and set forth in this website are completely in accordance with the teachings of the Church and are firmly rooted in the Gospel message of our Merciful Savior. Properly understood and implemented, they will help us grow as genuine followers of Christ.”
Jesus spoke to a poor nun in Poland in visions that were recorded in her diary for the benefit of others to trust in His Merciful Heart. In reference to the Chaplet of Divine Mercy [ http://www.ewtn.com/devotionals/mercy/dmmap.htm ], He said: "Say unceasingly this chaplet that I have taught you. Anyone who says it will receive great Mercy at the hour of death. Priests will recommend it to sinners as the last hope. Even the most hardened sinner, if he recites this Chaplet even once, will receive grace from My Infinite Mercy. I want the whole world to know My Infinite Mercy. I want to give unimaginable graces to those who trust in My Mercy...." “....When they say this Chaplet in the presence of the dying, I will stand between My Father and the dying person not as the just judge but as the Merciful Savior.” “He who refuses to pass through the door of My mercy must pass through the door of My justice.”
Divine Mercy devotion also comes with an image of Jesus with two rays of light coming from His Heart, the white ray representing the water that came from His Heart when it was stabbed by the centurion on the Cross during His Passion, and the red ray representing the Blood that came from His Heart at the same stabbing. Under the image is the line “Jesus, I trust in you!” “The two rays denote Blood and Water. The pale ray stands for the Water which makes souls righteous. The red ray stands for the Blood which is the life of souls. These two rays issued forth from the very depths of My tender mercy when My agonized heart was opened by a lance on the Cross. These rays shield souls from the wrath of My Father. Happy is the one who dwell in their shelter, for the just hand of God shall not lay hold of him.” “By means of this image I shall grant many graces to souls. It is to be a reminder of the demands of My mercy, because even the strongest faith is of no avail without works.” (Prayer is considered a “work”. So if you pray for someone, it is considered an act, or work, of mercy.)
The emphasis of Divine Mercy is trust in God’s mercy. He can only grant us graces to the amount we trust in Him. If we trust a bucket size, for example, He can only help us that much. If we trust Him an ocean sized, He can give us that much more. He says that sins of distrust wound Him more than any other sins. Not trusting in His Mercy and Love causes Him more pain than any other sins. If we pray to Him and ask Him, especially through the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, for more trust in Him, He will gladly comply. He also says He will grant any graces we ask for, provided they are not opposed to His adorable Will, through this Chaplet.
The Chaplet of Divine Mercy is composed of two prayers: 1) Eternal Father, I offer You the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world; 2) For the same of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world. They repeat, similar to the Rosary or the Rosary of Liberation.
There is a disease called scruples in which the person becomes fixated with the concept of sinfulness, worrying that everything they do may be a sin. This hinders their ability to live, for example, they might worry if walking down the street or doing any little thing is a sin or that they are doing it sinfully (whereas it is not and they probably aren’t). Those people are prescribed the Divine Mercy devotions because they demand trust in God’s mercy and love for our human nature. God works through our flawed nature and we have to trust in Him to love us and work through us despite our limitations, especially when we sincerely turn to Him.
The Rosary of the Virgin Mary, often referred to as just “the Rosary,” is one of the most significant devotions on earth because of the graces it calls down on the person praying and because of the format of the prayer. It is meditative as well as prayerful. You can read about the entire devotion in a book by Saint Louis De Montfort called “The Secret of the Rosary” online for free in several places. [ https://archive.org/details/St.LouisMarieDeMontfortTheSecretOfTheRosary ] There is one copy of the book. There are several major approved apparitions in the 20th century that indicate that the world will be saved and blessed through the recitation of the Rosary, or it will fall through lack of recitation of it. The apparitions of Fatima and Akita, for example. Fatima: [ http://www.theholyrosary.org/fatimaapparitions ] This is a very wonderful apparition about God’s love and mercy. (“The Secret of the Rosary” was written before Fatima, the first major Rosary-oriented apparition, happened. It does not include the Luminous Mysteries unless you get an updated version or book that includes them.)
The Rosary is based on two powerful prayers and the meditation of scripture from the New Testament on the life of Jesus: His birth and childhood, ministry, passion and death, and resurrection and ascension. Childhood meditations are called the “Joyful Mysteries.” Ministry is called the “Luminous Mysteries.” Passion is called the “Sorrowful Mysteries.” Resurrection and ascension are called “Glorious Mysteries.”
The quotes on the Holy Rosary’s power and wonder are long, here are just a few: [ http://www.tfpstudentaction.org/get-involved/campus-rosary-crusade/quotes-of-our-lady-popes-and-saints.html ] “Even if you are on the brink of damnation, even if you have one foot in hell, even if you have sold your soul to the devil as sorcerers do who practice black magic, and even if you are a heretic as obstinate as a devil, sooner or later you will be converted and will amend your life and will save your soul, if—and mark well what I say—if you say the Holy Rosary devoutly every day until death for the purpose of knowing the truth and obtaining contrition and pardon for your sins.”—Saint Louis de Montfort
“The Rosary is the most beautiful and the most rich in graces of all prayers; it is the prayer that touches most the Heart of the Mother of God…and if you wish peace to reign in your homes, recite the family Rosary.”—Pope Saint Pius X
“The greatest method of praying is to pray the Rosary.”—Saint Francis de Sales
“The Rosary is THE weapon.”—Saint Pio of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio), who often fought the devil.
I remember an instance with the Rosary I read that a holy priest described. A young woman was possessed and he placed his rosary beads around her neck. She started screaming as if they were burning her and caused she so much discomfort that eventually they were removed from her neck. The next day, they placed them on her again after praying over her. The devil left her. The Rosary and Mary are very important in exorcisms and are called upon frequently by exorcists.
The Rosary is really often used in binding the devil and severing ties with him completely. It is possible to say it with the intention of binding the witchdoctor who is involved in your life and severing ties with him. I have done that to people who have abused me in my life and it has been the cause of my ability to move forward and heal. “Amen, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”—Matthew chapter 18 [ http://www.usccb.org/bible/matthew/18 ]
Recitation of the Rosary also is accompanied with signal graces. These are graces that let us know Heaven is listening to our prayers. They are very comforting and come in a wide variety, usually different for each person, sometimes having to do with weather. You can read more about them in the 101 Inspiration Stories of the Rosary book [ http://www.amazon.com/Inspirational-Stories-Rosary-Patricia-Proctor-ebook/dp/B0051XS986/ ] or just experience it yourself.
There are 15 promises associated with those who pray the Rosary (usually this implies daily recitation). They are:
- Whoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall receive signal graces.
- I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary.
- The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies.
- The Rosary will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of men from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire for eternal things. Oh, that souls would sanctify themselves by this means!
- The soul which recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall not perish.
- Whoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying himself to the consideration of its sacred mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune. God will not chastise him in His justice, he shall not perish by an unprovided death; if he be just he shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of eternal life.
- Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the sacraments of the Church.
- Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and the plenitude of His graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the merits of the saints in paradise.
- I shall deliver from Purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary.
- The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of glory in Heaven.
- You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the Rosary.
- All those who propagate the Holy Rosary shall be aided by me in their necessities.
- I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the Rosary shall have for intercessors the entire celestial court during their life and at the hour of death.
- All who recite the Rosary are my sons and daughters, and brothers and sisters of my only Son Jesus Christ.
- Devotion of my Rosary is a great sign of predestination.
#4 is important in that, if we are detached more from this world, it results in less anxiety and anger over things and increases the amount of peace we feel and our abilities to lovingly sacrifice and give to one another.
#11: There is something called an irresistible novena. A novena is a prayer that is said 9 days in a row, asking for one intention (it can also be said nine times in a row all at once). The Irresistible Novena is said for 27 days in petition, asking for the grace, and immediately after that, 27 days in thanksgiving for the grace, even if it hasn’t happened yet. This is a total of 54 days, or instances, of prayer.
All intentions are subject to the Will of God. If something doesn’t happen like how you ask, because God’s Will is different, something even better will happen. This is what I described in my life earlier, when I was healed and given my family back, when I hadn’t asked for that. God’s Will is for us to have true happiness in Him and for the salvation of our souls. Never be afraid to ask Him for anything. He will either give it to you or give you something better, if you continue to trust in Him.
But one of the most wonderful things about the Rosary is how close to God it makes you feel if you recite it with an open heart. It puts you so in contact with the spiritual world, the good spiritual world. It opens the door to God in your life and all His feelings of hope and love and peace. It is comfort, it is peace, it is togetherness, the opposite of aloneness and despair. It is very powerful and wonderful and healing.
“The Secret of the Rosary” explains how to recite the Rosary. I will also include a Rosary meditation guide on BoldRadish, hopefully within the week.
There is a devotion woven in with the Rosary called Mary Undoer of Knots. It is a series of prayers you recite in different parts of the Rosary. [ http://www.theholyrosary.org/maryundoerknots ] It was promoted by Pope Francis before he became pope. Remember the net and the silver cord? Mary undoes the knots of sorrow, pain, and demonic activity along this cord, that keep us from God. It is a very powerful devotion.
See also: Mary's Land trailer 1 and 2, investigation of heavenly encounters; "The Miracle Detective," a book written by an investigative journalist who has no faith but encounters many miraculous events.
See also: Mary's Land trailer 1 and 2, investigation of heavenly encounters; "The Miracle Detective," a book written by an investigative journalist who has no faith but encounters many miraculous events.
The Rosary is often associated with the Brown Scapular, which is worn under the clothing. The promise of those wearing the scapular are “Whosoever dies clothed in this Scapular shall not suffer eternal fire.” It also calls down Heavenly protection. It is very likely that, had you been wearing one, you would have received the grace not to turn to a witchdoctor.
A few miracles of graces for the Brown Scapular:
A priest relates that one day in a town near Chicago he was called to the bedside of a man who had been away from the Sacraments for many years. “The man did not want to see me: he would not talk. Then I asked him to look at the little Scapular I was holding. ‘Will you wear this if I put it on you? I ask nothing more.’ He agreed to wear it, and within the hour he wanted to go to Confession and make his peace with God. This did not surprise me, because for over 700 years Our Lady has been working in this way through Her Scapular.”
On the very day that Our Lady gave the Scapular to Saint Simon Stock, he was hurriedly called by Lord Peter of Linton: “Come quickly, Father, my brother is dying in despair!” Saint Simon Stock left at once for the bedside of the dying man. Upon arrival, he placed his large Scapular over the man, asking Our Blessed Mother to keep Her promise. Immediately the man repented, and died in the grace of God. That night the dead man appeared to his brother and said, “I have been saved through the most powerful Queen and the habit of that man as a shield.”
From this pamphlet on the Brown Scapular: [ http://www.fatima.org/apostolate/pdf/brown_scapular.pdf ] This includes many other Brown Scapular miracles, starting on page 8.
Other stories from this page: [ http://www.carmelitedcj.org/saints/scapular.asp ] In May 1957, in Westenboden, Germany, an entire row of houses had caught fire. The inhabitants of one of the houses fixed a scapular to the front door of their home. Five hours later, 22 homes on the block had burnt to the ground. Yet amidst the destruction, the home with the scapular attached to it stood unharmed. This miracle was witnessed by hundreds of people.
Three holy men devoted to the scapular, Pope Bl. Gregory X, St. Alphonsus Liguori, and St. John Bosco, all died wearing the scapular. When their graves were opened years later, the bodies and vestments had decayed but their scapulars remained perfectly intact.
In November of 1955, a plane carrying 27 passengers crashed in Guatemala. All the passengers died except for one young girl. She related that when the plane was going down, she clutched her scapular and cried out to Our Lady for help. She was burnt and her clothes were tattered and burnt as well, but the girl was overall unharmed and her scapular free from any burns.
You can buy a scapular or get one for free if you don’t have the money to get one. (Although it is very inexpensive.) [ http://www.freebrownscapular.com/ ] Free Brown Scapular .com is one source, although there are many sources online that offer free brown scapulars, sometimes blessed by a priest.
If you consecrate yourself to the Sacred Heart of Jesus everyday, a simple prayer, He will shed abundant graces on you. You definitely would not have fallen into the trap of the witchdoctor. Here are some of the promises Jesus gives to those dedicated to the Sacred Heart: “I will establish peace in their families. … I will console them in their difficulties. … I will be their refuge during life and especially at the hour of death. … I will shed abundant blessings upon all their undertakings. … Sinners shall find in My Heart a fountain and boundless ocean of mercy.” There are a total of 12 promises for those dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. [ http://www.fatima.org/essentials/whatucando/sac&immhrts/basis.asp#a ]
Prayer of consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus: [ http://www.motherteresa.org/11_sacred_heart/sacred_heart_acts.html#4 ] Although there are many different ones. There is no official wording for a prayer of consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
All of these devotions and more are things I learned about through the book “Prayers and Heavenly Promises.” [ http://www.amazon.com/Prayers-Heavenly-Promises-Joan-Carroll-ebook/dp/B00CSVQ0CG/ ]
The 51st Psalm is a psalm of penitential psalm. It is also full of a lot of hope. It might encourage you to pray the whole thing: [ http://www.usccb.org/bible/psalms/51 ]. Some quotes from it: “My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit; a contrite, humbled heart, O God, you will not scorn. … Turn away your face from my sins; blot out all my iniquities. A clean heart create for me, God; renew within me a steadfast spirit. … Thoroughly wash away my guilt; and from my sin cleanse me. For I know my transgressions; my sin is always before me. Against you, you alone have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your eyes So that you are just in your word, and without reproach in your judgment. … Have mercy on me, God, in accord with your merciful love… You will let me hear gladness and joy…”
The wonderful thing about these prayers with repeating parts to them, such as the Divine Mercy chaplet, is the meditative opportunities they give us. You have the opportunity to speak to God from your heart while you think about prayers. You can tell Him your fears, Your thanksgiving, tell Him all the ways you trust Him and desire to trust Him, ask for forgiveness, and any other thing you want to think of. You can engage your imagination and imagine yourself on Calvary, offering the Body of Jesus taken from the Cross towards Heaven in atonement of your sins, and meditate on the significance of the sacrifice of Jesus for our sins. God is infinite and the amount we can meditate on all things related to Him are infinite. He will always give us new insights and enlightenment about His Son and His Love and Mercy when we meditate with our whole hearts and whole minds.
