Prepare for D-day

 

I watched part of the BBC coverage of the 80th anniversary of D-day in Normandy. 

When the Ukraine’s President Zelensky met with the last few veterans and spoke with them you could see something pass between them. The old veterans had once stood where Zelensky and his countrymen now stand, in the heat of battle, against terrible odds, determined and resilient but facing an uncertain future and outcome. The veterans have tasted the victory after a long struggle and great losses; the Ukraine longs for a time of peace after victory which they can commemorate.

Wars are not always won by might or strength of numbers though as the allies can testify to. Two very beautiful miracles in WW11; one was the Dunkirk evacuation where the weather conditions were absolutely perfect (extremely rare for that area) with calm seas to assist the small boats, and total cloud cover which hindered the Luftwaffe from bombing the vessels and forcing them above the clouds where the RAF were waiting for them.

The other was the Battle of Britain; outnumbered 4:1 by German fighters; even with the best aircraft and more motivated pilots the odds were really too much to expect victory. Unless of course there is an unseen factor at play; which there was. Intercession. For the entire duration of the air battle, groups of intercessors prayed day and night for the RAF for some heavenly air cover and they got it!

I recall at the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine as the Russian tanks approached Kyiv, many people of different denominations across the globe, as they watched things unfold on the news, were also consistently in prayer to stop their progress and push them back into Belarus. We prayed every night as a family here. And this has always been the key; to seek God’s intervention at key moments from the Old Testament days to our own. Many of Our Lady’s apparitions point us to this. In Fatima we were told to pray to prevent WW11, alas that went unheeded. 

In our day, we see conditions similar to previous times: Russia invading Ukraine and also the Chinese sabre rattling near Taiwan and swamping the West Philippine Sea with uninvited militia vessels. With consistent prayer we can disrupt whatever plans and schemes are being cooked up by evil men and watch as the Lord’s plans are fulfilled. Best to begin now though and not wait until it’s too late!

“Would we rather have God’s gifts and troubles or God Himself and peace of mind?”

 

I have noticed of late that many people’s woes stem from ‘Needing’ what they want but not wanting what they need. It creates a lot of tension, pressure, disappointment and often broken relationships. Sometimes it seems that God gives in to the whims of His children (and sometimes not) but which is really the greater blessing? 

We can feel at times that some people are jumping the queue when it comes to blessings, that our prayers are stuck in God’s spam folder somewhere and in a spirit of false comparison we feel a bit left behind. But if you take a long view what is revealed may be quite unexpected. 

An acquaintance of mine, a prayerful man to begin with, was given the opportunity to have a business in his chosen field. He did everything in prayer, from applying for contracts, to suppliers, to staff; each meeting or letter he wrote would be under God’s guiding hand. He did well. From being an employee he was catapulted to success, multimillion Peso contracts flowed in like a river and profits with them. At what point things changed I don’t know. He acquired property, vehicles, houses, luxuries, holidays and entered into ventures without seeking God’s guidance and things started to fall apart. Bad payers squeezed the cash flow, unexpected tax bills, and his integrity in money matters was compromised. During that time, periodically he turned back to God, who bailed him out; then he would repeat his folly and back to repentance and so on. It’s an old story of lacking the character to rule the kingdom. Perhaps it’s part of his learning curve. 

Others face economic calamity, pray for a restoration of past glories and instead realise that there is a gift within losses; the discovery of the benefits of simplicity. That having God is enough of itself without being adorned with gifts and blessings to make life comfortable. 

Would we rather have God’s gifts and troubles or God Himself and peace of mind? 

The only Easy day was Yesterday

 

I saw a comic book sketch of a boy kneeling by his bedside saying his evening prayers as his dad walked by the open door of the bedroom. The boy looked up and said ‘Hi Dad; just saying my prayers; do you need anything while I’m here?’ His dad looked like he’d had a long day. 

