We Need to Talk to Converts About Spiritual Attack...

[Michie]

Yesterday I was going through my email inbox, and I came across an old note that filled me with mixed emotions. In the From line was the name Anne Rice.

A couple of years ago, shortly after she announced her return to the Catholic Church, I sent Ms. Rice a note to say how excited I was to hear her story as a fellow former atheist. When I saw her name pop up a few hours later, I figured it must be an auto-responder. Instead, I was delighted to find a brief but warm response from the author herself, offering thanks and encouragement on my own journey. The email made my day.

As I re-read that old exchange, I thought back to those days when Ms. Rice was overflowing with excitement about her newly rediscovered Catholic faith. It was bittersweet to recall what a force for good she was in the Church. When she announced late last year that she rejected Catholicism and all Christianity, I, like many people, was deeply saddened.

At the time, I got a lot of emails from blog readers asking for my take on this turn of events. I didn’t respond because I was embarrassed to say what I really thought:

It was probably spiritual attack.

It’s a subject nobody wants to talk about. Even among fellow Catholics, you risk being seen as superstitious or ignorant if you acknowledge that there is a dark force whose sole purpose is to keep people away from the light of Christ. And, to be sure, some hesitation about the subject is warranted: We’ve all heard stories of people who became overly fixated on the subject of evil, renouncing personal responsibility with “The devil made me do it!” arguments or seeing demons around every corner. So it’s good not to place too much emphasis on the forces of evil. But this is a subject where we want to be very, very careful not to throw the baby out with the bathwater, and I think that modern Catholic culture has done just that.

In my own journey, an understanding of the reality of demonic activity has been critical to my spiritual life. I’ve been fortunate to have a spiritual director who has helped me learn to recognize when these kind of forces may be at work, and to act accordingly. For example, at one point I walked into one of our meetings to announce that I was quitting a spiritual writing project I’d just started. Agitated and jumpy, I ranted about how I was sick of this and sick of that, I knew everyone would hate it, and, besides, it was all moot since I was going to fail anyway.

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[Michie]

On The Spiritual Attack of our Converts and What to Do About It...
Msgr. Charles Pope
Back just before Holy Week I read an interesting and provocative essay by Jennifer Fulwiler at the National Catholic Register. It is about the need to more clearly instruct Catechumens and those being received into the Church about spiritual attack. Plain and simple, the devil wants to destroy the faith of those who have newly...

 

[benedictaoo]

The devil wants to destroy anything he can, new faith, old faith, middle aged faith.

 

[thereselittleflower]

I have spent the last two years since I stopped posting here helping young man move from a place of agnosticism even atheism to entering the Catholic Church. It is amazing to me how God writes straight with crooked lines.

As he got closer and closer to entering the Catholic Church this Easter, spiritual attacks, which had happened all along, increased in earnest. Without having someone who was knowledgeable in this to guide him, it would have been much more difficult for him.

Near the beginning of our conversations two years ago, I was strongly impressed that God has something important in mind for this young man, even perhaps the priesthood despite his agnosticism bording on atheism. I believe that is why spiritual attacks have been so focused and have taken a myriad of forms, through loved ones, through friends, through strangers, through circumstances, through dreams, and even physically.

So strong had his desire to enter the Catholic Church become, on evening of the Saturday Night Vigil, his family, which was supposed to take him out to dinner then to the mass, completely abandoned him. He had not eaten anything waiting for his family to go out to dinner (this is a rare occurance as his family is quite poor). . . he was extremely hungry. He was forced to walk what would have been a 5-10 minute drive in a car, to the parish, nearly blacking from the heat and hunger.

Now, in his parish, they do not enter on Easter Vigil, but on Easter Sunday Mass. So, he didn't "need" to be there to enter the Church, except that it was expected of the catechumens that they would attend. Once there, as mass was going on, his mother, who is a sweet soul, a catholic and should have been there with him but is easily manipulated by other members of the famly, entered attempting to get him to leave and come with them to dinner out of concern for his physical wellbeing. As famished as he was, as easy as it would have been for him to do, his hunger for God was so deep, he refused.. The message then was, from the family members through his mom, he would then need to find his own way home (she had no means of transport herself and was reliant on her daughter who would not come back to pick him up). A teenager walking miles home in the dark in the LA area, already near passing out from hunger, was not a very wise or safe prospect. He trusted God instead. His mom left him her phone so he could call for a ride, and he was provided a ride home, through a member of his family not involved with what had happened.