Many of the people in the answered prayer stories (although not all of them) would turn to God during times of distress and pray intensely for hours to Him. I recently did something similar. It is a wonderful opportunity to connect with Him.
A few suggestions to meditate on during longer, more intense prayer sessions (although think up and personalize your own, certainly): only you and God exist, no one else exists in your life, everyone else will pass away, all things you own will pass away, in the end and even now, only God exists, all things exist only to fulfill His Will in your soul, to bring you to love Him; only the God who created you can recreate you (depending on Him completely is known as “spiritual poverty”); His omnipotence; continually turning your heart over to God; that you recognize that only He can heal you, explaining to Him all the things you’ve tried to heal your life and how that hasn’t worked and how when you have been helped or cured of something through some seemingly human means, it was God working through those means, and how you recognize with your whole heart that only He can heal you, and beg Him and tell Him you know He is a merciful Father, most loving, who heals people who turn to Him and call on His Name; imagine Him breathing and blowing away all the sin and darkness and evil and demonic forces and ties and demons in your life and sending them back to be imprisoned in Hell, far from you:
“By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of his wrath they are consumed.”—Job chapter 4 [ http://www.usccb.org/bible/jb/4:9 ]
“But he shall judge the poor with justice, and decide fairly for the land’s afflicted. He shall strike the ruthless with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked.”—Isaiah chapter 11 [ http://www.usccb.org/bible/is/11:04 ]
“And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord [Jesus] will kill with the breath of his mouth and render powerless by the manifestation of his coming…” —2 Thessalonians chapter 1 [ http://www.usccb.org/bible/2thessalonians/ ]
“Then I saw the heavens opened, and there was a white horse; its rider was [called] “Faithful and True.” He judges and wages war in righteousness. His eyes were [like] a fiery flame, and on his head were many diadems. He had a name inscribed that no one knows except himself. He wore a cloak that had been dipped in blood, and his name was called the Word of God. The armies of heaven followed him, mounted on white horses and wearing clean white linen. Out of his mouth came a sharp sword to strike the nations. … The rest were killed by the sword that came out of the mouth of the one riding the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.” King of Kings, Revelation chapter 19 [ http://www.usccb.org/bible/rev/19:15 ]
“May God arise; may His enemies be scattered; may those who hate Him flee before His holy Face. As the smoke is dispersed, disperse them; as wax is melted by fire, so may the wicked perish before God. Then the just will be glad; they will rejoice before God; they will celebrate with great joy.”—Psalm 68 [ http://www.usccb.org/bible/psalms/68 ] one of the most powerful exorcism lines in the Bible, that demons cannot stand and flee when it is recited.
There are devotions to the Holy Face of Jesus (the last quote listed above). One of the eight promises of them Jesus said is, “I will grant them contrition so perfect, that their very sins shall be changed in My sight into jewels of precious gold.” [ http://www.rosaryandchaplets.com/chaplets/holy_face_history.html ] The chaplet of the Holy Face is online here: [ http://www.rosaryandchaplets.com/chaplets/holy_face_39_bead_prayer.html ] I’ve personally always found explanations of the chaplet of the Holy Face to be a bit confusing until I sit down and really work out what they are describing. I hope you understand it perfectly and it is just me. I should post on a page on BoldRadish the Chaplet of the Holy Face.
Last weekend and this weekend both I’ve started praying for a long time regularly. I prayed for about five hours, praying the novena prayer to Saint Philomena over and over again for one intention. [ http://www.marypages.com/StPhilomena.htm ] I pray to her because I remember I visited her shrine in Mugnano, Italy, and at the time I visited her, I had to take a lot of prescription medication for mania and depression and anxiety. I went into her shrine and I prayed for a little while. When I left, I realized I didn’t have to take any medication anymore. I had been cured of my mania, depression and anxiety. I hadn’t even asked for these cures, I had asked for something else and had prayed for some friends and enemies I knew. She is very gracious and cured me of this because she is patroness of those with mental disorders.
I was cured until I was given PTSD by my now late ex-boyfriend, which happened after I went to the shrine. So I prayed to her for a long time last weekend to be healed of anxiety and sorrow I had regarding a certain situation I had just been through and it worked when all other means of remaining peaceful had failed. I have not had anxiety or sorrow since. I prayed also for a friend of mine who is struggling with things, for him to be healed of his depression completely (he had depression when he was younger and I think he has it again) and that he be granted peace and wisdom and for our friendship to be stronger. I prayed for him again this weekend for several hours, that God’s will be done in him, whatever God decides is best to happen. I felt very soothed, and it felt very wonderful to pray for another person’s healing. It is very peaceful to pray that much, to depend that much on God.
I do not know if your schedule allows for that much prayer, but even praying whole heartedly for less time than that may see you great comfort granted by God. He is most gracious.
All of the promises God makes to help His children throughout the New and Old Testaments are based on the promise of His Name. He swore by His Name to help His children, not for their merits but for the holiness of His Name. That is why those who turn to Him and call upon His Name, He hears. That is also the reason that there is a whole commandment dedicated to not using His Name in vain or blaspheming His Name. The only reason He helps us is because of that Name.
“Now, LORD God, confirm the promise that you have spoken concerning your servant and his house forever. Bring about what you have promised so that your name may be forever great.”—2 Samuel chapter 7 [ http://www.usccb.org/bible/2samuel/7 ]
“My faithfulness and mercy will be with him; through my name his horn will be exalted.”—Psalms chapter 89 [ http://www.usccb.org/bible/psalms/89 ]
“For you have exalted over all your name and your promise.”—Psalm 138 [ http://www.usccb.org/bible/psalms/138:1 ]
“Amen, amen, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you. Until now you have not asked anything in my name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.”—John chapter 16 [ http://www.usccb.org/bible/john/16 ]
There are also instances of people driving out demons in Jesus’ Name in the New Testament, as seen in Mark chapter 9 when the apostles complain that someone is exorcising people in Jesus’ Name: “John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name, and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow us.” Jesus replied, “Do not prevent him. There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name who can at the same time speak ill of me.” [ http://www.usccb.org/bible/mark/9 ]
There is a book with lots of examples of the Holy Name and its powers, explaining it, written by Father Paul O’Sullivan called “The Wonders of the Holy Name.” [ http://www.amazon.com/Wonders-Holy-Name-Paul-OSullivan/dp/0895554909/ ] This is a very encouraging book.
