Catholic during the Great Apostasy

What does the soul need to have an influence on matter?

Of course, faith. But this is something without which the soul won’t even begin to think about other matters.

A mirror. The mirror of truth – I have written about it more than once. It is not a real, physical object, but it can be if you want it to be. There is nothing preventing you from looking into a real mirror. Sometimes it’s worth seeing your own eyes, which are often a reflection of your soul.

I remember that as a 17-year-old boy I lived for a few weeks in a room where, in one corner, there stood a large mirror. The small room and the big mirror meant that no matter what you were doing, you always saw yourself in that mirror. Quite an unpleasant feeling. Sometimes I wonder whether that wasn’t the reason for the serious decisions I made back then – decisions that changed the entire course of my life. Especially since years later, looking in the mirror and seeing my own eyes – which were evil – became a kind of catalyst for my conversion.

This may suggest that real mirrors are also important. But am I really convinced of that? No, because in truth you see in them what you want to see.

They are often mirrors like this:

“Mirror, mirror on the wall, tell me truly – who is the fairest, the wisest, the cleverest…”
And you always see that it’s you.

What does that have to do with reality? 
The problem is – nothing.

The soul sees the real you, and you must accept it if you want to have any real influence on the reality around you.

Our Lord Jesus Christ read our souls like an open book. He knew all their darkest corners, and those corners determined how He looked at us.

“Leave everything and follow Me.”

This is a sentence that exposes human hypocrisy. We always have some excuse. Money, family, etc. 
Everything is always more important than God – and therefore more important than what our soul truly desires: close union with God.

Only through the mirror of the soul can we see who we really are.

We cannot accept it – what’s more, we are hardly able to accept words of truth from others, whether friends or enemies. We think they don’t understand our situation. But that is living in a lie. 
Enemies most often see our weaknesses – and just like Satan, they strike at them. We may not like it, but very often it is the truth. Armies attacking a fortress look for the weak point and strike there. The enemies of our souls do the same. 
Modernists flatter human sins, and that is why not everyone has yet heeded the call to flee – it even draws new followers to the false religion.

https://timeofapostasy.blog/2023/08/15/donate/

The soul is far stronger than our body, but in order to manifest that strength, it must be closely united with God – and therefore with Truth, first and foremost with the truth about ourselves. No magical spells or pagan practices will help, because they are lies and prayers to trees and stones.

You must always put your own salvation first, and only then can you help others. You will not save other souls if your own is not pure. What use is a lifeguard to a drowning man if the lifeguard himself cannot swim? Both will surely go under.

Did Our Lord Jesus Christ say to Nathanael that He saw him in the temple? 
No. 
He saw him where he was praying sincerely – alone, in silence, as if in the small inner room of his soul.

Such prayer is heard; it is ready to move mountains, to change our lives.

Although without direct conversation with God nothing happens, prayer alone may still not be enough. Miracles do happen, but they are not the rule. Of course, one can assume that during prayer before death you will awaken such faith, such sorrow for sins and contrition, that it will save your soul after a whole life of lies. But such an assumption and hope is pure madness. It is far wiser to prepare for that moment much earlier – ideally throughout your entire life.

Did Our Lord Jesus pray for God to send Him a donkey? 
No. He told the disciples to bring it. 
Do yourself what you can do – and God will reward you for it. This is obvious, yet so many people think that by praying they make something happen on its own. 
Pray that your undertaking may succeed, that it may bear good fruit – not that God should do something for you or that people should send money so that you can then work in the Lord’s vineyard.

https://timeofapostasy.blog/2026/01/06/balance-of-the-soul-from-emptiness-to-fullness-of-life/

This is the fundamental mistake in our prayers. We treat prayer as a magical spell and God as a wizard.

When I wanted to start the website http://www.niewolnikmaryi.com, I didn’t pray for God to create it for me and miraculously make people read it. I simply set it up and have been running it for almost 8 years. And although it is banned from every possible platform, God makes it exist and reach people who are seeking Catholic truth – enough people. I never prayed for money, except when I had nothing to pay for the domain etc. – but even then only for help in finding a solution. 
I am well aware that Faustina or Wojtyła open people’s wallets, but close the path to Salvation – and that matters more to me. I will not sell my soul to the devil just because most people want that kind of content. A lie will always be a lie, and nothing will change that – not even confusing Our Lady with the apparition from Medjugorje.

The soul can change reality – that is an undeniable fact – but it must prepare itself properly and realize that the change which comes may not be what the person expects.

A prayer to remove suffering may mean a prayer for death. 
A prayer for conversion is a prayer for being born again. If you pray for your own conversion, it is certainly easier than praying for someone else’s – because then it is a very heavy prayer that means spiritual death and the resurrection of the soul. 
It is worth praying for suffering, because it greatly strengthens us. What kind of life is it without obstacles and problems? It is the stagnation of a person who is already spiritually dead.

People sometimes manage to pray in the streets, yet cannot have an interior conversation with themselves. Those prayers are empty, for show. Just like the rich who throw in a handful of coins but have not even a shred of faith. The poor man in the last pew gives his last miserable coin, but often with far more faith and love.

Slowly, an image is being built within us – the image of a person capable of moving mountains. 
When that image becomes reality – the Temple in our souls will be rebuilt on the rock of faith. 
And that is only the beginning…

Arkadiusz Niewolski