I have just returned (last Friday) from a five day conference of the International Association for Deliverance at the shrine of Our Lady of Chestochowa. We were over 280 souls, the majority being priests, but many lay people took part. We also had quite a few religious.
We had two excellent talks on Islam and a talk at the end which is probably one of the most important addresses I have heard in almost 32 years of priesthood. It was given by a Polish university professor who has also taught in a seminary. It was about the dangers of false ideas, including those that have entered the Church and are still to be found in schools, colleges and retreat houses. The so-called, "New Age" is not outside the Church - it has come in through the minds of Christians who are either ignorant of the Church's teachings in some important respects or are naive, simply being unaware of the dangers of neo-pagan and non-Christian thinking.
Of course, since we were there as exorcists and "ministers of deliverance", we were concerned about the activity of the Evil One and other fallen angels. We are not only concerned about dramatic examples of possession and demonic oppression, but also - and more importantly - about the subtle and insidious ways that evil spirits affect us through the Media, books, new religious movements and (what I call) "lazy thinking".
I hope to say more about this important conference in another post. I will finish this one by linking up with a previous one. One of our speakers - a priest experienced in the deliverance ministry over many years - said that clergy child abuse is so evil that if "that is not the work of the devil, I don't know what is!"
I wish I could get others to listen to this. How can believing Christians assume that such a problem can be dealt with only through the courts and psychological assessments and possible treatment? - WE ARE DEALING WITH EVIL HERE!!!
"The Rosary will be a very powerful armour against hell; it will destroy vice, deliver from sin and dispel heresy".(one of fifteen promises given by Our Lady for those who recite the Rosary regularly and prayerfully).
ReplyDeleteHi Father,new follower of your blog.My life is being changed by the Rosary,and the Power of Jesus Christ.Don't forget,where sin abounds,how much more will Grace abound.We must pray for the conversion of Priests.The devil targets them most dreadfully,for obvious reasons.No matter how far down anyone has sunk,there is a saving light.Mercy.Jesus Christ.In all this evil,that Person is still The Truth! Have courage Father,oh,and pray your Rosary.(sorry if this sounded bossy,you know what new followers can be like,think they know it all!)
"Shadowlands" - thank you. I try to say the Rosary every day. I am a member of the Marian Movement of Priests. if you have not read Fr. Gobbi's writings, he writes that Our Lady says that the Rosary is the chain mentioned in the Apocalypse that will bind satan before he is thrown into the abyss. I know this is true through an experience I had dealing with a possessed person. After being unsuccessful with other prayers I said to the girl's mother, "Let's say the Rosary". I then said that the Rosary will be the chain that binds satan and with that the girl got up and ran into the kitchen to hide under the kitchen unit. Of course it was the evil spirit that was hiding.
ReplyDeleteYou are right about the Rosary. And thank you for commenting.
I haven't read Fr Gobbi's writings,I will look him up online.I love reading other people's experiences with the Rosary.I have been trying to say it daily(five mystery's) for about seven months.
ReplyDeleteI am really a novice with the Rosary,but Our Lady is sort of remodeling me slowly(I had got very out of shape spiritually).
One day at a time,by His Grace.
Ros(shadowlands)
When I say I pray five mystery's,I mean five decades,by the way.
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