Michael H. Brown's Talk: Reclaiming North America's Christianity

Michael H. Brown's book, Where the Cross Stands and Fr. John Hampsch, CMF Prayer For Healing the Family Tree

Today's post is the last in a series of blog posts on Michael H. Brown's talks given during the Marian Day Retreat on May 20, 2017, here in Toronto, at Canada Christian College. It was a grace-filled day, organized by Ave Maria Centre of Peace, that consisted of four intriguing and thought-provoking talks on: Heaven, Hell and Purgatory; Spiritual Warfare and Family Healing; The Current Prophetic Pulse; and Reclaiming North America's Christianity. 

Attending this year's Marian Day Retreat was an especially beneficial time for me as I had greatly anticipated these talks having known about them for many years; part of an impressive list of contributions that Michael H. Brown has made to fellow Catholics and Christians alike to reclaim North America's Christianity.

Michael H. Brown is a prayer warrior whose mission has been to strengthen his brethren primarily in North America and throughout the world. In addition to his talks, he has accomplished this through the writing of his many books, articles, and blog posts which are available at his web site, Spirit Daily.com—a web site that I first discovered in 2001—where one can find: the truth, knowledge, and understanding of the Catholic faith journey; current, real, and relevant news; information on the events and signs of our times; and resources on spiritual warfare, healing, and the afterlife.

In typical fashion at the Marian Day Retreats, each one of the four talks was preceded by prayer: the first three by the group recitation of the Rosary, and the last by the Divine Mercy Chaplet. Brown also added his own selected prayers that differed from talk to talk, imploring God's blessings, mercy, protection, healing, and deliverance upon all in attendance.

Reclaiming North America's Christianity entails many things, in particular prayer: prayer for conversions and purity of heart, that will stop God's chastisements upon the world; prayer for the spirit of truth, invoking the Holy Spirit to make the truth known to us; as Our Lady in Medjugorje stated in her January 25 message, prayer for peace in human hearts, families and the world, and to fight against materialism, modernism and egoism; and prayer for Divine Intervention to end the many evils of this world.

In addition, we also need to be cognizant of the signs of the times if we are going to pray to stop God's wrath upon us for our disobedience, and the disorder that we have created; and we need to seek an understanding about our mission in the Church and the world, and to go forth and fulfill it.

Brown has written about reclaiming North America's Christianity in his book, Where The Cross Stands; a book that, as is noted on the back cover, is a "...[M]ost powerful book about current events and the 'prophetic pulse' since Brown's 1992 best seller, The Final Hour." The accolade further describes this treasure trove of information as follows, "Michael H. Brown takes the reader on a fast-paced tour through America's often hidden history, surveying everything from culture to politics to apparitions of the Virgin Mary in a sweep through the decades and centuries that lead up to this present hour—and what is America's last chance to recover—to reclaim—its Christian and Catholic foundation."

Reclaiming North America's Christianity

Brown began this talk with Father John Hampsch's Prayer For Healing the Family Tree, part of which has been captured in the above photo. It is an important prayer and subject matter which you can further read about from Fr. Hampsch's book, Healing Your Family Tree.

The next thing that Brown shared with the audience was a "word of knowledge" from one particular individual (who remained anonymous) that receives message—four in the past twenty years—that Brown has been following. Here is the message that Brown read to the audience:

A new and great evil has now come and settled and will be there for the duration. It was a choice by man, including my people, who find deception and rancour, and rancour where was ordained love. Not for years will an interior light return for those whose god is gold and whose love is cold. Not since times in history deep ago, have my children so been skewed in what they perceive, with eyes that distort and minds that form reality in a way that has no true destiny. Flee to Saint Joseph and the Blessed Mother of the holm oak who tells us that brightness can be found only by those who practice the diligence of prayer amid consternation. Those who frame the future in accordance with their own time tables, now find disbelief in prophecies though they unfold around you.

Brown expanded upon the "new and great evil," specifically the growing division, deception, and rancour that exists both in the Church and in the world. If one looks to talk radio and television, people seem to always be at each other's throats, both conservatives and liberals. Brown interpreted  "ordained love," to mean the Church. He went on to describe how we see this today: factions fighting each other; liberals and the traditionalists, and the Marian people; Catholics will tell other Catholics that if you don't do things this way, "you're no good"; others attacking Medjugorje, and so forth.

An essential aspect of reclaiming North America's Christianity is prayer! Brown mentioned how important and necessary prayer is against existing and coming chastisements. Here is how he put it, "If we are going to think and pray when it comes to quote, chastisements, we must pray these things away. We must pray for the type of conversion and purity of heart that will stop epidemic..." 

When Brown mentioned this I could not help but think of a related post I wrote about prayer back in October 2016, The Rosary: An Effective Weapon Against the Evils of Society. At that post, I also included a list of the evils of today's world that could easily add to Brown's talk about the prophetic pulse and God's chastisements upon mankind for its disobedience to God: abortion, euthanasia, assisted suicide, New Age and occult practices, gender mainstreaming, gender ideology, the LGBTQ agenda, and other aspects of the global sexual revolution, just to name a few.

A little further in the talk, Brown cited a few examples of possible chastisements that, if they were to occur, would "illuminate our consciences." Further emphasizing the importance of prayer he stated, "That's why we need not wait for stuff to occur with excitement, but pray that none of this has to occur because things can be prayed away..."

