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by D. J. Maria<\/em><\/p>\n Binghamton, New York<\/p>\n “Many years ago when my children were young, I’d decided that I wanted to grow spiritually and\u00a0started doing spiritual reading and accompanying prayers. This continued until one night while reading\u00a0a book that I’d enjoyed, the author discussed the topic of the devil. Until that point in time, I hadn’t\u00a0believed in a devil, thought the author was ‘insane,’ stopped my spiritual reading, and challenged God\u00a0on the issue.<\/p>\n A short time later, some teachers invited me to a healing Mass in the area and I went. The church was\u00a0so crowded that I had to stand in the back. During his homily, the priest talked about\u00a0a literal encounter\u00a0he’d had with the devil. Being so far away from the speaker, I didn’t hear the whole story. Hardly\u00a0believing what I did hear, however, I decided to buy one of the books he’d written which were in the\u00a0back of the church where I was standing. I remember not wanting to spend the money, but was curious\u00a0about his story, especially since I’d never heard of anyone saying that they’d literally encountered the\u00a0devil before. And for a priest to discuss it at Mass, showed his sincerity.<\/p>\n Not only did I buy the book, I also gave a donation\u00a0for a bottle of the blessed oil that the priest used for the anointing following the Mass.<\/p>\n Later, I’m almost certain<\/span> it was that same night, if not, it was very shortly following, I was awakened by\u00a0Fred, my young boy, who ran to my bed and called me in great fear while shaking all over!<\/p>\n He told me that something ‘came into’ him and he could feel it in his body, in his back in particular, and he was having scary\u00a0dreams!<\/p>\n He was too much afraid to go back to his bed and was most upset at what he could feel inside.\u00a0Unable to console him, I asked Fred to come downstairs where I decided to pray over him. As we\u00a0passed his bedroom, Fred frighteningly told me about some scary faces that he’d seen in his window.<\/p>\n I\u00a0told him that he imagined<\/span> them because he was afraid. Inasmuch as he insisted that he saw scary\u00a0faces, I insisted that he imagined them.<\/p>\n Downstairs, I lit a candle and placing my hands on him, prayed continuously. As he calmed down I\u00a0asked if he could still feel what was inside. Replying positively, I continued to pray.<\/p>\n Before I was finished my prayer<\/span>, Fred jumped up and started running in the dark toward the stairway.<\/p>\n I can still hear myself calling to him: ‘Wait a minute. Where are you going?’<\/p>\n As a boy of about five or\u00a0six years old, Fred was naturally afraid of the dark and ordinarily would not have run through a\u00a0darkened room to go anywhere.<\/p>\n Forgetting his fears,<\/span> Fred responded: ‘It’s gone!’ and continued to run\u00a0to his bed.<\/p>\n I called back: ‘Wait a minute. When did it leave?’<\/p>\n He replied: ‘When you put that stuff\u00a0on me.’<\/p>\n With that he excitedly found his way to his bed.<\/p>\n The following morning, I asked Fred if he knew what that was ‘inside’ him the previous night. Taking\u00a0me by surprise, he immediately said that it was the devil. Knowing that I’d never taught my children\u00a0about the devil, I figured he must have gotten that information at school…<\/p>\n He still insisted that he had\u00a0seen scary faces in the window which I dismissed and attributed to his fears.<\/p>\n Years later,<\/span> when Fred was about thirteen, he palled around with a neighbor about his age.\u00a0They had similar interests and were always together. Being the outdoor type, they spent much the\u00a0summertime outside and unseen.<\/p>\n Inside and alone one day, I felt drawn to Fred and Robert’s bedroom.<\/p>\n I didn’t know why, but I had a strong feeling that I should check under the bunk beds on the side where\u00a0Fred kept his things.<\/p>\n Doing so, I pulled out some unfamiliar cards that I figured Fred got from his\u00a0friend. The cards had strange and demonic symbols on them that gave me a cold, uncomfortable feeling.<\/p>\n Knowing that the Holy Spirit<\/span> led me to the cards for a reason, I realized I had to confront\u00a0Fred about them. But how does a mother tell her teenage boy that she was in his room, took out some\u00a0things that he had gotten from his friend, things that were obviously important to him, and were under\u00a0his bed? And worse, how does she tell him that she thinks they may be demonic in some way and he\u00a0shouldn’t play with them with his best friend?<\/p>\n As I was walking toward the counter<\/span> where the cards were I heard a voice in my mind say: ‘Tell him about the incidents that happened when he was a little boy.’<\/em> I asked myself what happened\u00a0when he was little. I just couldn’t remember and didn’t understand what I’d heard in my mind.<\/p>\n Then it\u00a0started coming back to me! I had completely forgotten! We’d never spoken of those incidents since\u00a0they’d happened, so it was interesting and strange recalling them.<\/p>\n As I slowly recalled them, it\u00a0seemed that they had happened, not only for God’s purposes back then, but specifically for this time as\u00a0well.<\/p>\n When Fred came in<\/span> from his outdoor adventures he walked over to the counter where his cards were. I\u00a0told him that I’d found them in his room and was concerned about the symbols on them.<\/p>\n Without\u00a0saying a word, he picked up the cards and looked closely at them. I listened as he proceeded to tell me\u00a0how he and his friend played with them.