Friday 23 March 2012

Lorna Byrne - false prophetess?


LORNA BYRNE – False Prophetess?
     Ms Lorna Byrne (author of Angels in My HairStairways to Heaven, and  A Message of Hope from the Angels) is most likely a well-intentioned woman, but her teachings are contrary to those of Our Lord Jesus Christ, His Church, and the Holy Bible, as is displayed below.  She may not be lying in her claims that ‘angels’ are teaching her these errors - which she then goes on to teach to others unaware of this - because, even though she may not maliciously intend to deceive, she herself possibly is being deceived by angels, that is,  fallen angels, who, as Sacred Scripture teaches, disguise themselves as ‘Angels of Light’.[1]

     So ‘seeing angels’ can mean only two things (if the person claiming this is being truthful): 


  1.)  they are either seeing Angels from Heaven who confirm the Truths which God has already revealed, and who help us to live in closer conformity to Jesus Christ.


     or else


 2.)  they are encountering angels who have rejected God and have been cast from Heaven[2] (a.k.a. fallen angels, demons, devils, bad angels etc.)  These angels deliberately portray themselves as good angels (as the Church teaches, and the Bible states) but in their teachings they insert errors (a.k.a. heresies) which mislead the people who listen to them and then risk their souls, and, in turn, those of the followers of the ‘mediums’ who receive these messages – in this case, Lorna Byrne.

     Since the beginning of the Church, which Jesus Christ founded nearly 2000 years ago, choosing St Peter as the first Pope,[3] Christians have been taught ways to prove if an Angel is good or evil. This is done by investigating the teachings that are promoted by the Angel/s in question– if the teachings are in-line with the revelation that Our Lord Jesus Christ taught and gave His Church, and in the inspired Sacred Scriptures, then it is a good Angel teaching the already manifested Truth.[4] But if, on the other hand, it teaches doctrines that are contrary to God and contradicts His teachings it cannot be an Angel from Heaven but, in fact, a fallen angel, because it teaches falsehood, and satan is the ‘father of all lies’ as Jesus Christ said.[5] Even if the fallen angel’s teachings were 99% were true and in accordance with Catholic doctrines, that other 1% of error is proof that the angel is not from God, and should not be listened to, under any circumstance. Even despite its claim of being, or appearing as, an angel of light  or (as Ms Byrne describes) an angelic  column of bright light.”[6]

     This document displays the errors which Ms Byrne teaches to prove that these messages cannot be from God, because they contradict God Himself, the Holy Bible, His Church, and the Saints of the Church.  With this knowledge no honest Catholic who loves God will be able, in good conscience, to adhere and support her teachings or writings. And it is asked that you would inform those who are being misled by these errors as this document is free to print and distribute from  www.lornabyrne.blogspot.commany people are ignorant of these facts, so it is very likely a friend or relation of yours may be a reader, supporter, or follower of hers.

     The first of her errors that we will focus on is reincarnation. This is anti-Christian teaching originating from either Egypt or more likely India (as it is found in the Hindu religion). It claims souls live several lifetimes: living in other people, animals, insects, and plants.  This teaching alone should cause any Christian to reject her as a false prophetess because the Holy Bible teaches that humans live only one life and then we are judged on how we lived: it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this the judgment.”[7] So, this teaching is very popular with the New-Age teachers, because this means there need be no fear of hell, because we can live whatever way we choose and then live a better life in some future life, and eventually gain Heaven. In Ms Byrne view, there is no need to worry because we can live better later on.  She herself writes: "there is a place called hell ... but God has never shown me anyone being sent there"[8] – this contradicts the words of the Blessed Virgin Mary, because when the Mother of God appeared to the Servant of God and the two blessed: Sister Lucia, Bl. Jacinta and Bl. Francesco, and after showing them hell into which they saw souls going, she said: 
            “You have seen hell where the souls of poor sinners go” – Our Lady of Fatima.
     But, if there was no fear of anyone going to hell, why did Jesus Christ die for us??  Do not be tricked: hell is very real, and it can be chosen by us if we decide to sin against God.  Although, Byrne, to ignore this fact, gives little, if any, mention of sin in her teachings - just as she rarely mentions Jesus Christ, while never mentioning He is God the Son - the Second Person of the Trinity, or His role as Saviour of mankind. 

