In the heat of the spiritual battle there is a lot clashing of swords, shields, spears, and other armor in the fight between St. Michael and his angels defending us against the dragon and his angels. (Rev. 12:7) Sometimes the good guys get wounded in the tussle and scuffle.
Concerning deliverance prayers, the good news is that if you follow the deliverance prayer guidelines set up in Fr. Chad’s book, “Deliverance Prayers: For Use by the Laity,” (Order here) you can pray for yourself, parents can pray for their children, children for their parents, spouses for each other, and siblings for one another, and you, “will experience little to no retaliation, as a general rule.” (Fr. Chad Ripperger pg.8)
It is when a layperson prays for someone over whom they have no authority, such as a friend, neighbor or parishioner, that they can experience that person’s cross and receive “the flaming darts of the evil one” Eph. 6:16). The word that best describes this occurrence is a “transference,” and St. Faustina gives an example in her diary,
“In a moment my soul became like a stone – dried up, filled with torment, and disquiet…Distrust and despair invaded my heart. This is the condition of the poor people, which I have taken upon myself. At first, I was very much frightened…” [311]
During a transference, God will allow the person praying deliverance prayers to carry the afflicted person’s cross [despair, pride, desolation, addiction, anger, confusion, deceit, etc.] so that the victim can receive healing graces while the cross [mockery, self-destruction, unbelief, abuse, etc.] is off their shoulders. It is a mystery like when St. Paul says, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” (Gal.6:2)
Another example is when Simon of Cyrene helped Jesus carry his cross or when Jesus asks the apostles three times, “Could you not watch with me for one hour,” (Matt.26:40) in the garden while he spiritually takes on all our sins in the garden. (Yes, at the garden all our sins are transferred to Jesus, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us” 2Cor.5:21). St. Faustina describes a very rare (almost unheard of), transference, but nonetheless, it gets the point across,
“I saw a servant of God in the immediate danger of committing a mortal sin. I started to beg God to deign to send down upon me all the torments…I felt a crown of thorns on my head…This lasted for three hours; the servant of God was set free from this sin, and his soul was strengthened by a special grace of God.” [41]
Please note that we never, ever under any circumstances ask to carry their cross [jealousy, self-pity, blasphemy, nervousness, resentment, violence, etc.] as this is only for great saints, victim souls, and mystics. Transferences hardly ever manifest like the example above with the crown of thorns but always at the level of emotional afflicted suffering as Mother Nadine of the Intercessors of the Lambs describes,
“There are many ways that we can experience being a victim of our own intercession. One way is called transferences…Once the person receives the grace the transference will lift…These transferences are usually emotional transferences.” (The Charism of Intercession, pg. 74)
Transferences happen without us asking for them even if you are clergy (bishop, priest, and deacon) and have the power and protection of Sacrament of Holy Orders. I still remember praying for an afflicted person over a decade ago, and receiving a transference. I prayed deliverance prayers for a drug addict because he was struggling, and for an entire day I had the strong desire for drugs. This happened so that the person could experience the cross coming off his back and so that he could receive healing graces for combating addiction. The good news is that transferences are rare if you follow the guidelines.
Artist Undetermined
Fr. Chad explains that a layperson can effectively pray deliverance prayers for a stranger without retaliation if they change the words in the deliverance prayers in his book from, “I command the spirit of ___ …[to] Jesus, I ask Thee to bind the spirit of ___)” St. Faustina shares a better example of what an emotional transference really looks like,
“Once, I took upon myself a terrible temptation which one of our students in the house at Warsaw was going through. It was the temptation of suicide. For seven days I suffered; and after the seven days Jesus granted her the grace which was being asked, and then my suffering also ceased.” [192]
To prevent a transference, put on the “Armor of God” before beginning by praying Ephesians chapter 6 and remember to always close the deliverance prayers with the “Prayer Against Retaliation” found in Fr. Chad’s book or by praying the, “Cleansing Prayer for the Deliverance Minister,” found in Francis McNutt’s book called “Deliverance from Evil Spirits” [Order here]
These transferences as a rule of thumb do not last long, and the best way to get rid of them is to literally walk them to the cross as this unique book teaches [Order here] or by praying deliverance prayers for oneself during a Holy Hour. Keep in mind that lay people never “lay hands” upon someone’s head in the form of an ordination as this can cause transferences.
