Radical Catholicism
Are you brave enough to do this?
I have to admit I wrote this headline with a tongue-in-cheek attitude, just to see if it would get me on some FBI watch list. Because as we all know, “radical Catholics” are something to fear, especially the “rad trads,” who (gasp!) subversively favor the Traditional Latin Mass. Hence the Biden Administration-endorsed infiltration of Catholic parishes by undercover FBI agents in the past years.
However, the denizens of darkness should indeed fear Catholics with a passion for their faith. Because as Jesus unveils in the Scriptures, “the gates of hell shall not prevail against” His Church.
The Rosary as a Weapon
As St. Padre Pio so famously said, the Rosary is a powerful spiritual weapon in the battle between good and evil. Catholic exorcists confirm that praying it sends the demons running.
Catholic evangelist Jesse Romero once told the story of him standing in line at the airport waiting to board a plane. He noticed in front of him a man who openly read a hardcore porn magazine. Jesse started silently praying the Rosary (in his head, mind you), and the man turned around and growled, “Stop that!”
How did he know that Jesse was praying? He didn’t, but the demon that was attached to him sure did.
I can say from my own experience that after being a very lukewarm Catholic for my first two years, things changed dramatically when I began to pray the Rosary every day. Before I knew it, the Holy Mother took over and led me straight into the open arms of her Son. It literally transformed my life.
Listen to what Fr. Donald Calloway says about the power of the Rosary (4 minutes):
The Radical Prayer
Here’s another recent gem that I found in the daily emails of the Catholic Company. I don’t get paid by them to say this, but they honestly have the best Catholic merchandise—from rosaries to medals, books, crucifixes, Catholic gifts, statues, wall decor, you name it. This particular email was about “the Radical Prayer” by St. Ignatius of Loyola, a Jesuit and author of the Spiritual Exercises. This is great:
Being a Christian is pretty radical.
“Wait, radical?” you might ask. “We’re called to be radical?”
Well, yes! As Christians, we’re called to reject the things of this earth, which is quite radical in today’s world.
But being this kind of radical is a challenging task. After all, the world is against us.
Thankfully, a spiritual giant—St. Ignatius of Loyola—left us with some guidance and a few powerful tools.
One of these tools is the Suscipe Prayer, also known as the Radical Prayer:
Take, O Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will. Whatever I have or hold, You have given me; I restore it all to You and surrender it wholly to be governed by Your will. Give me only Your love and Your grace, and I am rich enough and ask for nothing more.
This prayer is not just a petition but a total offering of oneself to the divine will, an unconditional surrender of ourselves, our powers, and our plans to God. It cultivates humility and detachment by acknowledging that all gifts come from God and are to be used according to His purpose. It’s a total surrender that, paradoxically, does not cause fear or worry—it actually brings a spirit of peace and contentment that stays strong regardless of external circumstances.
This “radical” offering is a cornerstone for those seeking a deeper relationship with God, because it fosters a profound union with Him and a deliberate spirit of cooperation with His will.
Wow. That’s a pretty radical feat in our materialistic and self-centered culture!
In a day and age where the prevalent motto is, “My will be done,” this kind of total surrender is a truly radical thing.
The Heroic Act of Charity
Also known simply as “the heroic act,” this spiritual discipline should be well thought through before you attempt to undertake it.
Why? Because it is a major decision and not to be trifled with.
Ecclesiastes 5:4-6 says, “When you make a vow to God, do not delay paying it; for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vow. It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. Let not your mouth lead you into sin, and do not say before the messenger that it was a mistake; why should God be angry at your voice, and destroy the work of your hands?”
Now, the Heroic Act is not precisely a vow because it is revokable. But it’s very serious nonetheless and should not be taken lightly. In it, you hand over to the Blessed Virgin Mary all of your prayers, sufferings, and good works here on earth—which would normally accrue to increase your holiness, get you to a higher level in Heaven, merit a lessening of your time in Purgatory, and so forth—for her to use them to relieve the suffering of the holy souls instead.
So far, so good. I myself have a devotion to the holy souls in Purgatory, so why not just do it?
