Of Purification And The Sniper: Events  Will Move In Ways That Are Unexpected

By Michael H. Brown

First story

This week we heard the dramatic view of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger that prayer may have changed the third Fatima secret [see story]. Instead of Pope John Paul II being killed by a gunman, he said, the Pope survived an attempt at assassination and did so in a way that was credited to the Virgin of Fatima. The week before, we received reports on how prayer -- specifically prayer through Our Lady of Prompt Succor -- seemed to have miraculously halted Hurricane Lili from making what looked to be a surefire and devastating strike at New Orleans [see that account]. "Governor Foster stated on WWL Radio that he had no other explanation than 'Divine intervention'!" noted one Louisiana correspondent. "As we listened to WWL it began to sound like a Christian station with the announcer unashamedly saying that the diminishing of the hurricane was a miracle and that this shows the 'power of prayer'!"

Now, we believe the same has happened with the sniper (or snipers). Prayer can break any evil; as Cardinal Ratzinger also noted, it often seems like the devil has the upper hand, like he can win, but if we pray, what is negative "has no power in the end."

And so it is as we move through various stages of an unfolding purification or "chastisement." We are in the midst of an upward curve, and while there will be events that must come, that will grow even steeper (as we are informed at Medjugorje), we can mitigate some of these events by prayer, by casting away the devil, and most importantly by praying for conversion.  While most of us pray to halt this disaster or that crime, we often forget that the root of the disturbance is our collective immorality -- which attracts such evil in the first place. Our first prayer should thus be a prayer for our society's conversion.

As it says in Proverbs 26: 2: "Like a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying, so a curse without cause does not alight."

Does this mean the victims deserved it? Of course not. As it also says in Scripture, it rains on both the evil and good alike. What we are speaking about is a general purifying trend that will take and has already taken various forms: weather gyrations, strange crimes, terrorism. In the D.C. area, it has been tornadoes striking just south and terrorist attacks like the plane that crashed into the Pentagon and anthrax and now the snipers.

These are part of a larger unfolding picture.

When, as a nation, and as a world, we stray from God, we are straying from the organizing force, the protective shield, of the universe -- and thus our first prayer should be to regain God's favor.

In the meantime, expect the unexpected. Chastisements always come in ways that are only generally prophesied. While certain of the events may be contained in secrets such as those at Fatima and Medjugorje, the entire picture is too large for us to grasp and God reserves for Himself the details.

Some of those details can change -- as we saw, in Ratzinger's view, with the 1981 attempt at assassination. Such is one reason God withholds certain details. Storms. Earthquakes. Lost in the barrage of news yesterday -- in the news of men in custody, in the news of hostages in Moscow -- was a powerful magnitude-6.7 quake in Alaska, and a swarm of earthquakes in central England, where they are far less expected.

Some coming events can be mitigated; others will come because they must now come. It is not a time to fear, and indeed those who have faith and pray adequately have no trepidation.

It is a time to march forward. It is a time to pray for conversion.

Only when we break our own evil will we be less susceptible to the evil of others.

Past articles we carried about this evil and the prayers to defeat it are placed below for your convenience

An Evil Has Descended On Washington -- But It Can Be Cast Off In Name Of Jesus

 By Michael H. Brown

Second story

Concerning the D.C. sniper, it's time for us to take more direct spiritual action. Obviously, a darkness has befallen that area -- a demonic darkness -- and we must all pray to cast away this specific evil in the Name of Jesus.

Below we are reprinting a powerful exorcism prayer. It would be useful in this case -- and is always useful, especially in the current times, and especially at this time of Halloween. Whether or not we are dealing with a lone gunman or a small group or terrorists, we are dealing with a spiritual infestation, and when we treat it as such -- when we more directly confront this darkness -- it will be quicker to flee. [ see also our recent report: More than one Tarot card might point to occult connection (below)

"I am writing with a plea for prayer, regarding this case of the sniper in D.C.," writes one e-mail correspondent from Prince Georges County. "My husband, a daily communicant, is a police investigator working on this case.  Many of his colleagues are also faithful Christians, many Catholic. As we live and work and attend Mass, prayer group, and so forth, we are very aware of the evil that is permeating the D.C. area. As you have written lately, there is a noticeable darkness and feeling in the air.  Our children were unable to walk over for daily Mass this morning as the schools in the archdiocese of Washington remain locked down. These investigators have a keen sense that there is a deep evil present in this case. We are using blessed salt, Holy Water, the Rosary, and the prayer to St. Michael as added protection in these days.  Our Cardinal McCarrick is in Rome this week for ordinations, so we are missing his calm presence among us.  Thank you so much for your articles on prayer and blessed sacramentals and for the faithful witness and help in these times provide through the website."