As to what we should understand about prophecy with regard to chastisements, Brown actually explained and clarified this by quoting from Cardinal Bertone, Secretary of State for the Vatican from 2006-2013:

Cardinal Bertone, who used to be a high ranking official at the Vatican, in fact, he was in charge of the release of the third secret dealing with Sister Lucia [Fatima], but like he said, 'When a prophesy doesn't occur, it doesn't necessarily mean the prophecy is in error,' it just, the prophecy is showing you what would happen at that time in history if things continued as they were right at that time...Like Cardinal Bertone said, this is his quote, 'Prophecy does not predict some inevitable fate that is deterministically bound to happen no matter what. Otherwise we would be at the mercy of dark forces dangling us over an abyss of nothingness. That would make absolutely no sense given everything we know about theology, spirituality, or the Church. Prophecy gives us a glimpse of the wailful consequences of certain individual or collective actions of behaviours. It gives us a glimpse of them, but this doesn't mean they are necessarily bound to occur.

Putting things into perspective in our own time Brown stated, "The prophetic pulse is ringing pretty strongly." Citing from the prophecy of Our Lady, who appeared to a young, devout woman, Adele Brisé, in Wisconsin in 1859, he illustrated how we need to be part of the process of reclaiming Christianity in North America. Brown then read what Our Lady told Adele, "If they do not convert and do penance, my son will be obliged to punish them."

Commenting further on this apparition, Brown was quite adamant about how there should be no opposition to its authenticity, since it is an officially Church approved apparition. Brown also emphasized that prophecy should be understood as a matter of Divine Intervention:

Church approved apparition. The only one in the United States history and I believe the only one in North America; fully approved by the Church. If the Virgin Mary says that we get punished for sin, I don't want to hear said by anybody in the Church, that that's not true. It is throughout the bible, there is chastisement, there is purification, in God's mercy because he would rather do that then send people to Hell. I believe it when we are at a point in a region of the world or a city where there is more people going to Hell than not going to Hell, that's when he sends purification in mercy to stop it...to try wake people up.

Brown further stressed the importance of prophecy. Sadly, many pay no heed to them, thinking that nothing will happen, and carry on with their lives according to their own time tables. Brown described such people as those who, "Eat, drink, and be merry just like before the time of Noah." He then added his own recommendation, "We have to be careful about all these things...the future is extremely dynamic right now."

Michael H. Brown talking about the dynamic future and the prophecy from Howard Storm

Elaborating on that "dynamic future," Brown cited the near-death experience of Howard Storm and how the future may not be so bright for America. Here is what Brown had to say:

Doctor Howard Storm, when he claimed to have been shown the future by those angels, said that he was shown the United States was supposed to share more of its wealth with the rest of the world and because it did not, will be turned into a third-world country. I don't know if you noticed it from up here, but there are some glimmerings of that already. And broken down: the infrastructure broken down; this technology we have broken down; the end of our technological era; the regional chastisements; the rise of nefarious persons who will try to take advantage of the disorder...we are not talking about the end of the world, we are talking about the end of our era...because according to some of these people we were meant to live more simply and more in tune with what God created, instead of building a false world, and a false reality ourselves. It's Satan who was cast down for trying to ascend to the throne and be as God, and yet that is what our science too often, and our economy, aspire to do.

A particularly important point Brown that made about prophetic warnings and coming chastisements is that, "All these things can stopped, but we need to realize them to stop it." 

Brown emphasized how important coming to that realization is, which requires that we constantly pray for the spirit of truth; it is the truth that will set us free (John 8:32). Here is what he had to say about it:

That is something we should pray for constantly, not just about events like this, but in our own lives. The spirit of truth...the truth of who we are, the truth of circumstances, because it is the truth that sets you free...So, it is the Holy Spirit of truth that we have to remember to invoke, many, many times. All the time, especially now.

Elaborating on the importance of "now," Brown cited from the Marian apparitions in Medjugorje; one of many apparition sites that he subscribes to. He mentioned the prophetic messages coming out of Medjugorje—already considered to be a holy place, a shrine and designated as such by Cardinal Dr. Franjo Kuharić, Archbishop of Zagreb—including the ten secrets, part of which warns about chastisements for the world. So important are the messages coming from Medjugorje, that Brown read Our Lady's January 25, 2017, message to the visionary, Marija:

Dear children! Today I am calling you to pray for peace: peace in human hearts, peace in the families and peace in the world. Satan is strong and wants to turn all of you against God, and to return you to everything that is human, and to destroy in the heart all feelings towards God and the things of God. You, little children, pray and fight against materialism, modernism and egoism, which the world offers to you. Little children, you decide for holiness and I, with my Son Jesus, intercede for you. Thank you for having responded to my call.

It is a message that speaks volumes about the times and the world we live in, and what we need to do: pray, fight, and decide for holiness. Anyone seeking to better understand Medjugorje and Our Lady's messages should seriously consider reading Wayne Weible's book, Medjugorje The Last Apparition: How It Will Change The World.

Brown also referred to the Church approved apparition in Argentina, in the Diocese of San Nicolas, Buenos Aires, where Our Lady first appeared to the seer, Gladys Quiroga de Motta on September 25, 1983. This apparition also ties into the message Our Lady gave in Medjugorje regarding materialism. Brown read from one of Our Lady's messages to Gladys and added his commentary:

'At these moments all humanity is hanging by a thread. If the thread breaks, many will be those who do not reach salvation. That is why I call you to reflection. Hurry because time is running out; there is no room for those who delay in coming. Today the Sacred Heart of Jesus is beside you, to be your guide and to ward off the Evil One who is attacking with all his fury. The enemy attacks like a violent tempest in all places.' But she also says, she showed Gladys a wall and she said, 'This is my protecting cloak. The Lord places me like a shield, like a guardian; I will defend you my children. The enemy is challenging me pitilessly, he is tempting my children openly; it is a war between light and darkness; a constant persecution of my dear Church.' She also adds here, 'All is falsehood because it is a mistaken way of living.' Talking about materialism again, as was also emphasized in Kibeho, Rwanda.