You should be a person of profound prayer and in grace to pray deliverance prayers for strangers. Furthermore, to do this work you have to have a deep love for God’s lambs and be willing to “stand at the breach,” (Ps. 106:23) as St. Paul explains this great mystery,
“Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church.” (Col. 1:24)
Finally, with deliverance prayers there are always exceptions since, “the Spirit blows where It wills,” (Jn.3:8) as when St. Catherine of Siena (third order lay consecrated virgin) liberated the possessed when exorcists of her time ran into a dead end. I have personally seen holy lay people at the John Paul II Healing Center be “the repairer[s] of the breach,” (Is.58:12) when delivering people, or as the gospel describes other lay people casting out demons,
“Then John said in reply, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow in our company.” Jesus said to him, “Do not prevent him, for whoever is not against you is for you.” (Lk. 9:49-50)
Read:
I see you here mentioned Mother Nadine I am not sure if you are aware that the bishop in that area shut down her ministry. I know many who got caught up in her ministry myself being one. It dawned on me that her ministry was acting like a horoscope or medium to foretell the future. People would send in names of loved ones so they could get prayed for by Mother Nadine’s group. Asking what was going to happened to this person or that person, this is very dangerous as we are treating the holy Spirit like our very own horoscope or medium telling us the future. I know several with in my own family that got so caught up in it that they started doing the same thing on there own and it created an enormous amount of damage. Satan jumped right in and used this to destroy relationships and even destroy lively hoods.
You beat me to the punch. God bless you.
Thank you for the feedback. Her books and religious order were approved by the founding bishop for many, many years, and one book even has an Imprimatur from the bishop which is why I quoted her. I was not aware of what you mentioned.
I am not sure that the later fall of the Intercessors due to conflict with a new bishop renders the earlier teachings and mediations inherently suspect. The early books were approved by the local bishop.
Concerning Mother Nadine for many, many years she not only had the approval of her bishop, but the bishops around the country as she went to other dioceses with the local bishop’s approval. She gave retreats nationwide for many years. The Diary of St. Faustina was banned from the 1950s to 1976, but it does mean it was bad as was Padre Pio banned for ten years. I met Mother Nadine when she came to Texas to our diocese to give a retreat, and I thought I met a saint as did many people. Again, it was a brief encounter.
Since, she is dead, only time will tell if she is a saint or a sinner.
Concerning the many varied gifts of knowledge St. Paul explains, “For to one, by the Spirit, is given the word of wisdom; and to another the word of knowledge, according to the same Spirit.” (1 Cor.12:8) People often came to Jesus, and on one occasion He replies, “The girl is not dead but asleep,” (Matt. 9:24) and He says that His followers will do even greater miracles (Jn.14:12).
In Acts of the Apostles the Spirit says to Ananias in a vision, “Arise, and go into the street that is called Stait, and seek in the house of Judas, one named Saul of Tarsus. For behold he prayeth.” (9:11) People often came to Padre Pio and many other mystics to find out if their beloved was in heaven or hell, or if they should take a trip. Their responses could easily be interpreted as “medium” work, but instead it is God loving and answering the cry of His children. This link gives two examples of suicide and how the saints helped the family with telling them that their loved ones were in purgatory. Is this “fortune telling” or the work of the Holy Spirit? http://atxcatholic.com/index.php/2017/09/important-prayer-cataclysmic-event/#.WmJScK6nGUk
Fr. Gabriel Amorth (Vatican’s exorcist) also gives some good insights on other types/forms of gifts of knowledge, “Many times seers and sensitives have contacted me; at times I have directly called them and asked them to be present in prayer during some exorcisms, to find out what they saw or felt. I was able to discern that their answers were given by the spirit of knowledge.One day, as I was ushering into the parlor a man who had asked me to be exorcised, I remembered that I was supposed to call a “sensitive”. I rushed to the telephone, and he immediately said, “You are about to exorcise a man in his fifties. At the age of sixteen he was subjected to an evil spell, out of hatred against his father.” These sensitives and seers Fr. Amorth vets/assesses ahead of time for true authenticity and holiness, but this, too, could easily be misinterpreted as “medium” work instead of the work of the Holy Spirit.
