I realize that I am just a newbie, bit in the “for what it is worth” category, I’d go with the rebuttles in the “catholic Doors” website.
As I, too, come from a pretty messed up family, this subject is one I have considered often, especially due to such passages as found in Exodus (as mentioned in the articles), and the seeping in of mormon traditions. But, my experience is that, the “curse” that I see operating in my life, is a circumstantial one; but not a mandatory one. Yes, for a single “minor” example, due to the habits of my mother, I have “inherited” an oral addiction related to drinking. However, I do not choose to satiate that habit through alchohol as she did (iced tea and Dr. Pepper are bad enough). Certainly, in some cases, I could “get away” with a lot if I indulged in this factor of the “family curse”, and would, in the short run, make things easier (not being my fault, afterall); but then I would be a slave to those things which our Redeemer has already given us power over. Should I indulge the bad history of my family, then yes, as Exodus promises, then my children will also suffer from the curse of my parents, as I did (and I should be, with a 95% chance according to criminologists, writing this from Prison, rather than from my home). But, I know that Christ has given us the power (and Duty), each and every one of us, to overcome these circumstances with His help.
In short, veiw the generational curses as statements of prognostic fact. If you do not repent, then your children will suffer from the same vices. If they do not repent, then their children will also suffer the same vices… It is a statement of statistical fact, not a Divine Decree of Forced Consequence. God does not send angels out to force the later generations to fall victim to the curse; it is simply a natural consequence of refusing, at some point, to repent and change your family’s ways. Temporally, you will suffer from the sins of your parents (which makes being a parent a frightening experience in review); but there is no Spiritually binding element that will force you to suffer Purgatory or Hell due specifically to their sin. Where you will suffer such a fate is due only to what you do about it in your life.
Remember, God spoke most often to the Isrealites through the language of Family and Tribe. Rightly, the rebuttle page points out that this is part of the Baptismal coveneant given Christians; that even the universal Original sin (an example of the ultimate generational curse) is cleared from us, and we have only to answer for our own sin (in the eternal perspective).
As to the need to “heal the Family Tree”, I’d also go with Johnq’s suggestion, and have a Mass offered for them/your family.
Anyway, just my little mites to consider or not.
Additionally, in regards to your specific question regarding the prayers themselves, many of them seem to fall under the “imprecary” (IIRC) type of prayer, something forbidden to the laity. See the threads on the Binding prayer (…I bind the spirits of the air, the earth…ect). As such, I tend to look a little askance at those Catholic groups who utilize or endorse such (but then, I am only just beginning my Catholic journey, and am wary [read: Paranoid] of being lead off the path). Hopefully someone with a clearer understanding and articulation regarding this can chime in.
Caritas numquam excidit
Inter arma caritas.
