This is not an invitation to satan - almost worried to ask the question

[Miraluna]

I had a reconversion last year…just decided (by God’s grace) that I did not want to be a lukewarm Catholic and since then my life has had Christ as the center…and I pursue my relationship with Him more than anything else. During the first months of my reconversion, I felt satan’s presence, he was in my dreams, and there were some temptations that could only come from him. But after a period of a few months, he was gone. I go to daily Mass three times per week and Sundays, of course, I pray a daily Rosary, I wear a scapular with a St. Benedict medal, my prayer extends to over one hour per day, I am in prayer (even with a thought) throughout my day, I go to confession twice per month, I have a greater awareness of my sinful nature and my root sin (and I am pleading to God that He help me with those), I partake in religious education classes in my parish, etc. So is this it? Do my faith, the sacraments, my desire for God, my devotions serve as weapons and he will not come around anymore…he has given up on me? Is he trying to be deceptive and make me complacent…so that I feel that I have “arrived” and need not continue to grow in holiness? Or does he come around as one grows in holiness and tempts at each phase to keep one from growing, so as I grow he will reappear? I read somewhere that he wants the holy ones to fall and he works on them, but those that are in his grasp, he does not need to bother with them because he has them. Am I in his grasp? I would hope not…I prefer to believe that I have “weapons” that he would rather not contend with. Can you share your thoughts and experiences on this?

 

[T700]

God is greater than the devil. Of that there is no doubt. You certainly sound like you are doing everything right.

Do not be afraid. Our Lord will protect you. You are in my prayers.

Paul

 

[mommybug47]

He will continue to harass those who seek to serve the Lord, however, you have put on the armor of God! He may be shooting arrows at you, but your prayer is keeping you in the firm fortress. DONT leave it or the dark one will get you! Stay firm and all is well. Keep girded up in the Lord at all times, and the devil will flee. If you are in prayer and in the scripture, he has no power over you.

 

[killyclogher]

Miraluna, You’re doing great (a lot better than me), just keep doing what you’re doing, don’t forget to ask your guardian angel to protect you and have Holy Water at your bedside. Start out each day asking the Lord to cover you and your family with His blood as nothing can penetrate that…

God bless and welcome home.

 

[firstmode]

I had a reconversion last year…just decided (by God’s grace) that I did not want to be a lukewarm Catholic and since then my life has had Christ as the center…and I pursue my relationship with Him more than anything else. During the first months of my reconversion, I felt satan’s presence, he was in my dreams, and there were some temptations that could only come from him. But after a period of a few months, he was gone. I go to daily Mass three times per week and Sundays, of course, I pray a daily Rosary, I wear a scapular with a St. Benedict medal, my prayer extends to over one hour per day, I am in prayer (even with a thought) throughout my day, I go to confession twice per month, I have a greater awareness of my sinful nature and my root sin (and I am pleading to God that He help me with those), I partake in religious education classes in my parish, etc. So is this it? Do my faith, the sacraments, my desire for God, my devotions serve as weapons and he will not come around anymore…he has given up on me? Is he trying to be deceptive and make me complacent…so that I feel that I have “arrived” and need not continue to grow in holiness? Or does he come around as one grows in holiness and tempts at each phase to keep one from growing, so as I grow he will reappear? I read somewhere that he wants the holy ones to fall and he works on them, but those that are in his grasp, he does not need to bother with them because he has them. Am I in his grasp? I would hope not…I prefer to believe that I have “weapons” that he would rather not contend with. Can you share your thoughts and experiences on this?

One thing you can also do is attend a Charismatic Catholic meeting and seek the gifts of the Spirit that God lovingly grants to his people. Here is a link to the Charasmatic Catholic Renewal nsc-chariscenter.org/

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_Charismatic_Renewal

Here is a Catholic video about it: youtube.com/watch?v=J-QDOcDGDWA

Also, Remember this:

2 Corinthians 10:4
4(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds.

Luke 10:19
19I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.

I love to try and read this chapter of Psalms often:

Psalm 91

1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. [a]

2 I will say ** of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”

3 Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare
and from the deadly pestilence.

4 He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

5 You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,

6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
nor the plague that destroys at midday.

7 A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.

8 You will only observe with your eyes
and see the punishment of the wicked.

9 If you make the Most High your dwelling—
even the LORD, who is my refuge-

10 then no harm will befall you,
no disaster will come near your tent.

11 For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;

12 they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

13 You will tread upon the lion and the cobra;
you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

14 “Because he loves me,” says the LORD, "I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

15 He will call upon me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.

16 With long life will I satisfy him
and show him my salvation."**

 

[firstmode]

1 Corinthians 12:31

31But eagerly desire[a] the greater gifts.
And now I will show you the most excellent way.

