www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Parish Life & Evangelization CLERGY - MONITOR LITERATURE IN YOUR CHURCH

Father Gregory and other Clergy,

MONITOR THE LITERATURE THAT IS IN THE BACK OF YOUR CHURCH/CHURCH HALL, etc.

I saw the post on the wee-gee boards. I got to tell you of the mess that happened to many of my classmates in the 1980's as we were entering High School, young and easy to sway.

First, when I was in 7th - 8th grade, they put a lot of horrific anti-abortion literature consisting of parts of babies. Eventually they were removed.

Then circa 1982 these pamplets about a shrine in Bayside, Flushing NY started appearing. Basically there was a women who claimed to that the Blessed Virgin Mary talked to her. I do not want to beat a dead horse here, but the persons claims were never accepted by the church. There are websites on this - look at them at your own risk.

Well about 10 classmates got caught up in this and all of their end-time doomsday claims that this person wrote down from her visions. They fell in with all of these paranoid visions.

Suddenly the N.O. mass was not good enough for them. The Pope that instituted the new mass was a Satanic Impostor. They all started to kneel for communion.

Bus trips were run to this shrine, and they made many trips there and these people's thinking got more and more bizzare.

They took "Miraculous Photos" with instant cameras of people, and could redily interpret the sqiggles on them. I told them they pictures were under exposed. Nope - a cross like pattern meaned you loved God, a snake like mark - you were in with the devil - a 666 - well you guessed it - you were possesed.

If the literature in the back of the Church was not there none of this would have happened.

MORE TO COME ...

(Did not what the post to get too long)

Well these 10 or so people rejected the New Mass -For a time they fixated on the Byzantine Rite Divine Liturgy but there church of choice was one that did the old Tridintine Mass.

I started to avoid these people.

There behavior was more erratic and strange as time went on.

Suddenly we were in the midst of a war between Demons and Angels. Once I went fishing with some of them and the one fellow threw Holy Water on me and the read an Exorcsim over me.

All of them would were more medals on them than a Somali warlord. In full regalia they would were around thier neck a roasary, green and brown scapular, a St. Michael Medal, a St. Christopher medal, some un-approved stuff from the shrine, various medals to the Virgin Mary.

I was told the one guy was knocking on the rectory door late one night demanding that he be exorcised. The priest asked me if they were doing drugs. I told him I was not sure, but there are all acting very strange.

I told them if they were so holy they should just join the Seminary.

But the Seminary was controlled by the Devil. They did not trust any young priests and looked for churches with older, traditional priests.

I told them they were nuts.

They were telling me that the things that happened at this shrine were "just like Fatima" and the Church would not accept it becuase it was controled by the Devil, so on and so forth.

I do not know who put these pamphlets in the back of the Church, but apparently someone was also organizing bus trips and many of them were ran.

Everything was too fanastic to believe. I was not taken in by this nonsense.

Eventually they lost interest in this Bayside Shrine, one guy got married, two joined the army, and this way of thinking abated.


All of this silly stuff because they read what was in the back of the Church.

Please rest assured, myself like any other conscientious priest, carefully monitor any literature that is "free" or for sale in the back of the church. Reliable material is always accepted, but anything new is read beforehand and then given approval. This is in case of anything that may arise from the material later. What can't be checked is material that is brought in from the outside and distributed through others. Sometimes this comes from reliable sources, and sometimes it something requires looking into.

The practice of if it not from an apprived authority of the church or its publishing house, then it should not be made available for the laity at large. Generally since I see it first, I can make the desicion if it is apporiate and edifying for those I serve.

In IC XC,
Father Anthony+

When I look back there was something more that just the literature - I wonder if a Church member was organizing these trip to the unapproved shrine.

I know it was not the Pastor in charge.

I think that the people who got taken in were about 17-24 and were not versed in the ways of the world.

Every week it was a new psuedo-religious plot. One week the devil worshippers were stealing communion wafers, the next week, demons were following them home from church.

Always they were spouting the "prophecy" of this "new and authentic seer".

I had many converstations with religion teachers and pastor and they all said the "hoped I did not think that this was real ..." and it was "never approved ..."

I am sure you have to deal with the Lunatic Fringe all the time in the business of religion.

The Occult alway appeals to the weak-minded.

Unfortunately, in a church there are many types of people. Some have their own agenda. The priest, but also the faithful should be trying to help guide these people so they do head down a destructive road. It is not easy, for if it was the we would not have to be discussing problems like these on this forum.

Prayer, love, and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit is what gets me through the day, and hopefully helps someone come a little closer to be with God in the end.

In Christ,
Father Anthony+

And there were students that went to the dark side. I was a student in a Catholic High School and some of the clowns there thought they were satanists. They even carried around the satanic bible and recited the names of power and other spells.

I am sure it was just a futile attept to rebel against authority, but the lost sight of God.

Many of these satanists have passed on, meeting their fate to drugs or suicide.

They would recite the prayers backward during Mass, substitute demons names for the names of Saints in prayers, and such.

Now look were they are -

Dead and in Hell.

Ah now Roamin' - we cannot and must not say they are there.

Who knows what was in their minds in the last moments of their life ? We do not . Only God does

May the Lord have mercy on them

Anhelyna

The RC church where I play has had the "miraculous novena" and other prayers that "never fail" show up in the literature rack. The pastor has started checking what's in that rack, and has made announcements that anything put there has to have his approval. I think this is a pretty widespread problem.

I just got one at St. Joes Oblates that I think I am gonna toss right in the garbage.

Some kind of miraculous icon (with the copyright next to it).

First thing that I think is hokey is that it is a Byzantine Style Icon and it has Latin wording on it. Then it goes on with "never fail prayers"

Last page is an ad for them - it gives bulk pricing. Heck, they take all credit cards, money orders and checks. It must be real. :-(

They are more intersted in selling you something than saving your soul.

Now that I think about it I way back in the 80's when all of this went down - I argued where is the Cenesor Imprimatur or Nihl Obstat or whatever they called the persons or bodies that certified the literature as offical and good for the Church.

None of this stuff they were getting had any kind of offical approval.