Discernment of Strange Spirits

A question pertaining to our previous tale of high strangeness comes from a user on X:

Wouldn’t it be more likely, per the Church, that the “ghost” is a demon masquerading as the spirit of the officer?

My answer:

Another user then chimed in to add this chilling personal account:

I have faced 1 and 4 for sure, and yep it is true, the 4 are really terrible, but prayer helps. Number 3 I think I have experienced it a couple of times. I know it sounds ridiculous, but it is true, for some reason I have experienced very weird things while growing up ha ha.

… [T]he first one is from when I was a child, I was in my room alone, I was in bed when I heard a the voice of a woman calling for help, she sounded really distressed. You can bet I got really scared, and I asked the voice to leave me alone.

I kept hearing the voice for some seconds more until it disappeared, however now whenever I remember that event, I didn’t feel anything malicious, I was scared because who wouldn’t be if you hear something like that? But it seems there were no bad intentions from that voice.

I now wonder what could have I done to help her, but I never heard that voice again.

How to tell which kind of spirit from the list above you’re dealing with?

Discernment of spirits: By their fruits you will know them.

If the apparition leaves you feeling hopeful & consoled, chances are it was a saint or an angel.

If the apparition says anything contrary to the faith and/or leaves you sad, angry or afraid, odds are it was a demon.

Warnings to shape up & stop sinning meant to scare you straight are more the M.O. of damned souls.

Melancholy apparitions that make repeat appearances intended to get attention are likely poor souls in Purgatory asking for prayers.

So the single best response to a ghost encounter is prayer.

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