"In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit..."
Pray for the strength of Edgar. Those of you who believe in prayer, please pray for his strength.
I'll start by telling you about a terrifying experience I went through last year. Last year, I took a course titled Roman Catholicism. In that same year, prior to taking that class, a deep conversation with a friend over coffee took my mind into the depths of questioning what I always "just knew" about my faith. I wxplored my faith in the most thorough ways I knew how. I even considered the idea that I could be practicing the wrong religion because I was so ignorant about Catholicism. I did not know why I believed what I believed. I followed because that was the right way to be.
So, one night last year, my year of questioning, I laid down on the couch in my living room with my arm draped over my forehead as I usually do. Just as I was on the brink of sleep, I heard a whisper in my left ear, and my eyes shot wide open in sheer terror. I tried to say something, but nothing came out. I tried to get up and run, but found that it felt as if I wasn't being allowed to have any mobility at all. I felt paralyzed. I couldn't even take my arm off of my head. My first thought, my first instinct was to bless myself. I couldn't even do that, it was as if something wasn't letting me. So I used the power of thought against whatever the heck this was. I imagined the cross. I focused intently on the image of the cross in my head for what seemed like an eternity, but was more like a minute. Ten seconds later, I was able to pry my arm off of my head and bless myself. Then followed the rest of my body. I kicked my leg up in a strange manner, as if I was breaking through tape, and got up and ran upstairs to my mother's room, where I burst in in a panicked mess. I told her what had just happened and she blessed me and grabbed the holy water and blessed the living room.
Nothing like that ever happened to me again, but I get chills every time I think about it.
Edgar tells me that something very similar happens to him once in a while in his room.
Now, tonight, we were in his room talking for a long while about religion. We spoke thoroughly about Christ, we spoke about prayer, we spoke about miracles, and about faith. It was an intense conversation in which he admitted to me: "Jenny, I'm changing." I asked him if he'd go to a church with me tomorrow, and he quickly agreed. Soon after, we looked at the time (it was late) and he walked me downstairs. Right before we reached the door, we BOTH turned around at the EXACT same time and he asked me "did you hear something?" I had thought that it was my imagination, but when he asked me that, I told him that I could have sworn someone said his name. He agreed. Now, what I didn't tell him was that that voice that whispered it sounded like the voice of a man, and Edgar is the only man that lives there with his family. He peeked his head around and said "Hello?" No response. We literally shook it off and he walked me out, we hugged and kissed, and that was that.
Half an hour later, he called me on the phone with that panic in his voice that I had when it happened to me. I immediately thought of the voice whispering his name. The hairs on my arms stood straight up and I had to try so hard to keep my composure because I was just as freeked out that it happened, but he was calling me to calm his nerves. Yes, it happened to him.
It wasn't exactly the same, but similar enough with the common sense of terror over-taking your body, making you feel trapped and so lost. I reminded him of the whisper and he said it sounded like his brother, who of course, was not there. Point is, he also heard a male voice whisper his name.
I asked him to pray with me and we recited the "Our Father." I told him to hold on to the rosary I had given him just one or two days before. Then he asked "Can it hurt me?"
I knew the answer right away, but had a hard time collecting my thoughts fast enough to explain it to him. I knew exactly what he was asking. In the book "The Life of St. Antony" by Saint Athanasius, St. Antony goes through something verrrrry similar to this, except the feeling of terror is described as evil spirits. Antony's task was to defeat them and be able to discern when they were there and that they were bad. St. Antony always used to bless himself as a sort of shield against these spirits. What struck me about reading this, was that I had not read this book prior to when this happened to me, but my first instinct was to bless myself.
That's why I had Edgar pray over the phone with me. I made him bless himself. I also wished I had never left his side. He said he knew it was going to happen, and that it happened just as he was falling to sleep. Funny how a whisper preceeded this terrifying event for both of us.
He said that while it happened, first he thought of me and that then, for the first time, he turned to God, but didn't quite know how to reach out to Him for help.
If you don't comprehend this, or if you don't want to hear this, by all means, just leave it alone. But if you at all have any relevant input, I welcome it. The reason I write about this is because I want to ask you to pray for him. This man is extremely important to me and so is the strengthening of his faith in God. I believe, without question, in the extreme power of prayer. Tonight, I woke my mother up to tell her what happened and she and I prayed a rosary for Edgar. I sent him a text message and he did not respond, I think he fell asleep. I think the rosary being prayed for him eased him into sleep. I wanted him to rest assured that he is well-protected. God is truth, evil is everything that truth is not. Truth is always stronger than falsity. So, when he asked me if he could be hurt, I responded "no." The light, the truth of our ever-loving God is infinitely more powerful than the trickery and deceptive ways of evil.
It's 4:35 a.m. and I am awake, concerned for my Edgar. Prayer eased my fright, but I am still concerned. I beg of those of you who believe in prayer to pray for Edgar, who is on the brink of something so beautiful and life-altering...he is about to fully discover faith in God.
"Awake from your slumber.
Arise from your sleep.
A new day is dawning for all those who weep.
The people in darkness have seen a great light.
The Lord of our longing has conquered the night.
Let us build the city of God.
May our tears be turned into dancing.
For the Lord, our Light, and our love...
has turned the night into day.
We are sons of the morning, we are daughters of day.
The One who has loved us, has brightened our way.
The Lord of all kindness has called us to be..
A light for all people to set their hearts free.
God is light, in God there is no darkness..."
