["St. Michael and the Angels at War with the Devil," Domenico Ghirlandaio, 1448] This life has often been described as a spiritual combat between good and evil. In recent days, it appears that evil is winning... Innocent children were recently shot in church while they prayed. A faith-filled young husband and father was publicly assassinated. Almost daily there are inexplicable shootings of innocent people followed by shooter suicides. As I write this, there is yet another shooting of inno| St. Michael Center
["Jesus Casts Out Satan," Carl Bloch, 1865-1879] In this post, it is my intention simply to share my experience. These ideas are not "de fide "; they are not definitive Catholic teaching. The Church has said little formally about such matters. But the Church does clearly and definitively, in accordance with the Sacred Scriptures, condemn witchcraft and all related divination. The Catholic Catechism states: "All practices of magic or sorcery, by which one attempts to tame occult powers, so| St. Michael Center
["Christ on the Sea of Galilee," Peter Paul Rubens, c. 1611] These days I increasingly hear about people, including some priests, who believe they are called to a ministry to "stuck souls." The idea is that there are souls who, upon their deaths, are stuck in this world. They are not able to move beyond to the next life due to some attachment. Thus, they need assistance. This is simply not true and it is spiritually dangerous. The Church's teaching is very clear. Canon 1022 states: Each| St. Michael Center
["The Fall of Rebel Angels," Pieter Bruegel, 1562] One thing you notice as an exorcist is that different demons have different personalities. They are not machines but rather real spiritual beings. They also have different functions and react to different prayers and sacramentals. But underneath these differences, there is a common demonic personality. This is important for priests to recognize when trying to discern whether a person is possessed or not. When people "manifest" during a sess| St. Michael Center
["Sermon and Deeds of the Antichrist" detail, Luca Signorelli, 1501] As human beings after the Fall of Adam and Eve, we all experience residual deficits of fallen humanity. For example, we all get sick; we suffer disordered passions; our intellects are darkened; and our mental state is no longer fully healthy and holy. This was not the case before the Fall. One negative outcome of the Fall is a disordered sense of self: we are vulnerable to poor self-esteem, or its seeming opposite in narcissi| St. Michael Center
["Satan Bound for 1,000 Years", Phillip Medhurst, 1700] If Satan doesn't like something, we do more of it. In sessions the demons will scream at us: "Take off the stole!" (We place the priest's stole on the afflicted person's neck as part of the Rite.) So, we put on two stoles. The demons will tell us to stop saying the name of Jesus, and thus we will use it more. They will rail against calling on a particular saint, such as Padre Pio, and so we invoke him even more. Whatever demons don't| St. Michael Center
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