The glass that shattered one day, the experiences of Satan, and the necessary friendship with the angels.

Editorial (07/13/2026 15:37, Gaudium Press) What I am about to relate happened to me a few years ago, not so long ago.

I was at a country house, a place that is generally very, very quiet, where the absence of distracting objects actually favors concentration and contemplation, when at one point my boss called or wrote to me and said:

“Mr. Saúl, I received news that an openly Satanic group is going to open a public headquarters in the United States (I think it was in Texas). Could you look into it and write an appropriate article?”

I quickly set about fulfilling the assignment, which, as I recall, was not very complicated, since the information was readily available.

After writing the article, we uploaded it through WordPress, and after a few more attempts than usual, it was finally posted on the website.

However, five minutes later—crash!—a loud noise from the kitchen announced that something had broken, and it sounded like something large. I hurried over—it was not far away—and calmly observed, thanks to a grace I received, a scene that was nevertheless surprising.

A piece of glass had shattered above the stove, which was not turned on. But it was a special, reinforced, heat-resistant glass, serving as the lid of a frying pan. The miniature “explosion” had been powerful: the fragments were not only scattered over the stove and countertop but were also spread across the floor in all directions.

I felt no fear, but to me the explanation for what appeared to have no visible explanation was clear: it was a manifestation of the evil one’s rage, permitted by God because of the harm that the article we had just published might cause him.

That was my personal conviction at the time, and several years later it remains so. I am not asking readers to share it, but I present it here as an introduction to a subject that should interest everyone: the action of angels—both good and bad—in our lives, in everyday life.

In previous articles we have already touched on this topic. For example, in an earlier piece, we examined, through Thomistic doctrine, how the evil one may influence our cognitive and emotional processes through the imagination. In this article we will focus more on what may be the magnificent action of angels in “angelized men,” that is, people who frequently communicate with angels, drawing from reflections by Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira.

The underlying thesis is that, whether we like it or not, whether we are conscious of it or not, we are engaged in a tremendous struggle between the forces of good and evil—not only over the fate of each individual soul, but also over the control of those collections of souls that are human societies. And we will not be able to counter the offensive of the forces of evil (yes, commanded by Satan) without establishing a very strong alliance with the Angelic Cavalry.

Let us illustrate this with an example that Dr. Plinio discussed on the individual level: what he called the issue of “experiences” (vivências).

Following St. Thomas, Dr. Plinio recalled that before any reasoning takes place, there exist within man certain “first principles,” fundamental truths that need no demonstration and that the intellect grasps as self-evident.

Essentially, these principles are the principle of non-contradiction (“a thing cannot both be and not be at the same time and in the same respect”) and the first principle of action, the first principle of natural law, which commands that “good is to be done and evil avoided.”

From these first principles arise obvious conclusions. For example:

If my senses tell me that what I am looking at is a pear because it has the shape of a pear, the skin of a pear, and when cut open has the texture and color of a pear, then the principle of non-contradiction leads me to affirm that it is a pear.

Another example: imagine someone with a little dog. One day the dog wakes up without an appetite, despite normally being voracious. Lulu, who is usually very active, lies listlessly on a sofa and hardly moves, gazing at the world around her with dull eyes. The principle of non-contradiction leads me to conclude that something is wrong with my dog, and the basic principle of natural law moves me to seek her good—through appropriate home remedies or a trip to the veterinarian—to restore her health, her lack of well-being.

However, over the generations, Dr. Plinio began to perceive that these basic certainties were losing strength. If a person once had 100% certainty that something was a pear, that certainty had diminished to 70% or less. If it had once been 100% clear to the dog’s owner that he should seek to restore the dog’s health, that certainty also had diminished.

And these weakened certainties began to compete with other “experiences,” with impressions that, when examined in the light of reason, appeared absurd but nevertheless were present with greater or lesser force. Something like:

“Yes, I’m 70% sure it’s a pear, but… couldn’t it possibly be an apple? With advances in genetic engineering applied to agriculture, nowadays they can do almost anything.”

Or:

“Yes, I’m 70% sure Lulu should be taken to the veterinarian, but… what if she’s simply depressed? Why not? It happens to me sometimes, so why couldn’t it happen to a dog?”

The original certainties began to share the same space with other mini-certainties, the product of certain “experiences”—absurd, but nevertheless present and not easily dismissed.

Dr. Plinio compared these experiences to temptation resulting from demonic action and saw many similarities.

Although temptation clothes itself in garments of goodness and truth, reason reveals that yielding is absurd and not truly good. Yet temptation, adorned by the devil, seeks to show that it is good for a diabetic to eat that dessert or good for a debt-ridden person to buy that car with borrowed money, when in reality it is not. The force of that tempting vision often manages to suspend the use of reason.

These experience-temptations had as their source Satan’s preternatural action and were very similar to those other experiences that more permanently inhabited the minds of newer generations.

Dr. Plinio gave another example:

He imagined a person inclined toward suspicion walking down the street. Suddenly that person hears someone say something and suspects that it was said about him. He walks a few more steps, but then an “experience,” almost carrying the flavor of certainty and inspired by Satan, tells him that yes, they were speaking ill of him.

He cannot explain why two strangers would be talking about him in an unlikely place, yet he feels convinced. Feelings of confrontation arise, intense anger awakens, and this can reach irrational extremes.

“The action of evil spirits is often like this,” Dr. Plinio said.

A process like this, repeated and stirred up by the devil, can gradually dull the intellect’s first principles, as mentioned above.

The question then arises: how can such action be fought if not through recourse to the good angels?

Indeed, what Dr. Plinio advocated at a certain point was the pursuit of a “personal friendship with Angels and Saints.” For this, it is indispensable not only to have certainty about the existence of the supernatural world and the possibility and necessity of its help—as taught by the Christian faith—but also a certain delicacy of soul through which a person is willing and eager to receive the beneficial influence of that marvelous world.

For the influence of the dark preternatural world will be received whether one wants it or not, whereas the influence of the angelic world and the blessed must be asked for.

This delicacy, in this context, is synonymous with humility.

One should not worry if, at the present moment, the angelic world seems to speak to a person no more than a stone does—that is, not at all. Normally this occurs because we are deeply infected by naturalism, either through the way we were educated or through the influence of a world that denies the existence of the supernatural.

However, since the goal is precisely to build a “friendship,” this is something that develops gradually, relying on the certainty provided by faith: if that friendship does not yet exist, it is not because angels and saints do not desire it, for they seek only our greater perfection for the greater glory of God.

But the chief incentive for such friendship is the benefits we may obtain from it: expulsion of Satan’s influence; good “experiences” that help order our being and heal psychological wounds resulting from past failings; enlightenment of the intellect and strengthening of the will to achieve good goals; and much more.

Let us ask for these graces through prayer.

Let us ask the Queen of Angels for them.

By Saúl Castiblanco

References to Dr. Plinio’s expressions can be found in the Portuguese edition of Dr. Plinio magazine, issues 245, 246, and 270.

The post “The Glass That One Day Exploded, Satan’s ‘Experiences,’ and the Necessary Friendship with Angels” first appeared on Gaudium Press Español.