Oh, but that’s not all. You’ll also hand over the merit of your own sufferings in Purgatory after your death, as well as any prayers or Masses said for you by the living, to benefit not you personally but the holy souls as a whole.
Think about this for a moment. All the indulgences you accumulate earn nothing for you. All your charitable works won’t count for anything. All the rosaries you pray throughout your life, all the novenas, all the litanies… no merits for you there either. And after you die, even if your kids have Gregorian Masses said for you or pray fervently every day for the repose of your soul, none of it will do you any good.
I mean, granted, after your death, you will most likely be one of the holy souls (unless you get catapulted straight to Heaven) and will thus profit indirectly, but none of your spiritual wages will go into your “personal bank account,” so to speak. It’s a truly radical proposal. Frankly, I haven’t made the Heroic Act, and I’m not sure I’m brave enough to do it. Are you?
God bless you!
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In fact I took extra care, being hell bent as it were, to make it to Divine Mercy Sunday this year once I fully grasped the hows of it (confession and communion) to avoid any and all purgatory time until then. I’d have crawled on broken glass if need be, for that special grace. To then turn around and tell God “yea, give my lifelong sacrifices to some lukewarm soul, someone who couldn’t be bothered in life to do much or anything, to please You, and send them to heaven before me while I bake here in mini hell” is absolute bonkers. Sorry, but no.
I already give up my Sunday mornings to go to Mass when, to be honest, I’d much rather stay under the covers in bed, especially on cold and rainy days. I give plenty to charity, probably more than I should. I suck it up a lot in life (and people who read the comments section can probably tell I have a short temper so keeping quiet is a feat unto itself). I make it a point as best I can to pray the divine mercy chaplet at the 3pm hour, even if it cuts into my day, plus daily rosaries as best I can. I make too many sacrifices in this world to then give up my spiritual bank account on top of that, as if I did nothing. Purgatory does not sound appetizing to me and real life isn’t a movie, where if you answer the right question (give up your spiritual bank account) God will take pity and send both you and the other soul it would have benefitted, straight to heaven, for “doing the right thing”. Like you said, He will take it seriously and that will be that for you.
Plus we don’t know how long each transgression lasts in that horrid state, time wise. St. Lucia of Fatima was told some 18 year old girl from her village, Amelia, will be in purgatory until the end of the world. This is not some murderer we are talking about. A regular village girl, from that time, how bad could she have been to deserve that? So I can’t imagine us, with our constant temptations thanks to technology, plus human imperfections, how long we would get….
Thanks but I’ll keep my spiritual bank account all to myself. Souls in purgatory can get my prayers. Both acts work, except one I also get to keep for myself (prayers for them, and my own spiritual bank account continues to be mine).
On your first paragraph, I believe “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” means the opposite of what everyone thinks; heard this from one of the exorcists on YouTube. It sounds like it’s the Church doing the battering, not the other way around. And he’s right. And I love to think if it that way :)
Father Calloway is the best! Have you read his book, his semi autobiography? And I thought I had a checkered past! He does not mince words and calls it like it is. (Little background: he used to be an addict, his father was in the military and stationed in Japan, with him getting arrested a few times, listened to heavy metal, had long hair, loved ladies, the more the merrier, etc) which would explain his way of speaking out, in a no nonsense manner. Love him!
Regarding the heroic act, I can assuredly confirm absolutely not. At all. I have a spiritual rap sheet a mile long. And I’m working hard to rectify it, “stumbling” as this blog says, and most times falling flat on my face in the mud. While a pigeon drops one on my head. And someone without looking, trips over me and buries my face deeper in the mud, while a puppy comes and marks me as his territory while I’m face down. To face all that, plus the horrors of purgatory, over what? Someone who ended up there probably for doing less than me? Some lukewarm Catholic / Christian, or someone who couldn’t be bothered in life and probably wrecked havoc on earth and had some sort of deathbed conversion? I don’t think so. That’s like asking a martyr to give me his crown of martyrdom. I doubt any of them would, as they've earned that crown with their blood. Or a Saint giving up their saintly position in heaven to me. If anyone has read the horrors of purgatory, no one in their right mind would want to spend anytime in there.