A nice guide on how to pray every day, written by Russian Orthodox, was posted here [ http://www.stgeorgegreenville.org/OrthodoxLife/Chapter8/Chap8-5.html ]. Towards the end, there is a sort of “prayer schedule.” Padre Pio suggests we pray an hour a day, half an hour in the morning and half an hour in the evening. My general prayer schedule is a little different than listed here, because it includes these Catholic devotions, but it follows the same concept and is inspired by that article.
I open with anointing myself with holy oil (previously mentioned) and holy water from the healing shrine of Lourdes, France. ( The apparition of Lourdes and discovery of the healing grotto: http://www.medjugorjeusa.org/lourdes.htm ; official site of the healing grotto, which now has a church: http://en.lourdes-france.org/ ; the holy water I have: http://www.directfromlourdes.com/inc/sdetail/bottle_containing_lourdes_holy_water_/62/27005 although there are other ones on the website; there are innumerable accounts of people being healed at the Lourdes grotto. I always anointed myself with Lourdes water when I was suffering from suicidal ideation and it helped me a great deal, so I always kept it up.)
Then I open savior.org or another live online Eucharist camera. After reading enough books about the Eucharist by saints, particularly Saint Alphonsus Liguroi (“Visits to the Blessed Sacrament” http://www.amazon.com/Visits-Blessed-Sacrament-Virgin-Mary/dp/0895556677 ), testimonials on the savior.org website ( http://www.savior.org/testimonials/ ) and my own personal experiences with the Eucharist, I pray in front of the Eucharist. (When I first started converting, I had a lot of issues with the demonic. I went through a lot as a child and wasn’t raised with knowledge of God. At first when I entered a chapel dedicated to Eucharistic devotion, I felt like I had to run out of there. It felt like something was tormented being in there, that I had to get away. I realized that this was not me but something that had attached itself to me. I sat down and waited it out. Eventually, whatever was desperate to leave and trying to get me to leave, left itself and I was at peace. I felt it leave me. Later, when I went to daily Mass for the first time, because I was Catholic and could receive the Eucharist, it burned my throat and I felt like I was choking. No one else was having this reaction, so I realized that it was just me and that Jesus in the Eucharist was exorcising me. I felt peaceful afterwards, a deep peace. I kept going back and after a few days, did not have this reaction, so I realized I had been delivered from the spirits of the world that had attached themselves to me. That is why I pray in front of the Eucharist: I know He is there and it is a much more amazing experience.)
Then I pray a Rosary of Liberation for my day. Then I read for a few minutes from a book (I am re-reading “Visits to the Blessed Sacrament). Then I pray the Rosary or listen to online Mass [ https://www.youtube.com/user/dailymass ]. I also talk to Jesus in the Eucharist, about everything or anything on my mind or what I’ve done or just how I’m doing or if I have a problem I need to solve. Then I cycle through various devotions to saints, completing novenas to them, and the Divine Mercy and Tears of Mary chaplet or Holy Face chaplet. Before bed, I started praying a novena of the Memorare (praying it nine times in a row). [ Memorare: http://www.ourladyswarriors.org/prayer/memorare.htm ]
A form is prayer is gratitude. This is a gratitude exercise that helps with anxiety and depression and allows you to see God’s love working in your day and your life: keep a journal of things you are grateful for, however big or small, preferably before bedtime. I read my list in the morning to give thanks to God before the day starts for all of the things He has helped me with. This fortifies my day.
Another prayerful exercise is to write down your fears, and to write “Jesus, I trust in You” across from it. Then pray over your fears and trust in God. I wrote down a list of intentions and I kept them under a statue of Saint Philomena. I read them casually, not even every day, but I noticed that she helped greatly with problems in my house with health that no one had been able to solve or find solutions to after looking for years and years. I also noticed that when I pray, even just casually in the morning, not even intensely or extensively, just consistently, that those prayers get answered. For example, I have an aunt who used to do art but was not able to for years. I also had another friend, the one I’ve been praying for a lot lately, who hadn’t done art in a while. I started praying every day that my aunt be healed and able to create art, without me telling her, and she started making art again and got a piece in an art show. I prayed the same for my other friend and he drew a picture after only a month of prayer for him. God will help for every little thing.
“You have brought them abundant joy and great rejoicing; They rejoice before you as people rejoice at harvest, as they exult when dividing the spoils. For the yoke that burdened them, the pole on their shoulder, The rod of their taskmaster, you have smashed…”—Isaiah chapter 9 [ http://www.usccb.org/bible/isaiah/9 ]
“Jesus spoke to them again, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’”—John chapter 8 [ http://www.usccb.org/bible/john/8 ]
“I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”—John 10 [ http://www.usccb.org/bible/john/10 ]
I recommend following the suggestions in the “Dealing with Demons” post, as well. Even though those recommendations are for a household infected with demonic presence, it’s good preventative measures and having holy water and oil and holy images in your house helps with any issue, really. It helps spiritually fortify your external surroundings, which helps with your internal struggles.
New, edit: On a final note, our sleep can also be committed to God and He can heal us as we sleep.
Doctor of the Church, Saint Therese, says on how God uses sleep in "Story of a Soul": "I remember that little children are as pleasing to their parents when they are asleep as well as when they are wide awake; I remember, too, that when they perform operations, doctors put their patients to sleep." God is a loving Father to us, He is like a sweet parent looking down on His children when they sleep. He is a Divine Physician of our soul. When we sleep, He can operate on us.
"When you lie down, you will not be afraid, when you rest, your sleep will be sweet." [ Proverbs chapter 3 ]
"'Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your selves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.'" [ Matthew chapter 11 ]
Before drifting off to sleep, you can pray, asking God to heal you in your sleep and help your sleep be refreshing and restful.
I often had nightmares, some of them horrific. The only way to end them was by sprinkling holy water around and on my bed (Lourdes water, linked above), or by sprinkling blessed salt (salt blessed by a priest, a very old sacramental you can read about here [ http://www.miraclerosarymission.org/salt.html ], a few grains of salt will do; it can be used in exorcisms as well or mixed with water to create holy water). I got my salt from here several years ago when they only sold religious objects. There might be other places online to get it or you can get a priest to bless some salt (it's free, only costs the price of salt). A little lasts a lifetime. You could also anoint yourself with holy oil.
"As in the case of all sacramentals, its power comes not from the sign itself, but by means of the Church’s official (liturgical, not private) prayer of blessing—a power the Church derives from Christ himself (see Matt. 16:19 and 18:18). As the Vatican II document on the Liturgy states (art. 61), both Sacraments and sacramentals sanctify us, not of themselves, but by power flowing from the redemptive act of Jesus, elicited by the Church’s intercession to be directed through those external signs and elements. Hence sacramentals like blessed salt, holy water, medals, etc. are not to be used superstitiously as having self-contained power, but as “focus-points” funneling one’s faith toward Jesus, just as a flag is used as a “focus-point” of patriotism, or as handkerchiefs were used to focus faith for healing and deliverance by Paul (Acts 19:12)."
