Visions.

[Annie12]

Yeah... I would defiantly get someone to talk to if I were you. Maybe you could e-mail someone about them and just ask your question. Maybe your parish priest or you bishop.

[arfink]

[quote name='Annie12' timestamp='1333681702' post='2413530']
Yeah... I would defiantly get someone to talk to if I were you. Maybe you could e-mail someone about them and just ask your question. Maybe your parish priest or you bishop.
[/quote]

Well, my pastor I could definitely ask. As for the bishop- I live in a very large metropolitan see. I don't think he'd be able to spare time to help me, though I suppose I could ask. I have a few priests in mind to ask.

Having been to seminary at least gives me this advantage- I know a great number of the priests in the diocese, and I know which ones are the best.

[BarbTherese]

[quote name='arfink' timestamp='1333661851' post='2413451'] Sorry I didn't respond sooner- I'd like to point out that this has happened to me for a while before going on ADD meds, while I did a few years on ADD meds, and continues even now, when I have been off my ADD meds for over 3 years. So yes. Not sure why I'm bothering to offer more information when you keep saying the same thing... I dunno. Thanks all the same! [/quote]

Apologies for the repitition!

[Tab'le De'Bah-Rye]

pax domine bretheren,sympathiesers and others...
Be careful of signs,personal revalations etc etc. I only say this because we must remember Grace is enough, i have a problem with a vision i saw once or twice and now i try and force it in my imagination, let it go once it has passed Arf it may just be a personal sign that God is with you, all prophetic communal signs and prophecy that are for the universal church and/or the world must be okayed by the holy father and the magesterium, also i'm glad you shared this with us has cleared something up for me, all glory to God amen

Jesus iz LORD.
Jc "seek and ye shall find." "knock and the door will be opened." "be baptised and believe and you will be saved."
O.T. "Don't drink with drunkards."

St Mary mackillop of the cross "be eager in your desires but patient in there accomplishment."
St Francessca Cabrini "he that dares nothing recieves nothing, a missionary should be fearless."

Tab'le "Faith,Works and Grace.Go figure refelects the holy trinity."

[Tab'le De'Bah-Rye]

[quote name='J-Roq' timestamp='1332897043' post='2409443']
I think it's important to pray, pray, pray, and pray more on this. The devil can be very tricky and deceptive, and there have been many references to his wily and confusing tricks. I would continue asking pious people for their interpretations regarding your visions, and if I were you I would not wish for more or less of them, nor linger on what you see. Most importantly: PRAY. If you have been blessed with something wonderful by God, then you should pray to understand that gift so that you can properly thank Him for it and use it the way He wants you to. If this is not a gift from God, then you should pray to control it or free yourself of it.

I don't know if you should draw what you see until you understand what you are seeing, but I am certainly not qualified to give that kind of advice. I can only really advise you to do what I know is right: pray!
[/quote]

What J said

[MarysLittleFlower]

I agree with the advice of just ignoring them and focusing on prayer until you receive spiritual direction. Be open and honest with your SD. By ignoring them I don't mean rejecting them, maybe write down what they are so you can tell your priest, but - don't constantly think about them etc, try to just focus on your regular spiritual life - Sacraments, prayer, Rosary, etc.

God bless

[cmaD2006]

Visions in prayer - yes the can happen, and not very many spiritual directors can readily handle them.

Personally speaking, if/whenever I have any experiences that go towards the mystical my spiritual director sends me to his spiritual director who has more experience in this area.

BarbTherese is right in saying not to place a heavy importance on it. Especially since you may not have been able to properly discern them.

Finally it does look a bit positive when your director tells you to give thanks. Ok - so thank the Giver of the gift (the Lord) and ask Him to give you the grace to discern it.

[Tally Marx]

Hello, Arfink!

I know many people who have had visions (be they imaginary, bodily, or intellectual). Even some of my closest friends do not readily discuss what they have seen. Therefore, I would be willing to bet that it occurs more often than it seems.
Different people react differently. I'm not the best at advice-giving, but I would encourage you not to make any decisions based on these visions. Don't take a new job, eat spaghetti, or do anything just because you saw it in a vision. But do think about what you have seen or heard, reflect and pray about it. If you find them spiritually edifying--if they assist you in prayer, peace, or some virtue--then they are not harmful and are probably from God. If they are not assisting you spiritually, or if they are unsettling you, or are hindering you as you strive to be holy, then they aren't from God. In this case, ignore them, and pray to be relieved of them.