At first it made me laugh; but as I pondered it I realised something. Our design is for complete dependency on God and Intimacy with Him. We are not meant to figure out life on our own. Prayer is in fact the only way to make life work. 

In our day, as the pace of life quickens, the pressure mounts, and demands are placed upon people that our ancestors would never comprehend; perhaps everyone in the modern world could embrace the Navy Seals saying “The only easy day was yesterday”. We are even harassed by our own telephones! 

Often at best people try to shoehorn God in on Sunday morning and a quick prayer as they run out of the house. But we need a lot more than that to survive let alone thrive. Jesus spent whole nights in prayer. Even Jesus needed to. To commune with the Father, the only one who truly knew Him (and the only one who knows and understands us). 

Prayer is the oxygen for the soul, without it we will shrivel up and die. The human heart is the meeting place for God and man, He is already there; (like in a zoom breakout room) waiting for us to enter, share our troubles with Him so He can immediately get to work on them. (He loves to be needed). 

Often though, we are faced with an enticing alternative for our spare moments, particularly at the end of the day. There are two options on the table, the first is Relief and the second is Restoration. The first is quick, seems easy and involves potato chips, ice cream, a TV sitcom and an extra glass of wine; that will bring temporary relief from the day’s struggles. Restoration is the better choice and takes only a little effort and has a much longer lasting effect. Rather than simply numbing the ravages of the day on the soul with some form of medication we can revive and restore it, bring it back into harmony by going to God. 

This is how I go about it, these days. I go down to the terrace of our condo; there is a nice spot with a few trees on either side, and a breeze drifts through in the evenings. I watch it move the palms for a few minutes, listen to the crickets chirp and wait in silence. We are in fact always in the presence of God; we don’t have to seek Him out, He is an indwelling God. I don’t review the day so much as surrender it and myself to Him leaving the outcomes and troubles in His capable hands; this takes a few minutes. I use a simple formula borrowed from a Capuchin monk it goes ‘Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything” And then I just rest in Him, in His presence and little by little there is a shift towards letting go of everything and allowing myself to be restored in Him, ready for the next day.

Once we realise the importance of prayer, we will see the difference it makes. Mother Teresa commented once that if she had a lot to accomplish she would pray for an hour first and if she knew she had a great deal to do that day then she would pray for 2 hours first. That’s how it works, the economics of the Kingdom of God.  And in doing so we also receive peace in our hearts; instead of agitation. 

Try it and see !

My friends had one last request: Would I help them get to Heaven? (from Aleteia website)

 

How a "nudge" to take a walk at an odd time allowed the Holy Spirit to bring about something wonderful

The following is a true story. Ever since it happened it has been a part of me. It is a love story written by the hand of God Himself.

It was the spring of 2014. Ed and Cathy had been my neighbors for less than a year. They had met when Ed was 60 and Cathy was 40, and neither had ever been married. They fell in love, tied the knot and had just celebrating 25 years of wedded bliss.

However, there was a problem. Ed’s prostate cancer had returned and was destroying him quickly. Meanwhile, Cathy had been diagnosed with Stage IV melanoma. She told me about it when she had “maybe” six months to live. Being a prostate cancer survivor, myself, and as my first wife had died of melanoma, I was able to discuss their cancers openly with them. They knew I understood.

My daily routine usually starts around 5:00 a.m. with a one-hour walk. For some reason one Thursday, I felt nudged to take another walk in the heat of the later afternoon. Reluctantly, I obeyed it.

I headed down the street and there was Cathy, standing on her front lawn, supported by her walker. Realizing that she was fighting to hold herself up I hurried over, asking if everything was all right.

“I was waiting for you, Larry. I need to talk to you.”

I was dumbfounded. “I never walk at this time of day and you say you were waiting for me?”

“I just knew you were coming by. I can’t explain it.”

I had a chill run down my back. I leaned against her SUV as she leaned heavily on her walker. “You know Ed is dying, right?”

