Our War Against Satanic Forces

I don't have time right now to do this topic sufficient justice.  However, I believe that it is imperative to provide some resources that are crucial, especially in light of investigating some of my blog history over the months. 

I've noticed that some have happened upon my blog via others.  Upon noticing some of these others and investigating so as to learn a little about my readers, I decided that this is the time to address the topic of spiritual warfare. 

Dear friends, the devil is smart.  After all, he is a fallen angel, and while he may be damned forever in Hell, he has not lost his angelic intelligence.  He's a lot smarter than you or I.  We have human intelligence, and consequently we really haven't a chance against angelic intelligence.  We are kidding ourselves if we think we can simply sit back on our laurels and pretend all is well -- even given the fact that God is a lot stronger than Satan, and through the merits of Christ's saving Passion and death on the cross, we have God on our side.  That doesn't give us license to sit back and act like we don't have to do anything in our part in spiritual warfare. 

So in observing where a few followers led me, I realized it may be useful to recommend some prayers for help in our battle against Satan and all his clever deceptions.  As I stated before, he's no dummy.  He has many ways of attack.

Let us take a person who is sincerely striving to live a good life.  This person, let us assume, desires nothing more than a strong lifelong marriage and a happy, holy family.  To this end, this individual strives in every possible way to live as our Lord would wish, including his or her proper role in life and in marriage.

Satan, knowing the desires of this person and the end goal he is striving toward, will use those good and upright desires to do good in order to lead that person astray.  He will plant things, people, websites, and blogs in the path of that person.  At first, these give all the appearances of good on the surface.  Then they are not so good, then they go ever so gradually into a slow approval of things that are immoral.  The devil plants thoughts in one's mind:  "Oh, this really isn't so bad.  After all, I have a good intention," and one continues to drift down the slippery slope.  Little by little, Satan can lead him into gravely sinful practices.  Under the guise of "marriage help", these things can even include pornography, and eventually this unfortunate person can become so entangled that it seems almost hopeless to extricate himself. 

But extricate himself he must.  And it can be done.  If you have been so unfortunate as to drift into these dangerous waters, my prayers and the prayers of many others are always with you.  Be assured of this.  But it is you who must make the decision ultimately to change and reject that which is wrong.  There is help available for you.  Take advantage of this help and you will not find yourself alone in your struggle, and don't worry if you fail again.  Have courage and get up again.  God's grace will never be found wanting. 

To those who promote evil, pornography and unnatural practices in the name of helping others in marriage, you must stop now.  Turn away from such practices and ask for the forgiveness of God.  He is infinite in mercy and will forgive you if you sincerely request it of him.  There is help available for you as well.  You'll also be prayed for as well for your help in recovering from sin.  In the meantime, there will be also constant prayer that your evil works will be thwarted.  By means of evil pictures and evil writings, you are leading others down a path of total destruction, and you must answer for it. 

In today's day and age, it is even more imperative than ever before to fight against these pernicious evils.  Pornography, unnatural acts, immoral evils of all kinds are the scourge of the age.  They can be overcome, but only with prayer.

To that end, I would like to make available to you a site with suggestions that was referred to me by a good friend, one day when we were discussing the distressing moral (or rather immoral) events of these past months.  We have decided to pray these prayers of spiritual warfare.  I would like to show it to you so that you may decide if it's something you would like to do as well.

Auxilium Christianorum is a prayer confraternity dedicated to daily prayer to drive the demons of Hell away from ourselves and others, and to pray for priests who have been appointed by their bishops as diocesan exorcists. 

You can print out the booklet (it's available as a free download) or just bookmark it on your computer if you prefer (useful for those whose work requires them to sit at a computer all day).  Pray in particular for defense against the demons of impurity and immodesty. 

The Auxilium Christianorum page is being put on the sidebar for your convenience. 

Dear readers, please take this in the spirit in which it is written and remember that prayers will always be coming your way.  Do not promote evil.

I hope to write a little more on another aspect of this subject at another time.  In the meantime, please check out the Auxilium Christianorum link. 

Another Blogger Buddy

Check out My Domestic Monastery, a blog run by a young wife and mother of a little one and another on the way as of the present time.  She's beginning her homeschooling journey now with her little girl and is loving every minute of it.

Adding her to the sidebar, of course. :-) 

Yet Another Modest Clothing Resource

Once again, it gives me great pleasure to direct you to another lovely modest clothing resource, Lilies of the Field.

The name, of course, comes from the concept of purity being the lily of virtues of a true woman of God.  In The Catholic Girl's Guide by the Rev. Fr. F. X. Lasance, he likens each virtue in a young lady to a particular flower, forming the wreath of unfaded blossoms.  The lily has traditionally been associated with purity, chastity and modesty.

I'm adding the link to Lilies of the Field to the sidebar for convenience.  Again, as with many custom-made clothing resources, it's important to plan in the budget for these things as they are not mass-produced in China, but painstakingly sewn by ladies in their own homes generally.  So prices can often be a little high, but remember that you are supporting cottage industries and keepers of the home. 

Modest Swimwear -- Part Two

As I mentioned before, I LOVE the Wholesome Wear products.  They are a bit expensive, so you need to plan this into your budget in order to get one of these wonderful swimsuits. 

Check out the Wholesome Wear swimsuits with your choice of three fashionable modest styles for ladies' and girls' swimsuits.  In my opinion, these are the best of the ready-made swimsuits that are available out there.  I've never found any that I liked quite as well as these. 

Modest Swimwear

We're at that time of the year again, hot weather is coming up for those living in the northern hemisphere.  And of course, we will be greeted once again by swimming suits that might as well not be worn at all.

I loved this one:
Duggar Family Wears Unusual Swimsuits

Way to go, Duggar family! :-)

Wholesome Wear is a little pricey for me.  I love their things, but the budget does not.  So I did my own stuff.  We have a wholesale fabric place here that sold swimsuit-appropriate knits by the pound (per pound of fabric, you can buy as much as you like, they plop it on a scale and charge you so much per pound).  This is what I came up with:

This is a two-piece.  The top has elbow length sleeves.  The skirt comes to below the knees.

Shorts are sewn inside. 

I purchased the pattern at Fashionably Modest Patterns.

NOTA BENE:  When shopping for swimsuit material, be sure to purchase only knits that are chlorine-resistant.  If you don't, your swimsuit will start falling apart prematurely.  However, with a little planning you can pass down outgrown swimsuits to the younger girls, if you get a good fabric. Tops need to be made long enough to tuck into skirt waistbands.  Alternatively, you can put snaps on to have the two pieces snap together. 

...as the not-so-fun activity starts to become fun...gradually...

(Drop your wrist!)

Taken during a performance of various Suzuki pieces, a couple of folk songs and the Minuet 1 by Johann Sebastian Bach. 

One Satisfied Customer

So...do you think he likes spaghetti? :-)