A spiritual director will help to tell if you are advancing spiritually, staying still, or degressing. It is difficult to find an SD which can assist you beyond that, because there really isn't anything they can do beyond that. They can't interpret visions for you or stop you from having them.

I can ask some of my friends what they did when they began "seeing things". But this, I think, is the most common reaction, and in my mind the most prudent.

[AccountDeleted]

I know this is a very sensitive topic but I might share some things that our Extraordinary Confessor in Carmel told me during a spiritual direction session. He said that the Catholic Church is always very sceptical about visions of any kind and that someone experiencing them should be sceptical too. Then he went on to say that whether thery are divine in origin or not, as far as possible, they should be disregarded as being of no real significance to one's spiritual life. And he highly recommended NOT to discuss them with anyone apart from a spiritual director as they can be a real source of spiritual vanity.

A Jesuit SD said to me, "You can always tell the devil by his tale." He interpreted this to mean that a good indicator of whether an experience is from the evil one is by looking at the final outcome... does the person grow in holiness, as indicated through increased humility, charity towards other, and faith in God, or does the person become more self-important, full of pride and self-love? Ask yourself if your experiences lead you to be more faithful to the Church, more trusting in God and more patient with others. If they do, then each time you have one,give thanks to God and then let it go.

[BarbTherese]

I like what nunsense has shared. I think that any sort of unusual spiritual experience would make a humble person feel entirely humbled and very small, insignificant, confused, and if aware that they are not of necessity from God, to feel absolutely suspect and full of doubt and misgivings; to seek spiritual direction on the matter, due to the disturbance of (not of necessity "the lack of") Peace due to the doubts and misgivings. If an experience is from God and one strives to ignore it and to take no notice at all, one can be asssured that if from God, His Truth will prevail always and nothing whatsoever on the earth or elsewhere can prevent it. True spiritual experiences from God always will have a result of growth in virtue and sound, wise and holy spiritual direction will be dismissive of the event waiting to sight the results of the event.
I like very much "You can always tell the devil by his tale"

Edited April 15, 2012 by BarbaraTherese

[cmaD2006]

[quote name='BarbaraTherese' timestamp='1334462102' post='2418018']
True spiritual experiences from God always will have a result of growth in virtue and sound, wise and holy spiritual direction will be dismissive of the event waiting to sight the results of the event.
[/quote]

Yes -- when spiritual experiences are not of God the result is a diminishment, and eventually it will lead to desolation (and a "spiritual energy" loss -- I hate using the word energy due to the New Age connoctations but I can't find an alternate word for it).

[BarbTherese]

Using imagination only, I tend to think that being advised to ignore and take no notice of the experience(s) would bring some relief to a person of humility, while the opposite might be insisting on the validity of the experience and/or questioning the dismissive attitude of a director. 'The tale of the devil' thus reveals itself in a certain pride (of knowledge) and self assertion, rather than the quite humble acceptance and following of the advice of a director. Thus the interior disposition of the person is revealed.

If one reads the lives of some of our mystic saints, their experience is curtailed by an obedience by a superior. As when St Faustina was collapsed on the floor and unable to get up until her superior ordered her to do so under obedience. Obedience is always an entirely powerful virtue that seemingly 'even The Lord obeys' - in that the experience of collapsed St Faustina was a valid one. In her diaries, Jesus does give her some strong advice on obedience and its importance and necessity, although I cannot recall exactly what just now - only that it reinforced for me the importance of obedience.

[cartermia]

Okay you are not alone on this (this kinda happens to my but in my sleep and somtimes in my prayer or playing in my grandparents' creek). I am only 13 and this started when I was 12 or 11, you just have to believe that it is what you saw or heard and trust in God.  Everybody who I have talked to just said to pray pray and pray; do they think that I am not praying constantly after this happens!?

 

You are not alone just remember that. :pray: and love God always.