“Yes, Cathy, I know, he talked with me about it. And your prognosis? Any change?”

She smiled and looked me right in the eye. “They told me I only have a few weeks left.”

I tightened my lips, took a breath, and asked, “What can I do for you?”

They knew I was Catholic and an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion. Cathy asked me if I could bring a priest. She told me that they were non-practicing Catholics and had not been to church in years. It was time for them to “make things right with God.”

I promised to put in a call to Father as soon as I got home. Cathy thanked me saying “That’s why I was out here, waiting for you.”

As I slowly walked her back to the house, she spoke on of her husband — how she wished she could ease his suffering and how wonderful it might be if they could go for a bicycle ride just one more time. “I thank God for every moment we had together,” she said.

I checked in on Ed, and, as Cathy excused herself, we chatted for about ten minutes. Ed’s conversation was all about Cathy: how he wished he could ease her suffering and how God had been so good to him allowing him to find such a great woman to share his life with.

When God is present sometimes it is hard to breathe. I took a deep breath.

Once home, I called our newly ordained priest, Father Scott. He came over the next day and spent about an hour with Ed and Cathy. Ed and the young priest both had roots in Roanoke, Virginia, and talked and laughed and had a raucous good time together. Even though more than 50 years separated them, it didn’t matter. It was like they’d grown up together. It was beautiful.

Father heard their confessions, anointed both Ed and Cathy, and gave them Holy Communion. He told them he would come back the first chance he could, but with Holy Week coming up, he would be busy. They all hugged and said good-bye. That Palm Sunday I had the honor of bringing them Holy Communion.

Easter Sunday I was again privileged to bring Ed and Cathy Holy Communion. They were lying next to each other in bed, holding hands. Ed smiled and said, “Larry, we are so happy. This is the greatest Easter we ever had.”

He turned and looked at his wife, who was smiling lovingly at him. She reached over and wiped his wet, happy eyes. They stared into each other’s eyes and I thought they were seeing into each others very souls. It was a moment filled with a shared spirituality I had never seen before, or experienced, but I could actually feel it. I have no doubt that at that moment Jesus was there with them holding their hands in His.

Ed died the week after Easter. A week later Cathy moved into hospice. She lived another two weeks.

As for me, I thank God for their friendship and for being a part of their final journey. Sometimes I like to think that I took two people in love to the airport and watched them get on a plane for a a true flight to paradise.

Purgatory, heaven & hell....a story from India

Set out below is an account of the experience of a priest who died and was shown Hell, Purgatory and Heaven. It is of course only his personal experience but there is nothing in it which is contrary to faith and I trust that some of you might find, as I did, that it was a warning and an encouragement.

On Sunday April 14, 1985, the Feast of the Divine Mercy, Fr Tom Maniyangat was going to celebrate Mass at a mission church in the north part of Kerala, and he had a fatal accident. He had a head on collision with a jeep. He was rushed to a hospital about 35 miles away but he died on the way.

.

Fr Tom's soul left his body and he experienced death. He saw his body and the people who were carrying him to the hospital. He heard them crying and praying for him.He then met his Guardian angel. His angel said to him: "I am going to take you to Heaven, the Lord wants to meet you and talk with you." He also said that as part of that journey he wanted to show Fr Tom hell and purgatory. 

.

This is how Fr Tom describes his visit to Hell and Purgatory Hell"First, the angel escorted me to hell. It was an awful sight! I saw Satan and the devils, an unquenchable fire ,worms crawling, people screaming and fighting, others being tortured by demons. I was told there are seven "degrees" or levels of suffering in the netherworld. Those who committed "mortal sin after mortal sin" in life were suffering the most intense heat. They had bodies and looked very ugly, so cruel and ugly, horrifying. They were human but like monsters: fearful, ugly-looking things. The angel told me that all these sufferings were due to unrepented mortal sins.Then, I understood that there are seven degrees of suffering or levels according to the number and kinds of mortal sins committed in their earthly lives. The souls looked very ugly, cruel and horrific. It was a fearful experience. I saw people whom I knew but I am not allowed to reveal their identities. The sins that convicted them were mainly abortion, homosexuality, sins of the flesh, euthanasia, hatefulness, lack of forgiveness and sacrilege.

