Help! She has a Voodoo spell book

[edward_george]

You’re right. In most Christian denominations when a child is christened they are baptized shortly after. Not the case here though. He was what they call “dedicated”. And thats what i should have stated in my previous post. Having you’re child christened in the Church I was at then, is not exactly the same as christened in the Catholic faith. He was anointed with oil and prayed over, by a pastor. And yes he was anointed in the name of the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit. That was right after his birth and before my personal conversion to Catholicism. I did not have him baptized or emerged in water as I left the church shortly after.

In any case, he does need to be baptized. And I think that is a different topic all together. I’m more concerned about his mother practicing voodoo at this point.

Oh of course, I don’t disagree that the mother’s dalliances into things that are spiritually harmful is of great concern here, not in the least. I think your instincts are right on this and you should definitely at least have a conversation about it. Speak to a priest, as well. Know of my prayers in this situation.

-ACEGC

 

[Mgray82]

Oh of course, I don’t disagree that the mother’s dalliances into things that are spiritually harmful is of great concern here, not in the least. I think your instincts are right on this and you should definitely at least have a conversation about it. Speak to a priest, as well. Know of my prayers in this situation.

-ACEGC

Thank you!

And also, I’m new to praying to saints (however I’ve been praying to Mary everyday). I just tried a few prayers to St. Benedict. Would there be any other prayers I could say, aside from my own in this time of need? I will be scheduling a meeting with my priest ASAP.

 

[edward_george]

Thank you!

And also, I’m new to praying to saints (however I’ve been praying to Mary everyday). I just tried a few prayers to St. Benedict. Would there be any other prayers I could say, aside from my own in this time of need? I will be scheduling a meeting with my priest ASAP.

The prayer to St. Michael the Archangel, written by His Holiness Pope Leo XIII:

St. Michael, Archangel, defend us in battle, be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou, O prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God, cast into hell Satan and all evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

 

[johndoe100]

Question: We have a Haitian gal in our Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. She has never mentioned Voodo, but we talked about their West African Saint, “Loa” and the way Haitian women dance & sing to Loa.

We all pray in the Spirit together, so this thread has me wondering? For safety I ware a Michael Dog Tag with the prayer to St Michael on the back. I usually forget to say the prayer. Am I protected by simply waring it aroundy my neck on a chain?

 

[Allegra]

I agree you should probably not jump to conclusions about this book. She may have just gotten it for amusement or someone may have brought it back for her as a gift from a trip to New Orleans or something. I think you should definately talk to your child’s mother about your desire to raise your son Catholic. This is better done sooner than later.

 

[Mgray82]

I agree you should probably not jump to conclusions about this book. She may have just gotten it for amusement or someone may have brought it back for her as a gift from a trip to New Orleans or something. I think you should definately talk to your child’s mother about your desire to raise your son Catholic. This is better done sooner than later.

Brief update; I talked to her about it and she said the book was a gift and that she found it uninteresting whew …this probed another topic. She said “I don’t care if our son wants or has a religion or not. I’ll support him either way” which in one hand is good to know, but in the other it’s like “and if he doesn’t have a religion I support it”. I didn’t go any deeper in that conversation.

Sould I cease the opportunity to tell her I want to baptize him Catholic? Or wait? Or do it without her knowledge?

Perhaps, I should save this for another thread but just thought I’d throw it out there.

Again, thanks for all the replies. God bless you all

 

[VeritasLuxMea]

I would hasten to point out that “spells” have never been legitimately proven to work, so I would not be concerned in that sense at least.

 

[VeritasLuxMea]

Question: We have a Haitian gal in our Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. She has never mentioned Voodo, but we talked about their West African Saint, “Loa” and the way Haitian women dance & sing to Loa.

We all pray in the Spirit together, so this thread has me wondering? For safety I ware a Michael Dog Tag with the prayer to St Michael on the back. I usually forget to say the prayer. Am I protected by simply waring it aroundy my neck on a chain?