Even without the salt or the holy water or anything, you can ask God to grant you rest and ask Him to heal you in your sleep. This seems to be a powerful and pleasant experience.
New, edit: On a final note, our sleep can also be committed to God and He can heal us as we sleep.
Doctor of the Church, Saint Therese, says on how God uses sleep in "Story of a Soul": "I remember that little children are as pleasing to their parents when they are asleep as well as when they are wide awake; I remember, too, that when they perform operations, doctors put their patients to sleep." God is a loving Father to us, He is like a sweet parent looking down on His children when they sleep. He is a Divine Physician of our soul. When we sleep, He can operate on us.
"When you lie down, you will not be afraid, when you rest, your sleep will be sweet." [ Proverbs chapter 3 ]
"'Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your selves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.'" [ Matthew chapter 11 ]
Before drifting off to sleep, you can pray, asking God to heal you in your sleep and help your sleep be refreshing and restful.
I often had nightmares, some of them horrific. The only way to end them was by sprinkling holy water around and on my bed (Lourdes water, linked above), or by sprinkling blessed salt (salt blessed by a priest, a very old sacramental you can read about here [ http://www.miraclerosarymission.org/salt.html ], a few grains of salt will do; it can be used in exorcisms as well or mixed with water to create holy water). I got my salt from here several years ago when they only sold religious objects. There might be other places online to get it or you can get a priest to bless some salt (it's free, only costs the price of salt). A little lasts a lifetime. You could also anoint yourself with holy oil.
"As in the case of all sacramentals, its power comes not from the sign itself, but by means of the Church’s official (liturgical, not private) prayer of blessing—a power the Church derives from Christ himself (see Matt. 16:19 and 18:18). As the Vatican II document on the Liturgy states (art. 61), both Sacraments and sacramentals sanctify us, not of themselves, but by power flowing from the redemptive act of Jesus, elicited by the Church’s intercession to be directed through those external signs and elements. Hence sacramentals like blessed salt, holy water, medals, etc. are not to be used superstitiously as having self-contained power, but as “focus-points” funneling one’s faith toward Jesus, just as a flag is used as a “focus-point” of patriotism, or as handkerchiefs were used to focus faith for healing and deliverance by Paul (Acts 19:12)."
Even without the salt or the holy water or anything, you can ask God to grant you rest and ask Him to heal you in your sleep. This seems to be a powerful and pleasant experience.
—— Love ———————
And his commandment is this: we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another just as he commanded us.
Those who keep his commandments remain in him, and he in them, and the way we know that he remains in us is from the Spirit that he gave us.
Love means not just emotional love but love as an act of will. Charity. (Not charity of money necessarily, but charity of time, charity of empathy, charity of patience. One example of this love is something you have already shown: to love means to recognize (as opposed to deny or place blame elsewhere) that you have verbally abused him (which you have admitted). Many people are not brave enough to admit they have hurt someone else, they would rather blame the victim, which is abuse and usually results in the termination of the relationship. That is very humble and brave of you to admit this. The next step is to take the necessary steps to correct the situation (such as prayer, getting a spiritual disconnection from the sin of anger and verbal abuse through repenting both privately and with a priest, cognitive behavioral therapy, other things for anxiety or anger and emotional problems, studying and learning about God's love which will strengthen your relationship with Him which will increase your peace and lessen your anger, anxiety, frustration, etc. at the events around you)
“It is not easy to like certain people, but it is possible to love them. The difference is this: Liking is instinctive, emotional, organic, physiological, a sensible reaction over which sometimes we have as little control as over the grumbling of a stomach. But loving is in the will, not in the glands; it is in that part of our being which is subject to moral command, and is not a bodily reaction, like a wink. Hence, though we do not like certain medicines, we can put ourselves under the dictate of the will and take them. Liking is reciprocal, but love is not necessarily reciprocal. The friends we say we like, like us. But a mother can love a wayward son even though he does not return the affection. God can love us even when we spurn His graces.”—Archbishop Fulton Sheen (The Power of Love)
“Consider how small a fire can set a huge forest ablaze. The tongue is also a fire. It exists among our members as a world of malice, defiling the whole body and setting the entire course of our lives on fire, itself set on fire by Hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. This need not be so, my brothers. Does a spring gush forth from the same opening both pure and brackish water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, produce olives, or a grapevine figs? Neither can salt water yield fresh.” James chapter 3 [ http://www.usccb.org/bible/james/3 ]
You can see this verbal abuse is a grave sin that is separating you from other people. If you repent privately every time you are verbally abusive, and you go to a priest every so often (every week or so, for example) and also repent with the priest’s help (the priest will sever the tie between you and the sin of verbal abuse), you will see that you are gradually freed from this sin of verbally abusing people around you. I have experienced it myself. Where people cannot “tame the tongue,” even with intense care, God can restrain it and bring peace. It is a gift He reserves for those who trust in Him and turn to Him.
Doing this, turning to God for help with anger and an inclination for abuse, and all efforts you take to stop your abusiveness, is a great act of love, a great act of charity.
“My child, add no reproach to your charity, or spoil any gift by harsh words. Does not the dew give relief from the scorching heat? So a word can be better than a gift. Indeed does not a word count more than a good gift? But both are offered by a kind person. The fool is ungracious and abusive, and a grudging gift makes the eyes smart.” Sirach chapter 18 [ http://www.usccb.org/bible/sirach/18 ]
“Loud mouths are feared in their city, and whoever is reckless in speech is hated.”—Sirach chapter 9 [ http://www.usccb.org/bible/sirach/9 ]
Do not quarrel with loud-mouths, or heap wood upon their fire. .. Do not defy the quick-tempered, or ride with them through the desert. For bloodshed is nothing to them; when there is no one to help, they will destroy you.”—Sirach chapter 8 [ http://www.usccb.org/bible/sirach/8 ]
“Therefore, encourage one another and build one another up…” 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 [ http://www.usccb.org/bible/1thessalonians/5 ]
Not tear each other down verbally, but encourage each other. Appreciate one another. That is love, that is a great act of love, that needs to be repeated many, many times a day, not just occasionally.
Jealousy, a desire to argue, self loathing, and anxiety are just a few of the things that could cause a person to become verbally abusive. Many of these can be corrected by repenting of them (except anxiety which is not a sin and therefore can’t be repented of) and by learning about God’s love, accepting His will, and prayer. (Self loathing is a sin because it’s a sin to hate anyone, including yourself, because we are all made in the image and likeness of God. The theological definition of hatred is that you are infuriated enough to kill someone and/or desire them to suffer forever, as in Hell. By hating yourself, you are cursing yourself.) By coming closer and closer to God and being nurtured and loved more and more deeply by Him, and learning to see how much He is caring for you, it will help your anger and frustration. By praying intensely, you will be helped, as well.
