EWTN Fatima Chaplet of Adoration and Reparation in Time of Pandemic

EWTN  To Air Fatima Chaplet of Adoration
And Reparation In Time of Pandemic

Irondale, AL (EWTN) – As part of an ongoing call to prayer during these troubled times, EWTN Global Catholic Network invites the public to join with the Franciscan Missionaries of the Eternal Word in praying the Fatima Chaplet of Adoration and Reparation in Time of Pandemic. The program will air at 9 a.m. ET, Friday, April 24. (Find EWTN at www.ewtn.com/tv/channel-finder.)

“This devotion uses prayers taught to the Fatima children, two of whom perished in the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918,” said EWTN Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Michael P. Warsaw. “This makes the devotion particularly appropriate and very much needed during the 2020 pandemic, which has affected so many people across the globe.”

In an August 2018 letter to the people, Pope Francis described the origins of the Chaplet, which is associated with the apparitions of Our Lady in Fatima, Portugal.

“The Fatima children; Lucia, Francisco, and Jacinta, said three apparitions of the Angel of Peace occurred in 1916 prior to apparitions of Our Lady which took place six times between May 13 and Oct. 13, 1917, at Cova da Iria. During the apparitions of the Angel of Peace, the children said they saw a transparent figure in the form of a young man, whiter than snow and of great beauty. He appeared over the trees and said, ‘Do not be afraid! I am the Angel of Peace. Pray with me.’ Then the Angel knelt and prayed, 'My God, I believe, I adore, I hope, and I love You. I ask pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope, and do not love You' three times.”

To learn how to say the Chaplet and for a more complete history, please see this 2018 article from the National Catholic Register, a service of EWTN: https://bit.ly/ChapletOfReparationNCR. Then, turn to EWTN to pray the Chaplet with viewers across the world.

EWTN Global Catholic Network, in its 38th year, is the largest religious media network in the world. EWTN’s 11 global TV channels are broadcast in multiple languages 24 hours a day, seven days a week to over 300 million television households in more than 145 countries and territories. EWTN platforms also include radio services transmitted through SIRIUS/XM, iHeart Radio, and over 500 domestic and international AM & FM radio affiliates; a worldwide shortwave radio service; one of the largest Catholic websites in the U.S.; electronic and print news services, including Catholic News Agency, “The National Catholic Register” newspaper, and several global news wire services; as well as EWTN Publishing, its book publishing division.

Saint Joseph

March 19th - Patron of the Universal Church 

St. Joseph, the pure spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary and foster father of our Blessed Lord, was descended from the royal house of David. He is the "just man" of the New Testament, the lowly village carpenter of Nazareth, who among all men of the world was the one chosen by God to be the husband and protector of the Virgin Mother of Jesus Christ, God Incarnate. To his faithful, loving care was entrusted the childhood and youth of the Redeemer of the world.

After the Mother of God, not one of the children of men was ever so gifted and adorned with natural and supernatural virtues as was St. Joseph, her spouse. In purity of heart, in chastity of life, in humility, patience, fortitude, gentleness and manliness of character, he reveals to us the perfect type and model of the true Christian.

Poor and obscure in this world's possessions and honors, he was rich in grace and merit, and eminent before God in the nobility and beauty of holiness. Because St. Joseph was the representative of the Eternal Father on earth, the divinely appointed head of the Holy Family, which was the beginning of the great Family of God, the Church of Christ, on December 8, 1870, the Vicar of Jesus Christ, Pope Pius IX solemnly proclaimed the foster father of Jesus, Patron of the Universal Church, and from that time his feast has been celebrated on March 19th as a feast of high rank. In some places it is observed as a holy day of obligation.

Devotion to St. Joseph, fervent in the East from the early ages, has in later times spread and increased in such a marvelous way that in our day the Catholics of all nations vie with one another in honoring him. Besides the feast of March 19th there is another feast called the "Patronage of St. Joseph", which is celebrated in the more joyous Easter time. It was formerly observed on the third Sunday after Easter, but it is now celebrated with the octave on the Wednesday before the third Sunday after Easter, and its title is "The Solemnity of St. Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Patron of the Universal Church."

From his throne of glory in heaven, St. Joseph watches over and protects the Church militant, and no one who calls on him in need ever calls in vain. He is the model of a perfect Christian life and the patron of a happy death. His patronage extends over the Mystical Body of Christ, over the Christian family, the Christian school, and all individuals who in their need appeal to his charity and powerful intercession, especially in the hour of death; for he who, when dying, received the affectionate ministry of his foster Son, Jesus, and his Virgin spouse, Mary, may well be invoked and trusted to obtain for us poor sinners the mercy of God and the grace of a peaceful and holy death.