.

The angel told me that if they had repented they would have avoided hell and gone instead to purgatory. I also understood that some people who repent from these sins might be purified on earth through their sufferings. This way they can avoid purgatory and go straight to heaven. I was surprised when I saw in hell even Priests and Bishops, some of whom I never expected to see. Many of them were there because they had misled the people with false teaching and bad example.

.

After the visit to hell, my Guardian angel escorted me to Purgatory. Here too, there are seven degrees of suffering and unquenchable fire. But it is far less intense than hell and there was neither quarreling nor fighting. The main suffering of these so is their separation from God. Some of those who are in Purgatory committed numerous mortal sins; but they were reconciled with God before their death. Even though these souls are suffering, they enjoy peace and the knowledge that one day they will see God face to face.I had a chance to communicate with the souls in Purgatory. They asked me to pray for them and to tell the people to pray for them as well, so they can go to heaven quickly. 

.

When we pray for these souls we will receive their gratitude through their prayers and once they enter heaven their prayers become even more meritorious.

.

Next, my angel escorted me to heaven passing through a big dazzling white tunnel. I never experienced this much peace and joy in my life. Then immediately the heaven opened up and I heard the most delightful music, which I never heard before. The angels were singing and praising God. I saw all the saints, especially the Blessed Mother and St. Joseph, and many dedicated holy Bishops and Priests who were shining like stars.

.

And when I appeared before the Lord, Jesus told me: "I want you to go back to the world. In your second life you will be an instrument of peace and healing to my people. You will walk in a foreign land and you will speak in a foreign tongue. Everything is possible for you with my grace." After these words, the Blessed Mother told me, "Do whatever He tells you. [John 2:5] I will help you in your ministries."Words can not express the beauty of heaven. There we find so much peace and happiness, which exceed a million times our imagination. 

.

Our Lord is far more beautiful than any image can convey. His face is radiant and luminous and more beautiful than a thousand rising suns. The pictures we see in the world are only a shadow of His magnificence. The Blessed Mother was next to Jesus; she was so beautiful and radiant. None of the images we see in this world can compare with her real beauty. Heaven is our real home: we are all created to reach heaven and enjoy God forever. 

.

Back to Earth. 

As they were moving my dead body to the morgue, my soul came back to the body. I felt an excruciating pain because of so many wounds and broken bones. I began to scream and then the people became frightened and ran away screaming.One of them approached the doctor and said: "The dead body is screaming." The doctor came to examine the body and found that I was alive. So he said: "Father is alive. It is a miracle - take him back to the hospital."

Family Prayer

My wife and I were invited to a Family conference a few years ago as part of a panel discussion on conflict resolution in families. As the building block of society and the church, what happens within families is vitally important and perhaps that is why it’s always under attack. “When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions!” 

One of my grandmother’s catch phrases was ‘he played (H)amlet’ which she used to describe the annoyance and often over-reaction people have when they argue. Perhaps we can all relate and recall occasions when the top was left off the toothpaste (or the seat left up) and we recited a demented monologue from a Shakespearean tragedy in response.

Our contribution to the family conference discussion was more on prevention rather than cure though. For many years now, we have the practice of praying together each morning, before any fuse can be lit. As a discipline it has been transformative in our lives and it really does work; we offer the day to God, pray for mercy and forgiveness, for protection during the day, our work and activities, seek the intercession of the angels and saints, bless the house with Holy water regularly too.  This morning prayer together, has become more important than breakfast. If we don’t lay the day’s foundation in prayer, someone else will, in discord.