Suddenly, the intensified flury of attacks stopped, as he prepared to enter the Church the next morning. All family members who had been used to try to stop him from attending the Vigil the night before were helpful, kind, and loving.

 

[benedictaoo]

The devil is arbitrary and weird. Some ppl he will openly attack, others subtly and others, it seems he doesn't need to becuase they attack themselves.

and then you have to know what is an attack and just normal bad stuff that the devil uses to make a situation worse.

Its a hard thing to discern.

 

[Chrystal-J]

The devil wants to destroy anything he can, new faith, old faith, middle aged faith.

True. When my faith increases, it's always followed by some kind of spiritual attack. It was it's worst when I first started attending Mass regularly. I was almost continually attacked. Now, it's on and off, but it still happens. It didn't help that my husband may have been in the occult. He was a secretive person, so I'll never know how deep his involvement was. But, after he passed away, my old house basically turned into that house in the movie The Amityville Horror. (Slamming doors, lights on and off, groups of bugs attacking me then disappearing, cell phone with no service and a dead battery started ringing.) Anyway, I think people underestimate the power of the devil. But the good news is God will protects us if we turn to Him.

 

[benedictaoo]

that is what I meant by open attacks. Not everybody is lucky enough to have those. (sarcasm).

We haven't experienced any open attacks like that from my mom and her dad's families involvement with the occult.

But there are subtlety, attacks, and oppressions and the enemy using bad situations of our own making and making them worse.

With open atatcks, at least you know what they are... the subtly ones or the meddleing with an already dyfunctioal situation, its hard to be objective and know what is going on.

and its sad when its hard to get folks to see that any past involvement in the occult will subject you to attacks all your life.

The remedy is confession, Mass and living the best life you can and constantly taking stock, rooting out any attachment to sin so the devil can't get in.

Its sad but the devil don't care... ppl who get into the occult, they put a bullseye on their kids and their kids until somone can break that cycle.

 

[thereselittleflower]

Well remember, satan's devices are many, but he can only attack with God's permission. . .. his attacks may seem arbitrary, but remember, he is bound. (I didn't share the supernatural attacks he experienced either . .. )

 

[Chrystal-J]

that is what I meant by open attacks. Not everybody is lucky enough to have those. (sarcasm).

We haven't experienced any open attacks like that from my mom and her dad's families involvement with the occult.

But there are subtlety, attacks, and oppressions and the enemy using bad situations of our own making and making them worse.

With open atatcks, at least you know what they are... the subtly ones or the meddleing with an already dyfunctioal situation, its hard to be objective and know what is going on.

and its sad when its hard to get folks to see that any past involvement in the occult will subject you to attacks all your life.

The remedy is confession, Mass and living the best life you can and constantly taking stock, rooting out any attachment to sin so the devil can't get in.

Its sad but the devil don't care... ppl who get into the occult, they put a bullseye on their kids and their kids until somone can break that cycle.

Yes, in my case it was a blessing and a struggle. The blessing was that each attack made me draw closer to the Lord. I prayed more, went to church more and read the bible more. In that way, it helped me spiritually a lot. And, like you said, it was clear-cut. I KNEW I was under attack from the devil--there was no doubt in my mind after a few attacks. The subtle attacks are much harder to recognize as coming from the devil. (Although, as I read the bible more, I'm able to see some of the more subtle attacks and deal with them through Mass attendance and prayer.)

The struggle side of this attack was it's affect on my health. My health was never great to begin with, but it went down-hill even more as I battled the demonic attacks. You often have nightmares so you don't sleep well at night. You're always "on guard" so you're looking over your shoulder a lot--it can be exhausting. You feel very alone (especially if your family has a lot of atheists in it like mine does). You feel like you're the only one going through this situation. Even with-in Christian circles, many don't believe in demonic activity. I totally believe in it now, but when it very first started I wasn't sure what was going on. But, as it grew stronger and stronger I realized what it was and I knew I HAD to do something to try to stop it. It was at that point I started going to Mass 3x a week and reading the bible nightly.