1 Corinthians 14
Gifts of Prophecy and Tongues
1Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy. 2For anyone who speaks in a tongue[a] does not speak to men but to God. Indeed, no one understands him; he utters mysteries with his spirit.

 

[Unitas]

I had a reconversion last year…just decided (by God’s grace) that I did not want to be a lukewarm Catholic and since then my life has had Christ as the center…and I pursue my relationship with Him more than anything else. During the first months of my reconversion, I felt satan’s presence, he was in my dreams, and there were some temptations that could only come from him. But after a period of a few months, he was gone. I go to daily Mass three times per week and Sundays, of course, I pray a daily Rosary, I wear a scapular with a St. Benedict medal, my prayer extends to over one hour per day, I am in prayer (even with a thought) throughout my day, I go to confession twice per month, I have a greater awareness of my sinful nature and my root sin (and I am pleading to God that He help me with those), I partake in religious education classes in my parish, etc. So is this it? Do my faith, the sacraments, my desire for God, my devotions serve as weapons and he will not come around anymore…he has given up on me? Is he trying to be deceptive and make me complacent…so that I feel that I have “arrived” and need not continue to grow in holiness? Or does he come around as one grows in holiness and tempts at each phase to keep one from growing, so as I grow he will reappear? I read somewhere that he wants the holy ones to fall and he works on them, but those that are in his grasp, he does not need to bother with them because he has them. Am I in his grasp? I would hope not…I prefer to believe that I have “weapons” that he would rather not contend with. Can you share your thoughts and experiences on this?

Stay the path, you are doing fine. Try to maintain your state of grace as much as you can, for then satan has nothing to hold over you. He is powerless. Just be sure to take joy in God’s love more than you fear the devil.

 

[killyclogher]

I have a checkered past when it comes to being a faithful Catholic. I am embarrassed to admit that I had a few years when my behavior was obviously sinful and only by God’s grace was I spared from completely ruining my life. Mercifully, I was able to find my way back to God and the Church but there are images and memories that still linger. Satan likes to trot these out once in awhile in a miserable attempt to ridicule me and tempt me to doubt or despair over God’s love, mercy and forgiveness.

During this rather painful confession, the wonderful priest warned me about this aspect of my nature and recommended I memorize:

Philippians 4:8 — “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things” and put it into daily practice.
catholicexchange.com/2008/11/14/114435/

I was reading a review on a book this morning and those two paragraphs reminded me of myself and I thought perhaps it might help you. I’m going to memorize Philippians 4:8 myself and most of all forgive myself as I know Jesus has already forgiven me.

 

[cargau]

Be careful not to think that your shortcomings are absolutely the result of the actions of the devil. Is it not possible that these temptations are part of your environment and should you give in to those temptations that is of your own doing? The sacrament of Reconciliation is all about accountability, contrition, penance and of course reconciliation. We plead for forgiveness for our sins, not the devil’s.

We live in a world where there is a label for every misdeed anyone makes and therefore lessens our responsibility. In a word, somehow, everyone is a victim.

I am sure the devil exists and he may even be having an influence. But, I must say, the world certainly offers enough temptations without any help from the devil.

 

[Yours_Truly]

I had a reconversion last year…just decided (by God’s grace) that I did not want to be a lukewarm Catholic and since then my life has had Christ as the center…and I pursue my relationship with Him more than anything else. During the first months of my reconversion, I felt satan’s presence, he was in my dreams, and there were some temptations that could only come from him. But after a period of a few months, he was gone. I go to daily Mass three times per week and Sundays, of course, I pray a daily Rosary, I wear a scapular with a St. Benedict medal, my prayer extends to over one hour per day, I am in prayer (even with a thought) throughout my day, I go to confession twice per month, I have a greater awareness of my sinful nature and my root sin (and I am pleading to God that He help me with those), I partake in religious education classes in my parish, etc. So is this it? Do my faith, the sacraments, my desire for God, my devotions serve as weapons and he will not come around anymore…he has given up on me? Is he trying to be deceptive and make me complacent…so that I feel that I have “arrived” and need not continue to grow in holiness? Or does he come around as one grows in holiness and tempts at each phase to keep one from growing, so as I grow he will reappear? I read somewhere that he wants the holy ones to fall and he works on them, but those that are in his grasp, he does not need to bother with them because he has them. Am I in his grasp? I would hope not…I prefer to believe that I have “weapons” that he would rather not contend with. Can you share your thoughts and experiences on this?