Family prayer is often neglected nowadays and family members can often have their day ruined even before they leave the house in the morning if they go into the day unprepared or unprotected. That has been our observation. The challenge we gave to the participants was ‘try it and see’.

She hated her father! .a story from Germany

From the Children of Medjugorje Newsletter

During the 70’s, in Germany. Monica was 17 when she lost her mother whom she loved very much. She was left behind with three siblings and her father who was a non-practicing protestant and an architect near Bonn. Monica detested her father. He had very little interaction with his children, so she found him cold, rigid, and insensitive. Since she was unable to connect with him on a heart level, she moved out at 17, using her studies as an excuse.

At the age of 20, she had a deep experience of God in her bedroom, and she conceived a great love for Jesus. Through some Protestant brothers, she understood that loving and forgiving her father are part of God’s commandments, you will honor you father and mother, so she made several attempts to do so. Eventually she offered to spend a vacation alone with him in the beautiful Swiss mountains. In the heart of this magnificent scenery, she discovered the truth about her father’s heart and started to love him. She also understood that his suffering was caused by a very difficult childhood. She forced herself to focus on the positive points of their relationship, rather than straining with the contentious ones. She also became aware of her own faults, the ones she had in common with her father; and she began asking him for forgiveness. She prayed and slowly discovered within her father a child capable of being in awe.

Then a providential event took place. She was with her father and his friends (who had, like him, run away from East Germany just before the closing of the Berlin wall) when her father became a different person. In a different context he was vulnerable, open, obviously his true self. Monica discovered everything he had suffered because of his exile and how he was forced to harden his heart in order to survive. She understood also how children can too quickly reject their parents and make them become as hard as marble. Monica’s heart opened to this “unknown” father and at last a dialogue started between them.

When she was 26, she was working as a nurse in a home for the elderly. She worked the night shift and often found herself alone in the service. Every two weeks, she visited her father. She worried about his loneliness.

At 77, her father enjoyed good health and there was no inkling of any medical condition. One day he went to the hospital for a minor overnight procedure. That same night, Monica was working the night shift when suddenly a strong feeling seized her. In her heart, she knew that she must go immediately to be near her father. At sunrise she got into the car and drove two hours non-stop at full speed in the rain and fog. She was going through an inner struggle, ‘I’m crazy, I could go see my father later, why should I go there now?’

However her intuition was too strong. She sensed that this encounter with her father would be important, and she began to pray. When she arrived in Bonn, instead of going to the hospital, she felt an urge to go first to her father’s house, without knowing why. The house was empty. Monica walked toward the armoire, opened a drawer and found a document unknown to her. She took it and quickly went to the hospital where she found her father in excellent condition. They opened the document together and found the diary that he had written when he was young.

They came upon a story of a hike that he had made with his friends when he was 17, during the War of 1940-1945. On that day, at the top of the mountain, her father and his friends had marveled at creation, as if they had seen the glory of God. The story was extremely moving. Monica and her father started to cry. For Monica, the moment was as if a corner of heaven was opened. The visit lasted 3 hours. The father-daughter relationship deepened and there was a true exchange of hearts.

Monica asked him if he would give his life to the Lord. Her father accepted and there they prayed together for the very first time! Since her father did not know how to pray, he asked her to say the prayers and he would repeat them after her. Monica began a spontaneous prayer, simple, as the Holy Spirit inspired her. A great union of hearts developed during that prayer too.

Taking advantage of the occasion, Monica told her father how much she loved him and she thanked him. It was a little like a declaration of love, sober but sincere. She asked his forgiveness for all the hurt that her attitude toward him might have caused. Then his roommate returned and her father walked his daughter to the door. From a distance he waved to her good-bye and Monica noticed a light surrounding him. Monica was full of joy and returned to work. Three days later she received a call from her brother saying that their father had just died very peacefully, alone.