As far as the effects of someone dabbling (or going full-mode) into the occult--you're right. It not only affects the person doing it, it affects everyone around them. When I would find occult-type books on my husband's book-shelf, I would ask him about them and he would brush me off. He never wanted to talk about them. After he passed away, I found even more occult-type drawings among his belongings. I was shocked because these drawing were of the devil and his demons. They looked very real--very scary. I was standing in the basement, looking at these drawings and--out of no-where--some bugs began crawling all over me. When I threw the drawings in the garbage, the bugs were instantly gone. It was like they were linked with the drawings.

Anyway, I only post about this situation to warn others who may be considering dabbling with the occult. I don't want anyone to go through what I went through.
If you feel lost or alone--don't use the occult to try to feel better. Go to church and pray. Read the bible and watch television shows related to the church (I watch EWTN when I'm feeling down). I've only posted about a small fraction of what happened in my 'haunted' house. It was very stressful. But, like I said, God is good and He helped me through it.

 

[WarriorAngel]

More than any other conversion - ppl coming to Catholicism have the hardest trials.

 

[Tim Myers]

What constitutes a "spiritual attack"??........

 

[benedictaoo]

Well when demons are coming at you and you see shadows and feel a presence that's ugly. That's a direct attack, in a physical , material sense.

and it can be when you are having an argument with someone and devils will come from far and wide and latch on and escalate the fight. something like that.

and then it can be very subtle, like he tells you to go and do this good thing and then that good thing until your family is home alone and abandoned and your wife leaves you.

It can be anything.

and attack can be you remember some hurt and the devil knows you so well, he has zero control over you and can not read your mind or make you do anything but knows you better then you know youslef and knows just what to suggest to you to get you to take the bait and think about something that can cause you to fall.

we all know lust is a easy area, he knows what it is that can cause you to fail.
He knows exactly what buttons to push and then tries to get you to despair and not go on.

That's how he attack your faith. He gets you to feel like a failure through you despairing so you will give up.

and if atheism was your thing- another biggie he will always tempt you with, he suggest things that cause you to doubt.

 

[benedictaoo]

Well remember, satan's devices are many, but he can only attack with God's permission. . .. his attacks may seem arbitrary, but remember, he is bound. (I didn't share the supernatural attacks he experienced either . .. )

and that's just another layer to the discussion. yes only with God's permission does he do what he does.

He fought over Moses' body becuase of Moses' sin... he can fight and claim ground becuase of our consent to sin but in the end God has to grant him the access.

But when we willfully give ourselves to him through the occult, that is when its real bad.

and mortal sin is real bad and disbelief is real bad becuase it weakens our will and eventually he can get us to give ourselves freely to him.

 

[WarriorAngel]

Yah - doubts are a biggie of his. Or putting obstacles in the way. Or arguments and the family turns against you for your faith..

Many different ways.

Nightmares too are another one. Especially for those who have more zeal, they get more to deal with.

Doubts though - are subtle and pulling away from the Church.
Especially if ppl cannot deal with all these horrible and sometimes sudden losses all at once coincidentally while coming into the Church.

Have seen so many in here over the years.

 

[Tim Myers]

I have never experienced or witnessed anything like that, benedictaoo, so I do not understand what everyone is talking about.....

 

[WarriorAngel]

and that's just another layer to the discussion. yes only with God's permission does he do what he does.

He fought over Moses' body becuase of Moses' sin... he can fight and claim ground becuase of our consent to sin but in the end God has to grant him the access.

But when we willfully give ourselves to him through the occult, that is when its real bad.

and mortal sin is real bad and disbelief is real bad becuase it weakens our will and eventually he can get us to give ourselves freely to him.

satan wanted Moses to have a burial so ppl would come to worship him, probably like the Chinese do for Buddha.

NOTE: Difference between veneration and obtaining relics for miracles as Paul's apron for instance - as opposed to the act of worshiping.
Wanted to make note of that one before the bombs go off and Catholics are told we worship.

We do not replace God with a human.. thats why i gave the example of Buddha because he literally is the religion and statutes to him with food and water placed before him for blessings and all that.

Moses' body disappeared - but no frets, his body was seen with Christ - so we know by the Transfiguration of Christ that Elijah and Moses were taken to Heaven... and Henoch too. [though he didnt make it to the Transfiguration] and i guess because he had not been a great prophet either.