I have read that people who are sex addicts wear the Brown Scapular and recite the Rosary and they are alleviated from their sex addiction. I would imagine that these two sacraments would help alleviate an inclination of verbal abuse, as well.
The “Story of a Soul” autobiography by Saint Therese of Lisieux, already mentioned above ( audio recording of it here [ https://archive.org/details/story_of_a_soul_ab_librivox ] or read it online here [ http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/16772/pg16772.html ] ) not only talks about God’s love for us but also, through Therese’s example, shows us how we can love one another and love God by putting up with each others’ faults. “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ but hates his brother, he is a liar; for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. This is the commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.”—1 John chapter 4 [ http://www.usccb.org/bible/1john/4 ]. Love of one another flows from love of God, which we have to learn about. Therese makes it very plain how this is accomplished and shown to others through acts of our will.
I have been to confession for anger and I get a lot of good advice from confession, so I decided to write down all the advice I get and keep it in a place where I read it every day after I wake up and before I interact with people. It really helps to do this, it reminds me not to do the past things I’ve done (or to try not to). I was told about anger, that when others see you get angry, they lose respect for you (even on a subconscious level). It may take years or they may never even gain respect back for you. So I do not get angry or show anger about anything. We live in a culture where you are supposed to watch the news and yell at the TV about it, or get angry about things as a way of showing your interest in them.
This isn’t psychologically healthy, though: it just creates more anger in the world and in others’ personal lives, more darkness and more isolation. And once I have started to keep my temper under control (through various means including spiritual, CBT and supplements/herbal/homeopathy, because PTSD causes a bad temper), I have started to understand what the priest in the confessional was saying. It is better to not get angry about things or let others see you angry. There are better and more sincere ways to show interest in something or passion about something.
A lot of times people yell at each other to change each others’ opinions about something. When was the last time you changed your opinion about something to agree with someone who was yelling at you and making you feel inferior and horrible? So why would yelling at another and/or making them feel inferior change their opinion or ways of doing things? I think it is an act of desperation and control, stemming from a lack of trust in God, and/or fear and anxiety.
The following is advice from Saint John Chrysostom. It is originally androcentric, for men for the treatment of their wives, but the same goes for women's treatment of their husbands, so I just switched around the pronouns and some of the nouns. It still makes for sound advice. It seems it would work with any close relationship (for example, I would think it could be easily modified for a parent-to-child relationship):
“There is no influence more powerful than the bond of love, especially for husband and wife. A servant can be taught submission through fear; but even he, if provoked too much, will soon seek his escape. But one’s partner for life, the father of one’s children, the source of one’s every joy, should never be fettered with fear and threats, but with love and patience. What kind of marriage can there be when the husband is afraid of the wife? What sort of satisfaction could a wife herself have, if she live with her husband as if he were a slave, and not with a man by his own free will? Suffer anything for his sake, but never disgrace him, for Christ never did this with the Church. And again, never call him simply by his name, but with terms of endearment, with honor, with much love. Honor him, and he will not need honor from others; he will not want the glory that comes from others, if he enjoys that which comes from you. Prefer him before all, on every account, both for his attractiveness and his discernment, and praise him. You will thus persuade him to give heed to none that are without, but to scorn all the world except for yourself. Teach him the fear of God, and all good things will flow from this as from a fountain, and the house will be full of ten thousand blessings.”
I don’t know if this applies to you but it is a form of verbal abuse so I thought I would include it. If it doesn’t apply to you, my apologies; it’s some interesting piece of knowledge to be aware of and it might help someone else who reads this:
Another piece of advice I got from my confessor and later the pope was known to say this publicly a lot is to never say anything bad about anyone, ever. This doesn’t include telling the truth about someone if they have hurt you and you are trying to figure out how to deal with it. This is more like name calling and gossiping. The same John Chrysostom said slander or gossip is a worse sin than cannibalism. It is isolating and people who hear it may agree or laugh, but they know on a subconscious level that if this person is gossiping about this other person, when I am not around, she will be gossiping (or saying bad things) about me. People who do this lose a lot of respect they could otherwise have and it will isolate you from them, and make them isolated, too. “Let anything you hear die with you; never fear, it will not make you burst! … Like an arrow stuck in a fool’s thigh, so is gossip in the belly of a fool.” Sirach chapter 19 [ http://www.usccb.org/bible/sirach/19 ].
The same as above, I don’t know if this applies to you personally but it is certainly something you will be up against in your lifetime and it may help someone else reading this, as well: Lying could also be considered a form of verbal abuse. Demons are attracted to lies and stay around liars. The bigger the lie, the more they are attracted to it. Lying is not considered a grave sin, despite being a sin, however it does resonate demonically and leads to other sin which may be worse. “All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that is not deadly.”— 1 John chapter 5 [ http://www.usccb.org/bible/1john/5 ] (By being honest I don’t mean it is an opportunity to be rude to others or give cruel judgements about things. We should always strive to encourage other people, build them up and be kind and gentle and patient.) Someone who lies a lot has a lot of demonic troubles, whether that person is explicitly aware of it or not. (So you can know that there is a lot of demonic activity surrounding someone who lies and you can steer clear of them and/or pray for them a lot.)
I once told a lie to someone because I was in a dangerous situation with them (I was dealing with someone with a very volatile temper who wasn’t emotionally stable, and who was also attempting to psychologically hurt and trap me, and he wouldn’t accept the truth so I felt I had to say something else to make him stop). I lied to him to get away from them without getting very badly hurt. I think it ended up damaging me to lie even if it got rid of him. I talked to the priest about this later, if this was a sin because it was a dangerous situation. He said that it wasn’t. I’m not sure how this works. I think if there is a situation you are not sure about when it happens, you will have to talk about it afterwards. I have tried not to lie since then. If I need to get away because someone wants to be around me to do something bad or to hurt me, I try to make sure it isn’t a lie and I try to get out of it. If I just “don’t want to be around them” and I don’t have anything to do, I just be around them because they might need a friend and I think it is God’s Will to help others feel not isolated.
Some quotes on love:
“Now this is the message that we have heard from him and proclaim to you: God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all. If we say, “We have fellowship with him,” while we continue to walk in darkness, we lie and do not act in truth. But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, then we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of his Son Jesus cleanses us from all sin. If we say, “We are without sin,” we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we acknowledge our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from every wrongdoing.”—1 John chapter 1 [ http://www.usccb.org/bible/1john/1 ]
“Whoever says he is in the light, yet hates his brother, is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother remains in the light, and there is nothing in him to cause a fall. Whoever hates his brother is in darkness; he walks in darkness and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.”—1 John chapter 2 [ http://www.usccb.org/bible/1john/2 ]
“We know that we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers. Whoever does not love remains in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life remaining in him. The way we came to know love was that he laid down his life for us; so we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.”—1 John chapter 3 [ http://www.usccb.org/bible/1john/3 ] (This can include praying daily or putting up with faults or making sacrifices for another person.)
