[Ecumenical] Lent through Eastertide - Divine Mercy Diary Exerpts: Satan, evil spirits & their work

This series will be excerpts from the Diary of St. Faustina. Some are short. Some are longer. I am keeping the spelling from the website in the title.

Satan, the evil spirits and their work

Oh, how much I am hurt by a soul's distrust! Such a soul professes that I am Holy and Just, but does not believe that I am Mercy and does not trust in My Goodness. Even the devils glorify My Justice but do not believe in My Goodness. (300)

After the adoration, half way to my cell, I was surrounded by a pack of huge black dogs who were jumping and howling and trying to tear me to pieces. I realised that they were not dogs but demons. Once of them spoke up in a rage, "Because you have snatched so many souls so many souls away from us this night, we will tear you to pieces." I answered, "if that is the will of the most merciful God, tear me to pieces, for I have justly deserved it, because I am the most miserable of sinners, and God is ever holy, just, and infinitely merciful." To these words all the demons answered as one, "Let us flee, for she is not alone; the Almighty is with her!" And they vanished like dust...while I continued on my way to my cell undisturbed. (320)

I united my sufferings with the sufferings of Jesus and offered them for myself and for the conversion of souls who do not trust in the goodness of God. Suddenly, my cell was filled with black figures full of anger and hatred for me. One of them said, "Be damned, you and He who is within you, for you are beginning to torment us even in hell." As soon as I said, "And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us," the figures vanished in a sudden whir. (323)

When a soul praises My goodness, Satan trembles before it and flees to the very bottom of hell. (378)

Satan can even clothe himself in a cloak of humility, but he does not know how to wear the cloak of obedience and thus his evil designs will be disclosed. (939)

On one occasion, I saw Satan hurrying about and looking for someone among the sisters, but he could find no one. I felt an interior inspiration to command him in the Name of God to confess to me what he was looking for among the sisters. And he confessed, though unwillingly, "I am looking for idle souls". When I commanded him again in the Name of God to tell me to which souls in religious life he has the easiest access, he said, again unwillingly, "To lazy and idle souls." ...Let the toiling and tired souls rejoice. (1127)

Satan has admitted to me that I am the object of his hatred. He said that "a thousand souls do me less harm than you do when you speak of the great mercy of the Almighty One. The greatest sinners regain confidence and return to God , and I lose everything. But what is more, you persecute me personally with that unfathomable mercy of the Almighty One." I took note of the great hatred Satan has for the mercy of God. He does not want to acknowledge that God is good. (1167)

As I write these words, I hear the cry of Satan: "She's writing everything, she's writing everything, and because of this we are losing so much! Do not write about the goodness of God; He is just!" And howling with fury, he vanished. (1338)

I see a certain priest whom God loves greatly, but whom Satan hates terribly because he is leading many souls to a high degree of sanctity and has regard only for God' glory. But I keep asking God that his patience with those who constantly oppose him might not run out. Where Satan himself can do no harm, he uses people. (1384)

When I was going upstairs this evening, a strange dislike for everything having to do with God suddenly came over me. At that, I heard Satan who said to me, "Think no more about this work. God is not as merciful as you say He is. Do not pray for sinners, because they will be damned all the same, and by this work of mercy you expose your own self to damnation. ....the voice took the appearance of my Guardian Angel, and at that moment I replied, "I know who you are: the father of lies." I made the sign of the cross, and the angel vanished with great racket and fury. (1405)

Taking the form of an apparition he said, "Do not pray for sinners, but for yourself, for you will be damned." Paying no attention to Satan, I continued to pray with redoubled fervour. for sinners. The Evil Spirit howled with fury, "Oh, if I had power over you!" and disappeared. I saw that my suffering and prayer shackled Satan and snatched many souls from his clutches. (1465)

When I went, in my thoughts, to the chapel, my spirit was plunged into even greater darkness. Total discouragement came over me. Then I heard Satan's voice; "See how contradictory everything is that Jesus gives to you: He tells you to found a convent, and then He gives you sickness; He tells you to set about establishing this Feast of Mercy while the whole world does not at all want such a feast. Why do you pray for this feast? It is so inopportune." My soul remained silent and, by an act of will, continued to pray without entering into conversation with the Spirit of Darkness. Nevertheless, such an extraordinary disgust with life came over me that I had to make a great act of the will to consent to go on living....And again I heard the tempter's words.... by an act of will, I began to pray, or rather, submitted myself to God, asking Him interiorly not to abandon me at this moment. It was already eleven o'clock at night, and there was silence all around. The sisters were all asleep in their cells, and my soul alone was struggling with great exertion. The tempter went on: "Why should you bother about other souls? You ought to be praying only for yourself. As for sinners, they will be converted without your prayers. I see that you are suffering very much at this moment. I'm going to give you a piece of advice on which your happiness will depend: never speak about God's mercy, because they deserve just punishment..".....Finally the tempter went away and I, exhausted, fell asleep immediately. (1498)

(The next morning) Satan gained nothing by tempting you, because you did not enter into conversation with him. Continue to act in this way. You gave Me great glory by fighting so faithfully. Let it be confirmed and engraved on your heart that I am always with you, even if you don't feel My presence at the time of battle. (1499)

As I write this, I hear Satan grinding his teeth. He cannot stand God's mercy, and keeps banging things in my cell. But I feel so much of God's power within me that it does not even bother me that the enemy of our salvation gets angry, and I quietly keep on writing. (1583)