Indeed, we share the conviction that this is a deep evil presence. And we pray to break down the evil -- this stronghold. We pray that the residents of Washington who don't go to Mass, who don't pray, who are not active Christians, come back to the only protection in something like this: Jesus.

If He can convert a serial killer like David Berkowitz -- the "Son of Sam," who is now a Christian -- He can covert the sniper or snipers or at least break the evil hold and clear the air for police.

This occurrence may be occult-related (if the Tarot cards are a real indication) and so we must pray to take down this power of the occult that may be contributing. We also must come against the spirit of anger, revenge, and homicide.

Moreover, we pray that the irreligion and materialism and immorality that is across our land be lifted and there is massive conversion so that events like the sniper and September 11 and other unfortunate happenings are less likely to happen. "I thank you in advance for your prayers for my husband and our children, ages 9 and 7," says the correspondent, "as we walk in faith!"
And so we ask all to pray:

Kyrie eleison. God, our Lord, King of ages, All-powerful and All-mighty, You Who made everything and Who transform everything simply by Your will. You Who in Babylon changed into dew the flames of the "seven-times hotter" furnace and protected and saved the three holy children. You are the doctor and the physician of our soul. You are the salvation of those who turn to You. We beseech You to make powerless, banish, and drive out every diabolic power, presence and machination; every evil influence, malefice, or evil eye and all evil actions aimed against your servants, and especially against your faithful in the area of D.C. Where there is envy and malice, give us an abundance of goodness, endurance, victory, and charity. O Lord, You Who love man, we beg You to reach out your powerful hands and Your most high and mighty arms and come to our aid. Help us, who are made in Your image, send the angel of peace over us, to protect us body and soul. May he keep at bay and vanquish every evil power, every poison or malice invoked against us by corrupt and envious people. Then, under the protection of Your authority may we sing, in gratitude, "The Lord is my salvation; whom should I fear?" I will not fear evil because You are with me, my God, my strength, my powerful Lord, Lord of peace, Father of all ages. Yes, Lord our God, be merciful to us, Your image, and save Your servant... (name those concerned about) from every threat or harm from the evil one, and protect him (her, them) by raising him above all evil. We ask you this through the intercession of our Most Blessed, Glorious Lady, Mary ever Virgin, Mother of God, of the most splendid archangels and all yours saints. Amen."

Anima Christi
Soul of Christ, sanctify me; Body of Christ, save me; Blood of Christ, inebriate me; Water from the side of Christ, wash me; Passion of Christ, strengthen me; 
O good Jesus, hear me; within Your wounds, hide me; let me never be separated from you; from the evil one, protect me; at the hour of my death, call me; and bid me come to You; that with Your saints, I may praise You forever and ever. Amen.

 

Prayer against every evil

Spirit of our God, Father, Son , and Holy Spirit, Most Holy Trinity, Immaculate Virgin Mary, angles, archangels, and saints of Heaven, descend upon us.  Please purify us, Lord, mold us, fill us with Yourself, use us.  Banish all the forces of evil from us, destroy them, vanquish them, so that we can be healthy and do good deeds. Banish from us all spells, witchcraft, black magic, malefice, ties, maledictions, and the evil eye; diabolic infestations, oppressions, possessions; all that is evil and sinful, jealousy, perfidy, envy; physical, psychological, moral, spiritual, diabolical ailments. Burn all these evils in hell, that they may never again touch me or any other creature in the entire world. I command and bid all the powers who molest me -- by the power of God all powerful, in the name of Jesus Christ our Savior, through the intercession of the Immaculate Virgin Mary -- to leave us forever, and to be consigned into the everlasting hell, where they will be bound by Saint Michael the archangel, Saint Gabriel, Saint Raphael, our guardian angels, and where they will be crushed under the heel of the Immaculate Virgin Mary.

Prayer for inner healing

Lord Jesus, You came to heal our wounded and troubled hears. I beg You to heal the torments that cause anxiety in my heart; I beg You, in a particular way, to heal all who are the cause of sin. I beg You to come into my life and heal me of the psychological harms that struck me in my early years and form the injuries that they caused throughout my life. Lord Jesus, You know my burdens. I lay them all on Your Good Shepherd's Heart. I beseech You -- by the merits of the great, open wound in Your heart -- to heal the small wounds that are in mine. Heal the pain of my  memories, so that nothing that has happened to me will cause me to remain in pain and anguish, filled with anxiety.
    Heal, O Lord, all those wounds that have been the cause of all the evil that is rooted in my life. I want to forgive all those who have offended me. Look to those inner sores that make me unable to forgive. You who came to forgive the afflicted of heart, please, heal my own heart.  
    Heal, my Lord Jesus, those intimate wounds that cause me physical illness. I offer you my heart. Accept it, Lord, purify it and give me the sentiments of your Divine Heart. Help me to be meek and humble.
   Heal me, O Lord, from the pain caused by the death of my loved ones, which is oppressing me. Grant me to regain peace and joy in the knowledge that You are the Resurrection and the Life. Make me an authentic witness to your Resurrection, Your victory over sin and death, Your living presence among us. Amen.

