Official Resource for investigating visions/dreams

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alice24

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First of all:
I thought about posting this for years now, but didn´t because of many reasons - mostly the audience for such posts make reasonable connections with mental illness or tend to say “just let it go”. I´m also thinking this way most of the time, and I´m aware of the church father´s dealing with dreams in general, but it´s also a reality that dreams can be used as a vision tool, like in the OT or in several hagiographic stories. And yes, I´m neither of that, no special-snowflake-syndrom danger 😉
Now, to the original question. Is there any office in the church(es) (catholic/orthodox) where one can investigate or get a help to separate dreams and visions /decode that stuff? I only know of this for exorzism or saintification, but this is not fitting here, I search just general advice.
-no, it´s not an usual dream.
-I´ve seen a mental health professional, so no danger on this field
-it brought me closer to the faith, so no fear of any kind of bad influence.
I let it go and lived my life, just more faith centered etc and made some major changes in the past. I wouldn´t need to bring this up if it wasn´t one of my biggest fears (well, fear is really to much) to never have an idea what I experienced.
Thank you.
 
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Do you have a prayer group in your parish? They are familiar with this kind of stuff and may be able to attend to your need. You can try that out.

I am not sure if there are any other suggestions.
 
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Sadly not, it´s a really small parish.
I experienced in the past far too much personal opinions or rather cultural explanations than religious arguments regarding this, so I kept it out of the public and decided to not touch it uness I found a really trustworthy official resource. Sadly, oficcial documents of course have no individual guideline included.
 
I can understand that. In fact even here when you start this thread, it won’t be long before it get derailed, when everybody would come in an argue about how you could be imagining things or being emotional or the Devil got over you.

That aside, God can reveal to us in many ways - through the Church, Holy Scripture, events, people and even dreams and vision.

What you need is discernment - what actually it is and it’s source. People who are gifted and experience in this area may be able to help you to discern it.

The other alternative would be to go beyond your parish or attend a charismatic conference, if it is possible for you to get that opportunity. It worth the while because you may get (name removed by moderator)uts to build you spiritually.

Maybe not now but perhaps you can keep that in mind.

Of course, talking to your parish priest is always a good thing if you had not done that already.

God bless.
 
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Thank you very much for this post.
Yes, those threads become off topic usually after 10 minutes, and I wouldn´t still use this way if I had any other resource.
Unfortunately, the whole parish situation where I live is bad. It´s a small diaspora parish with one with work overloaded (but very good!!) priest for a whole county.
I didn´t talked to him as I moved here only a few months ago and we didn´t got in closer contact beside the liturgy since then. I also fear, as I am a convert, that he wouldn´t take me honest as there are many converts that parish had in the past with mental illness issues. I´m also not that able to express the special signs that departed this from an usual dream as clearly as I want it.
I went through a huge spiritual crisis back then that broght me to church, but the last thing is being seen as strange or special there, as I feel deeply at home in the lcal community there.
Got bless you too!
 
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No problem. Considering the constraint at your parish I can understand your limitation.

You still can ponder it in your prayers and see what arise from it. If God wants to communicate with you, you will sure to get confirmation. If it affirms you, then just be glad and consider it as a grace for you.
 
25 or 30 years ago, when I was working in a government office, I had a dream I thought was interesting enough to mention it to my supervisor, a woman considerable older than myself.

After I left her office, her boss went in with a “Dream Book”, and they ended up spending $30 to play the numbers my dreams represented. Felt sort of guilty about it
 
Dreams can be a form of private revelation. If such a dream brought you closer to the faith, it has served its divine purpose. To look back upon this dream may not be the best plan, as the Lord admonished us to always look forward.
 
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This is a difficult question, who to ask about this.
There are websites, “ask a priest” or “ask a Catholic priest.” Some of these priests are priests at parishes or elsewhere. If I did email such a priest, one source I would consider is the Catholicspiritual direction site on the web. If I was doing this myself, I would write to several such sources and see what happened.
 
The church has the same rules for discerning is a private revelation from God, satan, or imagination.

tell a really holy priest during confession:

If you can find a holy devout Jesuit priest. These priests are trained to discern the difference between God and satan influencing a person.

