Sexual Addiction Recovery Fellowship

The Army of Heaven Prayer Group (AHPG) is a monthly meeting for men in recovery from addiction, begun in the Archdiocese of Baltimore. Chartered principally for spiritual care of lust (sex) addicts in recovery, the anonymous fellowship openly acknowledges that “Higher Power” has a name, Jesus Christ, Who is the sole author of human freedom.

AHPG advocates the implementing of an open, dynamic, '20 Ways in Christ', to receive, in time, the God-given gift of self-mastery.     Faith and prayer are the center of AHPG’s every step into recovery.

Addiction is a disorder of uncontrollable obsessive and compulsive behaviors, rooted in physiological, emotional/psychological, and spiritual causes. With the belief that Christ heals all ills, AHPG helps sufferers understand these malformations, and how Jesus Christ brings freedom in all parts of our lives, and beyond these, the greatest gift of all, salvation.

The first freedom sought is sobriety, to altogether stop "lusting", to stop the compulsion to use our ‘drug’ in “acting out”. Physical/psychological addiction is often the largest wound. The goal is to make the admission that our sexuality is undeniably malformed and that there is no 'self-deliverance' from compulsion, by one's own will. Proactive measures are shared to help limit environmental exposures and unwise choices that lead to risk of obsession and intoxication.

The second release involves locating, understanding and allowing Jesus Christ to heal the internal soul wounds, upon which the necessity for self-medicating escape has been based. This work is the heart of recovery. By fearlessly exposing the truth, in a safe and confidential sharing of how we were harmed in the past, against our will and also by our own hand, we expose the often desperate secret technique of our 'survival'. We come to the One Lord asking for the healing of unchosen wounds, blindly chosen wounds and the poorly chosen wounds of sin.

While the first two crossings engage what can personally be done - through grace, the third is to understand that there is an invisible adversary in addiction over which human faculty alone never overcomes: the demonic or unclean spirit.

The spiritual dimension of addiction is the most elusive and the one that clearly reveals the human need for a divine deliverer. For the believer, Jesus (Yeshua), whose name means safety (salvation), banishes Satan, father of addiction, slavery, sin and death, and takes away his power to bind the human being.

Here is the restoration of the kingdom of God within us, the work of the Redeemer who has gone before us in every manner of injustice and affliction and makes holy our offering of wounded self, by joining it to His infinitely perfect, sanctifying offering. By His wounds, our wounds are healed.

In a trusting, unscripted process, the malformed and unhealthy grow in the direction of purity and chastity, health in mind, body and soul; seeking and living positive virtues, not negative repression, self-reliance or control. Grace is always the active agent in our victory and deliverance, our healing and wholeness.

Grace opens the way to become more literate in masculinity, the vocations of husband, father and bachelor, formations that may have never been firmly established when we were younger. For Christians in addiction recovery, reclaiming and living our baptism fully is an essential desire; through belief and morals, worship and sacraments, and works of charity - especially to the poor.

The Army of Heaven group is a clearinghouse of proven aids and supports, flowing from the Power of Jesus Christ in the One Holy Church. The Army of Heaven Prayer Group ministers to those wounded deeply by the habitual sin of lust, but it also provides an opportunity for fellowship in all aspects of Christian life, vital for maintaining and strengthening faith.

The Army of Heaven honors always the Holy Spirit’s full authorship of our walk out of darkness into Light.

This spiritual care support group is a work of prayer and welcomes sufferers of all faiths.

Sobriety *  Recovery *  Salvation, In Christ Jesus  

“The Army of Heaven is a grassroots effort, using sound Catholic doctrine, and shared prayer, which is led to the heart of a revealing and healing God. This fellowship gives men the rare opportunity to bring Christ into the wound of their addiction. I pray that St. Anthony, patron of lost things, also helps these souls return to a sense of healing/innocence/grace after losing so much from the burden of their addiction.”

-Fr. Richard-Jacob Forcier, OFM Conventual, Secretary of the St. Anthony of Padua Province

Disclaimer: The Army of Heaven is a work of the Christian faithful which earnestly hopes and believes it is following, the holy doctrine of the Catholic or One Universal Church. If we are in error anywhere in this website, please help us to perfect these pages.

Our email address is:                       info@armofstmichael.com

Thank you!