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Question Title	Posted By	Question Date
Young visionaries	Mary	Saturday, September 1, 2007
Question: Hello again brother Mary Ignatius, I am glad you are feeling well again, and just wanted to thank you for your prompt reply despite your having not long got over an illness. It is (I believe) the best advice we have had, and gave me great peace. Thank you. We are now praying this way for our daughter each night. This last Sunday, she looked at me in a questioning way and told me that the Eucharist she received tasted like a bitter medicine; of course I have no answers but to advise her to ask Jesus to help her understand. After mass she was much absorbed in prayer before an image of the Sacred heart. At a healing mass which she insisted on attending recently, a priest and one of the prayer helpers felt said they felt drawn to her and said she was a "very special child". We are praying and observing... I guess what I omitted to ask on my last post was if you would pray for her, and us! As we are keeping all of these things to ourselves, asking for prayer from others ~ as one would for an illness perhaps, is not an option, though prayer is needed. Thank you, and God bless.
Question Answered by Dear Mary: Our Lord will likely reveal to your daughter someday the meaning of the Eucharist tasting bitter. The one thought I had is that this may be a lesson about the bitter taste of taking on the sins of the world that Jesus did for us, or that living the Christian life in this hostile world may sometimes bring persecution and hard experiences. But, this is not negative, rather the Eucharist is the bitter medicine (bitter in that the world will scorn and hate us for it) that saves our soul, that gives us the grace to persevere in our faith in spite of the hostilities and evil of this world. Just a couple of thoughts, only God knows. If your daughter has been chosen by God for this special blessing she will likely need to be prepared for much hardship and suffering. This possible prospect is not to be feared, but embraced for this is the hardship and suffering of redemption, a sharing in the suffering of Christ for the greater glory of God. The approach you have taken as parents I think is the correct one -- not to burden her with these prospects but to support her and encourage her to stay close to our Lord and let Him instruct her. As she gets older she may have more direct questions that need more direct answers. Also, I agree that this should remain a private matter to allow your daughter to develop normally as a child and in the spirit without distraction. I would advise seeking a spiritual director. To help you in that task I recommend the book by Father Thomas Dubay, "Seeking Spiritual Direction: How to Grow the Divine Life Within". This book talks about the definition of a spiritual director, how to find one, and what to do if you can't find one. Another book that you may want to read just in case these experiences continue with your daughter is the book by Father Benedict J. Groeschel, "A Still, Small Voice: A Practical Guide on Reported Revelations". This book describes the different types of experiences of visionaries (apparitions, locutions, etc). and how to discern these experiences. The links provided may be used if you want to buy the books (we get a commission if you buy through us). We most certainly will pray for your daughter and for your family. Feel free to post prayer intentions with us. We have both a prayerbook that is open to the public to read, and a link for private intentions that only our Prayer Team sees. These opportunities to post intentions are located on our Prayer Apostolate page. God Bless, Bro. Ignatius Mary Footer Notes: This forum is for general questions on the faith. See specific Topic Forums below: Spiritual Warfare, demons, the occult go to our Spiritul Warfare Q&S Forum. Liturgy Questions go to our Liturgy and Liturgical Law Q&A Forum Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office) Questions go to our Divine Office Q&A Forum Defenfing the Faith Questions go to our Defending the Faith Q&A Forum Church History Questions go to our Church History Q&A Forum

Question Title

Posted By

Question Date

Young visionaries

Mary

Saturday, September 1, 2007

Question:

Hello again brother Mary Ignatius,

I am glad you are feeling well again, and just wanted to thank you for your prompt reply despite your having not long got over an illness.

It is (I believe) the best advice we have had, and gave me great peace. Thank you.

We are now praying this way for our daughter each night.

This last Sunday, she looked at me in a questioning way and told me that the Eucharist she received tasted like a bitter medicine; of course I have no answers but to advise her to ask Jesus to help her understand. After mass she was much absorbed in prayer before an image of the Sacred heart.

At a healing mass which she insisted on attending recently, a priest and one of the prayer helpers felt said they felt drawn to her and said she was a "very special child".

We are praying and observing...

I guess what I omitted to ask on my last post was if you would pray for her, and us! As we are keeping all of these things to ourselves, asking for prayer from others ~ as one would for an illness perhaps, is not an option, though prayer is needed.

Thank you, and God bless.

Question Answered by

Dear Mary:

Our Lord will likely reveal to your daughter someday the meaning of the Eucharist tasting bitter. The one thought I had is that this may be a lesson about the bitter taste of taking on the sins of the world that Jesus did for us, or that living the Christian life in this hostile world may sometimes bring persecution and hard experiences. But, this is not negative, rather the Eucharist is the bitter medicine (bitter in that the world will scorn and hate us for it) that saves our soul, that gives us the grace to persevere in our faith in spite of the hostilities and evil of this world. Just a couple of thoughts, only God knows.

If your daughter has been chosen by God for this special blessing she will likely need to be prepared for much hardship and suffering. This possible prospect is not to be feared, but embraced for this is the hardship and suffering of redemption, a sharing in the suffering of Christ for the greater glory of God.

The approach you have taken as parents I think is the correct one -- not to burden her with these prospects but to support her and encourage her to stay close to our Lord and let Him instruct her. As she gets older she may have more direct questions that need more direct answers. Also, I agree that this should remain a private matter to allow your daughter to develop normally as a child and in the spirit without distraction.

I would advise seeking a spiritual director. To help you in that task I recommend the book by Father Thomas Dubay, "Seeking Spiritual Direction: How to Grow the Divine Life Within". This book talks about the definition of a spiritual director, how to find one, and what to do if you can't find one.

Another book that you may want to read just in case these experiences continue with your daughter is the book by Father Benedict J. Groeschel, "A Still, Small Voice: A Practical Guide on Reported Revelations". This book describes the different types of experiences of visionaries (apparitions, locutions, etc). and how to discern these experiences.

The links provided may be used if you want to buy the books (we get a commission if you buy through us).

We most certainly will pray for your daughter and for your family.

Feel free to post prayer intentions with us. We have both a prayerbook that is open to the public to read, and a link for private intentions that only our Prayer Team sees. These opportunities to post intentions are located on our Prayer Apostolate page.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary

Footer Notes: This forum is for general questions on the faith. See specific Topic Forums below:
Spiritual Warfare, demons, the occult go to our Spiritul Warfare Q&S Forum.
Liturgy Questions go to our Liturgy and Liturgical Law Q&A Forum
Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office) Questions go to our Divine Office Q&A Forum
Defenfing the Faith Questions go to our Defending the Faith Q&A Forum
Church History Questions go to our Church History Q&A Forum