“And his commandment is this: we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another just as he commanded us.”—1 John chapter 3
“Beloved, if God so loved us, we also must love one another. No one has ever seen God. Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us.”—1 John chapter 4
“We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us. God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him.”—1 John chapter 4
“If anyone says, “I love God,” but hates his brother, he is a liar; for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. This is the commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.”—1 John chapter 4
“If I speak in human and angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, [love] is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing; if tongues, they will cease; if knowledge, it will be brought to nothing. For we know partially and we prophesy partially, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.When I was a child, I used to talk as a child, think as a child, reason as a child; when I became a man, I put aside childish things. At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. At present I know partially; then I shall know fully, as I am fully known. So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”—1 Corinthians chapter 13. This refers not to an emotional, passionate, self-indulgent love, but a charitable, forgiving, long-suffering, giving, patient love, that originates not from this world, but from God, from Heaven.
“As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete. This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.”—John chapter 15. Laying down your life can mean putting up with the faults of another and praying for their well-being.
Therese’s life in “Story of a Soul” is a very good example of this. She embraced this and lived it out completely. Despite her faults and flaws, she kept turning to God and trusting in Him to act through her, and He did.
It is also an active love, as we see Matthew chapter 25, 31-46 [ http://www.usccb.org/bible/matthew/25 ]: the Lord judges between the righteous and the unrighteous. The righteous didn’t realize they were righteous, nor the unrighteous realize they were unrighteous. “Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’ And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’”
The unrighteous are condemned, not for actively committing evil or sinning, but for failing to help—for simply NOT acting—those around them: “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.’ Then they will answer and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?’ He will answer them, ‘Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.’ And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
“Children, let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth.”—1 John chapter 3 [ http://www.usccb.org/bible/1john/3 ]
For daily life, this active love can mean being charitable with your time, listening to someone, trying to help them when they ask you for help, praying for them, being patient with them, encouraging them, forgiving them, making the same excuses for another person that you would make for yourself, or trying to correct faults in yourself that hurt them (as you are already trying to do, which is a very wonderful thing). The longer you are actively loving, the more practice you will have, the better you will be at it.
The love of God has to come before the love of neighbor can come. Healing from God has to come before love of neighbor can come because it is written “we love because he first loved us.”—1 John chapter 4 [ http://www.usccb.org/bible/1john/4 ]
“In this way we know that we love the children of God when we love God and obey his commandments. For the love of God is this, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome, for whoever is begotten by God conquers the world. And the victory that conquers the world is our faith.”—1 John chapter 5
So by learning of God’s love, by learning how much He loves you, by trusting in Him and turning from the occult, by praying to Him intensely and feeling His healing love and having your prayers answered, by repenting to God of your verbal abuse and the causes of it, and having Him heal the causes of it and make you whole and joyful, then you will be able to love your husband and love others in a way that is joyful. By acknowledging this is true and turning to Him, God will forgive you all the more readily for the verbal abuse between you and your husband because you did not have His support. Tell God, “how could I have loved him if I was so far from You? But now that I have turned to You, help me to love him!” How could God, a most merciful and loving Father, not be touched by His daughter’s earnest request after she has repented and put herself in His Hands? He will surely help you if you put yourself in His Hands completely.
‘Jesus replied, “The first is this: ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” The scribe said to him, “Well said, teacher. You are right in saying, ‘He is One and there is no other than he.’ And ‘to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself’ is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” And when Jesus saw that [he] answered with understanding, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”’—Mark chapter 12 [ http://www.usccb.org/bible/mark/12 ]
The first commandment, note it says that you will love God with all your capacity. This does not mean that you will love God as He deserves, but as best you can. God is infinite, it would be impossible for a finite creature to love Him as He deserves. The same is true of others: you must love them to the best of your ability, and forgive others’ faults, assuming they are loving you to the best of their abilities. Your ability up until this point has been smaller than it will be, it has been hindered by a lack of love of God. That is why God can forgive you, because He is merciful and remembers that you are a finite creature, and because you are sincerely sorry.
Padre Pio used to pray to God that if He wants him to love Him more, He must give him more love. By repenting of your verbal abuse and the occult, you are apologizing and asking God to give you more love in your heart both for Him and your husband, and you are asking Him to take away the bad things in your heart. You are asking for your heart to be healed. This is a brave and bold and right and good thing of you to do. You are on the right track. It is pleasing to God for you to do this: it makes Him very happy for you to turn your heart over to Him that He may fill it with His love. That is all He wants to do. That is the reason He created creatures, created humankind: for them to turn to Him and receive His love. Every step towards Him that you take, He takes a hundred steps towards you.
“Above all, let your love for one another be intense, because love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without complaining. As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God’s varied grace.”—1 Peter chapter 4 [ http://www.usccb.org/bible/1peter/4 ]
“But now, Lady, I ask you, not as though I were writing a new commandment but the one we have had from the beginning: let us love one another. For this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, as you heard from the beginning, in which you should walk.”—2 John [ http://www.usccb.org/bible/john/2 ]
I am putting up a post later about anger, anxiety and depression and herbs that I have taken that been helpful, as well as an online cognitive behavioral therapy source. All of these may be helpful in your quest to deal with your home problems. This is based on the long discourse of the doctor’s role with God’s healing in Sirach, chapter 38: “Make friends with the doctor, for he is essential to you; God has also established him in his profession. From God the doctor has wisdom, and from the king he receives sustenance. Knowledge makes the doctor distinguished, and gives access to those in authority. God makes the earth yield healing herbs which the prudent should not neglect; Was not the water sweetened by a twig, so that all might learn his power? He endows people with knowledge, to glory in his mighty works, Through which the doctor eases pain, and the druggist prepares his medicines. Thus God’s work continues without cease in its efficacy on the surface of the earth. My son, when you are ill, do not delay, but pray to God, for it is he who heals. Flee wickedness and purify your hands; cleanse your heart of every sin. Offer your sweet-smelling oblation and memorial, a generous offering according to your means. Then give the doctor his place lest he leave; you need him too, For there are times when recovery is in his hands. He too prays to God That his diagnosis may be correct and his treatment bring about a cure. Whoever is a sinner before his Maker will be defiant toward the doctor.”—Sirach chapter 38 [ http://www.usccb.org/bible/sirach/38 ]
It is only when medicine is worshiped in place of God and God is cropped from the picture, or when therapy replaces prayer, that true healing cannot take place and medicine becomes a hindrance to healing. When humankind begins to think it can recreate itself without the One who created it, then everything begin to fall apart. But otherwise, medicine is encouraged and good. I have PTSD and take supplements and herbs that help with anger and anxiety.
You might not need that now, though. If you do, hopefully you won’t by the time its up.
Your relationship is the source of your anxiety, which demonic forces are taking advantage of. You might want to talk to the priest about your relationship with your husband. Priests are trained to deal with counseling people, they are free to talk to, and they have a lot of experience.
