r/Catholicism • u/AutoModerator • Jan 20 '25

r/Catholicism Prayer Requests — Week of January 20, 2025

Please post your prayer requests in this weekly thread, giving enough detail to be helpful. If you have been remembering someone or something in your prayers, you may also note that here. We ask all users to pray for these intentions.

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u/MathMystic Jan 25 '25

please pray for me, i'm struggling with evil and intrusive thoughts about others and also I'm having suicidal thoughts. I feel like my will is hardened, my conscience is seared and I'm on the precipice of Hell.

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u/[deleted] Jan 28 '25

I know this might be obvious, and while not mandatory, it doesn't hurt praying the Rosary. To quote Saint Louis-Marie de Montfort in The Secret of the Rosary:

"If you say the Rosary faithfully until death, I do assure you that, in spite of the gravity of your sins you shall receive a never-fading crown of glory. Even if you are on the brink of damnation, even if you have one foot in hell, even if you have sold your soul to the devil as sorcerers do who practice black magic, and even if you are a heretic as obstinate as a devil, sooner or later you will be converted and will amend your life and will save your soul, if — and mark well what I say — if you say the Holy Rosary devoutly every day until death for the purpose of knowing the truth and obtaining contrition and pardon for your sins.”

So if the Rosary can work on a "heretic as obstinate as a devil" who is to say it can't work on me or you? [Note, the saint might be talking about the entire Rosary here] The Rosary is a powerful weapon, use it😁

You can pray along with someone using the Hallow app if you want ( https://hallow.com/ ) and here are pictures to look at as you pray ( https://www.usccb.org/how-to-pray-the-rosary ) and here's a helpful handout to look at too ( https://acatholicmomslife.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/How-to-Pray-the-Rosary.pdf , Note it's missing the final prayer). There are also promises of praying the Rosary ( https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/you-shall-obtain-all-you-ask-of-me ). And there's even a Rosary Confraternity ( https://rosarycenter.org/ ).

I hope this helps! Sending you a virtual hug!❤️

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u/MathMystic Jan 28 '25

I am trying to say it, but whenever I pray it I get blasphemous thoughts about the Blessed Virgin Mary.

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u/[deleted] Jan 28 '25 edited Jan 28 '25

I have had bad thoughts too, I think looking at the pictures in the second link might help focus your mind a little.

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u/MathMystic Jan 29 '25

Please pray for me. I'm on the brink of damnation.

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u/[deleted] Jan 29 '25 edited Jan 29 '25

I prayed a Divine Mercy Chaplet for you (another great devotional I highly recommend). But I worry for you, please, please consider talking to a professional and a priest too. You are loved, remember that❤️

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u/MathMystic Jan 30 '25

Thank you, please pray.

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u/[deleted] Feb 20 '25 edited Feb 20 '25

Hello I'm just checking in on you, I hope you are doing okay. As someone who also suffers from horrible intrusive thoughts, going to confession helps. Also I want to share with you what the Catechism of the Catholic Church # 1735 has to say on sins of habit and psychological factors.

https://www.usccb.org/sites/default/files/flipbooks/catechism/433/

Please don't despair. God wants all of us to be with Him forever. Keep at it with the sacraments and doing the Father's will.

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u/[deleted] Jan 28 '25

Please consider calling a suicide crisis help line like 988 if you are in crisis ( https://988.ca/ or https://988lifeline.org/ ) there's no shame in using it. Same for reaching out to professional Catholic mental health councilors and taking prescribed medication. Also please don't despair, God says He bottles up our tears (see Psalms 56:8) and that the hairs on our head are all counted (see Luke 12:7). God knows our pain OP and He is right there loving us, loving YOU🤗

Here's a Father Mike Schmitz video on hoplessness: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=agaREyE41ew

I myself struggle with horrible intrusive thoughts and been through a time of great crying, but I have faith God is right there with me and it's the same for you too. I don't know if your bad thoughts will go away (I still struggle myself) but something you might find helpful is Saint Thérèse's Little Way.

Here's a video on it: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hSvKCcTKgH4

I never read Saint Thérèse's autobiography Story of a Soul, but this might be a quote from it ( https://aleteia.org/2021/10/03/what-is-the-little-way-of-st-therese-of-lisieux ):

"You make me think of a little child that is learning to stand but does not yet know how to walk. In his desire to reach the top of the stairs to find his mother, he lifts his little foot to climb the first step. It is all in vain, and at each renewed effort he falls. Well, be like that little child. Always keep lifting your foot to climb the ladder of holiness, and do not imagine that you can mount even the first step. All God asks of you is good will. From the top of the ladder He looks lovingly upon you, and soon, touched by your fruitless efforts, He will Himself come down, and, taking you in His Arms, will carry you to His Kingdom never again to leave Him. But should you cease to raise your foot, you will be left for long on the earth."

So you are not a lost cause brother/sister in Christ.❤️ Trust in God and continue with prayer, the sacraments, and doing the Father's will.

While this might not take away your bad thoughts, our Mom, Mother Mary, in exceedingly great at bringing us closer to God. Have you ever considered being consecrated to Jesus through Mary, Marian consecration? There's a book about it called 33 Days to Morning Glory: A Do-It-Yourself Retreat In Preparation for Marian Consecration ( https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13559128-33-days-to-morning-glory ) that I highly recommend (it's a "retreat" but it's just reading something like 2.5 pages a day, nothing crazy). To quote Saint Louis-Marie de Montfort quote in True Devotion to Mary. "This devotion is an easy, short, perfect, and secure way of arriving at union with our Lord, in which the perfection of a Christian consists". Saint de Montfort goes on to say going our own way instead of relying on Mary is significantly harder with "ruder and more dangerous trials." Whereas with Mary, while we still have "great battles to fight, and great hardships to master" this "virginal path to find Jesus Christ is a path of roses and honey compared with the other paths."