About the Book
Katolica is for those who often find that the only way to protect and help their loved ones is through intercessory prayer. They may know that they do not have the power to save, and turn to prayer to our Creator God to do it; He does, often in surprising ways.
It is about good and evil, and choices made. Behind each choice of free will is a decision that can invite spiritual warfare and the paranormal forces which materialize in battle.
It is about the world of the spirit, which governs the world of flesh and bone.
It is written for the modern-day martyrs of a church which should have cared for them but instead damns them for its own sins.
Its fiction mirrors many of the small everyday saving miracles of time, place and circumstance given us by our Creator, each awesome on its own.
Three mortal sins are identified: pride, greed and lust, and their entwined spiritual threads which unfold in the natural and supernatural worlds with a wild ride, until the ugly tapestry of collective souls breathes itself out in flames.
Beyond the cause and effect of Mother Nature, physical law known to man, and in the physics of God lie the desires of the heart and will, both kept securely in the soul, a weight of only twenty-one grams, found in the deepest chamber of the organ that in perpetual motion nourishes the entire body.
Join Katolica’s group of Christian neighbors, young and old, as they embark upon many spiritual experiences, often scary and stunning, and lived through by conviction of faith.
MEET A FEW OF THE HEROES, HEROINES AND VILLAINS OF Katolica
The Visionary, Danica Karol, who witnesses the world of the spirit in the present
"About ten minutes passed, and her prayers for those she loved complete, she glanced toward the altar and it faded. Its backdrop of tabernacle, wall and windows paled as well, to be replaced by a dark gray mist, growing deeper and spreading steadily, hovering and swallowing the altar, floating as oil on water toward right and left. It enveloped the pews with two awful arms and the gray became black. It did not block light, it ate it. Dani knew this thing."
We credit photographic artist Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels with the depiction of Dani on our home page, titled as: pensive-woman-in-luxury-room-
St. Michael's Warrior, Baba Larissa Timova, descended from an ancestral line of combatants in spiritual warfare
"The obit neglected to state that Baba Larissa Timova, an enlisted cook and undercover agent operating at zero pay grade in St. Michael's angelic army, had fulfilled her assigned mission and bested the Adversary."
PEDOPHILE PRIEST,
FATHER JAMES BAECKER
“Like all evils, the priest took this as a temporary setback. Like all evils, he would return. At least June had uncovered his motive for 'counseling' her daughter. It was Jacob. The priest had left behind a bag with religious coloring books and crayons under the dinette table. June tossed it, equally worried about her daughter and grandson, and helpless to act. She thought about the oxymoron of 'respect for life'; a church professing life for the unborn, then preying upon them.”
The Two Faithfuls, Kindness Penhollow and Rab Bruce, forever bound by an accident of life, death, and life eternal.
"She saw Rab's white-knuckled grip on the Hurst lever gearing down the four-speed Muncie, the engine screaming while somehow the tires held the road . . . and then they didn't."
The Gypsy, Rhoma Rákóczy, an experienced student of the human spirit
"When I was growing up I had three friends who each had a birthmark in the same place on the right forearm, just two round brown spots side-by-side, and they looked the same on each girl. The odd thing that has stayed with me all these years is that each girl's father committed suicide. How could this be?"
CORRUPT PARISH PRIEST,
FATHER KEVIN CROWLEIGH
“Father Crowleigh really liked the Blackbird. He addressed problem and solution in the
same breath. However, Kevin had never performed a condemnation rite. It scared him, a little. It would not be an excommunication performed by a bishop, but by himself, both a condemnation and calling to hell. The soul condemned would not only suffer "hell on earth" and be pulled toward hell itself by the demons summoned, but those involved in the ritual risked becoming subject to the control and governance of it. The priest had never recognized his own error in thinking that he controlled his church. This error was the primo sin of pride, opening the door to all others.”
The Protector,
Boniface the Akita, who lives for his mistress and his home
"Thirty-two inches at the withers (shoulders), Bonnie was a big boy. His entire bearlike head was a solid black coat and he received comments like "I wouldn't want to meet you in a dark alley!" and "My, what a noble dog," with the same dignified stoicism."
