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Question Title	Posted By	Question Date
Our Daughter Sees Spirits	Matt	Thursday, May 13, 2010
Question: Our daughter (who is now 10-years-old) shared with us about a month ago that she seems to have the ability to see into the spirit world. She says that it started several years ago when she was playing on the swings at school. She was about to fall off the swing when she says that a "yellow" man appeared and caught her. Ever since then she says that this man is with her most of the time (she nicknamed him "Bob"). She also seems to be able to see other people's gaurdian angels, and people who have died (like my great-aunt, and my grandma). Before she died several years ago, my aunt lived in the house behind us, and Marybeth says that my aunt will sit in the chair in her room before she falls asleep and sing her a song. Then when she is done singing, my aunt will get up and go back to her house. Then she often sees my grandma sitting on our couch. She never met my grandma, but was once looking at family pictures and said that that was the lady who she sees on the couch. She also says that sometimes she will dream about something, and then it will actually happen. At first we thought that it could be her imagination, or maybe a side effect of her medicine that she is on (she has been diagnosed with obsessive complusive disorder, and is on Prozac). But then last Sunday we were at my mom and dad's house for Mother's Day, and the kids were playing outside in the sandbox. Our almost three-year-old son looked up and said, "There's a guy!" our daughter looked, and he was pointing right at "Bob." Our son described "Bob" exactly how she did, and seemed to know where he was, when he left, etc. That kind of got my wife and I thinking that it may not be just her imagination or a side effect (not to mention that this seems to have started before she was put on the medicine). But then, last night, we may have gotten a big confirmation on our daughter's ability. The other day one of her friends were over at our house, and apparently this friend has the ability to see the spirit world also (we didn't know anything about that at that time). Now, her friend didn't say anything to us or our daughter that day, but when she got home she told her mom that she saw a "yellow" man next to our daughter. Well, last night Penni and this other girl's mom were visiting about it, and they started putting things together. It seems like these two girls both have this ability to see spirits. When my wife and daughter got home last night, my wife shared everything with me, and we sat down with our daughter and talked to her about it. We explained that God does give people different gifts in the Church, and maybe this may be one of the gifts that He has chosen to give her (some people call it the gift of "discerning of spirits"). And we explained to her that our standard for truth is the Christian Faith as taught by the Catholic Church, which means that our beliefs about this gift must remain within the boundaries of the Catholic Faith. She completely understood that, agreed wholeheartily, and said that we have to be careful because it could be Satan trying to trick her (she's very smart for a 10-year-old). What is your advice on this? Our stance right now is simply wait and see. We don't want to make her oppress this gift, in case it is a gift from God that can be used for God's glory and ministry in the Church. But at the same time, we don't want her to focus on it so much that it starts to overshadow other important aspects of her spiritual life, such as prayer, penance, etc. Please give us some guidance, if you will. Thanks!
Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OLSM Dear Matt: It is a little hard to give you advice on this without knowing a lot more information. Although not always the case, an evil spirit appearing to a child will oftentimes end up scaring the child, or telling the child things that are contrary to the Faith. But, remember the devil can appear as an angel of light to fool us. Even if nothing untoward or negative is happening now, a demon can lay low and be "nice" to hook the child. Then later in life the demon has access to the child's life. Not all spirits a child may see are demonic. Children may also see their Guardian Angel. I am a little troubled that your daughter "sees" other people's angels and that this entity appeared to another child. Each person has their own Guardian Angel. Why would your daughter's Guardian Angel appear to another child? Again, such things are not arbitrary, but must have a reason. As a general rule: 1) God does not give people gifts "just because". There has to be reason and purpose for the gift -- either to help with the persons own spiritual growth or to help the Church. 2) God never forces himself or his gifts on anyone. For gifts that may have useful purpose, but the person is unsure, I usually advise those people to pray that if the "gift" is not from God that He will take it away. If the gift remains, then it must be tested. St. Paul tells us to test all things. If the gift does not seem to have any purpose other than to just "be there", then I usually advise people to pray specifically for God to take the "gift" away. Since God does not force a gift on anyone, if this prayer is prayed and the "gift" does not go away, then the "gift" is not from God. Given what your have said, I have my doubts, but I really cannot say whether or not there is a purpose for your daughter's experiences without knowing more. You and your wife have spiritual authority over your household and family. Thus, I would advise that you pray on behalf of your daughter. She does not need to know you are doing this. Prayers from our Spiritual Warfare Prayer Catalog, such the Hedge Prayer for Protection of Household and the Hedge Prayer for Protection of Others would be appropriate. It may also be useful to modified for this situation the Rebuking Particular Spirits Affecting the Household prayer. In this case asking God that "if" a an evil spirit is coming to your daughter to rebuke it and cast it away. Also, I would advise asking your priest to bless the house. If this does not help, then you may want to have the house cleansed and blessed using the House Cleansing and Blessing found in our Catalog. If a priest does not want to use this version of a house blessing, the normal house blessing from him is good, then we can help you to further cleanse and bless the house by leading the prayer over the phone. We will certainly be praying for your family. God Bless, Bro. Ignatius Mary For information on how to receive help see our Help page. We suggest that before contacting us directly for help you try the Seven Steps to Self-Deliverance. These self-help steps will often resolve the problem. Also our Spiritual Warfare Prayer Catalog contains many prayers that may be helpful. If needed you can ask for a Personal Consultation.