Prayer for deliverance

My Lord, You are all powerful, You are God, you are Father. We beg you through the intercession and help of the archangels Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel, for the deliverance of our brothers and sisters who are enslaved by the evil one. All saints of heaven, come to our aid.

From anxiety, sadness, and obsessions, We beg You. Free us, O Lord. From hatred, fornication, envy, We beg You. Free us, O Lord. From thoughts of jealousy, rage, and death. We beg You. Free us, O Lord. From every thought of suicide and abortion. We beg You. From the onslaught of this sniper, we beg You: Free us, O Lord. From every form of sinful sexuality. We beg You. Free us, O Lord. From every division in our family, and every harmful friendship. We beg You. Free us, O Lord. From every sort of spell, malefice, witchcraft, and every form of the occult and homicide. We beg You. Free us, O Lord.

    Lord, You who said, "I leave you peace, my peace I give you," grant that, through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, we may be liberated from every evil spell and enjoy Your peace always. In the name of Christ, our Lord. Amen." 

Report That Sniper May Involve More Than One Tarot Hints At Occult Aspect

By Michael H. Brown

Third story

It's time for a little tough talk. We don't like to focus on evil, but frequently there is no choice. We are especially called to take a look at it when there is something like the D.C. sniper.

Whether this is a lone, serial killer, a small group of madmen, or terrorists, evil is clearly at work. What psychologists call multiple personality or psychosis would often be more accurately described as "demonic infestation." It was seen in the glazed eyes of the Al Qaeda hijackers; it was seen in famous cases like Charles Manson; and now it may be ready to unveil itself with the sniper (and please emphasize the word "may") through an occult connection: the Tarot card.

A Tarot card is a tool of the occult and was first connected to the shooting of the 13-year-old boy outside Benjamin Tasker Middle School in Bowie, Maryland on October 7. One such card was found about 150 yards from the shooting in a wooded area next to a spent shell and on the back it said, "I am God."

It was what is known as the "Death card," one of 78 cards in the Tarot deck (though the size of a deck can vary), and it shows a skeleton -- a Grim Reaper type -- on a horse if it is like most Death cards.

Tarot cards have various images associated with major themes in our lives (love, sickness, disaster, parenthood, religion, as well as death), and although proponents claim they go back only to the 15th century (when they were supposedly devised by craftsmen for nobility), they may well be rooted in mysterious occult religions that go back to ancient times in China, India, and Egypt.

Whatever the case, they are occultic -- used for fortunetelling, which is expressly forbidden by the Bible -- and are used by witches, gypsies, spiritualists, mediums, psychics, clairvoyants, and occultists of all types (up to and including satanists). Anyone involved with them can become infested (as also happens with "games" like the Ouija Board). According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, a law-enforcement source at the scene in Ashland, Virginia -- speaking on condition of anonymity -- said he had been told "investigators have found more than one Tarot card while investigating the serial shootings of at least 11 people in Virginia, Maryland and Washington."

If it is just the one card in Bowie -- if it has only been in the case of that boy -- it could be seen as a quirk -- or even something left by someone else. But if the latest reports are true (and there is more than one card), we may be dealing with an occult killer who brings to mind notorious murderers like Son of Sam and the Zodiac killer in California.

Whatever the case, both serial killers and terrorists virtually always exhibit symptoms of demonism. In the case of "Son of Sam" -- who also left taunting notes -- he now says that he was a practitioner of satanism and was infested by demons, which was also the case with Mark David Chapman (who assassinated John Lennon and wrote detailed descriptions of the "little people" and other voices that spoke to him). If we could get a closer look at Osama Bin Laden, we would detect a similar energy.

In many cases, murder is the product of outright possession. When we deal with it as such, we will solve more cases and cure more homicidal maniacs. Such is often associated with Manson -- who exercised a mysterious control of his cult and whose eyes said it all. Manson was linked to a satanic church called "The Process" and was said to exercise supernormal powers through rituals that involved both drugs and nature spirits.

"Evil comes in many guises-never more clearly than in the seemingly inexplicable activities of serial and mass murderers as exemplified by Jack the Ripper in Victorian London and Son of Sam in modern New York," notes the website for an author named William Tatum, who has written a book called Multiple Murder and Demonic Possession. "Tatum sees a fatal loss of belief in what the English Prayer book calls 'the devil and all his works' and at no time is the devil more successful than when urging someone to commit the ultimate crime-murder. Tatum detects amazing similarities between some mass murderers' methods and stated motives. They sometimes even use the same code words and symbols and have similar handwriting. Not only does he recognize the devil's hand but identifies specific demons who are performing their master's relentless work against God."