BREAKING STRONGHOLDS

IN THE MINDS OF MEN

Spiritual warfare takes place in our minds, and in the heavens above us. Fallen angels (demons) can put thoughts in our minds; they can project images on our minds; and, they can build strongholds in our minds -- strongholds of fear, anxiety, scrupulosity… pride, bitterness, unforgiveness… negative thinking, unbelief… self-hatred, despair and addiction…

Livermore, CA (1992) _ One morning after Mass, my prayer partner and I were approached by two women who asked us to accompany them to visit a dying man. As we entered the man’s darkened bedroom, I saw a man who already looked like a corpse. The man’s face was white, like chalk…

The two women chose a corner of the room and began to pray the Rosary. My prayer partner and I approached the bed. It did not take long to discover that this man was an atheist. We tried to “reason” with this man, but our efforts were fruitless. The man was a scientist; and, he would have nothing to do with the foolishness of Christianity.

Finally I told the man, “I can’t help you. I am not a magician.” Then I walked away from the bed. My prayer partner remained at the bedside, and the two women continued the Rosary -- but I was defeated.

Suddenly, I received an inspiration... I returned to the man’s bedside. I placed my right hand on his head and said: “In the Name of Jesus, I come against and BREAK every demonic stronghold in your mind!” (I did this three times.) Then I said: “I reclaim all the territory of your mind for Christ -- in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”

Immediately, the walls came down -- the strongholds in his mind were broken. The man received the grace of conversion. His behavior changed radically… and color returned to his face. The man truly became a “new creation” in Christ.

Later the man told us, “I could feel the power of that prayer, during the war for my soul.” He was referring to the Rosary.

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During another case, I was inspired to lay hands on a man’s head and say, “I apply the Power of the Cross of Jesus Christ to every demonic stronghold in your mind.” Again, the walls came down -- the strongholds in the man’s mind were broken.

The Walls of Jericho Fall Before the Ark

 

For, although we are in the flesh, we do not battle according to the flesh, for the weapons of our battle are not of flesh but are enormously powerful, capable of destroying fortresses (that is, “breaking strongholds”). We destroy arguments and every pretension raising itself against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive in obedience to Christ.
(2 Corinthians 10:3-5)

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BEGINNING OF SORROWS

It is the end of an era,
and the beginning of sorrows.

Statue of Mary Survives Hurricane Sandy

At Fatima (1917) and at La Salette (1840s), the Blessed Virgin Mary was sent by God to warn that all humanity will suffer an increase in natural and man-made disasters, a Great Apostasy, God’s Justice and Divine Wrath, due to the increase of sin in the world. Our Lady comes to urgently call us to repentance, conversion, prayer and penance, that some of God’s Justice may be averted. But time is running out.

Cova da Iria, Fatima (July 13, 1917) _ Three shepherd children “saw an Angel with a flaming sword in his left hand; flashing, it gave out flames that looked as though they would set the world on fire; but they died out in contact with the splendor that Our Lady radiated towards him from her right hand: pointing to the earth with his right hand, the Angel cried out in a loud voice: ‘Penance, Penance, Penance!’…” 

_ From the third part of the “secret” of Fatima, committed to paper by Sister Lucia (January 3, 1944)

Question: Is it within God’s permissive will to allow the use of weapons of mass destruction (“man’s inhumanity to man”) to punish mankind?

Answer: “The angel with the flaming sword represents the threat of judgment which looms over the world. Today the prospect that the world might be reduced to ashes by a sea of fire no longer seems pure fantasy: man himself, with his inventions, has forged the flaming sword.” _ Pope Benedict XVI

“And let us not say that it is God Who is punishing us in this way; on the contrary it is people themselves who are preparing their own punishment. In His kindness God warns us and calls us to the right path, while respecting the freedom He has given us; hence people are responsible.” _ Sister Lucia, Fatima visionary, in a letter to Pope John Paul II (May 12, 1982)

This threat of judgment loomed over the world in 1917. We have been given almost one hundred years -- a century of Divine Mercy. But we now live in the darkest of days. We now live in a world begging for purification…

“I (Jesus) do not want to punish aching mankind, but I desire to heal it, pressing it to My Merciful Heart. I use punishment when they themselves force Me to do so; My hand is reluctant to take hold of the sword of justice. Before the Day of Justice I am sending the Day of Mercy.” (1588) “He who refuses to pass through the door of My mercy must pass through the door of My justice…” (1146) _ From the Diary of St. Faustina, “Divine Mercy in My Soul”

“And so the Church has a profound need 
to re-learn penance,
to accept purification, 
to learn on the one hand forgiveness
but also the necessity of justice.
And forgiveness does not substitute justice.”
Pope Benedict XVI, During his flight to Fatima (May 11, 2010)

Today, the earth groans under the weight of man’s sins and cries out in a loud voice: “Purification, Purification, Purification!” It is now midnight; it is the end of an age, when man begins to reap the full harvest of what he has sown. The Purification has come, and there is terrible Chastisement on the horizon.

Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that the Antichrist was coming, so now many antichrists have appeared. Thus we know this is the last hour. (1 John 2:18)

The current “global climate of fear” is understandable. For those who do not have faith in Jesus Christ, there is only fear. Fear is all they know. 

 

It is the beginning of sorrows... as global and regional chastisements befall us: “Prepare, Prepare, Prepare!” 

• We need to be in a “state of grace” and “Sacramentally” fortified. (We need to be free of mortal sin through frequent Confession and, when possible, daily Mass.)
• We need to live according to God’s will. (We need to obey the Ten Commandments, submit to rightful spiritual authority, and follow all the teachings of the Catholic Church.)
• We need to pray more, and fast. (Prayer changes things, and the Rosary is a Powerful weapon against the enemy.)
• We need to forgive -- everyone. (Un-forgiveness is a block to receiving God’s grace.)

“An age is coming to an end, not just the end of a remarkable century but the end of seventeen hundred years of Christendom. The greatest apostasy since the birth of the Church is clearly far advanced all around us.” _ Dr. Ralph Martin, Consultor to the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization

Let no one deceive you in any way… the apostasy comes first and (then) the lawless one is revealed… (2 Thessalonians 2:3)

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