Monica is now catholic. Her journey to forgiveness is encouraging! At times we feel unable to forgive a person who has hurt us. But doesn’t God offer each one of us a path of mercy and peace? We find it only kneeling down, in a heartfelt prayer. This reconciliation between Monica and her father is beautiful, but more beautiful still is the way Monica listened to the Holy Spirit and let Him guide her, without taking into account her feeling of repulsion towards her father. We depend too much on our feelings; we speak too much about them; we judge too much; we ‘ruminate’ and we constantly comment on evil; we feed upon sad stories. But happy are those who listen to the whisper of God in their hearts and who let the beautiful flower of forgiveness bloom, sprouting even in the middle of sordid garbage. Our garbage will pass but the flower and its fruits will remain. They come from God.

Children of God

Peace truly sets us free to be the people
God has created us to be.
Before peace can bond nations,
it must dwell in the hearts and lives
of the citizens of the world,
binding us together as children of God

Peace ...be Reconcilled

Father O'Malley was pastor of a small parish in Grass Valley, California. One evening while he was preparing his homily for the coming Sunday, his telephone rang.

The weather was stormy, and all the electrical lines were down. A voice on the other end of the telephone said, "Fr. O'Malley, I am calling from the local hospital and we have a terminally ill patient here who is asking to see a priest about the last rites, can you come quickly?"The trip was 30 miles, the going was rough as trees and power lines were down.

The nurse met Fr. O'Malley at the door, and thanked him for coming. The person who wants to see you, Father, is an alcoholic, but he is still coherent but is slipping fast. Fr. O'Malley asked the nurse what the patients name was. She answered, the hospital calls him Tom.

Fr. O'Malley went into Tom's room and said to Tom, "I was just passing thru and thought I would visit you before you sleep.""Don't give me any of that garbage", Tom replied, "I asked that nurse to call someone to give me the last rites because I know my time is done and its my turn to go. Now get with it.""Would you like to make a confession?" the priest asked Tom.

"Absolutely not" Tom answered. They talked for a long time and occasionally Father would ask Tom if he was ready for confession. After some time Tom told Father that he had done something in his life that was with him every day and he did not feel that God would forgive him.

Finally after some time, Tom agreed to tell the priest his story. "Thirty-two years ago, two months and eleven days ago, I was working for the railroad. It happened in a bad storm. It was two days before Christmas and the whole crew was drunk. Someone had to go out and push the switch for the train to go northbound. I guess I was more drunk than the rest because I pushed the switch in the wrong direction.

At 45 miles per hour the freight train slammed into a passenger car at the end of the next crossing and killed a young man, his wife, and their two daughters. I have had to live with that all of my life," Tom said.

There was a moment of silence as Tom's confession of this tragedy hung in the air. After what seemed like an eternity, Fr. O'Malley gently put his hand on Tom's shoulder and said very quietly. "If I can forgive you, God can forgive you, because in that car were my mother, my father and my two sisters.

Do we still find it difficult to forgive anyone?

Watchmen ... a story from 4th Century Eygpt

The Fathers went into the caves of the desert and they were referred to as, "Keepers of the walls," and, "Guardians of the world & peace." They considered themselves as commissioned to keep watch on the world's frontiers and waged war in prayer against the demonic powers that invaded the world of mankind. The monks were thought of as trees - purifying the atmosphere by their presence.

These desert monks were considered in 4th century Egypt, to be a force of spiritual power for their neighbors and towns and cities. Their whole life was dedicated to prayer and fasting and spiritual warfare, not for themselves or their own needs, but to intercede for those around and for the whole world. They made the desert blossom, both spiritually and physically, for apart from prayer, they also grew many foods in the desert.

Appollo was famous for his personal austerity and fasting, and the monks and cave-dwellers ate once or twice a week. But when there was a famine in Thebaid, the people in the town assumed that as always the communities of monks would have plenty of food, which they indeed did!