When we read and hear about the enemy (the Evil One), our response should not be one of fear, but one of prayerful action: there is no need to run and try to avoid the battle because as Brown put it, "You will be protected wherever you are if you are under the Mantle of Virgin Mary, like Adele Brisé was during the great Peshtigo fire in 1871."

Michael H. Brown at the podium during his last talk at the Marian Day Retreat

Living under Our Lady's mantle is not some abstract concept, but a lived experience for Brown and his family, who moved from Albany, New York, to St. Augustine, Florida: hurricane country.

Brown shared that his move to St. Augustine was spiritually motivated, as the Diocese of Albany proved to be somewhat lacking. 

The Browns experienced hurricanes, but did not incur any damages or great inconveniences; a living example of the safety living under Our Lady's mantle. Brown actually explicitly expressed this point; that what is most important to understand about living under Our Lady's mantle is that, you should not be afraid to go anywhere, because as Brown put it, "You go where you are called, you go to your place of blessing." 

Adding to that point, Brown stressed that, "It is not a time for fear, but it is a time for sobriety, and to see the signs of the times."

As to what the signs of the times say to us today, Brown offered his own personal opinion: a "guestimate" at best, based on the assumed lifespan of the Medjugorje seers. All six seers in Medjugorje will see the ten secrets unfold in their lifetime—whose current age range is from the early-to-mid 50s—so Brown considers that there may be events (not the end of the world, but major changes) beginning to occur during our current year and building up through the 2020s; events that will culminate into a crescendo by the mid 2030s.

The one thing we do know is that our time on earth is limited; it is precious, there is no time to waste! In the interim, Brown reiterated the importance of dedicating the time we have to purification and fulfilling our mission.

Fulfilling our mission brought to mind St. Pope John Paul II's apostolic exhortation, Christifideles Laici (Christ's Faithful People), a post-synodal document on the vocation and mission of the laity in the Church and in the world. It is a document that is known in Catholic circles for St. Pope John Paul II's quote, "It is not permissible for anyone to remain idle," (3) and in my view, is not only an apt additional mention to Brown's point, but a great resource for further reading on "fulfilling our mission." 

Adding to the importance of fulfilling our mission, Brown referred to near-death experiences from the morning talk on Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory, that the fulfillment of one's mission in life is an especially important aspect during one's "life-review."

In citing another near-death experience of a US Marine, Brown utilized the example to express how important it is for us to invoke the angels: Saints Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel, and our guardian angels.

Brown shared an especially beautiful description of God from an individual who went through a near-death experience, "God is love, love is light, light is life. God is the light of the life that loves."

Coming to the conclusion of this talk, Brown offered advice in the form of "bullet-points" where he stated in all humility, that they are as much for him as the audience. Here is some of that advice: sense your mission and go forth; your mission is where your gifts are; bless those who curse you; remember, the trials handled with joy turn into glory; drink not of the poison, if somebody says something to you to get you going, to get you angry, to get you hateful, get you into a fight and tension, don't drink that poison; remember in painful times, a pruned tree bears more fruit; to hover over a hurt is to give it power: forgive, forgive, forgive; remember that the bigger your problem, the greater your destiny; If you are right with God, what do you care what others think; cast out darkness by the rhythm of faith; finding little prayers that lead to little answered prayers, that lead to bigger prayers that lead to bigger answers when it is God's will; when things don't go as planned, it could be God stirring up the pot; and bad things are only bad when they bear no lesson.

Brown closed out his talk with a couple of jokes—a standard fixture of all four talks—that not only helped lighten the mood, but put a smile on everyones' face.

For those who would like to watch this entire talk on video, please visit my YouTube channel for the following three videos: Reclaiming North America's Christianity, Reclaiming North America's Christianity Part 2, Reclaiming North America's Christianity Part 3.

To Michael H. Brown, thank you for coming to Toronto!

Michael H. Brown's Talk: The Current Prophetic Pulse

Michael H. Brown during the Marian Day Retreat at Canada Christian College on May 20, 2017.

Michael H. Brown's talk, The Current Prophetic Pulse, was the third of four talks given during the Marian Day Retreat in Toronto on May 20; a retreat hosted by Canada Christian College and organized by Ave Maria Centre of Peace.

Having known about Brown's talks for many years, I attended this retreat with great enthusiasm and high expectations that it would be an exceptionally beneficial time for me. Brown certainly did not disappoint and there was no doubt in my mind, that it was a shared experience by many, if not all, in attendance that day, especially by those who knew of Brown from his web site, Spirit Daily.com.

If you are new to Michael H. Brown, he is an American Catholic writer whose own conversion in the early 80s led him to focus on writing about the Catholic faith. Since then he has written several books, and published numerous articles and blog posts at Spirit Daily on: the truth, knowledge, and understanding of the Catholic faith journey; current, real, and relevant news; information on the events and signs of our times; and resources on spiritual warfare, healing, and the afterlife.

The other three talks Brown gave at the retreat were: Heaven, Hell and Purgatory; Spiritual Warfare and Family Healing; and Reclaiming North America's Christianity.

Brown's talk on The Current Prophet Pulse was intriguing and perhaps the most thought-provoking of all four talks. It included historical events from the Catholic Church that certainly challenged the audience to consider: are we here, in North America, disobedient to God; is society in conformity with God's plan for humanity; are there prophetic warnings we should be paying heed to regarding God's chastisements; and what can we do to appease God and avoid His punishments.