While I’m not trained, I’m fairly sure having intimate relations with your husband while being separated from him is not encouraging reconciliation, but promoting a continuation (or possible degradation) of your current relationship state. This current state of separation is probably causing a lot of anxiety, confusion and pain for both of you. Demonic forces are obviously trying to keep you in a state of anxiety to more easily take advantage of you (ie witchdoctors). I would suggest praying over your situation and praying for the strength to deal with it, but most importantly I suggest praying for peace within yourself and healing for you and for your husband. Peace is the most important thing you can pray for, along with a closer relationship to God. I recommend you pray a lot, pray the Rosary of Liberation to liberate your marriage, and to always trust God no matter what happens.
—— Peace ———————
No matter what you are praying for even in your whole life, also include the intention of “peace.” “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.” [ http://www.usccb.org/bible/john/14 ] Bring Jesus into your life and your heart more and more and always ask Him for this divine elixir of peace that comes from His Divine Love. It is the most wonderful feeling and experience, knowing that peace. He is the Prince of Peace, a generous prince, ready to dispense His wealth to all who humbly come to Him and request it.
——Outro———————
After removing demonic influence from your life, it is important to maintain a connection with God, or the demonic influence will return, worse than it originally was:
“When an unclean spirit goes out of a person it roams through arid regions searching for rest but finds none. Then it says, ‘I will return to my home from which I came.’ But upon returning, it finds it empty, swept clean, and put in order. Then it goes and brings back with itself seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they move in and dwell there; and the last condition of that person is worse than the first. Thus it will be with this evil generation.”—Matthew chapter 12 [ http://www.usccb.org/bible/matthew/12 ]
We must put on the armor of God, which is, staying connected to Him, His sacramentals (like holy oil and the brown scapular), praying to Him, depending on Him actively, and always turning to Him. A conversion isn’t an isolated incident, it is the process of a person’s entire life. We must constantly convert towards God, learning more, praying regularly, and putting into practice what we learn.
The parable of the Sower, Matthew chapter 13 [ http://www.usccb.org/bible/matthew/13 ]: And [Jesus] spoke to them at length in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep, and when the sun rose it was scorched, and it withered for lack of roots. Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it. But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold. Whoever has ears ought to hear.”
“Hear then the parable of the sower. The seed sown on the path is the one who hears the word of the kingdom without understanding it, and the evil one comes and steals away what was sown in his heart. The seed sown on rocky ground is the one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy. But he has no root and lasts only for a time. When some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, he immediately falls away. The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word, but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word and it bears no fruit. But the seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.”
We must always actively strive to be the seed that fell on good soil. Even when horrible things happen to us, we must continue to trust in God and not turn away from Him. We must pray unceasingly for His good and adorable Will to be done, and reach out for other people to pray for us. We also must pray to Jesus that we can be the seed that fell on good soil: even if we try, human will cannot accomplish it; only with God are all things possible, including our salvation.
“When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and said, ‘Who then can be saved?’ Jesus looked at them and said, ‘For human beings this is impossible, but for God all things are possible.’”—Matthew chapter 19 [ http://www.usccb.org/bible/matthew/19 ] This is why we must stay close to Him and depend upon Him.
Every day, we have a choice to turn to God and ask Him to help us or to not turn to Him, to love Him or to reject His love: “If you choose, you can keep the commandments; loyalty is doing the will of God. Set before you are fire and water; to whatever you choose, stretch out your hand. Before everyone are life and death, whichever they choose will be given them.”—Sirach chapter 15 [ http://www.usccb.org/bible/sirach/15 ]
Those who reject God are given the affliction of a hard heart and lack of discernment so they cannot tell between fire or water, death or life, and they choose death. “Happy those who always fear [are in awe of God]; but those who harden their hearts fall into evil.” [ http://www.usccb.org/bible/proverbs/28 ]
But to those who seek Him, God grants wisdom (personified in the Book of Wisdom as “she”): “Therefore I prayed, and prudence was given me; I pleaded and the spirit of Wisdom came to me. … For she leads into the understanding of God, and chooses his works. If riches are desirable in life, what is richer than Wisdom, who produces all things? … Beyond health and beauty I loved her, And I chose to have her rather than the light, because her radiance never ceases. Yet all good things together came to me with her, and countless riches at her hands; I rejoiced in them all, because Wisdom is their leader, though I had not known that she is their mother. … Entering my house, I shall take my repose beside her; For association with her involves no bitterness and living with her no grief, but rather joy and gladness.
“[Wisdom], when a righteous man fled from his brother’s anger, guided him in right ways, Showed him the kingdom of God and gave him knowledge of holy things; She prospered him in his labors and made abundant the fruit of his works, Stood by him against the greed of his defrauders, and enriched him; She preserved him from foes, and secured him against ambush, And she gave him the prize for his hard struggle that he might know that devotion to God is mightier than all else. She did not abandon a righteous man when he was sold, but rescued him from sin. She went down with him into the dungeon, and did not desert him in his bonds, Until she brought him the scepter of royalty and authority over his oppressors, Proved false those who had defamed him, and gave him eternal glory. The holy people and their blameless descendants—it was she who rescued them from the nation that oppressed them. She entered the soul of the Lord’s servant, and withstood fearsome kings with signs and wonders; she gave the holy ones the reward of their labors, Conducted them by a wondrous road, became a shelter for them by day a starry flame by night. She took them across the Red Sea and brought them through the deep waters. Their enemies she overwhelmed, and churned them up from the bottom of the depths. Therefore the righteous despoiled the wicked; and they sang of your holy name, Lord, and praised in unison your conquering hand, Because Wisdom opened the mouths of the mute, and gave ready speech to infants.”
Book of Wisdom, chapters 7, 8, and 10. [ http://www.usccb.org/bible/books-of-the-bible/index.cfm#Wisdom The entire Book of Wisdom beautifully and poetically proclaims the importance of wisdom. ]
Though wisdom that comes from the world is folly, the wisdom that comes from God returns to Him again after it has accomplished His will of raising the humble to high places, bringing light to darkness and peace to those in times of trial.
That is why to cling to God and never let go, to love Him before all others, pray to Him, and learn about Him from those whom He made wise (the saints, the angels), because all good things, in this life and the next, come from these actions.
subjects discussed: curse, curses, demons, dreams, love spells, marriage, Nigerian, occult, ouija, PTSD, spiritual healing, tarot, witch doctor, rosary, divine mercy, forgiveness, summoning spirits, ghosts, palm reader, witchdoctor, ghost, seance, clairvoyant, new age, fortune teller, divination, numerology, blasphemy, necromancy, Catholic, prayer, Holy Name, exorcism, blessings, exorcist, deliverance, evil, failure, sickness, poverty, depression, demonic, horoscope, influence, Jesus, black magick, miscarriage, fatigue, husband, wife, angel, mystic, mysticism, Gemma, Galgani, covenant, blood, Michael, saint, psychic, enemy, bond, silver cord, darkness, relationship, rejection, bad luck, misfortune