I had very similar thoughts as you several years ago. Like you, I was giving 100% on my spiritual life and was experiencing very few temptations and almost no sin. That made me wonder if I was doing something wrong, since the devil was not tempting me. I also wondered if I was blind to sin, since I really didn’t have any sin - at least nothing more than relatively minor faults. I did go to confession every week, but the confession was only for minor things. I even asked my confessor once if there was a possibility that I was blind to my sins since I didn’t find many when I examined my conscience. Things seemed to be going too good so, like you, I wonder if maybe I was doing something wrong and therefore the devil was leaving me alone (sound familiar?).

Now, I have an extremely holy and learned Priest I met years ago. He now lives in another country but we communicate via e-mail. I explained this to him and I think he gave me the correct answer, which probably applies to you as well.

He said that sometimes God will not allow the devil to tempt us for a while. This may be for the purpose of allowing us to grow spiritually while in relative peace.

This may be the situation with you since you seem to be doing a good job with your spiritual life. And just so you know, when I first converted I was attacked by the devil just as you were. These attacks came at me from all sides.

There’s something else I will add. The spiritual life is divided into three stages. The first stage, which is called the “purgative stage”, is where we overcome our sins. I realized a while back that part of the problem was that I was so used to trying to overcome my sins that when I finally did, my mind did not progress to the next state. After overcoming our sins (not that we will never sin again, but that for the most part sin is not a problem), the next stage is the illuminative stage, which is where we begin to practice the virtues.

The first stage is negative (overcoming our sins), while the next is positive (practicing the virtues). If we are passed the first stage, but not aware of the second, we can start to think the way you are. I think that is what happened with me. Instead of looking to the virtues and practicing them, I was looking backwards with the intent of fighting my sins, which had already been overcome.

The solution for you might be to look forward and take the more positive approach in practicing the virtues. Now that your sins are under control, try to study and begin to practice the virtues. Rather than examinng your conscience to see what sin you committed, you can examine it to see how you failed in the practice of this or that virtue.

I think that is where you are, and I have the perfect book to recommend. It is called “Guidance is Spiritual Direction”. It is published by Roman Catholic Books. I’m sure you can find it online. You need to get this book. It was written years ago for Priests to help them become good spiritual directors. It explains a lot about the spiritual life. It begins in the purgative stage, then proceeds to the illuminative, then finally to the last stage which is the unative stage. I think this book will help you alot. I know it did me.

 

[RUINATION_IPA]

The devil won’t “give up” on you. He didn’t even give up on Christ - in fact, if the devil did give up on you it would be cause for concern because the devil has no need to tempt those who are already his. No one in God’s grace is ever free from temptation so don’t try judge your spiritual progress by that.

Talking about ‘spiritual progress’… sounds like you should find a good, traditional, holy Priest to be your spiritual director.

 

[brigid12]

I had very similar thoughts as you several years ago. Like you, I was giving 100% on my spiritual life and was experiencing very few temptations and almost no sin. That made me wonder if I was doing something wrong, since the devil was not tempting me. I also wondered if I was blind to sin, since I really didn’t have any sin - at least nothing more than relatively minor faults. I did go to confession every week, but the confession was only for minor things. I even asked my confessor once if there was a possibility that I was blind to my sins since I didn’t find many when I examined my conscience. Things seemed to be going too good so, like you, I wonder if maybe I was doing something wrong and therefore the devil was leaving me alone (sound familiar?).

Now, I have an extremely holy and learned Priest I met years ago. He now lives in another country but we communicate via e-mail. I explained this to him and I think he gave me the correct answer, which probably applies to you as well.

He said that sometimes God will not allow the devil to tempt us for a while. This may be for the purpose of allowing us to grow spiritually while in relative peace.

This may be the situation with you since you seem to be doing a good job with your spiritual life. And just so you know, when I first converted I was attacked by the devil just as you were. These attacks came at me from all sides.

There’s something else I will add. The spiritual life is divided into three stages. The first stage, which is called the “purgative stage”, is where we overcome our sins. I realized a while back that part of the problem was that I was so used to trying to overcome my sins that when I finally did, my mind did not progress to the next state. After overcoming our sins (not that we will never sin again, but that for the most part sin is not a problem), the next stage is the illuminative stage, which is where we begin to practice the virtues.

The first stage is negative (overcoming our sins), while the next is positive (practicing the virtues). If we are passed the first stage, but not aware of the second, we can start to think the way you are. I think that is what happened with me. Instead of looking to the virtues and practicing them, I was looking backwards with the intent of fighting my sins, which had already been overcome.