The Current Prophetic Pulse

LIke at all of the Marian Day Retreats, prayer is a common thread that runs throughout the entire day: group recitation of the Rosary before each talk; the Divine Mercy Chaplet just after 3:00pm, before the last talk; and the Saturday Vigil Mass, a perfect ending to a grace-filled retreat. Add to this the availability of confession throughout the entire day and Brown's own selected prayers, that together with his talks, made attending this retreat time well spent.

Brown began this talk by leading the audience in the recitation of the Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be, and a prayer to St. Michael the Archangel, after which he added a few important details from the previous two talks before segueing into the "prophetic pulse" content.

Referring to his morning talk on Heaven, Hell and Purgatory, Brown stressed that the first person we will meet in Heaven is ourselves: we will see who we really are. Life on earth is a challenge, one that entails that we strive to be that person who God made, who we really are: ourselves at our best, ourselves at the height. Brown elaborated on why this is so necessary, "...Because that's what Heaven is, the peak of the best we have ever been and we need to get to that level and maintain it through discipline, like I said, and through prayerful discipline, through circumspection; getting rid of the impatience of life."

From his second talk, Spiritual Warfare and Family Healing, Brown went on to remind everyone that "love reverses the curse." He referred to the scriptural passage of Love for Enemies, "But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you..." (Luke 6: 27-28) As Brown stated, many times, this gets rid of the Evil One. 

Loving your enemies is not all that one needs to do. With everyones' situation being unique—different challenges and circumstances to deal with—Brown stressed how important it is for prayer to the Holy Spirit for answers as to how to fight the Evil One. There are certain things that help us in all circumstances, but the Holy Spirit—who knows you better than yourself—will best address your personal situation.

The Hollywood sign located on Mount Lee, Los Angeles, California. Photo: Hikespeak/Griffith Observatory to the
Hollywood Sign in Griffith Park

Continuing with spiritual warfare in an effort to highlight how there is so much around us that we don't realize is connected to the demonic, Brown provided the example of the well known "Hollywood" sign in the hills of Los Angeles, California.

At first, many may assume that the sign means or refers to "holy wood," but the reality is quite different. In fact, the term "hollywood" derives its meaning or purpose from the pagan Norse god of Odin. Hollywood is actually is a type of wood that wizards would use for their wands.

Brown then referred to how just south of Hollywood at Disneyland, the magic wand is normalized as part of their attractions. Should we consider the glorification and propagation of the occult (magic wands, spells, witchcraft) as "coincidences." Brown made it crystal clear that the existence of occult elements in society is anything but a coincidence!

One of the most interesting points of this talk, that resonated very well with me, was with respect to "never accepting the "evil report." It is in reference to a medical report given by doctors to their patients about how long they may live. Brown went on to make the point that doctors are not God and can't really know how long someone will live or when they will die.

Further reinforcing the point that God is in charge, Brown referred to afterlife accounts of individuals who went through an out-of-body experience, and could watch surgeons operate on them, assisted and guided by angels, who in fact were the ones conducting much of the delicate part of the surgery. It is any wonder why surgeries go so well when we pray enough for them? Brown asked that very question and reiterated the importance of prayer when he stated, "...There are some great Christian doctors, prayerful doctors, but only if they all prayed, if only they gave more credit to God, if only they invoked angels more, oh how much better off we would be."

A closer look at Michael H. Brown from the screens.

It was around the ten minute mark of the talk that Brown actually began to talk about the prophetic pulse, which started with a look back to the 60s, a time when, as Brown put it, "A lot of evil entered Canada, entered the United States, entered the world, the West...a very mysterious decade." Much of the evil that we have to contend with today (the moral disorder, especially abortion, euthanasia, assisted suicide, and sexual immorality) had its origins in the 60s—Canada's 1969 Omnibus Bill that allowed "therapeutic abortion" in hospitals is a prime example—a dark decade of confusion, deception and rebellion.

As to some of the events from the 60s that has brought many evils upon today's society, Brown listed the following: 1966 was the foundation, in San Francisco, of the "Church of Satan" in the west; 1969, saw the first "satanic bible" published; rock music beats, reminiscent of voodoo beats, opened many souls to drug use or pharmakeia which was used for centuries by witches; the spirit of rebellion which in scripture tell us is equivalent to the spirit of witchcraft; free sex and orgies (what pagans refer to as Saturnalia); monogamy fell out of fashion with many of the younger generation that led some to sodomy and homosexuality; fornication; and contraception which helped perpetuate "free sex." 

In the United States, this all culminated in the legalization and normalization of abortion on demand with the 1973 Supreme Court case, Roe vs. Wade, which Brown referred to as a "blood sacrifice." Elaborating further on this Brown stated, "So you have rituals leading up to a blood sacrifice. And then, we wonder why the world, the west, Canada, the United States, which of course has not only abortion, but is moving sometimes dangerously to euthanasia up here. We wonder where the evil came from that we now contend with, the darkness, the dark cloud."

Brown went on to share some important historical facts: how North America was established by Catholics a few centuries ago; the story of the Pope Gregory the Great and the statue of Our Lady in Guadalupe, Spain; and the end to the chastisements of the Roman Empire.

As a matter of historical record, native Indians have been living in what we now refer to as North America for centuries, but America and Canada were established by Christians, specifically Catholics. North America came into being as a Catholic territory.

It is the understanding by some that the first Mass was celebrated in North America as earlier as the sixth century by Saint Brendan, who came over from Scandinavia; an occurrence that was not documented.

The first documented Mass was celebrated in St. Augustine, Florida, in 1565. In Canada, Brown pointed to the Shrine of St. Anne, in Quebec, built in 1658. These two facts point to North America's Catholic foundations.

