My Struggle
I worked on the long form of my testimony all last week and by Friday I was ready to give up on it - with only one chapter left to write.
But it wasn't that last unwritten chapter that was at fault. It was another chapter - Chapter 7 - where I talk about my time as an Evangelical Protestant. Or try.
And the story isn't even all that complicated.
This is the short version:
I left the New Age and occult in late 2017 (around the same time as New Age guru Doreen Virtue). Doreen Virtue didn't play a part in my decision to leave the New Age and occult. But she did influence me after.
I joined a few of the Evangelical Protestant Facebook groups run by Doreen Virtue's fellow "New Age to Christianity" co-authors and others.
I listened to what was said by the New Age to Christianity crowd and other Reform-leaning Evangelicals on Facebook and YouTube. I read books by John McArthur other Evangelical authors.
I began to accept what I was hearing. And the thing I was hearing the most was that the Bible contained the full and complete deposit of faith and that the Catholic Church had disregarded it to "make up" their own doctrine.
This was possible only because I didn't know anything really about the Church I'd left behind some 20 years earlier.
But I had issues with other aspects of Protestand theology in spite of that.
My Issues with Protestant Theology
I couldn’t help noticing that there was a lot of disagreement among Protestants about the interpretation of Scripture. And I sometimes felt that Bible passages were used out of context in order to prove a point.
I found idea that once we’re saved; we're guaranteed a place in heaven, no matter what, hard to accept.
I doubted that God had stopped providing private spiritual revelation at the close of the first century. Especially because I knew for a fact that the enemy could, and did, reveal all kinds of things to humans in order to ensnare them.
To me, the idea that Satan could exert more influence over us than God, didn't seem right.
So I was glad to discover John Wesley and the charismatic Protestant denominations. I parted ways with the Evangelicals. I went on to join a Pentecostal church where everyone believed that God was still talking.
I liked being a Pentecostal. But I still didn't feel that basing every belief on various, and sometimes contradictory, interpretations of Scripture worked. And I continued to think that there had to be more to getting to heaven than a single salvation experience.
This wasn't what brought me back to Church. That was God's doing. But, in my heart, I knew my objections were valid.
Trying to Write This in My Testimony
I have a lot of clarity about Protestantism and why it didn't work for me. I don't have any trouble talking about it on the podcast or on YouTube. I don't even mind writing about it here in the blog.
But when I sat down to try to explain my experience with Protestantism in Chapter 7 of my testimony, none of that helped.
I became overwhelmed and discouraged. I wondered (for about the 100th time) if I shouldn't just forget about writing the testimony altogether, and move on to something else.
But I still felt called. So I decided to pray about it.
I asked my guardian angel to illuminate my intellect. I asked Mary to intercede on my behalf. I asked Jesus to show me if writing my testimony was, or wasn't, part of His plan.
And then, I listened to Women of Grace on EWTN.
Which is something I rarely do.
The First Door
The Second Door
The Third Door
I think that when we have a desire on our heart - and this is just... good advice for everyone. When we have a deep desire on our heart I think it's beautiful to take that before the Lord and to ask Him... to help us to see - is this coming from... a prompting of the Holy Spirit or is it coming from myself? [Because] every Ministry that God raises up, He raises up for a purpose. [So] when we have a desire and we know that it's a holy desire, then we assume that the Holy Spirit is prompting. And as I always told the Lord - especially when He was leading me to give Fiat to what it is that I do today (and I didn't know what it was I just had this tremendous desire that was burning in me I thought my heart would burst... [and] I wanted to do whatever it was...) I made a promise to Him - and I've lived by this promise - and that is: I will walk through every door that You open. You open the door and I will walk through. - Johnnette Williams, Women of Grace Episode August 28, 2023
- The name of the author I mention in the video is John Martignoni. His book Blue Collar Apologetics: How to Explain and Defend Catholic Teaching Using Common Sense, Simple Logic, and the Bible (affiliate link) is available on Amazon
- Please note: This post includes affiliate links. This means that if you purchase something through on of my links, I'll earn a small percentage from the sale - at no cost to you.
This is my 20th podcast episode overall and my second podcast in a row on the topic of angels. And I'll be honest; I have very mixed feelings about podcasting on God's holy angels.
I want to talk about what I'm learning about the angels. I'd like to try to counteract some of the misinformation out there on the topic. And I would like to make up for having contributed to that during my time in the New Age.
But I'm finding it difficult. Writing a blog post isn't too bad but podcasting is challenging. But I'm going to keep at and see how it goes. For now.
Anyway this is my most recent episode. It's based on insight I had when reading about angels in the Bible.
About This Episode
What can we do to build a better relationship with our Guardian Angel? What is one key thing we can do in order to benefit from his guidance?
In this episode of the podcast I talk about the first of Fr. Matthew Hinck's 12 steps to building a better friendship with our guardian angel.
The Scripture reference for this episode is drawn from Luke 1 & 2 which talks about St. Gabriel's annunciation to the Blessed Mother and Gabriel's earlier visit to Zacharias to announce the birth of St. John the Baptist.
The teaching reference for the episode is Fr. Matthew Hinck's retreat conference The Guardian Angels and Our Spiritual Life which is available as an MP3 download from OpusAngelorum.org.
For more on this topic please see: Grace or the Lack of It and 12 Ways to Deepen Our Friendship with the Angels
About Today
About the Blog
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| Taken two years ago on Assumption Sunday in my home town. |
Mary concieved without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!