The Chronicler, Francesca Engel, a gifted storyteller who documents the history of evil at her church
"The third box was a puzzle. It held notes, parish directories and letters, the subject of all being the St. Thomas More church. There was much history, but also notebooks and legal pads filled with their mother's handwriting."
OCCULTIST IN THE ARCANE ARTS,
‘THE BLACKBIRD’ FATHER AMSEL
GAERTNER
“Late that night, the two priests joined in the sanctuary for a Mass of blasphemy with hosts trod on. There were no lights in the church, only a few dark candles at the altar, and the police officer on rounds during his drive- through did not notice any unusual activity. The priests did not possess the ring of Solomon used to control demons, but needed the power it held badly enough that after concluding their black Mass they began a summoning ritual . . . the demon Asmodai was settled on.
There were no fire and brimstone, just another priest sitting in the front pew used by the altar servers because it had no kneeler. The elderly priest had appeared quietly and remained seated as both clerics turned toward him. Frail in appearance, he did not identify himself as demon or otherwise, and was in fact a lesser denizen serving Asmodai, a procurer, a soul thief.”
Defender of the Shire, the Dire Wolf,
among the neighbors of Neverland Road
"High above the gate the Dire Wolf, watching the man enter, stirred from his post beside the Kostoprav's stable and began a quick run down the hillside. It was time to cross the road."
Dani's Shield, Her Grandmother Anna
“(Dani) slept so soundly that when she rolled over the guard bar and out of the bunk, landing on the linoleum below with a thud, she never woke. Instead, she dreamt. Her Grandmother appeared as Dani stood beside her own body lying in sleep. Anna was haloed in bright white light, tiny and glowing in a heavily embroidered white gown, and reaching out to her. Dani, amazed at her Grandmother's transformation, exclaimed "Oh Baba, how beautiful you are!"
Her Grandmother blessed Dani by tracing a cross in the air, her thumb and forefingers together signifying the Holy Trinity, with the fourth and fifth folded for the Divine and human natures of the Christ. "You good," said Anna. "You safe. You OK." The dream faded and Dani slept.”
CHURCH BACKUP SECRETARY,
‘THE DONNA’ VALDUCCI
“Will The Donna, now locked in the Sacristy with Asmodai's other condemned souls, become a wraith subject to serving him, or even a dislocated evil spirit (a dybbuk) wanting to gain control of a living human
being?”
WITCH SISTERS, THE SESTRY DIMON,
PROMISED TO THE DARK SIDE AT BIRTH
“Twilight turned to night, and the figures of three middle-aged women entered the cemetery. Standing near Francesca Engel's former resting place, the Sestry (sisters) began arguing about a piece of jewelry, a ring left to the eldest by their mother, worn on a chain around Sila Dimon's neck.
Their argument became physical when a knife entered Sila's heart. She dropped, quickly. The ring was removed by Bara and pocketed. The plywood cover was lifted with some difficulty and Bara and Thea dumped Sila's body into a ready-made grave, squashing her in the space between the exterior of the empty vault and a wall of earth . . . rain pooled in the hollow grave, forcing Sila's body to drop further down along the vault, leaving her lying on her side and facing the empty vault with a stare.”
DEMON OF LUST AND KING OF THE GAMBLING DENS IN HELL, THE ASMODAI
“Thankfully for her, she was sitting as Asmodai appeared near a Tiffany-crowned floor lamp and smiled, just the kind of smile that awoke The Donna's soul. So they were here. With her.
They would be able to facilitate her search and acquisition, and she understood the
skim. That was all they wanted. Their cut . . .
She would daydream about sex with the apparition who had immediately assigned her
to his round file. Her soul was as good as collected, and that was the skim.
Despite the slight dimming of light at her workplace (the demon's presence sucked in
the energy of the electric current), it never occurred to The Donna that Asmodai might be within her office, close enough to touch.”
Credits