As to the historical events and times of Saint Pope Gregory the Great (540-604), Brown explained why God had punished the Roman Empire and how the pope, through the intercession of Our Lady, appeased God's wrath and ended the chastisements.

During Pope Gregory's time, Rome was under attack by barbarians and suffering a plague that took many lives including Pope Pelagius II (Pope Gregory's predecessor) that made Pope Gregory wonder if it was apart of the final judgement; a judgement that Rome incurred on itself due to its disobedience to God that manifested itself in many ways: orgies, materialism, gluttony, and all that the emperors, and their subordinates, have been guilty of over the centuries. 

To illustrate the seriousness of Rome's situation, Brown read and provided commentary on a letter written by Pope Gregory to King Ethelbert of Kent describing God's punishments upon man kind for its actions:

...Pope Gregory speculated, this is a direct quote from the Doctor of the Church, that quote, 'The unending kingdom of the saints is approaching,' and he predicted that there would be many unusual signs including, quote, 'Changes in climate, terrors from Heaven, unseasonal tempest, wars, famines, pestilences and earthquakes. As he wrote, 'Everywhere death, everywhere morning in Rome, everywhere desolation...cities are destroyed, armed camps overturned, districts emptied of peoples, the earth reduced to solitude. Not a native remains in the countryside, nor scarcely inhabited in the cities; nevertheless, these small remains of human kind are still being slaughtered daily and without cease. The scourges of heavenly justice have no end because even in their midst, there is no correction of the faults of our actions.' The sixth century, Rome being destroyed by what a great pope said was a punishment for its evil; evil that a lot of people are comparing to our own time.

Perhaps the most salient point of this entire talk—what in my view is a historical lesson to draw upon, that is most relevant for the current time in which we live—was when Brown continued with St. Pope Gregory the Great and his response to Rome's decimation: an appeal to the Blessed Mother's intercession by a procession throughout Rome with a statue of Our Lady (believed to be carved by the Apostle Luke himself) together with a faithful following of prayer warriors.

Pope Gregory believed that the statue would be powerful against evil and so he led a procession from the Vatican throughout Rome's many streets. Upon the return to the Vatican, there was an apparition of St. Michael the Archangel putting his sword back in its sheath, which Brown described as a "Sword of punishment, a sword of judgement." This is precisely what that sword was; soon afterward the plagues had ended, as did the barbarian invasions. The great chastisements of the Roman Empire came to an end.

Pope Gregory eventually gave the statue to the Bishop of Seville and it proved to be effective against the invasion of Muslims, who were destroying Catholic statues, crucifixes, and persecuting Christians without mercy in their attempts to eradicate the Christian roots of Spain.

Other Muslim invasions were launched in their quest for Spain, and much in the same manner as other Christian statues, paintings, artifacts and so forth, that had to be buried in order to preserve them, the Bishop of Seville had the statue of Our Lady buried in a remote cave, under a church bell in a part of Spain called Estremadura, in an area referred to as "hidden channel," which in the local dialect is "Guadalupe."

The statue remained hidden in that cave for 600 years, until one day Our Lady appeared to Gil Cordero, a humble shepherd in 1326. Cordero who was searching for a lost cow, eventually found the animal, motionless and dead on the ground. Preparing to take the hide, Cordero made a sign of the cross—which was customary before such a procedure—and all of a sudden the cow stood up, alive and well.

It was at this moment that Our Lady appeared to Cordero, and requested at the very spot where she was standing, that it be dug up and a shrine built on top. Cordero told the bishop, who eventually led a procession to the apparition location, where they began to dig and soon found the statue from Pope Gregory. The shrine was built and through the years it became a bigger and popular shrine; a place of pilgrimage for many.

This shrine became such an important location that it even attracted the King and Queen of Spain in the fifteenth century, who prayed about whether or not they should send ships to discover a new world, which would later be called America.

It was at this shrine that another well known pilgrim prayed many times, Christopher Columbus, who had a great devotion to Our Lady, and desired to explore the new world to conquer it for Christ. So great was Columbus's devotion that he had a replica of Our Lady's statue made to accompany him on his voyage, which he placed on his ship named, Santa Maria. It is known that Columbus and his crew prayed the Hail Mary together, and upon reaching land, they recited the Salve Regina.

Columbus discovered America. The Blessed Mother aided other voyages and missions as well. Many of the Spanish explorations had up to thirty priests on board an individual ship, as they had the same mission as Columbus: devout Catholics that set out to establish Catholic territories in the new world.

This encompasses the bulk of the prophetic pulse, which I captured on video and is available for viewing at my YouTube channel, The Current Prophetic Pulse. 

Those interested in reading more about the prophetic pulse—including current events of our time—may want to consider purchasing Brown's book, Where The Cross Stands.

Michael H. Brown's Talk: Spiritual Warfare and Family Healing

Prayer for Deliverance from Father Gabriele Amorth's book, An Exorcist Tells His Story and Michael H. Brown's
book, Prayer of the Warrior.

Today's post is the second in a series of posts on the recent talks given by Michael H. Brown during the Marian Day Retreat here in Toronto on May 20, that was hosted by Canada Christian College and organized by Ave Maria Centre of Peace.

It was a grace-filled day that proved to be time well spent with Brown's four well-delivered, intriguing talks: Heaven, Hell and Purgatory; Spiritual Warfare and Family Healing; The Current Prophetic Pulse; and Reclaiming North America's Christianity.