I’m sorry, but isn’t this kind of thinking blasphemous? You don’t need any protection from voodoo, but even if you did, it wouldn’t come in the form of a trinket.

All this stuff with medals and rosaries and medallions being “magical charms” is alien to me.

 

[Allegra]

Brief update; I talked to her about it and she said the book was a gift and that she found it uninteresting whew …this probed another topic. She said “I don’t care if our son wants or has a religion or not. I’ll support him either way” which in one hand is good to know, but in the other it’s like “and if he doesn’t have a religion I support it”. I didn’t go any deeper in that conversation.

Sould I cease the opportunity to tell her I want to baptize him Catholic? Or wait? Or do it without her knowledge?

Perhaps, I should save this for another thread but just thought I’d throw it out there.

Again, thanks for all the replies. God bless you all

I would definatly NOT advise you to Baptise your son behind her back and I doubt the priest would go for that anyway. I would talk to her about wanting to Baptize him in your faith and find out how she feels about it. Explain that you would take care of all of his religious instruction and that she wouldn’t have to do anything special, but that you would like her support. In general, you should try to have a partnership in raising your son. What are you going to do when he’s eight and it’s time for him to have First Holy Communion? Ask your boy to keep it secret from his mother? Tell her it’s baseball practice? Clearly, you want to be honest.

 

[Nec5]

Kind of spooky, but I wouldn’t worry unless you start seeing a Good Guy doll that moves around without batteries.

 

[Lost_Wanderer]

Kind of spooky, but I wouldn’t worry unless you start seeing a Good Guy doll that moves around without batteries.

Or seeing a bunch of kooky shadows followed some floating voodoo masks singing: “Bom-bom-bom-bom-bom-bom-bom-bom Bom-bom-bom-bom-bom-bom-bom ARE YOU REAAADY!?”

 

[mini_me640]

I’m sorry, but isn’t this kind of thinking blasphemous? You don’t need any protection from voodoo, but even if you did, it wouldn’t come in the form of a trinket.

All this stuff with medals and rosaries and medallions being “magical charms” is alien to me.

I feel the same.

 

[TheDoors]

Question: We have a Haitian gal in our Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. She has never mentioned Voodo, but we talked about their West African Saint, “Loa” and the way Haitian women dance & sing to Loa.

We all pray in the Spirit together, so this thread has me wondering? For safety I ware a Michael Dog Tag with the prayer to St Michael on the back. I usually forget to say the prayer. Am I protected by simply waring it aroundy my neck on a chain?

No. It is not a magic charm or a talisman.

 

[TarkanAttila]

Concerning the original topic, a voudou book.

No book can lead you to become an atheist/pagan/Freudian/Mormon by itself. It depends upon why and how you are reading it. For example, the Bible can’t convert the heart of an atheist if he reads it to find the fatal errors (should there be any) in it, and if he reads it with the eye of the sceptic. Or if a communist reads the Koran in an attempt to “baptise” it as a Communist writing, he’ll surely find something resembling communism in it by his interpretation.

Similarly, a child reading a voudou book must ask his parents how he should interpret the words he reads, because if he is reading simply out of curiosity he isn’t approaching it with any particular bent.

Brief update; I talked to her about it and she said the book was a gift and that she found it uninteresting whew …this probed another topic. She said “I don’t care if our son wants or has a religion or not. I’ll support him either way” which in one hand is good to know, but in the other it’s like “and if he doesn’t have a religion I support it”. I didn’t go any deeper in that conversation.

Sould I cease the opportunity to tell her I want to baptize him Catholic? Or wait? Or do it without her knowledge?

Perhaps, I should save this for another thread but just thought I’d throw it out there.

Again, thanks for all the replies. God bless you all

A separate topic might be good.

