Religion Q & A – Mary and the Rosary

Alexis M. asks: “If you pray the rosary everyday will you be able to see Mary appear to you?”

Answer: It would be wonderful if we all could easily receive such comfort from an apparition of Mary, but that is not one of the promises that come with praying the rosary every day. What you WILL receive are the following…

The Fifteen Promises of the Virgin Mary to those who recite the Rosary

1. Whoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall receive signal graces.

2. I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary.

3. The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies.

4. It will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of people from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire of eternal things. Oh, that souls would sanctify themselves by this means.

5. The soul which recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall not perish.

6. 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.

7. Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the Sacraments of the Church.

8. Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and the plentitude of His graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the merits of the Saints in Paradise.

9. I shall deliver from purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary.

10. The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of glory in Heaven.

11. You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the Rosary.

12. All those who propagate the Holy Rosary shall be aided by me in their necessities.

13. 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.

14. All who recite the Rosary are my children, and brothers and sisters of my only Son, Jesus Christ.

15. Devotion of my Rosary is a great sign of predestination.

Blessings of the Rosary

1. Sinners are forgiven.
2. Souls that thirst are refreshed.
3. Those who are fettered have their bonds broken.
4. Those who weep find happiness
5. Those who are tempted find peace.
6. The poor find help.
7. Religious are reformed.
8. Those who are ignorant are instructed.
9. The living learn to overcome pride.
10. The dead (the Holy Souls) have their pains eased by suffrages.

Benefits of the Rosary

1. It gradually gives us a perfect knowledge of Jesus Christ.
2. It purifies our souls, washing away sin.
3. It gives us victory over all our enemies.
4. It makes it easy for us to practice virtue.
5. It sets us on fire with love of Our Lord.
6. It enriches us with graces and merits.
7. It supplies us with what is needed to pay all our debts to God and to our fellow men; and finally, it obtains all kinds of graces for us from Almighty God.

Austin asks: “Why are we required to say the rosary for peace when God can cause peace within seconds?”

Answer: Praying the rosary – like any prayer – changes us. It prepares our hearts to be expectant of what God can do and it increases our faith in his providence and power. You are right, God can do anything he wants within seconds, but he also gives us free will. He has sent the Blessed Mother to remind us that we need to pray, and because she is the closest person to Jesus himself, we must trust that she knows what is best for us. If prayer is it – and the rosary in particular – then there must be good reason for it.

Jacob M. asks: “How come Mary never committed a sin, when she found out about being the mother of Christ a couple years in our life?”

Answer: The question is a bit unclear, but I will try my best to respond to what I think you are asking. It is true that she did not know she would be the mother of Jesus Christ until she was about fifteen years old. God the Father created her without sin from the very beginning of her life to preserve her for this very purpose. Mary never committed a sin because she loved God so much. She did not want to hurt him by doing anything that was against his will. Mary was born with the freedom to choose, just like any one of us, but in the face of temptation she chose the greater path of love and faithfulness.

Religion Q & A – Seeing Spirits?: More points

How timely that last night I was at yet another talk by Dominic Berardino (president of SCRC – Southern California Renewal Communities). He spoke at my home parish in Buena Park about the topic “Overcoming the Works of Evil Spirits”. I just wanted to share a few points that stood out to me, relevant to the last Q & A entry about seeing spirits:

• Don’t get too caught up in the forces of evil. It’s good to know what they are, how they work in our lives, and how to combat them, but placing too much emphasis on them tends to attract them even more.
• DO focus on Jesus and all things holy as much as you can. Staying close to the Lord through His Word, His Mother, and the Sacraments and remembering everything He has done for us is just what we need to keep us on the straight and narrow path to Heaven.
• DO learn more about the lives of the saints whose simple and humble spirituality helped them through the greatest spiritual battles.
• DO pray this short prayer if you are ever in a situation where evil may be lurking: “Lord Jesus, protect me from all that is not of you.”

On my way to Meleana’s doctor’s appointment, my mom and I were listening to another talk on CD that he gave on “Ghosts and the Catholic Tradition”. There were some really great stories I can’t wait to share with you. What caught my attention the most was:

• There is no joy greater this side of heaven than being in purgatory. Some have portrayed it to be somewhat like Hell, but the souls at least know for sure that they are going to Heaven.
• “Ghosts” – or souls in purgatory – usually are found to “haunt” or linger in places where they committed their greatest sins. God allows us to see them at times so we can know that they are there needing our prayers (especially those souls who were not Catholic – they don’t have family members praying or lifting up Masses for them after they have died).

Good stuff. I must say – things like this make me love being Catholic. There’s always so much to learn!

Religion Q & A – Seeing Spirits? Part 2

Blair asks: “When Jesus was on earth could he see devils and angels????”