There was a time when I was fascinated with cemeteries. When I was involved in paranormal investigation and mediumship, in fact, they were my favorite place for recording EVPs and taking spirit photos.
A Paranormal Memorial Day
Back to the Cemetery
The first rule: in persons who are going from mortal sin to mortal sin, the enemy is ordinarily accustomed to propose apparent pleasures to them, leading them to imagine sensual delights and pleasures in order to hold them more and make them grow in their vices and sins. - The Rules of St. Ignatius
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About the Holy Angels Podcast Episode
Spiritual beings have been a very real force in my life. This includes my time in the New Age and occult as well as my experience after I returned to the Church.
I began spiritual formation with Opus Angelorum in order to better understand my past and to improve my relationship with my guardian angel in the here and now. This came at a tme when I was unsure about the future the podcast, which was (as of this episode still called New Age To Catholic).
I decided to start talking about the angels and what I was I learning with the OA in the podcast below. After I recorded it, I decided to change the name of the podcast to Angels Beside Us (like this blog).
I hope these short monthly recaps of what I'm learning will be of use!
About This Episode
In this episode, I talk about my new course of study - God's holy angels - and the reality of our personal guardian angel. I also talk about the direction this is taking in terms of my upcoming content and share a great resource for further study OpusAngelorum.org (I mistakenly said dot com in the video).
For more on spiritual warfare, modern day occultism, and the Catholic faith please follow the show. New Age To Catholic - just like the blog!
- To learn more about God's holy angels please visit OpusAngelorum.org
- Find Angels Beside Us on most popular podcast apps!
(If you're seeing this post in the newsletter and don't see the video, please click here!)
For more on the holy angels, check out the Order of the Canons Regular of the Holy Cross YouTube channel, visit the Opus Angelorum website, or do both :)
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| Beautiful Picture of Bishop Schneider at Mass |
St Michael Prayer In Latin
Sancte Michael Archangele, defende nos in proelio, contra nequitiam et insidias diaboli esto praesidium. Imperet illi Deus, supplices deprecamur: tuque, princeps militiae caelestis, in virtute Dei, in infernum detrude satanam aliosque spiritus malignos, qui ad perditionem animarum pervagantur in mundo. Amen.
Saint Michael Prayer in English
Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; and do thou, O prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God, cast into hell, Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.
Learning Latin Prayers
For me, it's much easier to learn a prayer in Latin when I can match up the Latin word or phrase with the English. This is why I always work on learning a new prayer using a side by side or line by line translation like the one below.
While it's possible to guess the English meaning of some of the Latin when reading the prayers side by side, other lines and phrases can be confusing. If you use Chrome, you can translate the Latin by highlighting a given word or phrase with the Google Translate add-on (here). If you don't use Chrome just google Google Translate and copy and paste.
Side By Side / Line By Line Version (Latin and English)
| Sancte Michael Archangele, |
Saint Michael the Archangel, |
| defende nos in proelio, |
defend us in battle, |
| contra nequitiam et insidias diaboli esto praesidium. |
be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. |
| Imperet illi Deus, supplices deprecamur: |
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; |
| tuque, princeps militiae caelestis, |
and do thou, O prince of the heavenly host, |
|
Satanam aliosque spiritus malignos, qui ad perditionem animarum
pervagantur in mundo, divina virtute, |
by the power of God, cast into hell, Satan and all the evil spirits who
prowl about the earth, |
| in infernum detrude. Amen. | seeking the ruin of souls. Amen. |
Why Pray in Latin?
And Pilate wrote a title also, and he put it upon the cross. And the writing was: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. This title therefore many of the Jews did read: because the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew, in Greek, and in Latin. - John 19:19,20 (Douay Rheims Bible)
It commonly said that the devil hates Latin and, in my own experience with prayer, this is absolutely true. Latin (along with Greek and Hebrew) is a sacred language by virtue of its use upon the cross. It is also the language of the Mass.
The angels love the Mass. For me, attending the traditional Latin Mass with an awareness of the presence of the angels is beyond beautiful. When I drop to my knees for the Sanctus, I can almost feel them hovering, gentle and pure, all around us.
At every Holy Mass, heaven is opened for us and we join in the praise and adoration of the Angels who stand night and day before the Throne of God singing unceasingly, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty..." Through the perfection of their praise, the Holy Angels can lead us more deeply into this praise of God and loving communion with Him and His divine Son in the Sacred Liturgy. - The Holy Mass as Communio (Opus Angelorum Circular: Advent 2021)
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| Holy Communion by Angelo Graf von Courten, 1848-1925. |
Printable St. Michael Prayer Card
If you'd like a printable St. Michael English - Latin Prayer Card (as pictured below), please check out the new listing in my Etsy shop here. This is folding prayer card to allow for the English and Latin versions of the prayer (85¢). |
| Front of the St. Michael English - Latin Prayer Card |
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| Inside of St. Michael English - Latin Prayer Card |
In this episode of my podcast, I share my thoughts on paranormal investigation and a short but very clear EVP. While I know that a lot of people investigate the paranormal with the best of intentions, in my experience paranormal investigation was a gateway to the occult.
For more on paranormal investigation and phenomena, please check out my paranormal page. To follow my podcast, just look for New Age To Catholic on your favorite podcast app or visit my podcast page at NewAgeToCatholic.org.
For more on this topic please check out my upcoing ebook "Of Light and Dark" (book updates via my elist)
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