Prayer: We beseech You, O Lord, that we may be assisted by the merits of the Spouse of Your Most Holy Mother, so that what we cannot obtain by our own power may be given to us through his intercession. Amen. 


Source: "Lives...of the Saints; for every day of the year", Catholic Book Publishing Co., New York, June 1, 1955.

From 1910 The Rosary

Saint Dominic Institutes the Rosary 

"The Rosary.  There is no devotion not connected wit the Liturgy or Office of the Church which has been more widely extended, or been taken up, age after age, by persons of every rank and station than the Rosary of the Blessed Virgin.  In its present form it was instituted by the great Saint Dominic de Guzman, the founder of the Order of Friars Preachers.  But grew out of a devotion older than Christianity, and a mode of prayer that dates back to a very early period.  The Psalms of David were in constant use as prayers among the Jews; the primitive Christians adopted them, and the pious, as well as all who, as hermits or monks, sought religious perfection, recited the whole hundred and fifty psalms daily.  Of this there are constant proofs in the early ages.  Some, who could not read and were too dull to remember so much, were allowed to recite, instead, the Lord’s Prayer the same number of times; later, the Angelical Salutation was substituted for the Lord’s Prayer.  To keep the record of these prayers, belts or strings of beads were used; in fact, our word bead is from the same source as the German beten, and means to pray. 

That the mind should not be unoccupied during the recital of these prayers, the Life of our Lord and His Blessed Mother was commended as a matter of meditation.  Saint Dominic divided the hundred and fifty beads into three parts, each containing five decades of ten beads, and assigned to each part five mysteries of the life of our Lord.  The Joyful Mysteries were the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Nativity of our Lord, His Presentation in the Temple, and His Finding in the Temple.  The Sorrowful Mysteries, forming the second part, included His Bloody Sweat, His Scourging, His Crowning with Thorns, the Carriage of the Cross, His Crucifixion.  The Glorious Mysteries, which were the subject of the third part, were the Resurrection of the Lord, His Ascension, the Descent of the Holy Ghost, His Assumption of His Blessed Mother into Heaven, and her Coronation.  The division was simple, easily grasped, full of pious thought, and kept before the people the chief events in the history of our Redemption.  It became the general devotion in all countries of Europe, and the rosary was said by all, from the king of his throne to the leper and the beggar. 

The full fifteen decades form a rosary; that the general use called a chaplet or pair of beads, consists of five decades, each of a large bead for the Our Father and ten smaller ones for the Hail Marys; where the ends join, the chain is continued by three small beads and two larger, a crucifix or medal being attached to the end.  These are for the introductory prayers, the Creed, Our Father, and three Hail Marys, with a Glory be to the Father, etc.  These form no part of the rosary properly so called. 

It is usual, when the rosary is said in public, to call the several mysteries to mind by a few preliminary words.  When the rosary is said with others, a leader or person saying it, who need not even be a cleric, recites half of each prayer, and the rest recite the other half.  After the five decades are said, it is usual to sing or recite the Litany of the Blessed Virgin. 

Saint Dominic, who had labored almost in vain to convert the Albigenses, had no sooner introduced this devotion than a change was at once seen.  Hearts that no arguments could move were attracted by this devotion; the work of conversion was rapid.  St. Dominic reaped a harvest of souls, and the Blessed Virgin a harvest of glory. 

From that day to this the devotion of the rosary has never lost its hold on the affections of the faithful.  It became the prayer in which they were gathered together for general particular wants.  When Europe was menaced by the Turks the rosary was said with fervor, and while the Sodality of the Rosary were walking in solemn procession through the streets of Rome, praying for victory of the Christian army, the battle was raging at Lepanto, October 7, 1571, and the Turkish power on the seas was broken forever.  It was not the band of men that broke the power which had so long threatened Europe; it was the hand of God, put forth in answer to the prayers of the Confraternity of the Rosary. 

The reigning Pontiff, St. Pius V., in gratitude for so signal a favor, ordered the first Sunday in October to be observed as an annual commemoration in the Church of St. Mary of Victory; this feast was extended to other churches and countries by other Popes, till at last, after another victory, Clement XI., in 1716, made the Festival of the Rosary a feast for the Universal Church. 

There are few devotions to which the Holy See has granted so many indulgences as to the rosary: one hundred days for each Our Father and Hail Mary, and a plenary indulgence once a year to those who approach the Sacrament of Penance, receive Holy Communion, and pray for the wants of the Church.  To gain these indulgences, the beads must be blessed by a priest who has received faculties from the Pope, and the person must say the rosary, meditating on the mystery assigned to each decade. 

Besides the Confraternity of the Rosary, another has been established in this century.  This is the Confraternity of the Living Rosary.  In this, five persons are associated, each saying one decade each day, so that the five say the whole chaplet; two similar beads, with them, will thus recite the whole rosary daily.  This is called the Living Rosary, and the fruits produced by it have been so great and manifest, that the holy Fathers have enriched it with my indulgences. 