Answer: Jesus could, in fact, see demons and angels, and even Satan himself. In the Gospel of Matthew (Chapter 4), we read about the temptation of Jesus where he is led into the desert by the Holy Spirit to fast, pray, and be tested in the three primary ways that Satan tries to get at all human beings – through greed, power, and pride. Scripture documents an actual conversation between Jesus and the devil, which you can read for yourself in the Bible. In the end, Jesus tells the devil to leave, and he is left alone with angels who attend to him.

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Austin asks: “Why do spirits possess you and why do they try to cause you harm or harm within a family?”

Answer: We will assume that you are referring to evil spirits that “take over” a person. In the case of demonic possession, most cases involve people who have opened themselves up to demonic influence through the involvement of occult practices, like the ones listed in the following Powerpoint. If someone has practiced any of these activities, they are more prone to have evil spirits “attach” themselves to him/her or to the place where the activity had happened. Evil spirits are difficult to get rid of because they do work to cause harm – usually emotionally and psychologically – as a way to hurt God. You see, Satan and the demons that work with him cannot destroy God. Knowing this, they do everything they can to destroy the one thing God created that He loves above all else – humanity. We often are afraid of those “things that go bump in the night”, or the effects of the lesser demons whose job it is just to rattle our nerves by scaring us somehow, but what are more dangerous are the more intelligent spirits that tempt us to sin and wreak havoc on our own lives. If they can get us to destroy our own relationships, our families, our futures, and our own lives, they are more than satisfied by this pain that pierces the heart of Christ. This is why we must do everything we can to protect ourselves through prayer and appropriate fasting – just as Jesus did. Temptations will always be there until the very end of our lives, but if we stay close to God, Satan will have no hold on our souls.

Jonathan asks: “If you get overcome by demons and you never get rid of them when you die, can you still make it to heaven?”

Answer: If you can get your parents’ permission, you can watch the movie The Exorcism of Emily Rose on DVD. Without giving too much away, I think it’s a really good representation of a different kind of possession – one of those special cases that we normally don’t hear about. I’m not one to watch scary movies, but this one really made me think. It was recommended by one of my good friends who owns a Catholic bookstore. He was selling the DVD and he gave it two thumbs up. You can always fast forward the scary parts, but you almost have to watch them to understand how the story comes together at the end. For any of the 8^th graders reading this response, you’ll recognize the classic features of demonic manifestation from Jesus’ exorcism miracles that you researched last year. VERY interesting!

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Megan D. asks: “Can demons appear as people here on Earth? If so, would we able to identify them, and how?”

Answer: Since you’re asking about demons in particular, I’ll just focus on those apparitions. Saints who had encounters with demons saw them in both human and animal forms. St. Padre Pio was able to see demons, just like Jesus did. There is a story of an instance when what looked like his superior approached St. Pio in his cell (bedroom). He told St. Pio to stop his ministry. St. Pio was suspicious of this man and asked him to pray with him. As soon as St. Pio knelt down and began praising God, the “superior”/priest disappeared into a cloud of black smoke and the room smelled of sulfur (the usual smell associated with evil spirits). Demons will not praise God.

The criteria for testing spirits are found in 1 John 4:1-3. “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God.” This is called the ability to discern spirits and it is a spiritual gift of the Holy Spirit.

Also, if you feel a certain amount of unease in your heart with bad fruit coming out of an experience, you’re probably dealing with some sort of demonic influence. By “bad fruit”, I mean the opposites of the fruit of the Spirit listed on the poster by the altar in my classroom, which is based on Galatians 5:22.

Keep in mind that all apparitions – even those of evil spirits – are allowed by God for a greater purpose. I will show you clips of the movie Padre Pio so you can see all of this in action.

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Ike asks: “Can spirits really stay behind and haunt places or is it just demons wrecking havoc?”

Answer: I will let Dr. Peter Kreeft handle this one. See his response in the link below.

What are Ghosts?

- excerpt from the book Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Heaven

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Kayla Rayford asks: “If we ever see an angel, a spirit from purgatory, or a demon, what are we supposed to do?”

Answer: If you think you are having an encounter with a spirit – whether angel, demon, or poor soul – make sure to test it first. As I stated in one of the responses above, the demon will not pray with you. The angel definitely will. The poor soul (if allowed to communicate with you) will ask for prayer to get him/her out of purgatory faster. Unless it is a more difficult case of possession, demons will flee immediately at any mention of Jesus’ name. Possessions take some time to get rid of, as the ritual of formal exorcism involves the Sacraments and intense prayer. In any of these situations, do not be afraid. This is why it is good to read the lives of the saints and to learn more about circumstances of spiritual encounters so you know what to do.

Religion Q & A – More on Angels

Sebastian asks: “Can an archangel have assistant angels or archangels?”

Answer: Dionysius identifies Choirs and Hierarchies of angels, and Scripture mentions up to nine different orders in the Old and New Testaments: Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones, Dominations, Principalities, Powers, Virtues, Archangels, and Angels.

