Category: Mystical

It is becoming apparent to me that more than a few of those mentally tormented by their sins and failings of the past are actually suffering from demonic obsessions… There is a normal type of real-event OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder) where a person obsessively ruminates about a real, or imagined, failing from the past. In the… Continue reading Exorcist Diary: Mentally Tormented by Demons

On Sunday we celebrated Jesus’ baptism. In Catholicism, the liturgical season of “Christmas” does not even kick off until Christmas Eve, and then continues long after the world has moved on to marketing promotions for Super Bowl snacks, Valentine gifts, and TurboTax. I remember Father Jack, throughout my adolescent and teen years, quizzing the congregation,… Continue reading The Baptism of the Lord

God has created all things for good, all things for their greatest good, everything for its own good. What is the good of one is not the good of another; what makes one man happy would make another unhappy. God has determined, unless I interfere with his plan, that I should reach that which will… Continue reading Everyday Meditations: Hope in God the Creator

The last day of every retreat is the same.  I wake up, usually after not sleeping well, feeling a bit sad and annoyed.  I am sad because however long the retreat lasted it had been a time of quiet joy with God and the few people I was called to lead on this retreat.  The… Continue reading Post-Retreat Depression – SpiritualDirection.com

Planes are disappearing from the skies, stocks are disappearing from the shelves, and workers are disappearing from their jobs.  It is happening all around us. Wherefore vanish these, purgatorial shadows? It happened to me just days ago.  I noticed that I vanished.  It began one quiet afternoon during a discussion with my supervisor at the… Continue reading Vanishing in Plain Sight – SpiritualDirection.com

As a child, I obsessively needed a nightlight, so afraid was I of the dark.  My brother and I, who shared a bedroom, would often argue over that nightlight.  They claimed not to be able to sleep with it on.  I was convinced I couldn’t sleep with it off.  Of course, we were all wrong. … Continue reading Epiphany-the Coming of Christ our Light

When I first heard about the defacing of the statue of Our Lady of Fatima at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington D.C., I assumed it was done by a mentally disturbed person. After all, who in their right mind would do such a thing? Then, I visited the… Continue reading Exorcist Diary: Satan Attacks the Church…Again

Anthony Lilles Anthony Lilles, a graduate of Franciscan University of Steubenville, completed his graduate and post-graduate studies in Rome at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas. He and his lovely wife, Agnes, are blessed with three children and live in California, where he is the Academic Dean, and Associate Professor of Theology, St. John’s Seminary,… Continue reading The Word and Silence – SpiritualDirection.com

“Your father is recovering well,” the doctor assured us.  “He should be ready for a visit in a few minutes.” My sister and I breathed a sigh of relief.  Even though it was a routine heart procedure, our father’s declining health left both of us a bit nervous.  “Thank God”, I whispered to myself, realizing… Continue reading An Unusual Christmas – SpiritualDirection.com

One of the most beloved and powerful of modern saints, St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face, is a wonderfully attractive model of a Catholic fully engaged in the liturgy without having to be a liturgical minister. She tells us why her contribution, though different from the priest’s, is no less… Continue reading St. Thérèse’s Eucharistic Poem – Dr. Kwasniewski