Nothing should deter Catholics from adhering to a devotion so holy, so consoling.  Many, indeed, think it one of the ignorant only; but this is a grave error.  Mediation on the life of our Lord is something to occupy the most exalted and the most cultivated minds, and give them light and strength.  The example of officers in the army and navy, who faithfully adhered to this pious practice, would alone suffice to show that the greatest ability and learning are found among the faithful adherents to this devotion, which is, in itself, an almost certain test of real Christianity."  

Source: The Catholic Instructor: An Educational Library of Ready Reference [pages 513-515] Published by the Office of Catholic Publications 1910 – Imprimatur Johannes M. Farley, D.D., Archiepiscopus – New York, May 16, 1910 


In Christ, 

Julie

Personal post on my health...its not so good

Greetings in Christ to all my blog readers. 

Some of you who follow me on Twitter know a while back I mentioned I was sick and asked for prayers. Thank you. 

I am still sick. 

I have not been able to eat solid food since July 27th. 

I have been living on 6 spoons of broth per day along with water and some ginger ale. Literally, that is all I am able to do. I can't even eat a cup of Jello or pudding- nothing. My stomach will not tolerate any solids.

I've been to the hospital, my doctors and a specialist. They haven't figured it out yet. 

I am scheduled to have a scope put down my throat into my stomach on the 29th of this month, but to be honest I don't think I am going to make it that long unless I see some improvement very soon. 

As I write this, I am contemplating just going back to the hospital as I am so very miserable with 24/7 nausea. It never leaves me, in spite of the assorted drugs doctors have given me. Some of those drugs I have had horrid side effects from. 

I have never been so sick in my life. I am losing weight at the rate of 1 pound a day. 

I am asking for prayers. If you would please take a moment and send up a prayer for me I would be ever so grateful and appreciative. 🙏

Thank you all. 

God bless 


Julie

Scapular of the Sacred Heart

Of the more recent scapulars, one of the most cherished is the Scapular of the Sacred Heart, to which the pilgrimages have given a great impulse. It may be said to have originated with the Holy Father, Pope Pious IX, himself. A Roman lady of great piety having made a scapular of this kind, presented it herself to the Sovereign Pontiff. 

Taking it in his hand, he reflected for a moment, and then said: “Madame, this is a thought from heaven;” and, after a little further reflection, he added: “With all my heart I bless this little Heart, and I will that all those which may be made after this model, shall receive my blessing, without it being necessary for any other priest to give it. Moreover, I will that in no ways shall the devil have power to hurt those who shall wear this little Heart.” 

He then directed the following prayer to be written, and to be used especially in time of calamity: 
“Open to me Thy Sacred Heart, O Jesus! Show me its charms, and unite me with it forever; may every breath and every pulsation of my heart, which cease not during my sleep, be to Thee a testimony of my love, and say to Thee unceasingly; ‘Yes, Lord, I love Thee.’ Accept the little good I do; grant me grace to repair my evil ways, that I may praise in time, and bless Thee for all eternity.” 

Source: The Catholic Instructor with Encyclopedic Dictionary [pages 517-518], copyright Office of Catholic Publications, New York, May 16, 1910 

image: https://www.leafletonline.com/sacred-heart-badge-scapular

Father James Martin's new rosary-meditate on LBGTQ couples and Mother Earth

Nothing Fr. James Martin shares on social media surprises me anymore. 

Here is Martin promoting social justice Rosary beads for "modern sorrows" telling Catholics to meditate on LBGTQ couples, immigration, Mother Earth and other social justice topics with NO mention of Jesus at all. I'm not kidding...this is what Father James Martin is now promoting on social media.

Description of the "Rosary of Modern Sorrows": 

The Rosary of Modern Sorrows invites us into guided meditation on the pain and suffering of our brothers and sisters in the U.S. and around the world. Click through the photos to read the specific social justice intentions for each decade.Made by Aline and Nziza: refugees from the Congo living in Charlotte, NC. 

This is the man Francis has promoted to consultor to the Vatican's Secretariat for Communications. 

God save us from these clergy! 


In Christ, 


Julie @ Connecticut Catholic Corner 



Sources: 

https://contemplativerebellion.com/collections/catholic-patron-saint-jewelry/products/rosary-of-modern-sorrow 



https://twitter.com/JamesMartinSJ/status/1069762368824098816 

Someone commits suicide, so you trash talk them

...how very unChristian of you.  

I'm not talking about the issue of euthanasia here and anyone's "right" to "legally" kill themselves. 

I'm talking about common decency for the dead person's grieving families who had no idea this was going to happen. And that mental illness hits people of all types. 