-from the hymn "City of God"
I'll start by telling you about a terrifying experience I went through last year. Last year, I took a course titled Roman Catholicism. In that same year, prior to taking that class, a deep conversation with a friend over coffee took my mind into the depths of questioning what I always "just knew" about my faith. I wxplored my faith in the most thorough ways I knew how. I even considered the idea that I could be practicing the wrong religion because I was so ignorant about Catholicism. I did not know why I believed what I believed. I followed because that was the right way to be.
So, one night last year, my year of questioning, I laid down on the couch in my living room with my arm draped over my forehead as I usually do. Just as I was on the brink of sleep, I heard a whisper in my left ear, and my eyes shot wide open in sheer terror. I tried to say something, but nothing came out. I tried to get up and run, but found that it felt as if I wasn't being allowed to have any mobility at all. I felt paralyzed. I couldn't even take my arm off of my head. My first thought, my first instinct was to bless myself. I couldn't even do that, it was as if something wasn't letting me. So I used the power of thought against whatever the heck this was. I imagined the cross. I focused intently on the image of the cross in my head for what seemed like an eternity, but was more like a minute. Ten seconds later, I was able to pry my arm off of my head and bless myself. Then followed the rest of my body. I kicked my leg up in a strange manner, as if I was breaking through tape, and got up and ran upstairs to my mother's room, where I burst in in a panicked mess. I told her what had just happened and she blessed me and grabbed the holy water and blessed the living room.
Nothing like that ever happened to me again, but I get chills every time I think about it.
Edgar tells me that something very similar happens to him once in a while in his room.
Now, tonight, we were in his room talking for a long while about religion. We spoke thoroughly about Christ, we spoke about prayer, we spoke about miracles, and about faith. It was an intense conversation in which he admitted to me: "Jenny, I'm changing." I asked him if he'd go to a church with me tomorrow, and he quickly agreed. Soon after, we looked at the time (it was late) and he walked me downstairs. Right before we reached the door, we BOTH turned around at the EXACT same time and he asked me "did you hear something?" I had thought that it was my imagination, but when he asked me that, I told him that I could have sworn someone said his name. He agreed. Now, what I didn't tell him was that that voice that whispered it sounded like the voice of a man, and Edgar is the only man that lives there with his family. He peeked his head around and said "Hello?" No response. We literally shook it off and he walked me out, we hugged and kissed, and that was that.
Half an hour later, he called me on the phone with that panic in his voice that I had when it happened to me. I immediately thought of the voice whispering his name. The hairs on my arms stood straight up and I had to try so hard to keep my composure because I was just as freeked out that it happened, but he was calling me to calm his nerves. Yes, it happened to him.
It wasn't exactly the same, but similar enough with the common sense of terror over-taking your body, making you feel trapped and so lost. I reminded him of the whisper and he said it sounded like his brother, who of course, was not there. Point is, he also heard a male voice whisper his name.
I asked him to pray with me and we recited the "Our Father." I told him to hold on to the rosary I had given him just one or two days before. Then he asked "Can it hurt me?"
I knew the answer right away, but had a hard time collecting my thoughts fast enough to explain it to him. I knew exactly what he was asking. In the book "The Life of St. Antony" by Saint Athanasius, St. Antony goes through something verrrrry similar to this, except the feeling of terror is described as evil spirits. Antony's task was to defeat them and be able to discern when they were there and that they were bad. St. Antony always used to bless himself as a sort of shield against these spirits. What struck me about reading this, was that I had not read this book prior to when this happened to me, but my first instinct was to bless myself.
That's why I had Edgar pray over the phone with me. I made him bless himself. I also wished I had never left his side. He said he knew it was going to happen, and that it happened just as he was falling to sleep. Funny how a whisper preceeded this terrifying event for both of us.
He said that while it happened, first he thought of me and that then, for the first time, he turned to God, but didn't quite know how to reach out to Him for help.
If you don't comprehend this, or if you don't want to hear this, by all means, just leave it alone. But if you at all have any relevant input, I welcome it. The reason I write about this is because I want to ask you to pray for him. This man is extremely important to me and so is the strengthening of his faith in God. I believe, without question, in the extreme power of prayer. Tonight, I woke my mother up to tell her what happened and she and I prayed a rosary for Edgar. I sent him a text message and he did not respond, I think he fell asleep. I think the rosary being prayed for him eased him into sleep. I wanted him to rest assured that he is well-protected. God is truth, evil is everything that truth is not. Truth is always stronger than falsity. So, when he asked me if he could be hurt, I responded "no." The light, the truth of our ever-loving God is infinitely more powerful than the trickery and deceptive ways of evil.
It's 4:35 a.m. and I am awake, concerned for my Edgar. Prayer eased my fright, but I am still concerned. I beg of those of you who believe in prayer to pray for Edgar, who is on the brink of something so beautiful and life-altering...he is about to fully discover faith in God.
"Awake from your slumber.
Arise from your sleep.
A new day is dawning for all those who weep.
The people in darkness have seen a great light.
The Lord of our longing has conquered the night.
Let us build the city of God.
May our tears be turned into dancing.
For the Lord, our Light, and our love...
has turned the night into day.
We are sons of the morning, we are daughters of day.
The One who has loved us, has brightened our way.
The Lord of all kindness has called us to be..
A light for all people to set their hearts free.
God is light, in God there is no darkness..."
-from the hymn "City of God"
posted by LoveisLife4Nen at 3:16 AM
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