In my younger days I used to easily fire through two or three books a week, although this was in the days before the internet when reading meant everything. These days my only interest is in God and the things of God and I could never really settle down to , for instance a secular novel. I found, besides the old Catholic classics it not so easy to find a modern Catholic book I can like. Fulton Sheen commented on this and said that the lack of good writers is a Sign that Western Culture is in free fall. But this morning I downloaded this one: By an American exorcist Monsignor Stephen Rosetti an the ways of prayer/Mystical Theology.
Msgr Rosetti is an exorcist in my area. He conducts online deliverance sessions and he is a gentle giant. Such peace of soul.
I had no idea he was so famous. American exorcists seem to be taking the front stage these days. I don't think I could name a single European exorcist. The late Father Amaroth from Italy is the last one I heard of. They are working to get him declared a saint. He was pals with Padre Pio.
This book is about prayer. The spiritual life . So I take it he is a man of deep prayer . The guidelines for Bishops to select an Exorcist are that they must be both holy and wise . I suppose steady nerves would be a big help.
I think after Father Amaroth the best modern exorcist I ever heard off, though he's long dead now came from California. He plucked the devil's out of people as fast as corks out of a bottle with no ill effects either for himself or anyone else. When asked how he managed it when other tried for weeks, months or even years with limited success he gave all the credit to Our Lady. He seems to have been a very simple down Earth man. But really I suspect the real reason he was so sucessful was that he was a saint
But this book is not about exorcisms but prayer. Still I hope he mentions the roll of the devil in our prayer life I hope.
The monk's story above speaks powerfully of Mary's tender love not only for him but for each one of us!
I have truly wondered about this, thank you for making this post. Because God's Word is the same yesterday, today and forever. Fr. Ripperger has said that deliverance which used to take a day or two now takes years. IIRC he attributed this to the lack of funds in the spiritual bank account of the church as a whole. Yet you get saints every now and again who confound the wise. Like St. Charbel, who would be asked to pray for people and they would be healed. When he was asked how he did it, he said I simply prayed they would be healed. The same with St. Patrick, one man against all odds chased out the serpents from Ireland. I am not saying that Fr. Ripperger is wrong, I merely believe that God is always ready to pour out His Graces and is beyond everything.
When we read a description about the presence of Our Blessed Mother it always reads the same, peace, beauty, love.
It must be so strange for a saint when they work their first miracle. Unreal . They commonly attribute the miracle to another saint. Like the Cure of Ars with St Philomena
I believe there is a temptation to claim that they did the miracle and also a temptation to celebrity. So it makes sense that they attribute it to another Saint.
Why did the Father title the book, 'When the Lion Roars'? My guess would be that the Lion is the Lion of Judah, Jesus. The roaring is when prayer becomes very personally impactful.. When it wakes you up so to speak. We shall see.
Humility is a difficult thing. Miracles and celebrity must seem like a total nightmare . Fr Groeshel tells the story of going to an event with Mother Teresa . The place was packed with nuns, priests, Bishops reporters, film crews , hundreds of people to make an admiring fuss of her. Just before they entered the saint held up her hand and said to the Father, 'All this means nothing!' Nothing! Nothing! So I suppose she was reminding them both to swim against the tide . There are so many famous Catholics on the Internet at the moment They all need to hear this story. Even Fulton Sheen when they cancelled his TV show said it just about killed him , he missed the buzz so much
This makes a lot of sense, because it is worldly stuff. She probably saw it all as a cross. In reality, it is Jesus everyone should have been making a fuss over.