Then there is Fr. Candido Amantini (Vatican’s exorcist before Fr. Amorth) “gifts of knowledge” who trained Fr. Gabriel Amorth and whose cause for beatification was introduced July 13,2012. He would simply look at a photograph, and he could determine the cause, time, ailment, source, etc. This, too, could be interpreted as a type of “horoscope reading,” but it is the work of the Holy Spirit.
Then there are the saints like St. Faustina, St. Bridget, Pope St. Leo XIII, etc. who were prophetic in the Holy Spirit about a person’s future and the end of times. Are they too acting like “fortune tellers?”
God’s gifts of knowledge and ways are varied and exponential as,“the Spirit blows where It wills,” (Jn.3:8). St. Andre Bassette responsible for the most modern miracles healed with oil from a lamp burning next to St. Joseph. Jesus healed with mud and spittle at times, but what we know for sure is that the devil always tries to attack the saints plus destroy/prevent their works and gifts.
Amen Deacon. I had three years formation by the IOL in Howell, NJ. I was a Secular Franciscan, the IOL formation was the best formation I ever had. I met Mother Nadine and I thought she was a saint too. God bless her. God bless you. To those who experienced hurt or pain God bless you too. Thankfully my experiences were beautiful.
I understand what you are saying and I have heard of Mother Nedine but I don’t very much about her, but it is true what Deacon Guadalupe is saying some people do have the gift of knowledge and it is a gift of the Holy Spirit.
If the person is living a good life, prays, fast, and goes to Confession, Holy Mass etc. God can reveal things to them and in turn they can help others.
Here is an example of a transference when St. Gemma Galgani intercedes for a suffering soul, “Once the mother of the family fell seriously ill with internal, spasmodic pains that made the doctors speak, unfavorably of her chances of recovery. Gemma was deeply grieved, and asked her Jesus that she instead might suffer those pains. Here are the words she used in telling me of it: “I have taken on myself those pains you know of, that the Mother of these children was suffering. They are indeed fierce pains, and I really don’t know what is going to happen to me.”
The lady in fact got well in an instant, and poor Gemma, for many months, suffered a long martyrdom that brought her to death’s door.” (page 103, The Life of St. Gemma Galgani) http://www.stgemmagalgani.com/p/the-life-of-saint-gemma-galgani.html
Wonderful account of St. Gemma Galgani, a patron saint of purity.
But isn’t there a terrible disconnection between the purity exemplified by the saint and the pornography which comprises the curriculum of sex education classes in most Catholic schools, grades 1 to 12? St. Gemma Galgani, having experienced the horrible assaults of the demon to sin carnally, thoroughly understood nothing seals the mind, memory and imagination of children to Satan more effectively than the sight of physical nudity and coital acts openly shown and graphically displayed. If she were a student now, St. Gemma Galgani would have refused to attend any Catholic school sex-ed class as an extreme occasion of mortal sin, especially provoking immodesty and impurity. As a contemporary Catholic school student, St. Gemma Galgani would face the scathing contempt of the sex-ed instructor who would tacitly allow her fellow students to tease, bully and even torment her for defending her chastity. For a Eucharistic soul like St. Gemma Galgani, the temptations of the sensual, and the oppressiveness of the flesh, recede with each reception of Holy Communion. For such a holy one as her, sex-ed class would be hell. And I will not add here how complicit Catholic school sex-ed is in the rape of Catholic children by pedophile priests who are the most ardent, enthusiastic advocates of it. Two-thirds of Catholic sex-ed involves oral/anal/genital sodomy that young students are required to learn. Sad to say, since 1966, all 50 States exempt sex-ed authors and classroom instructors from felony prosecution for dissemination of pornography to minors.
There is no place for a St. Gemma Galgani in the Novus Ordo Church with its obscene sex education program which this saint of purity would have abhorred. The recent revelations of thousands of children molested by 300 priests in Pennsylvania bodes bankruptcy, liquidations and closings for the NO Church which was founded on November 21, 1964, declaring the documents of the Second Vatican Council only were to be accepted as the Constitution of the Catholic Church . Vatican II authorized that systematic scandalization of children known as Sex Education. The real Roman Catholic Church, which offers the True Mass, and protects the innocence of children, may revive very soon. The Church which sacramentally nurtured and raised Gemma Galgani to sainthood.