I was wondering if stan can read our thoughts? Obviously he knows each of us well...our weaknesses, etc. he is probably good at predicting how we will react to a certain situation. he can put thoughts in our head...negative thoughts, temptations, etc. But does he know our thoughts? Does he know what we pray to Jesus, Mary, etc.?
No he can't read thoughts, St Thomas Aquinas pointed this out. But he is very,very good at reading them. As are we all, none of us is stupid ,far from it. A very holy priest Fr Paul of Moll {19 th century priest ,Belgium) pointed out the Satan is like a dog on the leash)..he is ..a very,very short leash..if he wasn't he would destroy us in an instant. The devil as far as diabolic attacks , concerning the true Christian is concerned, is really like a mosqutio at a picninc party, the Resurrection wiped him out. But with those far from God he is powerful, he rules the roost, so to speak.
A strong prayer life with devotion to the Blessed Mother is one sure way of armouring oneself. To these souls, he is powerless.
I have seen bits written on this subject, and in discussions. Especially with older folks, the "old school" Catholics. In regard to Stan, to Saints, to Angels, to Mary. I think we all agree that God and Jesus need no discussion, but for all the others mentioned here I am still not clear in my understanding. What exactly does the Church accept as true? Can saints, or Mary, read our thoughts? What about our Guardian Angel? I presume no to the angels, but I am not sure people realize that. So, if you want your angel to really know what you want or need, you have to say it aloud...? If the saints or Mary cannot read us, then they also cannot hear our silent prayers or petitions or novenas to them, right? Is this a problem? Also, I have heard by older persons it is wise not to say our requests or our troubles out loud in prayer, because if we do, then Satan can use them to get to us, as he will know our weaknesses. But when we go to confession we have to speak out loud all of our transgressions, and perhaps our troubles. And when we pray to a Saint for help... Somewhere I read that if a rosary is prayed aloud, it was worth more in indulgences than if it is recited silently. Is this because of its affect on Satan? If we pray it silently, he does not hear it and neither does Mary? (Only God does). This all can be rather confusing, and very difficult to explain to others, especially children. But I am not even sure myself what is correct. :?
These are such difficult, interesting questions, touching as they do the very meaning of good and evil and the centre of the soul its difficult to know were to start. However a model for understanding ( in so far as we can ever understand) I always found rests in a model of the soul we find in typical 19th centruy Catholic spirituality. I would refer anyone interested to the three volumes of Padre Pio's letters to his spiritual director. The soul can be compared then to a walled city.But at the centre of the city is a citadel and that citadel is the Will. So the outer city can as it were be occupied by the enemy. However at very centre of the soul , the Will, always remains the souls own. That point being were we choose either to do good or to do evil. Satan , the angels, God Himself cannot or will not force this point, it is always, always ours and ours alone. Here rests freewill. So no one goes to either heaven or hell be accident the choice is ours , because of this citadel of choice. As far as Prayer is concerned and opening the doors of our hearts is concerned this is so interesting and something I have thought about often. For instance I, personally never ever stop praying, it is the great constant, like breathing. Now the thought has crossed my mind as I lay in the bath praying to Our Lady, 'Does Our Lady see me lying in the bath?' :lol: Which sounds funny but .. Well I think she does 'see' me but only as far as she needs to.. if you see what I mean. I think one of the most insightful things I ever read about this was written by a Benedictine monk. He was asked, 'Father is it alright for me to smoke while I am praying?' To which the very wise monk replied, 'Ask rather if it is alright for me to pray while I am smoking?'
MomsCalling asked: Can saints, or Mary, read our thoughts? What about our Guardian Angel? I presume no to the angels, but I am not sure people realize that. So, if you want your angel to really know what you want or need, you have to say it aloud...? I believe the precise answer is that saints and angels do not directly hear our prayers because they are not omnipresent. But God is, and indeed, he knows our thoughts from afar. Even more wonderously is the truth that the Holy Spirit indwells each of us who has been baptized into Christ Jesus. Romans 8:26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words. 27 And he who searches the hearts of men knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. It is because of the Holy Spirit and our bond within the Body of Christ that our prayers are communicated whether they be silent or not. I believe this includes angels, especially our guardian angels. The Holy Spirit loves us without measure and is ever vigilant regarding our thoughts and prayers. At one time, I shared with those here the story of how the Holy Spirit intervened when I was once about to be assaulted. A man was charging at me; I had virtually no time to think or react. The following words came to my lips and stopped the man dead in his tracks, "Be still in the name of Jesus!" I spoke the words, but they were a gift from God for I had no time to ponder my situation. It is this abiding presence of God which we need to meditate upon and rejoice in! Yaba daba doo! So yes, I'm convinced the saints and angels have access to any prayers directed toward them, whether they be silent or vocal, thanks to the Holy Spirit. Fortunately, stan is not part of the Body of Christ so I don't believe devils have access to our thoughts, though our words and actions are apparent to them. Come Holy Spirit; fill the hearts your faithful and enkindle in us the fire of your Love!