I attended these talks with great anticipation having known about them for many years—Brown gives many retreat talks throughout the year mostly in the United States and some in Canada—and being fully aware of how qualitative and beneficial they would be. This was no doubt a shared feeling by many in attendance that day, especially by those who knew of Michael H. Brown from his web site Spirit Daily.com, where since 2000, he has published numerous articles and provided many books on: the truth, knowledge, and understanding of the Catholic faith journey; current, real, and relevant news; information on the events and signs of our times; and resources on spiritual warfare, healing, and the afterlife.

In typical fashion at the Marian Day Retreats, each talk was preceded a by a group recitation of the Rosary, except for the last talk which was preceded by the Divine Mercy Chaplet.

Brown added to those prayers with his own selection that implored God's mercy, blessings, healing, and the deliverance and protection from the Evil One.

I found Brown's talk on Spiritual Warfare and Family Healing particularly interesting and it certainly put the spiritual battle, that we are all in, into perspective. Much of what he talked about that day was "familiar territory," as I have been reading about spiritual warfare for almost twenty years.

That is not to say that there wasn't something new to discover or learn anew. Brown certainly did not disappoint in this regard as his talk included: deliverance and healing prayers; his own personal experiences with the demonic; how to recognize the presence of the Evil One and his demons; the importance of casting out evil spirits from our lives; warnings on how the demonic can enter into our lives; the importance of faith, the Holy Mass, the recitation of the Rosary, and fasting for the cleansing and protection from all evil spirits; and the use of sacramentals (water, oil, and salt) to effectively protect ourselves and our our homes, cars, places of work, and other locations from the Evil One and his demons.

Spiritual Warfare and Family Healing

Brown began this talk with a set of deliverance and healing prayers: Prayer Against Malefice, Anima Christi, Prayer Against Every Evil, Prayer For Inner Healing, and a Prayer for Deliverance.

These prayers were recited in that order which coincidentally happen to be the exact prayers provided in Father Gabriele Amorth's book, An Exorcist Tells His Story, a book that I purchased almost two decades ago from SpiritDaily.com, and blogged about in a post titled, The Expulsion of The Devils From Arezzo: The Spiritual Battle.

Giotto di Bondone's fresco, The Expulsion
of the Devils From Arezzo, the front cover
image of Fr. Gabriele Amorth's book, An
Exorcist Tells His Story.

Referring to the last prayer he recited, the Prayer for Deliverance, Brown made particular mention of how important it is to specifically recognize when the Evil One is present, trying to negatively influence us in a variety of ways. This prayer (see the first photo) implores God the Father, through the intercession of the archangels Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel, and invokes the aid of all the saints in heaven, to deliver those enslaved by evil from: anxiety, depression, sadness, hatred, fornication, jealousy, rage, suicide, abortion, sinful sexuality, division in our families, harmful friendships, spells, malefice, witchcraft and every form of the occult. The prayer concludes with a plea to be liberated from such influences through the added intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the granting of peace in the name of Christ, our Lord.

Brown explained that by specifically recognizing the many ways in which the Evil One can influence us, it renders the Evil One ineffective and ensures that he doesn't expand his power by operating in the dark, which is exactly what he likes to do.

At the same time, Brown warned that it is also important to avoid the extremes of obsession and ignorance. Here is what he had to say about it:

And so we need to recognize where evil is, not to become paranoid, not to go in the extreme of seeing him constantly, becoming obsessed with him, but the other extreme is being ignorant. We have to find a balance that the Blessed Mother will help us gain during the Rosary and that we gain also during the Liturgy, during the Mass, especially when that chalice with the wine is raised, the Precious Blood that brakes the hold of the Evil One. When that chalice is raised, elevated during Mass, that's the time we can break things that may be holding us in bondage. That is the time when we can cast out darkness because often we cannot make the break through, we cannot get our prayers answered, we can't be cleansed until we cast out inner darkness, until we cast out darkness that may have attached to us through curses of other people...We can't get where we want to go because first we have to cast out these things that are holding us back, and we have to make sure we are not giving the devil a foothold by being obsessed, or oppressed, or depressed...or regressed, because what is the eventuality of all this? All this obsession, all this oppression can lead to possession.

Another benefit of casting out darkness from our lives is the healing of our physical maladies. Brown made an important point with respect to the source of our sufferings: God sends us physical suffering for the purpose of sanctification of ourselves or others, but a lot of sufferings may also be caused by the Evil One. So what we want to do is command it out. Here is how Brown put it:

We cast out darkness from our lives and often not only does this help purify our spirits, but when the spirit around us and in us is purified, a lot of times we are healed of physical malady. Yes, a lot of physical illnesses are given to us by God as sufferings for sanctification for ourselves or others. Yes a lot of that is sent by the Lord, but also a lot of it is caused by the Evil One. Jesus said he is a killer from the beginning and so we want to command it out because a lot times darkness in the robe, in the spirit, translates into physical illnesses.

Drawing from the life of Jesus, Brown reinforced how demons can cause us physical illness, referring to when Jesus healed people, he first cast out demons, which points to the reality that the demonic can be the source of major illnesses.

Further highlighting the connection of illnesses to the demonic, Brown asked a series of questions for the audience to ponder, "If he [Jesus] did it, if he was showing us that, why are we not doing it? Why are we not following him? Why are we not doing what he said to do, which is to lay hands on people and cast out demons in his name, only in his name? Until we do we will not be the full Church we want to be, we will not be the clean spirits we want to be."

Brown singled out another important aspect of the Prayer for Deliverance; that is, the specific mention of the Evil One, which is located in the first few lines of the prayer (see the first photo). It actually compliments old translations of the Lord's prayer which specifically stated, "Evil One," as opposed to the generic "evil." The relevance of which points to what Brown had mentioned earlier in the talk, the need for specificity. Here is what Brown had to say about that, "...When we are specific, when we specifically cite Satan as a personal, destructive, dark force, we gain power over that."