Demolishing the Temples
The Christianity of Egypt was a new thing but the diocese of Alexandria was a flourishing Christian center by the 3rd century. Nevertheless ancient heathen temples remained along the Nile. Theophilus the Bishop, one day summoned some of the Fathers to come to Alexandria and pray and demolish the deities of the heathen temples.

Their motive in separating themselves was to give their hearts the opportunity to focus on God alone. They went without, gave up the comforts of the towns and villages in order to give themselves to spiritual warfare on the behalf of others. They kept watches in the day and night. To "Stand by night in the House of the Lord," they took literally, and regulated their sleep so as not to give the flesh an opportunity to rule. A student of the monks of Nitria said, "Some of them never sleep at night - but either sitting or standing they persevered in prayer until the morning light." The attitude was positive, they were not refusing to sleep, but they were keeping watch. It was commonly believed among the Desert Fathers that, "One hour of sleep at night was enough for one who was a fighter."

Demons and Angels:
In their devotion to spiritual warfare, the Desert Fathers had many encounters with angels and demonic powers. They exercised great discernment and could see very clearly and deeply into the spiritual realm. One of the first and probably the most famous of these desert monks was Anthony the Great A.D. 251 - A.D.356

Anthony's Revelation:
Anthony went into the desert at age 35 and stayed for 20 years alone, interceding and praying. Anthony said, regarding the discerning of spirits and spiritual warfare, "Let us pray that we may know the hidden things, that we may have power from God to stand against the darts of the evil one. And if we desire to know the hidden things, then we must have our hearts pure, that we may be a habitation for the Holy Spirit and then He will abide and rest in us, and the light that proceeds from Him will enable us to see hidden things; even from remote distances. Did not Elisha because of the purity of his heart, see with his spirit that which his natural eyes had never seen. We must then see and make a distinction between the things of God and the things of the congregation of the Evil one.....This fact I have learned from long experience. The visions and revelations of the Holy Spirit are not of tumultuous character, but take place under conditions of peace and restfulness."

Discernment:
Anthony was constantly attacked by demonic powers but learnt how to discern and take authority over them..The evil spirits would come and tell Anthony "prophetic" and informative things, but he said, "I have no need to learn things from you." He said, "On occasions they (the demons) would come and fill my house with snakes and all manner of reptiles, but I would tell them, "Be gone," and they would right away leave. Then they brought torches and threatened to set alight my cell with me in it, but I lifted up my voice in the Psalms and said, Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but I will be strong in the name of the Lord our God, and immediately the devils disappeared from before me. After a month another band of demons came again in the form of singers and began to sing and speak to me with words from the Scriptures, but as a deaf man I did not hearken to them." "Another time they came back and shook my habitation where I was living, but I laughed at them, for my confidence was in the Lord. And my mind was in no way disturbed by them."

"And then they came to me with such clamor and dancing and singing and clapping, but then when they saw that I did not cease to pray or sing Psalms, (as other men who have been defeated by them), their songs turned into lamentations and they began to wail. Then I gave thanks to my good Lord because He has broken and brought low their arrogance and folly."

False Light:
"On another occasion the devil appeared to me in the form of a monk and gave me false counsel telling me to rest from praying because I was after all only a man of flesh and blood. I gave him no answer but bowed myself to the Lord and asked Him to make an end of this devil, and the demon vanished like smoke from my door."

Satan appeared:
The devil came many many times to Anthony. Satan came to his door one night and told Anthony that the "Christians were filling the desert and that his own people did not follow him for any other reason that he held them captive."Anthony and others like him, lived in the Spirit and many people came to them for counsel of their wisdom, for they were able to see the matters in hand by the Spirit, and discern and pray and minister in the realm of the unseen world. Governors and other great men and women came into the desert seeking out the prayers and ministry and counsel of the Desert Fathers who had given themselves to prayer and spiritual warfare.