Catholic hot-shot Bill Donohue from Catholic League writes: 
"If Anthony Bourdain had been a religious man, would he have killed himself? Probably not. The celebrity chef was found dead today in his hotel room in Strasbourg, France."

Atheists put their hope in science and medicine and when that fails they feel hopeless. For people who don't know God...it is all too easy to fall into despair when you are suffering depression or other mental illnesses with no hope, no knowledge of God. 

Yet mental illness kills religious and non-religious alike.

Researcher Ning Hsieh, funded by the National Institute of Health, released a report based on data from 42 countries in seven regions, and found the following... 

Quote: "...although religion is linked to lower suicide rates in Latin America, eastern Europe, northern Europe, and English-speaking countries, it is associated with higher suicide rates in East Asia, western Europe and southern Europe.
According to the study, evidence that religion protects against suicide is strongest in Latin America, where a one percent increase in religious participation is associated with 3 percent decrease in suicide rates."

Whatever you think of the person who committed suicide...how about some compassion for their families and friends trying to cope with the sudden loss of their loved one?

Where has compassion and come decency to not speak ill of the dead (especially when the body is still warm) gone?

Donohue wasn't the only one showing a cold heart to the deceased family, David Leavitt (a generally nasty person on any given day) stormed Twitter with his unkind thoughts upon the death of Bourdain (clearly these two never liked each other, but one is dead and the other can't refrain from attacking a dead man). 

What the hell is wrong with people? A person, doesn't matter who they are, commits suicide and people trash talk them with ZERO thought for their grieving families left behind. 

The sudden death of a loved one is gutting to families. You can't wrap your head around it and the very last thing you need are people like Donohue and Leavitt sitting in judgment of your deceased loved one. You're probably already worrying about their souls. What you need are prayers and support to get through this tragic time. Suicide is a tragedy. 

These dim-witted men sit in judgment of the deceased as if they know what mental illness Bourdain may or may not have been suffering to do such a horrible thing. 

And since Leavitt mentioned "purgatory" in his tweet, I should share the Catholic Church's thoughts on suicide.  

Catholic Catechism #2282 If suicide is committed with the intention of setting an example, especially to the young, it also takes on the gravity of scandal. Voluntary co-operation in suicide is contrary to the moral law.Grave psychological disturbances, anguish, or grave fear of hardship, suffering, or torture can diminish the responsibility of the one committing suicide.

Catholic Catechism #2283 We should not despair of the eternal salvation of persons who have taken their own lives. By ways known to him alone, God can provide the opportunity for salutary repentance. The Church prays for persons who have taken their own lives.

Can't we just PRAY for the dead and their suffering families? 

Would that really be too much to ask for in today's society?



In Christ, 

Julie @ Connecticut Catholic Corner 

***To be clear, I've never watched a show with Anthony Bourdain in it, but I have seen commercials for his shows over the years. I don't really know anything about this man, my point in writing this was mostly about compassion for his family and friends who are grieving now. 


Links: 

https://twitter.com/David_Leavitt 

https://www.catholicleague.org/would-religion-have-saved-bourdain/

http://dc.medill.northwestern.edu/blog/2017/07/05/new-study-suggests-religion-affects-suicide-rates-differently-around-the-  world/#sthash.9evBo1m2.dpbs  

EWTN Press Release: Annual National Catholic Prayer Breakfast

Exclusive: EWTN To Air 14th Annual National Catholic Prayer Breakfast

Live Event to Feature Kansas Archbishop Joseph Naumann

Irondale, AL (EWTN) – Thousands of Catholic leaders will descend upon Washington, D.C. Thursday, May 24 to attend the 14th Annual National Catholic Prayer Breakfast, and – as always – EWTN Global Catholic Network will be the only Network in the room, providing wall to wall coverage and expert commentary. (Find EWTN at www.ewtn.com/channelfinder.)

“EWTN News Nightly” Anchor Lauren Ashburn will host the two-hour event live from the Marriott Marquis in Washington, D.C. beginning at 7 a.m. ET. According to organizers, the events will include a keynote address by Kansas Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann, as well as remarks from a “special guest.”

“EWTN has been proud to collaborate with the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast for many years in bringing the event to an audience well beyond Washington, D.C.,” said EWTN Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Michael P. Warsaw. “This is an important occasion each year for Catholics to come together to invoke God’s blessing upon our country, our citizens, and our political leaders. The prayer breakfast and the events surrounding it are a reminder to the world that we need God to navigate safely through these increasingly contentious and perilous times.”

The keynote speech by Archbishop Naumann, chair of the Kansas Catholic Conference and chair-elect of the U.S. Bishops’ Pro-Life Committee, is sure to be a newsmaker.

