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I had an addiction to pornography and masturbation that I tried for years to end. Praying never worked; fasting never worked. Then one day I decided to search for a Catholic solution to my addiction to porn. I found a page talking about praying to Rosary. After the first time I prayed the Rosary, I have had no desire to watch porn and have had negative reaction to songs that talk about having sex. Some friends tried to get me to watch Game of Thrones; I only watched the first episode (actually I only stayed past the first incest scene as I was unsure of how to get out of it politely).

My addition to masturbation took longer to get rid of, sometimes I would forget to say the Rosary for a few days and would relapse. Eventually I found a set of Catholic prayers called the Divine Office. Included are ones to say just before going to bed; these finish with a prayer to Our Lady, the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, and Queen of Heaven and Earth. I have not had the temptation to masturbate at night or in the morning since starting these prayers.

However, I still had a problem with impure thoughts during the middle of the day. Saying three Hail Marys; one for Faith, one for Hope, and one for Charity; keeps these thoughts away for about half an hour.

If this were the work of the Devil, why would he give up one of his most powerful weapons against us?

What a powerful story. Blessings to you.

You know many people say that the Rosary is great for maintaining purity in mind and body. Mary was a Virgin and has always been thought of as a model of virtue.

I’m sure the publishers knew exactly what they were doing when they put Mary on the cover of this prayer book for purity in teenagers: http://www.catholiccompany.com/pure-faith-prayer-book-teens-p1003016/

I can’t explain an experience, but we should get our doctrine from the Word of God, not experience. I certainly would never trust feelings and experiences. The Bible says “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” Feelings and experiences can seem right, but you can’t trust your own fallen mind to judge them.

The Bible also tells us to “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.” God never intended His people to worship Him apart from the use of their minds. Real spirituality begins with a precise understanding of truth. His Word is objectively true. Use your mind to measure all experiences and feelings against the Truth, against His Word. We are to be like the Bereans in Acts 17 who were “more noble” because “they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” As a result “many of them therefore believed.”

In Ephesians 6:11 Paul says, “Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.” What is our armor? It consists of the belt of truthfulness (not merely knowing the truth, but being committed to it), the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the gospel of peace (confidence that we have made peace with God), the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation (confidence in our security in Christ), and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. None of those hints at any secret technique. Rather, they speak of clear understanding and a solid commitment to biblical truth and holiness.

When we resist Satan by taking our stand in the armor of God’s truth, he flees. James 4:7 says, “Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” Peter said, “Resist him, firm in the faith” (1 Peter 5:9, emphasis added)-firm in the Christian faith, which is the revealed truth. This is objective truth, not some unseen cosmic force. Since Satan is a deceiver and a liar, we can successfully resist him only by knowing and obeying the truth.

Paul said, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). Again, we don’t battle Satan with magic words and imaginary forces; we rely on the power of His truth as it brings even our thoughts captive to our Lord. That is genuine and ultimate victory over satanic forces.

No matter how Satan attacks, the solution is the same. We stand in the truth. We don’t need to learn hidden strategies to fight Satan. God’s truth is the supreme weapon against the father of lies (cf. John 8:44). Only when we know the truth and commit ourselves to obey it will we stand strong.

To measure the efficacy of praying rosaries and saying Hail Marys we can’t rely on our experiences or the claimed experiences of another. If you search the Scriptures like a Berean you will find that Mary is presented in a favorable light, but the unrestrained praise and sentimental effusion common among Catholics are no where to be seen. There isn’t even a hint that Mary participated in the redemption, so she can’t be a mediatress of all grace. To the contrary, the Bible teaches Jesus is the one redeemer and one mediator.

I had an addiction to pornography and masturbation that I tried for years to end. Praying never worked; fasting never worked. Then one day I decided to search for a Catholic solution to my addiction to porn. I found a page talking about praying to Rosary. After the first time I prayed the Rosary, I have had no desire to watch porn and have had negative reaction to songs that talk about having sex. Some friends tried to get me to watch Game of Thrones; I only watched the first episode (actually I only stayed past the first incest scene as I was unsure of how to get out of it politely).
My addition to masturbation took longer to get rid of, sometimes I would forget to say the Rosary for a few days and would relapse. Eventually I found a set of Catholic prayers called the Divine Office. Included are ones to say just before going to bed; these finish with a prayer to Our Lady, the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, and Queen of Heaven and Earth. I have not had the temptation to masturbate at night or in the morning since starting these prayers.

However, I still had a problem with impure thoughts during the middle of the day. Saying three Hail Marys; one for Faith, one for Hope, and one for Charity; keeps these thoughts away for about half an hour.

