by Mark Mallett
Recently, a Catholic priest has been spreading false allegations that this website and some of the seers found here are promoting “witchcraft.” The reason, he surmises, is because some of them have recommended the use of essential oils known to fight viral infections and other maladies. But to suggest that the use of God’s creation is somehow “witchcraft” is borderline blasphemy, not to mention complete ignorance of biblical and scientific support for such remedies. According to the National Institute of Health PubMed base, there are over 17,000 documented medical studies on essential oils and their benefits.[1]Essential Oils, Ancient Medicine by Dr. Josh Axe, Jordan Rubin, and Ty Bolinger And the Scriptures themselves declare:
The Lord created medicines from the earth, and a sensible man will not despise them. (Sirach 38:4 RSV)
Their fruit is used for food, and their leaves for healing. (Ezekiel 47:12)
…the leaves of the trees serve as medicine for the nations. (Rev 22:2)
Precious treasure and oil are in the house of the wise… (Prov 21:20)
God makes the earth yield healing herbs which the prudent should not neglect… (Sirach 38:4 NAB)
Apply the fish gall to his eyes, and the medicine will make the white scales shrink and peel off from his eyes; then your father will have sight again and will see the light of day. (Tobit 11:8)
Even Jesus tells a parable that utilizes the healing power of essential oil, common in His day, in the story of the Good Samaritan:
He approached the victim, poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them. (Luke 10:34)
And again,
For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected when received with thanksgiving… (1 Timothy 4:4)
As such, Catholic mystics such as Marie-Julie Jahenny,[2]Marie-Julie Jahenny.blogspot.com St. André Bessette,[3]“It happens that visitors entrust their illness to the prayers of Brother André. Others invite him to their house. He prays with them, gives them a medal of Saint Joseph, suggests that they rub themselves with a few drops of olive oil which is burning in front of the statue of the saint, in the college chapel.” cf. diocesemontreal.org Servant of God Maria Esperanza,[4]spiritdaily.com Luz de María de Bonilla,[5]countdowntothekingdom.com Agustín del Divino Corazon,[6]Message dictated by Saint Joseph to Brother Agustín del Divino Corazón on March 26, 2009 (with Imprimatur): “I will give you a gift tonight, beloved children of my Son Jesus: THE OIL OF SAN JOSE. Oil that will be a Divine help for this end of times; oil that will serve you for your physical health and your spiritual health; oil that will free you and protect you from the snares of the enemy. I am the terror of demons and, therefore, today I place my blessed oil in your hands.” (uncioncatolica-blogspot-com) St. Hildegard of Bingen,[7]aleteia.org etc. also gave heavenly remedies that included herbs or essential oils and blends.[8]In the case of Brother Agustín and St. André, the use of oils is in conjunction with faith as a kind of sacramental.
Medicinal interventions are not a sign of a lack of faith in God but an operation of the human gift of reason. Human wisdom and experience tells us that when we drink water, eat healthy food, and bask in the sun, all these things are good and necessary for the body.
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? (1 Corinthians 6:19)
So, too, humanity has learned over millennia that certain gifts in creation can aid our bodies in healing, as the Scriptures themselves testify. In other words, oils from creation are a remedy for the body, not the soul. For the latter, we have primarily the efficacious and irreplaceable Sacraments[9]The Sacrament of the Sick, which ironically employs a blessed oil blend in the anointing of the sick, is also a prayer for the healing of body and soul. How God chooses to heal, however, lies within Divine Providence. and the power of prayer. This notion that essential oils are categorically evil is a kind of medieval secular mindset borne of superstition itself — not the encouragement of good science that has been a hallmark of the Catholic Church for centuries.