The courageous and outspoken Archbishop “has spearheaded efforts to restrict abortion in Kansas, and is well-known for challenging Catholic politicians espousing pro-choice positions,” according to Catholic News Agency (CNA).

Last year, CNA continues, Archbishop Naumann cut ties with the Girl Scouts, saying that the organization was “no longer a compatible partner in helping us form young women with the virtues and values of the Gospel.” Parishes are instead encouraged to start troops of American Heritage Girls, an alternative scouting organization.

The National Catholic Prayer Breakfast, which began in 2004, is nonpartisan and people of all faiths are invited to attend. Past keynote speakers include Cardinal Robert Sarah and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.

EWTN Global Catholic Network, in its 37th year, is the largest religious media network in the world. EWTN’s 11 TV channels are broadcast in multiple languages 24 hours a day, seven days a week to over 275 million television households in more than 145 countries and territories. EWTN platforms also include radio services transmitted through SIRIUS/XM, iHeart Radio, and over 500 domestic and international AM & FM radio affiliates; a worldwide shortwave radio service; the largest Catholic website in the U.S.; electronic and print news services, including Catholic News Agency, “The National Catholic Register” newspaper, and several global news wire services; as well as EWTN Publishing, its book publishing division. 

Living in a home with entities

I know many people who read this story aren't going to believe it, but this is the true story of my life, living in a home with at least three entities (according to one priest), and one of them possibly demonic. 

In 1999, I purchased my current home. The house was originally the town creamery, built in 1870 and years later converted into a private home. I had grown up in one of the oldest homes still standing in my small hometown, built in 1745. I am used to thumps, bumps and creeks in an old home, and I don’t spook easily. 

On April 1, 1999, my then husband and our two young daughters moved from our apartment into our own home and we were thrilled. We had spent two months remodeling, painting and installing new floors and carpet before we moved in. The house had been lived in by two elderly people for decades. The husband died and the wife was unable to live alone. I knew the couple all my life and their executor knew I was looking for a home in that town at the time so came to me offering the house before it was listed. Part of the deal was, we had to clean it out. I didn’t know what that would mean, but I wanted the house, so we agreed to purchase the house and clean it out. 

The house was full of garbage, literal and figurative. The kitchen cabinets and draws had been stuffed with bones. Hundreds of bones from assorted animals, we suspect some from the yard and some they had eaten. Animal skeletons were in the basement and in the sheds on the property. There were collections of bone cutting knives, the likes of which I had never seen before. 

During this time of cleaning and remodeling, windows would close, doors would open and things would go ‘bump’. I didn’t pay much attention to any of it, as I said having grown up in an old house I know these things can happen if a house is not level or air flowing from floor to floor can swing doors open or slam them shut. 

About a week living in the house, my children were sleeping upstairs and I was downstairs still awake. My husband came downstairs to go out to the back porch to smoke (no smoking in the house was our rule). While he was outside I heard what sounded like furniture being dragged from one end of the upstairs to the other. I froze. First, there were no adults upstairs, only my children who were both preschool ages. Second, the entire upstairs was newly carpeted and what I was hearing was the sound of heavy furniture being dragged across a hardwood floor. 

I quickly went upstairs and checked every room. Nothing. The children were sleeping soundly and I heard nothing while I was up there. I went downstairs and sat down and listened. This happened again. Again I went upstairs and found nothing moved. 

Back downstairs I sat and listened, the noise started right back up again. My husband came in and I asked him to sit and listen for a moment. He sat with his eyes closed, half asleep at the table with me. Then his eyes popped open. He heard the loud sound of something being dragged around upstairs. Together we went up stairs and searched again. Found nothing moved and kids sound asleep. He went to bed after a while and I stayed up sitting in the hallway to listen. Not a single sound as long as I was upstairs. 

Back downstairs an hour or so later and the moving sound started back up again. All night long this repeated. I slept that night on the floor of the children’s room. 

Another day, I was sitting in the family room folding laundry when a snake appeared in the middle of the room. This house has a full basement, and sits well above the ground. I have no idea how any snake could get into the house, let alone my family room (which has no doors to the outside), but there it was slithering across the room. Took me and my husband a while to catch it (kept going under our furniture), but we did and removed it from the house. 

Around early June, I heard a hissing sound in my dining room. My husband was at work, so I called my father who lives close to come over and check it out. I was worried it was a pipe or even another snake in the house. After listening and searching we found the spot where the hissing sound was coming from.  It was about 4 feet off the ground in my dining room in one spot and nowhere else. In the middle of the air, not coming from a wall or ceiling or floor- just the middle of the air. We could find nothing anywhere to explain it. I then began to feel uneasy about this hissing sound. I began to think it was sinister. The hissing continued for over an hour then stopped- for the moment. 

