A Serious Question...

[Mary's Knight, La]

well i dont know about these prayers but there is a ministry which has the Pope's blessing that is about healing the family line. it's based of the scripture "i will visit their sins upon them down to the ... generation" dont remember which

[hyperdulia again]

That's about removing generation curses from our living ancestors and our future descendants..very different than asking God to Baptise some human sacrificing German ancestor of mine who lived in the year 222 bc.

[valley]

Don't Mormons have a baptism that works like that - for those who where not baptized Mormon so that their family can get to Heaven?

[hyperdulia again]

Yes, Morons practice Baptism for the dead.

[Speech]

First: Paladin, why are you asking about this, if you don't mind my asking?

Second: This is from a Catholic perspective, even though I'm no longer Catholic, because I know you're looking for Catholic answers. The first prayer is perfectly fine for Catholics to say. It was composed by Pope Leo XIII, upon realizing through private revelation that Satan was going to gain more control over the world.

As for the rest of the prayers, they looked okay -- except for the second one. There were several problems with it:

Heavenly Father, let the healing waters of my baptism now flow back through the maternal and paternal generations to purify my family line of Satan and sin. I come before You, Father, and ask forgiveness for myself, my relatives, and my ancestors, for any calling upon powers that set themselves up in opposition to You or that does not offer true honor to Jesus Christ. In Jesus' Holy Name, I now reclaim any territory that was handed over to Satan and place it under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

This sounds like the Church of Latter-Day Saints practice of baptism for the dead. While I have no personal problem with it, the Catholic Church doesn't teach that it's possible for the dead to be saved if, by their own free choice, they have chosen hell. Thus, it seems to me based on Catholic teaching, that it would be impossible to let the "healing waters of your baptism flow back through the maternal and paternal generations to purify your family line of Satan and sin." If they willingly chose Satan and sin, then that choice has been made (according to Catholic teaching), and there's nothing we can do about it.

Honestly, I don't think I would trust much on this site. Its disclaimer says: "Information pertaining to this web page was supplied by an American Roman Catholic Priest located in the West Indies." I'm going to give you some better resources, all of which are perfectly orthodox Catholic.

First, you need to read the article on exorcism from the Catholic Encyclopedia. You may also want to read the other references: demonology, demoniacs, exorcist, and possession. This will probably help to give you a better knowledge of what Catholic teaching is and isn't about demons, possession, exorcism, etc.

There are several other prayers you might want to pray:

Prayer to the Holy Face

Arise, O Lord; let Thy enemies flee before Thy Holy Face.

The Golden Arrow

May the most holy, most sacred, most adorable, most incomprehensible and ineffable Name of God be forever praised, blessed, loved, adored, and glorified in Heaven, on earth, and under the earth, by all the creatures of God, and by the Sacred Heart of Our Lord Jesus Christ, in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.  Amen.

Eternal Father, I offer Thee the adorable Face of Thy Beloved Son for the honor and glory of Thy Name, for the conversion of sinners and the salvation of the dying.

(3x) Oh Jesus, through the merits of Your Holy Face, have pity on us, and on the whole world.

Prayer to the Holy Face

By St. Therese of Lisieux

O Jesus, who in Thy bitter Passion didst become "the most abject of men, a man of sorrows," I venerate Thy Sacred Face whereon there once did shine the beauty and sweetness of the Godhead; but now it has become for me as if it were the face of a leper! Nevertheless, under those disfigured features, I recognize Thy infinite Love and I am consumed with the desire to love Thee and make Thee loved by all men.  The tears which well up abundantly in Thy sacred eyes appear to me as so many precious pearls that I love to gather up, in order to purchase the souls of poor sinners by means of their infinite value.  O Jesus, whose adorable Face ravishes my heart, I implore Thee to fix deep within me Thy divine image and to set me on fire with Thy Love, that I may be found worthy to come to the contemplation of Thy glorious Face in Heaven.  Amen.

Prayer of Mother Maria-Pierina

O Blessed Face of my kind Savior, by the tender love and piercing sorrow of Our Lady as she beheld You in Your cruel Passion, grant us to share in this intense sorrow and love so as to fulfill the holy will of God to the utmost of our ability.  Amen.

Heavenly Father, I Praise Your Holy Name...

By Pope Clement XI

Heavenly Father, I praise Your Holy Name and I thank You for Your power, mercy, and love.  I praise You and thank You for Your mighty working throughout history and in my life.  I praise and thank You for Your healing mercy in delivering Your children from the bondage of Satan.  I come humbly before You, strengthened by the intercession of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of God, and Blessed Michael the Archangel, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and all the saints and angels of Heaven, and powerful in the holy authority of Your Name, acknowledging Your perfection and my weakness, and my complete dependence on You.  Amen.

Prayer Based on Ephesians

I put on God's armor so as to be able to resist the devil's tactics.  I stand my ground with truth buckled around my waist and integrity for a breastplate.  I carry the shield of faith to put out the burning arrows of the evil one.  I accept salvation from God to be my helmet and receive the word of God from the Spirit to use as a sword.  (Eph 6:10, 11, 14, 16, 17, NAS)

Anima Christi

Soul of Christ, sanctify me.

Body of Christ, save me.

Blood of Christ, inebriate me.

Water from Christ's side, wash me.

Passion of Christ, strengthen me.

O Good Jesus, hear me.