St. Bernard describes them in this way: “The citizens of that country are spirits, mighty, glorious, blessed, separate personalities, of gradual rank, from the beginning standing in their own order, perfect of their kind.”

While all human beings belong to the same species and only differ in physical appearance, intellectual capacity, psychological composition and personality, angels differ from one another as much as a dog from a cat. They are each in a sense a different species, perfect in their own right as created by God for a specific purpose.

Despite these differences, all the angels were made to glorify God above all things, and so they work together united under the One Lord. We do not know if they have particular assistants, as people do when working for a business or corporation. Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel – the only three Archangels we know by name – are seen working alone, but we can assume that if needed, the angels do help one another to “fight the good fight” when going into battle against the forces of evil.

You can read more at…
The Angels: Morning Stars of Creation (EWTN resource)

Andrea C. asks: “When someone dies, could their guardian angel go to someone else that really needs that one particular angel?”

Answer: Another teenage somewhere out there had a very similar question, so I’m going to give you Matthew Pinto’s answer from his book Did Jesus Have a Last Name? And 199 other questions from Catholic teenagers.

“This is one of the few ‘we don’t know’ answers in this book. The Church has not taught anything on this subject, so theologians are free to speculate. Because each individual person is unique and ‘unrepeatable,’ it would seem appropriate that guardian angels are not ‘recycled’ and given to another person.

On a slightly different note, there are people who sometimes pray that their guardian angel will go help someone else in need, such as when they have a family member who is in a dangerous situation. In this case, if the guardian angel were to honor this request and evacuate his first assignment temporarily in order to give some support to another guardian angel having a particularly rough day with his assignment, then maybe that could be considered to be a sort of angelic maneuvering among assignments!”

Brielle D. asks: “When we we’re talking about guardian angels today I wanted to ask you, did your guardian angel’s name just pop up in your head? How did it come to you?”

Answer: I went to a talk about Angels given by Dominic Berardino, who is now a friend of mine in the Catholic ministry circles. He has done much reading about angels and he said that we can actually ask our guardian angels what their names are. We can talk to them just as we talk to God in prayer, and if we listen carefully enough we will get an answer eventually.

So, essentially, I prayed and asked my guardian angel his/her name. The name that came to me was “Mikael” (pronounced Mee-kah-yel). Yes, it kind of just popped in my head and I felt a great sense of peace when I heard it. Of course I wanted to double-check that I wasn’t making it up, so I asked again a few weeks later and the same name was repeated again and again. Even if I had never met my angel in person, the name felt very familiar – as if I had known it all along – and it made sense that it was a male name because I had a feeling my angel had “male characteristics” (i.e., a warrior-type to match my own strong personality).

FYI, if Gary and I ended up having a boy, we decided that his middle name would be “Mikael”, named after my guardian angel. Alas, we had a girl as you know, so the name will be saved for Meleana’s little brother. =)

Darrin asks: “Have you seen your guardian angel and if so can you tell me the story?”

Answer: No, I have not had the opportunity to see my guardian angel in material form, though I know and believe he is here with me. I do try to talk to him when I remember that he’s there, but unfortunately that isn’t every day. Having these discussions with all of you about angels is renewing my awareness of my own angel, so I am definitely making more of an effort to involve my guardian angel in my prayers and day-to-day activities as I ask for more of his help.

Michael O. asks: “How do you know when your guardian angel is with you?”

Answer: Your guardian angel is always with you, from the moment you are born to the moment that you end your life here on earth. They never leave your side because they are given to you by God to protect and pray for you.

Jesus himself in the Gospel of Matthew says, “…do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father” (Mt 18:10). Here Jesus acknowledges the existence of angels that guard God’s children here on earth while keeping their eyes on the Father in heaven.

Psalm 91:11-12 does the same: “For God commands the angels to guard you in all your ways. With their hands they shall support you, lest you strike your foot against a stone.“

Angie asks: “I was just wondering if newborn babies such as Meleana have a guardian angles right from the moment that they were conceived? “

Answer: Like I told Michael above, we all receive our guardian angels at birth because that is when we need our own protection outside of the womb of our mother. The day after Meleana was born, I was holding her in my arms, feeling a little sad that I was not carrying her inside of me anymore. I was sad only because I could no longer protect her in the same way I could when I was pregnant. Even though I wasn’t directly praying at the moment, I felt God telling me not to worry…that I should remember all the protection he provides for each one of us, particularly through our guardian angels. It was then that I knew I needed to trust God with my daughter and leave her in the hands of the angel that was given to her when she was born.

Christiana asks: “If you have any more stories about guardian angels or some other stories, can u tell it to the class?”

Answer: Sure! When I get back to SJS, I have a 30-minute video to show you. It’s called Angels All Around Us: The Catholic Belief and Experience about angelic appearances and stories told by a few people who met their angels.

I also borrowed one of my mom’s books called Where Angels Walk: True Stories of Heavenly Visitors by Joan Wester Anderson. I’ll read some of the stories from there also!