The week before Fourth of July, we cleaned out the basement (which we had left for last) and got rid of the last remnants of the previous owners property. That weekend, the house went wild with noises and things moving, doors slamming, open windows closing and the sound of people talking. It was so bad we nearly left and went to my parent’s house. I was a Baptist at this time, so there was no holy water to be had. 

Instead I reached for my bible and went from room to room reading scripture and telling whatever was in the house it was not welcome. I told it to “shut up” and “get lost” (I was tired and fed up and I had two kids who needed sleep and I didn’t want them terrorized). I don’t know why it worked but the house went silent and we all finally slept. 

For years this continued. All our family and friends knew about the “activity” in our house, some preferred to stay outside during our cookouts and family gatherings. 

Whenever things got overly “active” I would go room to room reading the scriptures as I had done years ago. This helped the situation, but it never cured the problem. 

By the fall of 2006, I was divorced for several years and my children and I were beginning to prepare for entering the Catholic Church that Easter of 2007. This year was full of new things for all of us, including praying for the Holy Souls in Purgatory.  Just before Lent began in 2007, I decided my children and I would start a tradition of coming up with a living person to pray for during Lent and someone who had passed away. We printed out prayers with our intentions and each evening we would include them in our nightly prayers. 

The house activity picked up noticeably every Lent. But now we had Catholic prayers and holy water at our disposal. If you are wondering if I had spoken to a priest yet, the answer is no. I was a new Catholic and was afraid the priest would think I was nuts. Plus, I had been “dealing” with whatever was in the house for years by this time, so I thought I could handle it. 

Lent of 2010 started out the same as our previous Lenten seasons, we still picked out people to pray for and printed out specific prayers we would pray daily for them. One night, my now twelve year old daughter was screaming and crying hysterically in her room. I ran upstairs to find her white. Now, I have heard that expression before, but I had never seen someone go white. She was white and shaking uncontrollably. She couldn’t even talk for a while, I half carried and half walked her downstairs. I was on the verge of calling 911 because she wasn’t making any sense and I didn’t know what was wrong with her. Finally, she began to talk and told me a ‘woman’ woke her up yelling at her. Telling her, no one really loves her, that her life isn’t worth living and she’s ugly and useless and no one wants her around and that she should just die. This female entity held my daughter down and terrorized her with insults and vulgar language for quite awhile before she was able to cry out and get my attention. 

I was furious. I went room from room with Holy Water and the Saint Michael prayer and some Hail Mary’s telling this thing it was not welcome in our home and was not allowed to speak ever again. My daughter never again slept in that room. 

About a week later, my eldest daughter (about 15 at the time) heard growling in the upstairs hallway and a gurgling sound beside her bed. She said it sounded like someone dying. The growling was loudest in the upstairs hallway. She was too terrified to leave her room, so she covered her head with her blankets and cried until she finally got the courage to dart out of bed and run downstairs. 

Our family room was converted into a family bedroom with no one willing to sleep upstairs. For almost a year, no one slept upstairs in our home. We were prisoners to these entities. 

We never verbally heard from that female entity again, but she wasn’t done. The seed had been planted. My daughter, who had been active in sports, school groups etc, fell into a quiet depression. She didn’t laugh like she used to and she didn’t seem herself. For a year, unknown to myself, my daughter began cutting herself. This thing had told her to hurt herself. 

When I discovered what was going on, my daughter went into specialized therapy and I went to my parish priest (I’ll call Father M). I told him the whole story and asked him what I should do. He told me I was doing everything right (the Holy Water, prayers, getting my daughter help etc). He said he would put me in touch with the Dioceses if the situation got any worse. A week later, that priest was moved to another parish, so I had no more contact with him. I kept doing what he’d told me with the Holy Water and prayers. 

Things calmed down a bit and we re-arranged upstairs bedrooms (the room with the female entity has to this day never been slept in again by anyone). That room is used for storage only. 

A few years ago, my youngest daughter woke up to find bizarre "foot/hand-prints" on her ceiling and walls. They were blueish in color and didn't look human or like any animal we knew of. We took several photos, if you can tell it looks like a foot but with a long "toe" sticking out to the right and then smaller toes at the top. Just weird stuff and it was ALL over the ceiling and walls. 

bizarre foot-like print found on the ceiling

While sitting in the family room one day, my youngest daughter and I were talking when we both heard my name called by a man, which sounded to both of us like my deceased grandfather. We looked around the house inside and outside to see who could have called my name. There was no one there but the two of us. On another occasion my mother was over, we were watching a movie and there was a crash in the kitchen, the cooking timer had been thrown across the room and was spinning on the floor. We had yet another snake in the house and more than one bat (though that could merely be natural) making its way into our home.

