Sweet scents without any explanation

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Dalia

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Hello there… so for my family and myself we have experienced sweet scents. Like the scent of baking of sweet bread while no one is even in the kitchen and has not been in a while. No candles, no perfumes, nothing. Here is when it happened to me for the first time. I was having a nightmare and it scared me so much that I woke up. I was terrified in fear so I started to pray to my Lady the Rosary! I prayed and prayed and in the morning at 7 am. My fear went away immediately at the sweetest and greatest aromas of someone baking. At first I thought oh my husband is awake and making some pancakes for our girls. But then I turn over and he was still asleep and so were our daughters. Then I looked at the clock and it was 7 am. The aroma lasted for a while and then it went away. The second time it happened to me I was on bed rest for a surgery I had just had. My husband brought me roses for Valentine’s Day and at first I could simply smell the roses. After a day my room started to smell that same sweet smell I had smelled before and to this day without any roses or any sort of flowers my room still smells sweet. Also today my daughters hands for no reason at all smell sweet. Like a vanilla scent yet she was not wearing any perfume and did not put on any cream at all. No soaps nothing. She tried to wash her hands to take the scent away however it didn’t. Her hands have smelled like this all day and we love it. Can anyone say what this is or perhaps have experienced this before?
 
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Sweet smells are often a sign of Our Lady. Looks like somebody has got your back(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)
 
You should also see a doctor to rule out any potential medical issues. Sometimes random smells can be a sign of a serious medical problem.
 
Very true. Thanks for the sensible advice to our dear poster.
 
We have seen doctors and we are all in good health. So we know it’s nothing to do with our health. Thanks for your concern!
 
Thank you CapitalistCatholic! As I have researched on this for a while now I’ve gotten that answer before. I just wanted to confirm. We pray the Rosary daily and have consecrated our family to Her for years now. Thank you for the reassurance that our Lady has our back!
 
No need for any thanks. Just doing what Mama Mary wills!(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)
 
What about smelling citrus when praying the Rosary? This is new as this just happened to me and that is something I have never experienced. Just to be clear I have no limes, no lemons, no oranges, nothing to give off that scent in my home.
 
I was being prayed over at a healing mass one time. There were two people praying over me: one was a woman who had been miraculously healed at St Anne de Beaupre (sp?) in Quebec, CA from a life threatening ailment with her leg; the other was an older Priest who had the gift of healing.

As they prayed, I sensed a sweet scent, and asked the lady praying over me if she was wearing perfume. She said he wasn’t but that it was the Blessed Mother.

I didn’t see anyone else around, so I was very happy an consoled by the throught.

Sweet scents have surrounded many Saints, though. St Therese of Lisiuex used to say Jesus footsteps were sweetly scented. So… 🙂
 
Any of the senses can be used by God to convey spiritual consolations. Smell is less common than the use of visual images or locutions, but not uncommon.

Of course, the opposite is also true; people can smell unpleasant odors as warnings, such as St. Catherine of Siena perceiving unrepentant sinners as mysteriously smelly.

The main thing to know about spiritual consolation is that the experience itself is not as important as how God is always teaching and helping us, without us noticing, and almost “behind our backs.” But it is nice to receive such open encouragement, like a curtain being pulled back to show us the sun.
 
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In discerning spirits, which would include everything from sweet scents all the way to levitation, you might want to take note that it almost inevitably means you are encountering the mystical side of our faith. Being mystical and supernatural phenomena, it will also likely confound the human understanding, although by faith it can still make sense.

I do not claim to be an expert in mysticism, but I have had many mystical encounters. There’s a few things you might want to know.
  1. Get a good Spiritual Director. St Faustina and St Theresa of Avila would recommend avoiding scrupulous confessors. Spiritual Directors are not necessarily the same thing as who you would probably want to be your confessor, although they could be. I equate the two here because mysticism can be confusing, and scrupulosity and/or ignorance can frustrate an opportuity for positive spiritual growth. I call this frustration “friendly fire” because the people are usually well-intended, whereas true growth may require a cooperation and a sort of synergy in prayerful intentions. You can get a better idea of what I mean by reading the works of St Faustina and St Theresa of Avila. They will both say it helps if the person has EXPERIENCE in the same matters.
  2. Know that it tends to happen that consolations can be followed by a desolation. The devil may try to frustrate the work of God. Reading St Ignatius of Loyola’s Rules for the Discernment of Spirits can make sense of this. I can send you some links a little later on, if you like.
  3. You cannot control infused contemplations. You can only prepare and keep yourself open to them and be cooperative with them when they occur, especially if you want to make them last. In a way, it’s kind of odd after a consolation and/or an infusion, since the subsequent desolations can often be very difficult. One might start to wonder why one would ask for them at all. But, the fact is, it’s our responsibility to pray, and it is so wonderful when they occur - one always wants them back, but - they are given by God’s grace - not by one’s own taking, so the best you can do is remain open by falling back on what St Paul and St Ignatius call “sufficient grace”.
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As a note, I will never forget the first infusion - I had been study theology and praying hard for months, and, when it occurred, it was as clear as day. I knew what was happening, although I was naive about my follow-through. It was the coolest experience ever. Suddenly everything somehow just made sense, and all else was straw. The consolations stayed with me for about a week, and then I started to wonder about it, and I wanted more - even demanding “it” of people who had no idea or control over what I was asking. The desolate feeling was like (and I dont even smoke) probably something like a nicotine fit. I simply wanted God back that badly, and yet there was nothing I could do other than pray. It took a few years before I found St Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises, and learned to (at that point in my prayerful dialogues with God) rely on “sufficient grace”.

4 - Encountering a heavenly spirit can be very moving obviously, and you might even think the spirit was Jesus or God Himself. I dont think identity is really all that important because all this pass over into God anyway. Consider the opposite: a bad encounter with malevolent spirits. Once St Francis of Assisi was being attacked by devils. The way he defeated them was to thank Jesus for it. The reason was, they couldn’t do anything Jesus wouldn’t let them do, and yet - St Francis reasoned - if they punished his flesh, which is opposed to God, then it was a grace. So be grateful to God for all you can, and always look to the King of Kings.

Ad Jesu Per Mariam,
Totus Tuus!

wm
 
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