Question Title

Posted By

Question Date

Our Daughter Sees Spirits

Matt

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Question:

Our daughter (who is now 10-years-old) shared with us about a month ago that she seems to have the ability to see into the spirit world. She says that it started several years ago when she was playing on the swings at school. She was about to fall off the swing when she says that a "yellow" man appeared and caught her. Ever since then she says that this man is with her most of the time (she nicknamed him "Bob").

She also seems to be able to see other people's gaurdian angels, and people who have died (like my great-aunt, and my grandma). Before she died several years ago, my aunt lived in the house behind us, and Marybeth says that my aunt will sit in the chair in her room before she falls asleep and sing her a song. Then when she is done singing, my aunt will get up and go back to her house. Then she often sees my grandma sitting on our couch. She never met my grandma, but was once looking at family pictures and said that that was the lady who she sees on the couch. She also says that sometimes she will dream about something, and then it will actually happen.

At first we thought that it could be her imagination, or maybe a side effect of her medicine that she is on (she has been diagnosed with obsessive complusive disorder, and is on Prozac). But then last Sunday we were at my mom and dad's house for Mother's Day, and the kids were playing outside in the sandbox. Our almost three-year-old son looked up and said, "There's a guy!" our daughter looked, and he was pointing right at "Bob." Our son described "Bob" exactly how she did, and seemed to know where he was, when he left, etc. That kind of got my wife and I thinking that it may not be just her imagination or a side effect (not to mention that this seems to have started before she was put on the medicine).

But then, last night, we may have gotten a big confirmation on our daughter's ability. The other day one of her friends were over at our house, and apparently this friend has the ability to see the spirit world also (we didn't know anything about that at that time). Now, her friend didn't say anything to us or our daughter that day, but when she got home she told her mom that she saw a "yellow" man next to our daughter. Well, last night Penni and this other girl's mom were visiting about it, and they started putting things together. It seems like these two girls both have this ability to see spirits.

When my wife and daughter got home last night, my wife shared everything with me, and we sat down with our daughter and talked to her about it. We explained that God does give people different gifts in the Church, and maybe this may be one of the gifts that He has chosen to give her (some people call it the gift of "discerning of spirits"). And we explained to her that our standard for truth is the Christian Faith as taught by the Catholic Church, which means that our beliefs about this gift must remain within the boundaries of the Catholic Faith. She completely understood that, agreed wholeheartily, and said that we have to be careful because it could be Satan trying to trick her (she's very smart for a 10-year-old).

What is your advice on this? Our stance right now is simply wait and see. We don't want to make her oppress this gift, in case it is a gift from God that can be used for God's glory and ministry in the Church. But at the same time, we don't want her to focus on it so much that it starts to overshadow other important aspects of her spiritual life, such as prayer, penance, etc. Please give us some guidance, if you will. Thanks!

Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OLSM

Dear Matt:

It is a little hard to give you advice on this without knowing a lot more information.

Although not always the case, an evil spirit appearing to a child will oftentimes end up scaring the child, or telling the child things that are contrary to the Faith. But, remember the devil can appear as an angel of light to fool us. Even if nothing untoward or negative is happening now, a demon can lay low and be "nice" to hook the child. Then later in life the demon has access to the child's life.

Not all spirits a child may see are demonic. Children may also see their Guardian Angel. I am a little troubled that your daughter "sees" other people's angels and that this entity appeared to another child. Each person has their own Guardian Angel. Why would your daughter's Guardian Angel appear to another child? Again, such things are not arbitrary, but must have a reason.

As a general rule:

1) God does not give people gifts "just because". There has to be reason and purpose for the gift -- either to help with the persons own spiritual growth or to help the Church.

2) God never forces himself or his gifts on anyone. For gifts that may have useful purpose, but the person is unsure, I usually advise those people to pray that if the "gift" is not from God that He will take it away. If the gift remains, then it must be tested. St. Paul tells us to test all things.

If the gift does not seem to have any purpose other than to just "be there", then I usually advise people to pray specifically for God to take the "gift" away. Since God does not force a gift on anyone, if this prayer is prayed and the "gift" does not go away, then the "gift" is not from God.

Given what your have said, I have my doubts, but I really cannot say whether or not there is a purpose for your daughter's experiences without knowing more.

You and your wife have spiritual authority over your household and family. Thus, I would advise that you pray on behalf of your daughter. She does not need to know you are doing this.

Prayers from our Spiritual Warfare Prayer Catalog, such the Hedge Prayer for Protection of Household and the Hedge Prayer for Protection of Others would be appropriate. It may also be useful to modified for this situation the Rebuking Particular Spirits Affecting the Household prayer. In this case asking God that "if" a an evil spirit is coming to your daughter to rebuke it and cast it away.

Also, I would advise asking your priest to bless the house. If this does not help, then you may want to have the house cleansed and blessed using the House Cleansing and Blessing found in our Catalog. If a priest does not want to use this version of a house blessing, the normal house blessing from him is good, then we can help you to further cleanse and bless the house by leading the prayer over the phone.

We will certainly be praying for your family.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary

For information on how to receive help see our Help page. We suggest that before contacting us directly for help you try the Seven Steps to Self-Deliverance. These self-help steps will often resolve the problem. Also our Spiritual Warfare Prayer Catalog contains many prayers that may be helpful. If needed you can ask for a Personal Consultation.