I have heard this too. I make it a point never to pray out loud, for the very reason I don't want stan to know my prayers, troubles and prayer requests. I don't even like to write my spiritual goals on paper for the same reason. Several years ago a person suggested I do a 54 day novena for a petition, but they warned me not to state out loud or write on paper that I intended to do a 54 day novena, because then stan would know and throw all sorts of roadblocks in my way to complete it. I guess this type of novena is very powerful. but after I got that advice, I applied it across the board and never pray out loud or voice out loud my concerns and problems. It may sound a bit paranoid, but I do it because I'm weak and a few less temptations from stan is always a good thing. Of course he's clever enough to figure out what I'm worried about or that I'm doing a 54 day novena...but at least I don't help him by mentioning it out loud. I've always believed that if you were praying to a saint or our guardian angel they would hear it. I just can't imagine them not. I know the blessed mother hears me when I pray to her, plead her intercessions, and just voice my frustrations in my head. Glad to know I'm not the only one praying at odd times. Usually it's the shower for me :lol:
I love to pray out loud. I love to write my petitions out so I can word them exactly the way I want to say them in novenas. The writer in me compels me to do this. I have always prayed aloud, whnever possible. When I pray silently my mind wanders or if I am relaxed, I fall asleep! Which is why I am asking these questions. So, when I mess up a novena, is it not just me being imperfect? Is it actually Stan, attacking my plan? Mario, thank you for your comments. Potatosack, do you also pray silently at church, or do you sing and celebrate with the people? My husband is very quiet and to himself during Mass, and it bothers me, because I think when you are in Church you should participate with the congregation in every way. Maybe you have given me a different way to look at what he is doing. But he's not doing it to keep Stan out, it is just the way he says he likes to pray. Hmmm, maybe he was taught to pray that way early in his childhood, by a grandma who believed this was the best way. I never thought about that before.
MCalling - I didn't mean to imply that I never write anything down. I have 2 journals I keep, filled with prayer requests, notes on graces God has given me, spiritual goals, snippets from Faustina's diary, snippets from this forum, some Medj messages, etc. Basically so I can see my spiritual journey. I've even written down the prayer requests for novena's so I say it the same every time. But if I feel I'm under spiritual attack or facing a heavy cross as I am now...I try not to write stuff down. Sounds paranoid I know...but it's just the way I am. And no, I don't think stan is attacking your plan if you mess up saying a novena...it's just our imperfection as you say. As for praying my rosary out loud...I used to, but not anymore. When I first started saying the rosary, it could take almost an hour my mind wandered so much. So I started saying it out loud to a rosary CD, so I got used to praying without stopping and completing it in a shorter amount of time. Over time I dropped the CD and just prayed the rosary silently because it was much easier for me to focus my attention on the mysteries. My mind is pretty single focused, so saying the hail mary out loud actually distracted me from meditation on the mysteries. At this point I've pretty much trained myself so my mind does not wander too much..but that's just me. Now at church I participate in singing during the mass and pray out loud with everyone else, but it wasn't always that way. Part of the conversion process for me was first just showing up once in a while...to showing up more regularly...to showing up pretty much every Sunday...to showing up Sundays and during the week, etc. Along with this process came showing up late to showing up on time all the time and I went from sitting in the back to now sitting in the front. And along with this was being there but not singing out loud to singing out loud sometimes to now singing pretty much all the time. Your husband is probably somewhere in this process and will proceed at his own pace through the grace of God. It might be best to accept his participation level where it is and not let it bother you, knowing God is working on him at the pace right for him
PotatoSack, How beautiful an outline of how God's grace and mercy leads us one step at a time! Praise the Name of Jesus! Safe in the flames of the Sacred Heart!
Thanks Potatosack, for that great post. I agree with Mario, that is a really good outline of how a conversion happens for many...my conversion is also included in that outline, and so is my husband's, as you say. We were raised differently by our parents concerning participation in Mass also, though we went to the same Catholic schools. My mom is not silent at Mass, she isn't much of a singer, but she says everything and as children she always did sing with us. Also she and I sometimes still whisper during Mass, perhaps a bit about the Homily, or whatever. Sometimes today, she doesn't hear well and asks me what was said, especially if the congregation chuckles or something. My husband's mom, on the other hand, was and still is very stern about not making a peep during Mass, even today...and also I notice she doesn't sing or even say the responses very loud. As children they used to be punished heavily for talking during Mass, to the point I think that they simply didn't participate at all. Though I of course believe in being reverent at Mass, I think one should still feel comfortable there and not afraid to make a sound sometimes. So as you say, I do need to let it go and let him do what he feels right doing. However, I do get annoyed when he "bumps me" if I whisper with my mom... then he has gone too far! (LOL)