One night, when the kids were sleeping I was folding laundry on the couch and separated it into different piles for the kids to take upstairs the next day. I fell asleep watching TV and woke some time later to find all the laundry moved from the couch, neatly piled up in the doorway of the family room blocking my way  from leaving the room. And I felt like I wasn’t alone. I knew something was watching me, perhaps watching for my reaction to what it had done. That disturbed me because I never heard it and whatever it was, was right beside me- not to mention, moving two full baskets of laundry and neatly stacking them in the doorway is creepy!

It was time to talk to the new priest (I’ll call Father J). Father J was eager to listen and make suggestions. He said he didn’t have the “discernment” ability to tell me what sort of entities I had, but told me he believes there are “at least three entities” in my home. He wanted me to investigate the home’s history (I did only a little to discover it was a creamery. I didn’t look into any deaths on the property- I don’t think I really wanted to know those answers to be honest). Father J also suggested I contact Lorraine Warren (Catholic paranormal investigator) and watch “The Conjuring” movie. I did not contact Catholic "medium" Lorraine Warren,(I can’t say for sure why, but it didn’t’ feel like the right thing to do at the time). I did watch the movie- didn’t really help me much. What did help was he prayed over, blessed and poured Holy Water over several crucifixes then he said to put them around my home. And he told me to continue with the Saint Michael prayers and the Rosary. I did and things went completely silent for months. The first real peace we had ever had in this house. 

I was also discussing these things with our parish deacon, who is currently in seminary to become a priest. He too, was helpful and eager to listen. I've worked with two Franciscan nuns also who have helped in their prayers for us and sharing suggestions that might help. I've had a lovely statue of the Holy Virgin Mary blessed and placed it in my window. And I've prayed specific prayers to Mary asking for her protection against any evil in the house. I think this might have been the most effective thing I’ve done. 

Father J would check up on me occasionally to see how things were going, and they were better. The blessed items and frequent Holy Water around the house and prayers kept things quiet. Until Lent. 

Every year during Lent the house gets active. We decided to stop praying for the dead in our house, and instead pray for them at church. This helped greatly. I don’t really understand it, but according to Father J, if you live around water, you can have more activity with entities. My house is nearly surrounded by water. I have a brook that runs the property line and a large pond in the backyard. Father J, told me about an elderly woman in another town he had helped some years ago, that had entities coming out of a nearby pond the moment her husband died and began wreaking havoc in her home. Apparently people had been drowned in that pond long ago. 

Soon after, Father J was shuffled off to another parish just like Father M had been. The new priest was not approachable on the subject of entities and such, so I went to another parish entirely to continue working with a priest on this matter. Father E was…well, thrilled with my house. He had only heard of one other home, but nothing as active as our home and this was his first dealing with such a situation. Father E would call to check on us and we would meet with him occasionally to update him on how things were going. He prayed for us and blessed more items to place around the house. Things in the house were manageable. I had found a balance with the blessed items, Holy Water and prayers keeping the house rather quiet. Father E is no longer in Connecticut, so I am once more without a priest to help deal with this house; though things have gotten much better over the last few years. I am hoping to find another priest soon and have him over to bless the house and property and any new Catholic items I have to place around the house- though we've got quite a bit already.

My youngest daughter spent her teen years battling depression and self harm. Another priest, via the Internet, turned my attention back to Vatican Exorcist Father Amorth (I had read him years ago) and his prayers for parents to pray for the deliverance of their children from demonic attacks! I had never heard of that before. I didn’t know that I had any “power” over demonic attacks to my children, but according to this exorcist all parents do. In Amorth’s book “An Exorcist Tells His Story” there are “prayers of deliverance” at the back of the book for the laity to pray, that I began praying for my daughter. I believe these helped her. She has since graduated high school and is a college student – the self harm has stopped. Thanks be to God. 

Our house has been very quiet for months now, peaceful actually. Though as it is Lent, I can’t help but feel a little nervous that at any moment, all hell is going to break loose again. More than one priest has warned that trying to remove something from a home, can often make things much more violent and stirred up. For us, it’s all about maintaining the status quo in this house until someone figures out what we are dealing with and how to remove it/them. So we take it day by day and are enjoying the peace we seem to have found at the moment. 


In Christ, 

Julie @ Connecticut Catholic Corner 

If you have any such experiences, please share them with me. I would love to hear from you- especially from any priests! 

Voris

Praying for Michael Voris' father Russ... 

Go forth, Christian soul, from this world
in the name of God the almighty Father,
who created you,
in the name of Jesus Christ, Son of the living God,
who suffered for you,
in the name of the Holy Spirit,
who was poured out upon you,
go forth, faithful Christian.

May you live in peace this day,
may your home be with God in Zion,
with Mary, the Virgin Mother of God,
with Joseph, and all the Angels and Saints.