     Furthermore, the Catechism teaches us that reincarnation is false:
“Death is the end of man's earthly pilgrimage, of the time of grace and mercy which God offers him so as to work out his earthly life in keeping with the divine plan, and to decide his ultimate destiny. When "the single course of our earthly life" is completed,[9] we shall not return to other earthly lives: "It is appointed for men to die once."[10] There is no "reincarnation" after death.” [11]

     Despite constant condemnations of this heresy of reincarnation, she continues to claim it is true, despite it being rejected by Jesus Christ, the Catholic Church and the Bible.

Here are some examples of her teaching this falsehood:
·             In speaking about ‘seeing’ reincarnations of Martin Luther King: “You know what was surprising? He was white.”[12]
·          She writes that a "little girl was the reincarnation of a boy."[13]
·          And not only this, but she actually dedicates an entire chapter to preaching it as the truth.[14]

     This is completely opposed to the teaching of the Church, and we know this also from a Saint who could actually see and speak to Angels (Holy Angels, that is, not the fallen ones Ms Byrne sees, or at least claims to see) - this Saint was Padre Pio of Pietrelcina – a true Catholic mystic.  For example, when a man, who believed reincarnation to be true, went to Padre Pio for Confession and he was not given absolution until he rejected his errors and made a good examination of conscience and Confession. [15]

     In the words of another Saint:
"Avoid the nonsense of those ... who do not blush to liken their soul to that of a dog, who say that they have themselves formerly been women, shrubs, or fish. ... I do not fear to affirm that in their writings they show less sense than fish" - Saint Basil the Great [16]

     In connection with this heresy on souls continuing to live in other bodies, Ms Byrne also has fallen into the error of thinking that souls exist before they are actually created. In actual fact, God creates a soul at conception. Not just that but she claims the ridiculous idea of a child ‘choosing’ its own parents (this also falls into the error of ‘predestination’) – she bases this on the fact Jesus Christ chose His parents, but she forgets to mention that He was God, every other child is not! So, in her mind, un-conceived souls are “choosing” their father and mother and not only this but they even "choose adoptive or long-term foster parents”! [17]

Other untruths that she says she learned in messages from these ‘angels’ are:
·    The Catholic Church changes its teaching.[18]
That is False. As this is not true, needless to say, she gives no examples. Whereas the Church may change its disciplines and practices (e.g. changing words at Mass, etc.), it has never (nor can it) change any dogmas or doctrines – because they have been passed on from Jesus Christ and His Apostles and so are unchangeable, however unpopular the world, or the new-agers find them.

·    "Poltergeists are creatures without souls that are created by Satan."[19]
That is False. satan is a fallen angel, he is not an ‘evil god,’ but only a self-warped creature. He is not equal or opposite to God, as New-Agers teach; he cannot create anything – he can only destroy that which has been created by God. Plus, there is no such thing as poltergeists, in the sense used by the New-Age. The only things created by God were: the places Heaven, Purgatory, the universe, and hell. The only living creatures that were made were first the Angels, then the various creatures and species of earth: micro-organisms, plants, insects, fish, animals, birds, etc. etc. Finally, mankind was later created from these lesser creatures. There was no ‘poltergeists’, ‘hob-goblins,’ ‘leprachauns,’ ‘fairies,’ or other mythical creature created by God – these are only the inventions of creative/misguided imaginations.  The only possible reason for an honest person’s attempt to categorise a new creation (i.e. the poltergeist/ghosts/fairies etc) may have because of an encounter with an Angel (holy or fallen – because they can appear in various forms, if it is the will of God. E.g.: fallen angels used to appear in the forms of huge, black animals and other creatures to St Padre Pio – but they remain only angels, regardless of what appearance they take), or else the soul of a Saint or a holy soul in Purgatory (Purgatory, by the way, is never mentioned by Ms Byrne. Nevertheless, we are taught by the Church that it is very real and that we must pray for the holy souls in Purgatory. A duty Ms Byrne would have many undiscerning Catholics neglect).