Saint Theresa of Avila always went to a Jesuit priest to approve if an experience was from God or satan.

If not, just find a really holy priest and tell them during confession, otherwise they are not bound to secrecy on what you say.

The Vatican’s International Catholic Charismatic Renewal website has some information on charisms such as dreams if you click here:

http://www.iccrs.org/_files/files/Resources English/Questions for Doctrinal Commission/QDC36_En.pdf

If you are interested in the Patron Saint of dreams: Read ‘40 dreams of Saint John Bosco’ , it is available on amazon.com as ebook download or paperback purchase, one of the best books I have every read in my life.

The church does teach, a private revelation cannot be believed in unless approved by your spiritual director (priest).

The church does not have a ‘guidebook’ for interpreting images in dreams. Any books like that are new age occult books and are dangerous for people to use. Pray for understanding of the dream (if it is of God). Read the Old Testament and New Testament (that deepens your understanding of the Word of God).
 
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By its fruits shall you know.

If this brought you back to the Church. And saved your soul. You can believe, that was from Jesus,

As long as nothing in the dream contracted catholic doctrine.

However as a rule catholics are supposed to bring private revelation to a holy spiritual director for the priest to discern for them. 🙂

A friend of mine woke up one night and couldn’t stop reciting Saint Anthony’s Brief for a relative of theirs (its a prayer against suicide),
They didn’t know it at the time they were praying , that relative had gotten up to commit suicide.

That was God putting intercession on their heart to block evil.
 
i read your post 4 times despite my poor vision

are dream real: answer: NO

dreams are your brain reshuffling mental files, organizing certain items discarding others

dreams are not meant to be taken seriously by normally functioning humans
 
The Vatican’s International Catholic Charismatic Renewal doctrinal commission into the catholic charismatic renewal, as shown above in the website I quoted, says: dreams can be just dreams, but God can use dreams when it suits Him, as has been shown in
Bible and in the lives of the saints.
The website said discernment with a holy spiritual director is the main way to discern if it is of God, of satan, or just a dream.

Have a read of the website to read the Church’s official stance on the charism of dreams.
 
Brian stop replying with your ‘opinion’ and provide me with Vatican documents or catechism references or Papal quotes that prove your opinion.

The bible says the opposite.

Saint Peter said of one of the charisms of Pentecost:
‘Your young men will have visions and your old men will dream dreams.’

Also: the Vatican’s International Catholic Charismatic Committee and doctrinal comission into the catholic charismatic renewal has said dreams are a biblical charism that God can use to speak to a person.

Saint John Bosco had dreams and prophecies from God almost every night. He wrote them in his memoirs and all of his prophecies regarding the Salesians came true.

Are you disagreeing with the Vatican’s Doctrinal Commission into the catholic charismatic renewal?
The Vatican has approved dreams as a charism of the Holy Spirit.
 
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there are a few people in history that God and the Angels have spoken to in dreams

are you & i among them? i seriously doubt it;
 
Well the Vatican have stated it is a biblical charism of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal which has been approved by the church,
 
maybe you are being “spoken” to by the charism in your dreams?

who am i to say ?

my dreams are mostly illogical nonsense

if you catch anything earth shattering; post it here on CAF; and i mean that in a kind & sincere sense
 
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I please you not to let this become a general discussion on the meaning of dreams. I am aware of the teachings of the church, as I know the scripture and doctrines on it. If it was that black and white, we wouldn’t have several investigating institutes, the question for me was mostly one of availability.
I thank those who seriously tried to help me finding trustable institutions, I will check them out. It would be great to have a priest there available for a counsel or idea via Mail, sadly many left CAF in the last time.
I will delete my posts if there will grow more derailed discussion, but please, it would be sad for me.
 
alice, please stay

the priests who do/don’t/used to post here are lightweights

they couldn’t take the heat; so they got out of the kitchen

respectfully posted
 
brian_custer said:
dreams are not meant to be taken seriously by normally functioning humans
Click to expand...
Yeah, good thing St. Joseph just ignored those dreams about marrying Mary and later fleeing to Egypt.

Not to mention his predecessor Joseph in the Old Testament telling everybody that dreams weren’t real and fuhgeddaboudit
 
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