Elaborating on the "gaining of power," Brown mentioned a few examples of prayer that are effective when we specifically mention the type of demons that are afflicting us, "Same thing in our lives, if we have depression, 'I command you out spirit of depression or anxiety, I command you out spirit of anxiety in Jesus's name, and in the name of Jesus, I command you to the foot of the Cross to be disposed according to the will of the Father, in Jesus's name and never to return', sealed against its return. Amen. "

Brown reinforced how important it is to cast all types of demons from us, including jealousy which as he went on to further point out is very powerful. He warned that if we are jealous of others, we need to "work" on that. Jealousy is synonymous to a curse; not wanting the best for someone to put it mildly. Like all other darkness in our lives, we need to cast it out.

During the next segment of the talk, Brown emphasized the many different ways that evil spirits can enter into our lives: through our transgressions; the movies and television shows we watch; pictures posters in our homes; heavy metal and other types of music that we listen to; and what we are looking at on the internet.

If you are asking yourself how is this possible, Brown answered that question with the example of what we watch on television or the computer. Here is what he had to say, "Spirits can come right through a computer, no problem! Come right through a television set! All they need is the opening. All they need is to see that you allowed it through your free will and boom, they're there."

Citing the "ghost hunter" shows on television—individuals who have no idea that they are dealing with the demonic—Brown made what was in my view, one of the most salient points of the talk; that is, we need to avoid reading or watching such shows or reading about such things. He also referred to Stephen King novels and the Harry Potter series.

It was interesting that Brown mentioned the Harry Potter series because not only am I completely familiar with the dangers of it from my own readings—that spawned an extensive blog post in October 2013, titled, The Dangers of Harry Potter: The Occult Controversy—but it was through Spirit Daily that I first read Father Gabriele Amorth's warning about it in 2002; a warning that Brown referred to.

Fr. Gabriele Amorth's warning about the dangers of Harry Potter from January 3, 2002.
Image: Spirit Daily.com/Rome's Chief Exorcist Warns Parents Against Harry Potter

Elaborating on his experiences in dealing with skeptics about the dangers of Harry Potter, Brown mentioned how some simply dismissed it as a children's story, claiming that "It is just a book." But as Brown aptly pointed out, it is much more than "just a book," as the Harry Potter series contain actual witchcraft spells. In response to the claim that it is just a book, Brown asked the audience, "Is it? Then why does it have real spells, actual spells of witchcraft? Do you think it is healthy for young people to be reading actual witchcraft spells?"

More to the point about such novels, Brown stated that, "Things can attach to us when we allow them in, and never mind something like the ouija board. Once they are around, they are really hard to get rid of sometimes, especially if we don't recognize their presence."

Expanding on that point, Brown pointed out that a lot times, we don't recognize the presence of the demonic or earth-bound spirits, even though they may be negatively affecting us consistently. To illustrate this point, Brown provided the example of how when you are having a great day, everything is going well, but all of a sudden, when you enter someone's home, office, or some other location, tensions arise, there may even be a certain flash-point with someone, a spontaneous eruption; often this is due to the presence of the Evil One.

As to what we can do about it, Brown stressed that we should discipline ourselves so that every time we feel that tension we should begin to pray, especially to the Blessed Virgin Mary for her help and to Jesus in a personal way. Here is how Brown explained it:

You know in life when this happens, if we would only discipline ourselves. Discipline is a key to happiness. If we would only discipline ourselves to step back every time we feel that tension, every time we start to succumb to that energy, step back and pray, especially to the Blessed Mother for her help, and of course to Jesus in a personal way. If we would just step back, we would avoid so much strife, we would avoid so much divorce, we would avoid so much pressure and stress and tension in our lives. Just step back, just step back, and nothing, insults don't matter. Somebody insults you, step back, step back. You will be real happy during your life review [see Brown's first talk, Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory] in eternity that you did, and you will be happier here on earth.

Brown also spoke of earthbound spirits, which are not demonic, but spirits (deceased souls) for one reason or another, that remain on earth. As to why they remain on earth, Brown provided a few examples: souls that are overly attached to a house, to someone, and even to an addiction in which they refuse to go on because they keep on wanting to experiencing that addiction.

Certain earthbound spirits remain because they are doing their Purgatory on earth. Brown cited an example from Saint Pio of Petrelcina (Padre Pio) and the Capuchins, the Franciscan Order that he belonged to. Here is how Brown unfolded this incident:

Padre Pio once encountered the "ghost" of a monk. One night he was praying in a choir, and he looked down and saw this young monk who was cleaning the altar...who made a lot of noise. Padre Pio went down, didn't recognize him. Padre Pio lived there for twenty or thirty months...Padre Pio said, 'Who are you, I haven't seen you hear before?' The young monk turned to him and said, 'I was hear before you came, I died here and the Lord is letting me do my Purgatory here. When I was a noviciate here, I failed to fulfill my duties, clearing the altar'...obeying his superior, and so he was doing his Purgatory.

Brown offered his thoughts for the audience's discernment, that these earthbound spirits, bound here for negative reasons, can be extremely negative and can cause us negativity and illness, similar to the demonic.

Earthbound spirits have been written about from bishops in England as far back as the 1700s, but as Brown pointed out, they are not discussed anymore these days.

Michael H. Brown during the Marian Day Retreat at Canada Christian College

Coming back to the subject of the demonic, Brown pointed out that we can identify the presence of an evil spirit when we experience anxiety and confusion, "The evil spirit, one of the first thing he does, very consistently, is cause confusion. So any time we see confusion, all of sudden something doesn't make sense, we need to sit back and ask the Holy Spirit for His help."