Within Thy wounds hide me.

Suffer me not to be separated from Thee.

From the malicious enemy defend me.

In the hour of my death call me.

And bid me come unto Thee

That I may praise Thee with Thy saints

And with Thy angels

Forever and ever.

Amen

Memorare

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession was left unaided.  Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my mother.  To thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful.  O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me.  Amen.

Hail, Holy Queen

Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, our life, our sweetness, and our hope.  To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve; to thee do we send up our sighs, mourning, and weeping in this valley of tears.  Turn then, most gracious Advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us, and after this our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus.  O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary! Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.  Amen.

The Angelus

V-The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary,

R-And she conceived by the Holy Spirit.

(Hail Mary...)

V-Behold the handmaid of the Lord,

R-Be it done unto me according to thy word.

(Hail Mary...)

V-And the Word was made flesh,

R-And dwelt among us.

(Hail Mary...)

V-Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God,

R-That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray: Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts; that we, to whom the Incarnation of Christ, Thy Son, was made known by the message of an angel, may by His Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His Resurrection.  Through the same Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Miraculous Medal Prayer

O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee, and for those who do not have recourse to thee, especially the enemies of the Church and those recommended to thee.  Amen.

Guardian Angel Prayer

Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God's love commits me here, ever this day (or night) be at my side, to light and guard, to rule and guide.  Amen.

Morning Offering

Dear Lord, I do not know what will happen to me today.  I only know that nothing will happen that was not foreseen by You, and directed to my greater good from all eternity.  I adore Your holy and unfathomable plans, and submit to them with all my heart for love of You, the Pope, and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  Amen.

Bedtime Prayer

In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, strengthened by the intercession of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of God, of Blessed Michael the Archangel, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and all the saints and angels of Heaven, and powerful in the holy authority of His Name, I subject my mind and my dreams only to the work of the Holy Spirit.  I ask You, Lord, to bind up all powers of darkness and forbid them to work in my dreams or any part of my subconscious while I sleep.  Amen.

Hopefully those prayers will help you out. If you could tell me what sort of problem you're having, if any, I might be able to give you more specific advice. If you're not having any problem, and are just interested, then hopefully I've provided you with some good information. God bless. :D

Edited January 18, 2004 by Speech

[Paladin D]

Thank you Speech for the info.

The reason I ask, is to help prepare myself if a situation like this occurs. My family is formally Catholic (but have fallen away somewhat), and tend to listen to Protestant preachers and teaching. They don't go to Mass or partake in the Sacraments anymore. And last January, I started learning about Catholicism on my own... then in the summer time I fully accepted it.

Anyways, time to time demons appear and are chased out of the house. Though I haven't personally seen any of them (or felt most of them), my entire family has (except for my dad too). But I have felt some of them.

My entire family (except for my younger brother) are baptized Catholics (which includes me). So I'm legally Catholic.

[Speech]

Oh, I see. :D Well, I hope the stuff I posted helps you, then.

[cathgirl]

The following is what I read out of the book "Wonders of the Holy Name", by FR. Paul O'Sullivan, O.P.:

"The great, great evil, the great danger that threatens each of us every day and every night of our lives, is the devil.

St. Peter and St. Paul warn us in the strongest language to beware of the devil, for he is using all his tremendous power, his mighty intelligence to ruin us, to harm, to hurt us in every way. There is no danger, no enemy in the world that we have to fear as we should fear the devil.

He cannot attack God, so he turns all his implacable hatred and malice against us.

We are destined to take the thrones he and the other Bad Angels have lost. This lashes him into wild fury against us. Many foolish, ignorant Catholics never think of this; they take no care to defend themselves and thus allow the devil to inflict on them infinite harm and cause them untold sufferings.

Our best, our easiest remedy is the Name of Jesus. It drives the devil flying from our sides and saves us from countless evils.

Oh, Dear REaders, say constantly this all-powerful Name and the devil can do you no harm. Say it in all dangers, in all temptations, to the terrible enemy who is ever seeking your ruin.

Priests should preach frequently on this all-important subject. They should warn their penitents in the confessional against the devil. Tehy counsel peoplet o avoid bad companions, who make them lead bad lives. Incomparibly more dreadful is the influence of the devil on them.

Teachers, catechists, and mothers should constantly warn their children against the devil."

I hope this helps a little!! :(

[valley]

Paladin,

I have had friends who have somehow gotten into letting this come about. First, deamons have to have an opening to come in.

Cathgirl is so right - Jesus is the one name that they cannot stand. During an exorcism the Priest invokes Jesus' Holy name often to help drive away the deamon.

Get _Hostage to the Devil_ by Malachi Martin. It documents authentic exorcisms. There is a lot of information in the book. ie If the Priest can get the deamon to tell him the deamon's name, it takes some of the power away.

Keep in mind though, that while the devil is alive and well in the world, if you are a member of the Church and love God, then the devil has NO power over you. I am sorry about the family situation, but see if you can put up a crucifix. Maybe get a Priest to bless the house, and when I feel concerned about the devil, I pray the Hail Mary. Not only does Our Lady crush the snake, but Jesus is included too. Guardian Angels are also a powerful ally in the fight against evil. They already fought the fight and won.

Do not give the devil more power than he has.

I will pray for you and your family. I also know that any type of lapses in faith cause chaios. May God and his holy angels and saints guide you through this trying time.