 

[WarriorAngel]

I have never experienced or witnessed anything like that, benedictaoo, so I do not understand what everyone is talking about.....

If you are on the road to Catholic - then give it time. Maybe you will be one of the few who doesnt have to overcome a mess of trials.

Or maybe you already did on the road to deciding to become Catholic.
Only you know what you went thru first.

 

[benedictaoo]

Yes, in my case it was a blessing and a struggle. The blessing was that each attack made me draw closer to the Lord. I prayed more, went to church more and read the bible more. In that way, it helped me spiritually a lot. And, like you said, it was clear-cut. I KNEW I was under attack from the devil--there was no doubt in my mind after a few attacks. The subtle attacks are much harder to recognize as coming from the devil. (Although, as I read the bible more, I'm able to see some of the more subtle attacks and deal with them through Mass attendance and prayer.)

The struggle side of this attack was it's affect on my health. My health was never great to begin with, but it went down-hill even more as I battled the demonic attacks. You often have nightmares so you don't sleep well at night. You're always "on guard" so you're looking over your shoulder a lot--it can be exhausting. You feel very alone (especially if your family has a lot of atheists in it like mine does). You feel like you're the only one going through this situation. Even with-in Christian circles, many don't believe in demonic activity. I totally believe in it now, but when it very first started I wasn't sure what was going on. But, as it grew stronger and stronger I realized what it was and I knew I HAD to do something to try to stop it. It was at that point I started going to Mass 3x a week and reading the bible nightly.

As far as the effects of someone dabbling (or going full-mode) into the occult--you're right. It not only affects the person doing it, it affects everyone around them. When I would find occult-type books on my husband's book-shelf, I would ask him about them and he would brush me off. He never wanted to talk about them. After he passed away, I found even more occult-type drawings among his belongings. I was shocked because these drawing were of the devil and his demons. They looked very real--very scary. I was standing in the basement, looking at these drawings and--out of no-where--some bugs began crawling all over me. When I threw the drawings in the garbage, the bugs were instantly gone. It was like they were linked with the drawings.

Anyway, I only post about this situation to warn others who may be considering dabbling with the occult. I don't want anyone to go through what I went through.
If you feel lost or alone--don't use the occult to try to feel better. Go to church and pray. Read the bible and watch television shows related to the church (I watch EWTN when I'm feeling down). I've only posted about a small fraction of what happened in my 'haunted' house. It was very stressful. But, like I said, God is good and He helped me through it.

I remember the thread you posted after your husband died. I keep that also in the back of my mind. I know its real and I wish other ppl could know how real it is.

While your attacks were straightforward and thank you for bringing up bad heath because that is also very typical. People often will have failing heath when they are targets of the enemy. But while yours were of the scary kind, ours are of the other kind.

There is just a lot of dysfunction and its part us and part of the fact that our family has a bulls-eye on us and the remedy is Mass and the sacraments but this I find is the area of attack. Something always coming up to interfere with living the life one needs to.

The name of the game is to get you to despair and quit and if the way is to scare you then that's it- if its to tempt you with stuff you don't realize is causing you to stay away, then what ever works.

I've read the book "Healing your Family Tree" that is to teach us how to go and make reparations for any family member who let the devil into your family so you can claim that ground back.

There's also prayers of deliverance for the family that doesn't acknowledge they are in need of it and I know I should pray them daily but this is one area of attack I am under. Its always something that causes me to forget or what ever.

 

[WarriorAngel]

O yah, forgot that one Bene, the excuses to put off prayer until its been a while.

Saw a sign today that said
"seven days without prayer - makes one weak."

 

[benedictaoo]

I have never experienced or witnessed anything like that, benedictaoo, so I do not understand what everyone is talking about.....

Be glad that you don't. That is all I can say. Consider yourself fortunate.

Like I said, the worse cases are those when serious sin has been committed willfully.

Abortion... Atheism, Occultism, Murder, Rape, etc.

The greater more serious the sin, the worse the attacks can be on you and sadly, on your family as well. In our case, its dysfunction and a lot of psychotic family drama.

Its also important to know this is not an effect on salvation for your families. They can only lose that through their own willfully sins but like Crystal pointed out- you can be a target for the sins of another to harass you to get you to sin or to stop practicing your faith.