We want to be fully protected from the Evil One and his demons, which we have been warned about throughout the history of the Church from mystics to saints to the accounts of near-death experiences. How do we go about doing this? Brown answered this question in a most passionate way:

We want to be fully protected. We want to realize like these saints, and mystics tell us, and other people that have had experiences on the other side. They tell us we are surrounded by spiritual entities, we want to be protected every single day, so the very first thing in the morning...we need to pray the Rosary. We need to pray, if we can get to Mass, get to Mass. It is the most powerful prayer, it is so powerful against the enemy. It is so cleansing, so healing if we put our hearts into it and don't just sit there. With real prayers; we need to feel the prayers; we need to pray sincerely; we need to pray from the heart. We need to talk to Jesus in a very personal way...we need to have faith.

Brown added his own warning that the Evil One can do many things, and part of his goal is to take life from us, to remove its spiritual abundance and bring us down to Hell.

This part of the talk can be viewed at my YouTube channel: Spiritual Warfare and Family Healing.

Reinforcing the need to have strong faith in our lives, Brown mentioned how important this is especially when experiencing an assault by the Evil One. To illustrate the point further, Brown provided his own testimonial of an incident with the demonic that was remedied through his faith and the power of the Rosary.

The incident with the demonic (infestation) occurred at a Catholic convent in Chicago; the location where Brown slept one night after having given a talk to a local Catholic church. At the time of Brown's talk, the entire convent was uninhabited due to the fact that the nuns that previously lived there were involved in occult practices. Brown was made aware of this fact and it not only led him to suspect a demonic presence, but it prompted him to inquire about it with one of the sisters who had helped him with his talk. That sister informed Brown that he was sleeping there that night, all by himself.

Brown settled for bed, he heard noises that led him to wonder if mice or rats had taken up residence at the second floor, but as time went on the noises took on a different sound: footsteps of "someone" ascending the staircase.

At first he thought about opening the window, jumping out and finding some other location to sleep at, but it dawned on him that he should practice what he just preached that night at a local Chicago church, "...Never fear the Devil, never fear the Devil because as soon as you fear the Devil, that is showing you have faith in his power, and when you have faith in his power, he is allowed to exercise more. Just like when we have faith in Jesus, Heaven responds."

From that inspiration, Brown took his Rosary and began to recite it faithfully and wholeheartedly; it proved to be exactly what he needed to do, as not only were there no more incidences of demonic infestation, but Brown had a wonderful sleep.

Elaborating a little further, Brown talked about how evil spirits can exist within entire neighbourhoods and cities, and he even provided a few examples of entire locations, that by his estimation, have "dark clouds" over them: Greenich Village, New York, San Francisco, and New Orleans.

Adding to this, Brown stated that evil spirits are also attracted to places where there is prostitution, tattoo parlours, strip clubs and so forth.

Brown then went on to highlight how blessed salt is an effective sacramental in cleansing and protecting cars, homes, neighbourhoods and entire cities, any area from the demonic. He encouraged the audience to purchase salt and obtain the prayer of blessing, that any priest can recite.

This is entirely consistent with what Fr. Gabriele Amorth states in his book, An Exorcist Tells His Story, at the chapter on Water, Oil, Salt, where he states:

Exorcising salt too is beneficial for expelling demons and for healing soul and body. The specific function of this salt is to protect places from an evil presence or influence. Where there is suspicion of evil infestation, I usually advise people to place exorcised salt across the threshold and in the four corners of the room or rooms that are affected.

...It is certain that sacramentals are most efficacious when they are used in faith; without faith, they are ineffective...(119) 

At the next segment of the talk, Brown highlighted how powerful and important fasting is against the Evil One and his demons. To further reinforce this point, Brown referred to the following message from Our Lady in Medjugorje on fasting, "The best fast is on bread and water. Through fasting and prayer one can stop wars, one can suspend the natural laws of nature. Works of charity cannot replace fasting. Everyone except the sick, has to fast." (July 21, 1982) Brown asked the audience to think about how powerful that message is, in particular the part about "suspending the laws of nature." Elaborating a little further on fasting, Brown stated that:

When we fast, we are far more powerful against the Evil One. I don't come and do these retreats without several days of fasting because you are too exposed to the Evil One. When we fast, we are beyond his reach because we are indicating that we are not bound to just physical appetite, we are not just bound to the material things of this world, we are not bound to his domain because like Jesus said, 'He is the prince of the power of air, he is the prince of this world.' And while we are in this world, we are always going to have spiritual conflict.

Fasting is one of Our Lady's "Little Stones," one of five stones or spiritual weapons that she has given to us in Medjugorje. The reference to fasting as a "stone," stems from the biblical story of David and Goliath. As God gave David stones to hurl at Goliath, Our Lady has done likewise for our spiritual battle against the Goliath of our times, the Evil One.

You can read more about the importance of fasting and Our Lady's message from Medjugorje from my post, Our Lady's Little Stone: Fasting on Bread and Water. 

Brown went on to provide two other personal experiences: his brief time with a mafia hitman, researching for a book on the mafia in New Jersey, and the dream he had many years ago while living in New York City of seeing St. Michael and other angels, and how he was shown that the Evil One was after him, literally at his front door.

You can watch Brown explain these experiences and the second half of this blog post at my YouTube channel, Spiritual Warfare and Family Healing Part 2. 

For those who want to read more about such experiences and further details about Brown's faith journey, insights, and life, you may want to consider purchasing, Prayer of The Warrior.

Brown's talk concluded with what proved to be a standard fixture throughout all four talks, a couple of jokes that helped lighten up the mood from all the serious details.