·   She rejects the dogma of Original Sin, claiming that our souls are not tainted by it, but instead that they are perfect: “the only part of us that is perfect is our soul.”[20]
That is False. She attempts to do away with, what the Catechism calls, ‘an essential truth of the faith.’[21]
Original Sin has tainted us, and we are composed of body and soul (not merely souls trapped in a body), so this means our souls are not perfect, in the sense that Byrne is led to believe. It is this very reason why babies are baptised: to cleanse them of original sin, which they have not gained through any voluntary fault of their own, but which is inherited, just like the physical body inherits a genetic disease.[22]
·    She teaches relativism, saying all religions are the same (the heresy of syncretism):  "it is not that one religion is superior to another"[23]  and “the angels had always told me that it didn't matter what religion anyone belonged to.”[24]
That is False. We know the Church teaches that everyone can be saved, as long as they live as best a life they can. But this is only if they are ignorant that Jesus wants them to be Baptised and forgiven their sins, otherwise they have the moral obligation to become Christian. And surely the religion that Jesus - God Himself – established is, of course, superior to all others. But, with her relativistic idea of ‘equality’ in all religions, this logic would mean that the religion of the Satanists is not just like Christianity, but the same as it, because the Catholic Church, in her eyes, could not be superior to the Church of Satan; to her they are ‘equal’.
·   She rejects the Church’s teaching that we cannot ‘name’ our Guardian Angel, and instead claims her ‘angel’ says, regarding naming angels: “It’s the name that you love that’s in your heart, each and everyone of us  already knows our Guardian Angel’s name” [25]
That is False. The Church guided by Holy Spirit teaches us not to try ‘naming’ our Guardian Angels.
The Holy Father, Pope Benedict, when a Cardinal, and speaking on behalf of, and with the approval of, Blessed John Paul II issued a document related to the new-age tendencies in religious institutions, and among the condemned practices listed were the ‘naming of Angels’ – these practices and false theories, in the words of Cardinal Ratzinger, “are prohibited to all.[26]

This prohibition was again brought to Catholics’ attention in 2002 by the Church:

“The practice of assigning names to the Holy Angels should be discouraged, except in the cases of Gabriel, Raphael and Michael whose names are contained in Holy Scripture.” [27]

Furthermore, Father Peter Joseph, regarding ‘naming’ guardian angels writes:
“Another New Age practice which has made its way into the Catholic Church is naming your Guardian Angel. I have heard some people speak of it as if it were a necessary thing to name your Angel, and as if it were an age-old practice. It is in fact a New Age fad, never practised or taught by a single Pope or Saint or any notable writer in the whole history of the Church. ... Behind it is a desire to tame and control the spirit world. It is disordered to name your Angel: the higher names the lower, not the other way around. Parents name their children, not vice versa. We are entrusted to our Guardian Angels; they are not entrusted to us. I fear that some people, in their mind, have turned their Angel into some human friend or pet.
       In all these matters, there is no better advice than that of St Paul in 2 Thess 2:15: "Stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us". Neither subtract from nor add to the teaching of the Church. Many novelties are really the re-appearance of ancient gnostic errors parading as piety, for as St Paul also warns (2 Cor 11:14), "even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light"”[28]

However, among all the errors of Lorna Byrne, one thing she claims must be true:
     "evil spirits cannot resist showing themselves to me"[29]

     Here is a another litmus test: True visionaries who see Holy Angels (not fallen angels in disguise) live good and holy lives: they follow Jesus Christ closely; they are obedient and humble; they submit the supposed messages they receive in visions, or locutions, to be inspected by the Bishop and, in turn, the Vatican, rather than proudly presuming that they can tell whether it is the truth or not – it simply is the basics of true humility - even the Saints themselves did not arrogantly risk this; they also go very regularly to the Holy Sacraments of His Church, especially Confession and Holy Mass – but Ms Byrne, despite her claims of being a ‘practising Catholic’ (and speaking in Churches before crowds of Catholics in order to promote the selling of her books), does not go to weekly Sunday Mass, even though this is the minimal obligation for participating in Mass for all Catholics. She says: 
"I went to Mass on Sunday, you know, as a child, and all of that - I don't get to mass every Sunday now."[30]
What more needs to be said. The Holy Mass was given to use by Jesus Christ so that we could gain spiritual nourishment and strength and become more holy, even the most nominal of Catholics would go to Holy Mass on Sundays – yet Ms Byrne obviously must be above this. Apparently, she believes now because she sees ‘angels’, she does not need Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, Who gives Himself to us daily from the Altars (if we are properly disposed in the Eucharist – this would include rejecting these New-Age teachings and making a good Confession.)