In Christ, 


Julie @ Connecticut Catholic Corner 



Source: https://www.facebook.com/michael.voris.7

Lonely: I pray for someone

I came across two stories on Twitter recently about lonely people. 

The first was about an elderly woman who sat alone in her house for years after much of her friends and family had died. She lived in fear and loneliness, until one day she wrote a letter to a woman that she didn't know who lived on the same street as her. A desperate act to reach out to another human being for companionship, and made a good friend. 

The story was heart breaking. 

Quote (in part): "This past spring, Marleen Brooks, a 37-year-old property manager in the small town of Park Hills, Mo., came home to find a handwritten letter from a 90-year-old woman she had never met.
It was just a few lines:
'Would you consider to become my friend. I’m 90 years old — live alone and all my friends have passed away. I am so lonesome and scared. Please — I pray for some one.'
As Brooks read the letter, her eyes teared up. Her own grandmother, who had raised her, had died alone in hospice, which still bothered her. The letter-writer, Wanda Mills, had left an address — a house across the street and a couple of doors down. “I literally, honestly didn’t know anybody lived there,” said Brooks, who has lived on the street for a year and a half.
The next day, she and a friend brought cupcakes to Mills.
“She was excited that we came over there, and we sat and talked for about an hour,” Brooks recalled. Mills, who has trouble walking and uses oxygen, told her that she hadn’t left her house in seven years and relies on caregivers who come daily. But they weren’t the same as having friends.
Mills had lived in the house for 51 years. Her husband and sister had died, as had one of her sons. Another son lived out of state. It turned out that a third son lived next door but didn’t visit often, she told Brooks.
Loneliness and isolation have been shown to have detrimental effects on health, leaving people more vulnerable to infection, cognitive decline and depression. An AARP survey found more than one third of older Americans to be lonely."

I have always had a great love for the elderly, having grown up with ALL my great-grandparents, grandparents and great aunts and uncles who were all very close. We saw each other weekly for much of my childhood and when that didn't happen, we wrote letters and sent cards. Cards for special occasions and those "just thinking of you" type cards. As the years went by and my elderly family members passed away we found my cards and letters saved in drawers bundled together with elastic bands. They had saved them over the years. I now have those cards and letters and look upon them fondly. I miss having those elderly people in my life and writing those letters and spending time at the store picking out just the right card to send that I thought would put a smile on their face. 

With today's technology of instant email connections and Facebook posts, I wonder how many elderly get any physical "snail mail" that they can hold and save for years in bundles with elastic bands. How many children and grandchildren today spend time at the store picking out just the right card to bring a bit of happiness and joy to an elderly person in their life? Breaks my heart to think the numbers are quite few. 

Today I saw yet another article about lonely people on Twitter. This time it wasn't about just the elderly, but all ages. 

People are watching videos of other people eating while they eat so that they can feel less alone during meals. Another is watching Harry Potter movies because the characters "feel like a family". Another made up an imaginary boyfriend to talk to when she's lonely. 

All this social media instantly available globally and yet people seem lonelier now than ever before. 

I wish these lonely people would think about the elderly. Read that article about Wanda Mills the elderly woman desperate to make a friend. They wouldn't be so lonely if they remembered our elderly and made the smallest effort to reach out to them. 

What a difference every person could make if they reached out to ONE elderly person! 

There are many "senior pen-pal" type organizations out there, the one mentioned in the first article above Pen Pals for Seniors Facebook Page, and Become a Pen-Pal to a Senior to name just two.

Another option is reaching out to a elderly person or couple in your neighborhood. Send them a card for no other reason than to say "hi" and you're thinking of them. 

You can also reach out to a local assisted living community and ask if there are any people there who never get mail and would like to. 

What about the elderly in your parish? 

Perhaps you could start a program getting children in your parish to reach out to the elderly with cards, pictures they draw and letters? 

Take a look around you and really see the elderly in your life, parishes and communities. They are lonely and depressed needing a simple greeting card to make their day and bring them great joy! 

For less than the price of a cup of coffee you could bring happiness to a lonely human being nearing the end of their life living in isolation and loneliness. A simple act of decent human kindness goes a long way.  

In Christ, 

Julie @ Connecticut Catholic Corner 


links: 

https://twitter.com/MailOnline/status/912371247429902337

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-4917538/Lonely-people-reveal-overcome-emotion.html?ito=social-twitter_mailonline

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/after-heartfelt-letter-woman-steps-in-to-help-lonely-neighbor-in-need/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/inspired-life/wp/2017/08/30/this-is-what-happened-when-a-lonely-90-year-old-wrote-a-letter-to-a-stranger/?utm_term=.3473725e7ab4

https://www.facebook.com/pals4seniors/ 

https://www.caregivers.com/blog/2016/04/become-a-pen-pal-to-a-senior/