The solution for you might be to look forward and take the more positive approach in practicing the virtues. Now that your sins are under control, try to study and begin to practice the virtues. Rather than examinng your conscience to see what sin you committed, you can examine it to see how you failed in the practice of this or that virtue.

I think that is where you are, and I have the perfect book to recommend. It is called “Guidance is Spiritual Direction”. It is published by Roman Catholic Books. I’m sure you can find it online. You need to get this book. It was written years ago for Priests to help them become good spiritual directors. It explains a lot about the spiritual life. It begins in the purgative stage, then proceeds to the illuminative, then finally to the last stage which is the unative stage. I think this book will help you alot. I know it did me.

I really agree!

Don’t think that you can ever let your guard down against the devil in this earthly life, tho’ . You are vulnerable now, more than ever, to self-righteousness. This stage, IMHO, is where devotion to St. Therese really helps me. Her Little Way needs you to do small acts of humility constantly and always acknowledge where any positives about you come.

 

[Simon_X]

Hi Miranda,

Keep up the good work, stay in a state of Grace as you are…Pray this prayer to St Michael when you feel temptation or with your regular prayers for extra protection…take care…

Saint Michael the 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 Divine Power of God -
cast into hell, satan and all the evil spirits,
who roam throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen.

 

[tuviskazinai]

Be careful not to think that your shortcomings are absolutely the result of the actions of the devil. Is it not possible that these temptations are part of your environment and should you give in to those temptations that is of your own doing? The sacrament of Reconciliation is all about accountability, contrition, penance and of course reconciliation. We plead for forgiveness for our sins, not the devil’s.

We live in a world where there is a label for every misdeed anyone makes and therefore lessens our responsibility. In a word, somehow, everyone is a victim.

I am sure the devil exists and he may even be having an influence. But, I must say, the world certainly offers enough temptations without any help from the devil.

I like this response. It reminds me of two quotes: the first is from St Francis of Assisi, who says that we tend to give the Devil more credit than is due to him…and the second is from CS Lewis, who says there are two mistakes we can make concerning the Devil: not paying enough attention to him, and paying way too much attention to him.

Others on this thread have very helpfully said that the Devil will never stop trying to tempt you. That may be true, but if so, then he’ll do it in sneaky ways. My personal bet is that the Devil loves a good fight, and if you are always living in fear, and always lashing out at him in an effort to be sure that you’re getting in good blows, then he’ll just keep feeding on that fear and using your struggles to try and wear you out. So don’t let him play that game with you! In your prayer and devotions, seek peace of mind. I am not saying to ignore the reality of sin, but the weapons of Christ are peace and love. I think the best way to combat the Devil is to be assured in your heart that with Christ at your side, Satan has no power over you…he isn’t even worth a second thought!

I like the priest’s advice that Brigid quoted. To work on the virtues…how beautiful. And I wonder if he meant practicing the virtues in a really corporal way…feeding the hungry, and that kind of thing. If you are locked up in your room in prayer for too long, then the Devil may always loom large in your mind…since when our thoughts get racing, it is easy to focus in on our fears and get distracted by them. But if you are kept busy doing charitable or social work – religious ed like you talked about, or participation in the vibrant life of a parish or family or community of friends – i.e., opening yourself to other people and performing acts of love where the Devil has no role…then you may find your life really full of grace, and full of signs of Christ’s presence!

Best wishes and prayers to you.

Peace,
+AMDG+

 

[weepixie71]

reading your question i couldnt help but think of st francis and padre pio. how the devil tormented them!
enjoy the break in the temptation and use this time to grow in love for Christ.
i cannot speak for everyone but i can remember when God came into my life again and i started doing a lot of the same things you were doing. i felt so full of the Holy Spirit. God was in every thought and it was very easy to offer daily trials. my mother warned me of the dry spell that comes with this. this is when the devil hit me the hardest. i just felt to warn you of this. pray! pray! pray! during this time, the devil is so relentless. i believe God allows this so you can sacrifice in very hard times so He can bestow graces upon you.

 

[Deacon_Ed]

To answer your questions:

1. We never “arrive” – we are always on the journey of faith.
2. Satan never rests, he is always trying his best to lead us away from the Lord, although at times he does “back off” to let us think we’ve got it made.,
3. Holiness is a state in which we recognize how far we still need to go. It’s something we are always working toward, not something we have.

It sounds like you are doing the right things from a spiritual standpoint. I would try to find a good and holy spiritual director (priest, deacon or even a lay person trained in spiritual direction). That way you have someone to bounce these feelings off of – a way to get a “sanity check”!

Deacon Ed