You should not worry too much about adversities. The world is not as powerful as it seems to be; its strength is strictly limited.. Know, my daughter, that if your soul is filled with the fire of My pure love, then all difficulties dissipate like fog before the sun's rays and dare not touch the soul. All adversaries are afraid to start a quarrel with such a soul, because they sense that it is stronger than the whole world...(1643)

This work [of Divine Mercy] will snatch a great number of souls from [Satan] and that is why the spirit of darkness sometimes tempts good people violently, so that they may hinder the work. But I have clearly seen that the will of God is already being carried out, and that it will be accomplished to the very last detail....No matter if there are times when the work seems to be completely destroyed; it is then that the work is being all the more consolidated. (1659)

A strong temptation....When I began to prepare for confession, strong temptations against confessors assaulted me. I did not see Satan but I could sense him, his terrible anger. - "Yes, he's an ordinary man." - "Not ordinary, because he has the power of God." - (1715)

Saint Faustina wrote a prayer/poem which included the following, "One of the most beautiful spirits would not recognise Your mercy, and, blinded by his pride, he drew others after him. Angel of great beauty, he became Satan and was cast down in one moment from heaven's heights into hell. (1742)

Does the following relate to what souls suffering from scrupulosity experience? Satan is seen to be the instrument of 'exaggerated thoughts'.

On the following day, I had a clear awareness of the following words: "You see, God is so holy, and you are sinful. Do not approach Him and go to confession everyday." And indeed whatever I thought of seemed to me to be a sin. ...when the day for confession came, I prepared a whole mass of those sins of which I was to accuse myself. However, in the confessional God allowed me to accuse myself of only two imperfections, despite my efforts to make a confession according to what I had prepared . When I left the confessional, the Lord said to me, My daughter, all those sins you intended to confess are not sins in My eyes; and that is why I took away your ability to tell them. I understood that Satan, wanting to disturb my peace, has been giving me exaggerated thoughts. (1802)

Prayers for Protection and Deliverance

An Exorcist Tells His Story

Eastertide Ping!

[Ecumenical] Lent through Eastertide - Divine Mercy Diary Exerpts: Satan, the evil spirits and their work
[Ecumenical] Lent through Eastertide - Divine Mercy Diary Exerpts: Prayers of St. Faustina to Jesus
[Ecumenical] Lent through Eastertide - Divine Mercy Diary Exerpts: Sadness

Some read.

"When Catholics makes prayers 'through the intercession' of a saint, they are in no way replacing the Name of Jesus, in whose name alone we can be saved. We pray 'In the Name of Jesus', (when directing our prayers to God the Father), whose Name is above all other Names, but we also ask for the intecessory prayers of the angels and saints in Heaven, just as we ask the prayers of a friend. Furthermore, when Catholics pray to God the Son, Jesus Christ, we do not need to make the prayer in Jesus' Name since we are obviously doing as much already. Basically, Catholics are NOT praying in the name of the saints, but simply asking for, and acknowledging their prayers, since we are all brothers and sisters in Christ, on earth and especially when in Heaven."

Good way to explain.

Wow! Just wow!!

You know I believe I met the enemy as an elderly man at least 3 times. He looked like Donald Pleasance the actor. In all twice at a ecumenical type service in a Hotel retreat just so anti- Christ talk( But no cursing but smooth talking) with an apple in his hand coyly. Both ten years apart at least. Then in a bar lounge where I would openly talk about Jesus. He truly can’t stand casual open witnessing. I did not realize till after each time. At least in my humble opinion. I can see how true this St Faustina account can be real.

You know, it seems particularly with Americans that we have been shaped to measure all things by our senses, our sensuality, sensitivity, our FEELINGS. This gives sway in our culture of entertainment, comfort and ease, over our REASON. If and when we don’t sense something, we tend to believe it isn’t there, which causes us to place a bit of despair upon ourselves-that we must be de-sensitized, unworthy.

Lent brought me to the Stations of the Cross with the use of the 14 prayers for the Stations, from the 1962 Roman Catholic Missal. With these prayers the depth of the Sufferings of Jesus were so much more clearly revealed to be so great that the penacle of His increasing pain is more than enough to cover my senses of self, my “feelings”, our daily failures, our sins, even our mortal sins upon Confession. I was able to understand that my senses are deceiving, only mild to the Faith and not the meat, but in the Passion, His senses were completed in pain and suffering for me, real, and because His sufferings were truly human and truly divine, will always be more than enough to cover our faults, our veneal sin and even mortal sins once we come to Him properly recollected, and with contrition and Confession. This was the tongue of God which cleaved to His own jaws, in pain, as death approached. Suffering fully human, fully divine. There were truly graces in these particular prayers. These graces are His Most Divine Mercy. Thanks be to God. Believe daily in his Mercy on us, I say to myself. HE EARNED THIS.

I’ve had almost identical experiences on two separate occasions and both times in different bar/lounge settings. One was the elderly man you mention; his eyes were like black dead-pools; the second, a younger man, who challenged me, i.e. called me out, inviting me to argue with him. When I went to leave he called me “father” as if mistaking me for a priest.

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Because of my own experiences I do not doubt you!!! Amen!! Praise Jesus!!

Also it means you are a worthy servant of the Lord. To be tested!! Amen!!!