The apostolate Catholic Answers, heard on EWTN radio, states on their website:
A Catholic is free to use essential oils for such things as cleaning or for therapeutic purposes. Even the Vatican is using essential oils to clean and restore works of art on display outside Vatican museums. Essential oils come from plants. These plants contain aromatic oils that—when properly extracted through distillation (steam or water) or cold pressing—contain the “essence” of the plants, which have been used for centuries for a variety of purposes (e.g., anointing oil and incense, medicinal, antiseptic). —catholic.com
I have responded to the most recent and previous myopic and slanderous accusations in the article The Real “Witchcraft” at The Now Word.
Footnotes
| ↑1 | Essential Oils, Ancient Medicine by Dr. Josh Axe, Jordan Rubin, and Ty Bolinger |
|---|---|
| ↑2 | Marie-Julie Jahenny.blogspot.com |
| ↑3 | “It happens that visitors entrust their illness to the prayers of Brother André. Others invite him to their house. He prays with them, gives them a medal of Saint Joseph, suggests that they rub themselves with a few drops of olive oil which is burning in front of the statue of the saint, in the college chapel.” cf. diocesemontreal.org |
| ↑4 | spiritdaily.com |
| ↑5 | countdowntothekingdom.com |
| ↑6 | Message dictated by Saint Joseph to Brother Agustín del Divino Corazón on March 26, 2009 (with Imprimatur): “I will give you a gift tonight, beloved children of my Son Jesus: THE OIL OF SAN JOSE. Oil that will be a Divine help for this end of times; oil that will serve you for your physical health and your spiritual health; oil that will free you and protect you from the snares of the enemy. I am the terror of demons and, therefore, today I place my blessed oil in your hands.” (uncioncatolica-blogspot-com) |
| ↑7 | aleteia.org |
| ↑8 | In the case of Brother Agustín and St. André, the use of oils is in conjunction with faith as a kind of sacramental. |
| ↑9 | The Sacrament of the Sick, which ironically employs a blessed oil blend in the anointing of the sick, is also a prayer for the healing of body and soul. How God chooses to heal, however, lies within Divine Providence. |
Alicja Lenczewska
Elizabeth Kindelmann
Through what became The Spiritual Diary, Jesus and Mary taught Elizabeth, and they continue to instruct the faithful in the divine art of suffering for the salvation of souls. Tasks are assigned for each day of the week, which involve prayer, fasting, and night vigils, with beautiful promises attached to them, laced with special graces for priests and the souls in purgatory. In their messages, Jesus and Mary say that The Flame of Love of the Immaculate Heart of Mary is the greatest grace given to mankind since the Incarnation. And in the not-so-distant future, her flame will engulf the entire world.
Father Stefano Gobbi
Why Gisella Cardia?
Thirdly, the messages have frequently been accompanied by visible phenomena, photographic evidence found in In Cammino con Maria, which cannot be the fruit of subjective imagination, notably the presence of the stigmata on Giselle’s body and and the appearance of crosses or religious texts in blood on Gisella’s arms. See the pictures taken from her apparition website 
Jennifer
Why Manuela Strack?
Why the Visionaries of Our Lady of Medjugorje?
Why Pedro Regis?
Why the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta?
of the saints. It wasn’t until she became a “Daughter of Mary” that the nightmares finally ceased at the age of eleven. In the following year, Jesus began to speak interiorly to her especially after receiving Holy Communion. When she was thirteen, He appeared to her in a vision that she witnessed from the balcony of her home. There, in the street below, she saw a crowd and armed soldiers leading three prisoners; she recognized Jesus as one of them. When He arrived beneath her balcony, He raised his head and cried out: “Soul, help Me!” Deeply moved, Luisa offered herself from that day on as a victim soul in expiation for the sins of mankind.
immobile, rigid-like state that appeared almost as if she were dead. It was only when a priest made the sign of the Cross over her body that Luisa regained her faculties. This remarkable mystical state persisted until her death in 1947—followed by a funeral that was no little affair. During that period in her life, she suffered no physical illness (until she succumbed to pneumonia at the end) and she never experienced bedsores, despite being confined to her little bed for sixty-four years.
Why Simona and Angela?
Valeria Copponi