<\/p>\n I then said: ‘Do you remember the incidents you’d had of the\u00a0devil when you were a little boy?’<\/p>\n Suddenly his mood changed, and with the deep voice of an angry\u00a0young man, he shouted: ‘Yeah, Mom, and you didn’t believe me that there were faces in the window!’<\/p>\n ‘Faces in the window?’<\/span> I repeated to myself. I didn’t remember that part! But then it came back to me.\u00a0Oh yes, he did say there were faces in the window long ago! My jaw dropped! ‘You mean there\u00a0were<\/em>?’<\/p>\n And Fred shouted back as if he’d been holding in anger all those years because I didn’t believe\u00a0him: ‘Yeah, Mom, there were, and you didn’t believe me!’ In his anger he walked out of the room.<\/p>\n I\u00a0was totally shocked and hurt that my little boy, many years ago, saw something very frightening\u00a0and real to him, and his mother didn’t believe him! And not only that, but he seemed to have held his\u00a0hurt in for a number of years!<\/p>\n We’d discussed those faces at a later time and he told me that they were very ugly, changing, and\u00a0unmistakably real! That time I believed him! We both decided to do research on the symbols on the\u00a0magic cards and found that they were indeed demonic; and Fred willingly gave up playing with them.<\/p>\n But God wasn’t finished, and neither was the devil.<\/p>\n As an older teenage boy, Fred\u00a0would purchased his own music and in the summers, he would stay up late at night in his room listening\u00a0to it. As I was visiting him in his room one day, he started to tell me of his experiences of the previous\u00a0night: As he lay on his bed listening to his music, the door of his room suddenly slammed shut. Fred\u00a0then saw the ugly face of a devil on the wall opposite him, until it moved to the wall right beside him\u00a0changing sizes as it did!<\/p>\n He then put his hand in front of the image and it jumped onto his hand and\u00a0remained there even when he moved his hand in various positions, until it disappeared.<\/p>\n The image then\u00a0reappeared<\/span> on the Crucifix hanging on a wall opposite Fred\u2019s bed,\u00a0 covering the image of Jesus.<\/p>\n I asked Fred why he didn\u2019t come and tell me when these things had happened and he said that he was\u00a0so scared that he couldn\u2019t move! I told him there must be some reason why that\u00a0had happened; and we searched his room, but to no avail.<\/p>\n It then occurred to me to inquire about the\u00a0type of music he was listening to at the time. Surprised\u00a0that he would<\/span> make such a purchase, especially after the previously described experiences in his life, I\u00a0questioned why. Fred replied that although he didn\u2019t like the symbols, either, he liked the group that did\u00a0the recording. It was the titles on the CD that were most troubling. One song, for example,\u00a0was entitled, ‘Falling Angels.’<\/p>\n This\u00a0understanding as children, can have a positive influence on their lifelong decisions, helping to keep\u00a0them on the right path while deepening their Catholic faith. Furthermore, the Lord showed us how the\u00a0devil uses youthful games and music to influence the young.<\/p>\n I believe that the Lord<\/span> allowed these incidents to occur in our Christian home to bring about a much\u00a0greater good. Fred turned away from listening to music as a pastime altogether, and continued\u00a0practicing his faith into adulthood.<\/em><\/p>\n Following these incidences, there was never any question that the\u00a0Holy Spirit was working in our lives and that there are also truly evil forces that oppose Him, that HeRepeatedly, my\u00a0prayers<\/span> seemed to have little effect, and he was too fearful to go back to bed. I was concerned that he\u00a0wasn’t getting his proper sleep, when I remembered that I had a bottle of healing oil from the Mass I\u00a0went to. Also remembering that the priest in the book I’d read would make the Sign of the Cross to\u00a0chase away the devil. I used the oil, made the Sign of the Cross on Fred’s forehead, and continued\u00a0praying…<\/p>\n
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I then asked Fred<\/span> what kinds\u00a0of dreams he’d had the night before. He told me that he’d had many fleeting dreams and in one of them,\u00a0he was eating corn and the corn caught on fire. I don’t remember what else he told me now, but I do\u00a0remember that his dreams included symbolism of the devil, such as fire.<\/p>\n![\"Image](\"https:\/\/vignette.wikia.nocookie.net\/villains\/images\/6\/6c\/The_Devil_%28Creepypasta%29.jpg\/revision\/latest?cb=20140802232053\")
I put the cards on the kitchen counter and figured that if God led me to the cards, He would also show\u00a0me what to do about them. I prayed and asked God what I should do and what I should say\u00a0to Fred.<\/p>\n![\"Image](\"https:\/\/media.dayoftheshirt.com\/images\/shirts\/ZTcoq\/teevillain_devil-music_1522642310.full.png\")
We both confronted his friend who also agreed not to play with them.<\/p>\n
\nFred showed me a CD where, on the cover, there were easily recognizable demonic\u00a0 symbols.<\/p>\n![\"Image](\"https:\/\/pm1.narvii.com\/6167\/4aed1297eaaba78998534127616d2bbde391e105_hq.jpg\")
After pointing this out, we both agreed that the CD must be destroyed,\u00a0so we broke it up and threw it out!\u00a0Not only did the Lord show me that the devil exists, He also showed me that children as young as five\u00a0or six, should be taught about the devil, as they can handle and understand this information.<\/p>\n
\nallows — for now… for His own purposes.”<\/p>\nD. J. Maria<\/div>\nBinghamton, N.Y.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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