But I’ll chip in my two cents. At least on’t do it without her knowledge. You might be separated, but the boy is still your child. And, truthfully, the Catholic Church does still recognise your marriage. Even if you never had the ceremony, I think there’s something like “common law marriage”, isn’t there? Even without a legal precedent for marriage, I’d still ask your priest about it, I mean, if you ever choose to get married (again).

Anyway… talk to her about it if you want to get your child baptised. If she refuses… well, I’m not for sure what you should do. It might be time to ask Fr. Serpa or someone else for help. I don’t think I ought to offer legal advice.

 

[Mgray82]

Concerning the original topic, a voudou book.

No book can lead you to become an atheist/pagan/Freudian/Mormon by itself. It depends upon why and how you are reading it. For example, the Bible can’t convert the heart of an atheist if he reads it to find the fatal errors (should there be any) in it, and if he reads it with the eye of the sceptic. Or if a communist reads the Koran in an attempt to “baptise” it as a Communist writing, he’ll surely find something resembling communism in it by his interpretation.

Similarly, a child reading a voudou book must ask his parents how he should interpret the words he reads, because if he is reading simply out of curiosity he isn’t approaching it with any particular bent.

A separate topic might be good.

But I’ll chip in my two cents. At least on’t do it without her knowledge. You might be separated, but the boy is still your child. And, truthfully, the Catholic Church does still recognise your marriage. Even if you never had the ceremony, I think there’s something like “common law marriage”, isn’t there? Even without a legal precedent for marriage, I’d still ask your priest about it, I mean, if you ever choose to get married (again).

Anyway… talk to her about it if you want to get your child baptised. If she refuses… well, I’m not for sure what you should do. It might be time to ask Fr. Serpa or someone else for help. I don’t think I ought to offer legal advice.

Not sure what a “common law marriage” is. We were never married legally. We simply were together for a time, and had a child together. We split immidiately after his birth.

 

[Allegra]

Concerning the original topic, a voudou book.

No book can lead you to become an atheist/pagan/Freudian/Mormon by itself. It depends upon why and how you are reading it. For example, the Bible can’t convert the heart of an atheist if he reads it to find the fatal errors (should there be any) in it, and if he reads it with the eye of the sceptic. Or if a communist reads the Koran in an attempt to “baptise” it as a Communist writing, he’ll surely find something resembling communism in it by his interpretation.

Similarly, a child reading a voudou book must ask his parents how he should interpret the words he reads, because if he is reading simply out of curiosity he isn’t approaching it with any particular bent.

A separate topic might be good.

But I’ll chip in my two cents. At least on’t do it without her knowledge. You might be separated, but the boy is still your child. And, truthfully, the Catholic Church does still recognise your marriage. Even if you never had the ceremony, I think there’s something like “common law marriage”, isn’t there? Even without a legal precedent for marriage, I’d still ask your priest about it, I mean, if you ever choose to get married (again).

Anyway… talk to her about it if you want to get your child baptised. If she refuses… well, I’m not for sure what you should do. It might be time to ask Fr. Serpa or someone else for help. I don’t think I ought to offer legal advice.

The church does not acknowledge “common law marriage”. You can not marry someone without intending to.

 

[TarkanAttila]

“Common law marriage” is a marriage in practise, but without the paperwork - where you were married in all but a certificate. You acted and behaved as a married couple did. You might have even acknowledged each other as husband and wife. That’s a common law marriage.

Allegra, you are correct. Common law marriages are not recognised by the Catholic Church. But I think this is only assuming you are Catholic.

But I think you are also correct that you can’t be married unintentionally. I was wrong. It does lead to some other questions, but I fear we might start taking this thread off-track, so, I won’t.

 

[Delaine75]

A simple and direct approach would be the best call, I think. If I were you, I’d just ask what the book was for and why she has it. I have a Christian Scientist book that someone had loaned to me when I asked what their beliefs and views were. I read it out of total curiosity, not because I had any intentions at all of becoming a Christian Scientist, but someone may think that if they stopped by and saw it and jumped to conclusions without asking! Just ask her! What could it hurt? Praying for all involved!