Couldn't you just recite passages from Origin of Species?

My addition to masturbation took longer to get rid of, sometimes I would forget to say the Rosary for a few days and would relapse. Eventually I found a set of Catholic prayers called the Divine Office.

Have you ever heard of the 'Little Factory'?

What is your church doing to help the male to stay true?

"All of this should be conveyed without having priesthood leaders focus upon intimate matters which are a part of husband and wife relationships. Skillful interviewing and counseling can occur without discussion of clinical details by placing firm responsibility on individual members of the Church to put their lives in order before exercising the privilege of entering a house of the Lord. The First Presidency has interpreted oral sex as constituting an unnatural, impure, or unholy practice. If a person is engaged in a practice which troubles him enough to ask about it, he should discontinue it."
- Official Declaration of the First Presidency of the Church, January 5th, 1982

"Prophets anciently and today condemn masturbation. It induces feelings of guilt and shame. It is detrimental to spirituality. It indicates slavery to the flesh, not that mastery of it and the growth toward godhood which is the object of our mortal life. Our modern prophet has indicated that no young man should be called on a mission who is not free from this practice. What is more, it too often leads to grievous sin, even to that sin against nature, homosexuality. For, done in private, it evolves often into mutual masturbation-practiced with another person of the same sex and thence into total homosexuality...."
- Prophet Spencer W. Kimball, The Miracle of Forgiveness, Pages 77-79, 81-82

"Among the most common sexual sins our young people commit are necking and petting. Not only do these improper relations often lead to fornication, [unwed] pregnancy, and abortions - all ugly sins - but in and of themselves they are pernicious evils, and it is often difficult for youth to distinguish where one ends and another begins. They awaken lust and stir evil thoughts and sex desires. They are but parts of the whole family of related sins and indiscretions. Almost like twins, 'petting' and fornication are alike."
- Prophet Spencer W. Kimball, The Miracle of Forgiveness, page 65

spencer kimball "Also far-reaching is the effect of the loss of chastity. Once given or taken or stolen it can never be regained. Even in a forced contact such as rape or incest, the injured one is greatly outraged. If she has not cooperated and contributed to the foul deed, she is of course in a more favorable position. There is no condemnation where there is no voluntary participation. It is better to die in defending one's virtue than to live having lost it without a struggle."
- Prophet Spencer W. Kimball, The Miracle of Forgiveness, page 196

"And Cain said unto the Lord, My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth." (Genesis 4:9-14.) That was true of murder. It is also true of illicit sex, which, of course, includes all petting, fornication, adultery, homosexual acts, and all other perversions. The Lord may say to offenders, as He did to Cain, "What hast thou done?" The children thus conceived make damning charges against you; the companions who have been frustrated and violated condemn you; the body that has been defiled cries out against you; the spirit which has been dwarfed convicts you. You will have difficulty throughout the ages in totally forgiving yourself."
-Prophet Spencer W. Kimball, "Love Versus Lust", BYU Speech January 5, 1965. Often-used quote still used today in LDS seminary classes.

kimball "I do not find in the Bible the modern terms "petting" nor "homosexuality," yet I found numerous scriptures which forbade such acts under by whatever names they might be called. I could not find the term "homosexuality," but I did find numerous places where the Lord condemned such a practice with such vigor that even the death penalty was assessed."
- Apostle Spencer W. Kimball, "Love Versus Lust", BYU Speech January 5, 1965

"If adultery or fornication justified the death penalty in the old days, and still in Christ's day, is the sin any less today because the laws of the land do not assess the death penalty for it? Is the act less grievous? There must be a washing, a purging, a changing of attitudes, a correcting of appraisals, a strengthening toward self-mastery. There must be many prayers, and volumes of tears. There must be an inner conviction giving to the sin its full diabolical weight. There must be increased devotion and much thought and study. And this takes energy and time and often is accompanied with sore embarrassment, heavy deprivations and deep trials, even if indeed one is not excommunicated from the Church, losing all spiritual blessings."
-Prophet Spencer W. Kimball, The Miracle of Forgiveness, Page 155

"How like the mistletoe is immorality. The killer plant starts with a sticky sweet berry. Little indiscretions are the berries -- indiscretions like sex thoughts sex discussions, passionate kissing, pornography. The leaves and little twigs are masturbation and necking and such, growing with every exercise. The full-grown plant is petting and sex looseness. It confounds, frustrates, and destroys like the parasite if it is not cut out and destroyed, for, in time it robs the tree, bleeds its life, and leaves it barren and dry; and, strangely enough, the parasite dies with its host."
- Apostle Spencer W. Kimball, General Conference Address, April 1, 1967.