     Just as Saint John the Evangelist came to help the Irish, as he did by appearing with the Blessed Virgin Mary – the Queen of the Angels and Saints, Saint Joseph and the Holy Angels who gathered around Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, on the Altar at Knock, he helps us still with his advice in the Bible for all Catholics:
Dearly beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits if they be of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.[31]
Pray for Lorna Byrne and all those who are being led astray because of false teachings.

Our Lady of Knock, St Joseph, St John and all the Holy Angels.
Pray for us, and pray for her.
 

(For more information on the New Age see the 2003 document issued by the Vatican, on behalf of the Holy Father, Blessed John Paul II, to refute New Age errors entitled: Jesus Christ, The Bearer Of The Water Of Life - A Christian reflection on the “New Age” read this to learn more about these errors.)



[1]  The second letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians 11:14 (from the New Testament of the Bible/NT)
[2]  The Gospel of Saint Luke 10:18
    Catechism of the Catholic Church  No# 391+
[3]  St Matthew’s Gospel 16:18 (NTs)
[4]  Saint Paul’s letter to the Galatians 1:8
[5]  The Gospel of Saint John 8:44
[6]  A Message of Hope from the Angels (Coronet, 2012)   p 13
[7]  The Letter to the Hebrews 9:27(NT)
[8]  Angels in my Hair  (Three rivers press, 2011)  p 173
[9]  Lumen Gentium No# 43 § 3. (From the Documents of the Second Vatican Council.)
[10]  The Letter to the Hebrews 9:27. (NT)
[11]  Catechism of the Catholic Church  No# 1013
[12]  www.web.archive.org/web/20110915213051/www.lornabyrne.com/LBInterviewTheTimes0210100.pdf
[13]  Stairways to Heaven (Coronet, 2010)  p 263
[14]  The 33rd Chapter in  Stairways to Heaven  (Coronet, 2010)  p 255+
[15]  Madame Katharina Tangari, Stories of Padre Pio - translated by John Colloradi (Illinois, 1996)   p 107-109.
[16]  Saint Basil: The Six Days’ Work 8:2  - A.D. 393 –
     For more information on reincarnation see: www.catholic.com/tracts/reincarnation
[17]  A Message of Hope from the Angels (Coronet, 2012)  p 50 - 53
[18]  Stated in television interview on TV3: ‘Ireland AM’  17/06/2008  time:5:16+
[19]  Angels in my Hair  (Arrow Books, 2010)  p 83
[20]  Stated in radio interview: Coast to Coast AM  10/12/10  time:50:28
[21]  Catechism of the Catholic Church  No# 388-389
[22]  Ibid.  No# 402-412
[23]  Stairways to Heaven (Coronet, 2010)  p 44
[24]  Ibid.  p  211
[25]  Stated in radio interview: Coast to Coast AM  10/12/10  time:1:09:17
[26]  
“.. the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has found it necessary to make known such decisions and implementing them with the following norms:
 I. proceeding from theories .... regarding the world of the angels, their personal names, their groups and functions, cannot neither be taught nor used, explicitly or implicitly, in the organization and the operating structure of the Opus angelorum, therefore like in the cult, the prayers, the spiritual formation, the public and private spirituality, the ministry or apostolate. The same disposition applies to any other institute or association recognized by the Church.  ...  The use and the spread, inside or outside of the association, the books or other written documents containing the aforesaid theories are prohibited to all.
....
I add pontefice Giovanni Paul II, in the course of the audience come to an agreement to the undersigned prefetto, has approved of present the decree, decided in the ordinary reunion of this congregation, and of it he has ordered the publication.
Rome, from the center of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, June 6, 1992.
+ JOSEPH card. RATZINGER, prefetto

    See:    www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19920606_opus-angelorum_en.html
[27]  www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccdds/documents/rc_con_ccdds_doc_20020513_vers-direttorio_en.html
[28]  www.ad2000.com.au/articles/2003/mar2003p12_1264.html     
[29]  Angels in my Hair  (Arrow Books, 2010)  p 300

[30]  Stated in television interview on RTE 1:  'Seoige' - 29/01/2009  time from appearance:1:38+

[31]  The first letter of Saint John 4:1 (NT)