As Catholics we need to deal with a reality all atheists and naturalists tend to scoff at, or relagate to the realm of fantasy and horror. Demons are real, and they want to steal your soul from it’s destination, Heaven and an eternity with God. As Catholics, we must engage in battle for our very souls, a battle not in the physical realm, but the spiritual. We need to learn how to fight a spiritual warfare.
In this article, my goal is to help anyone who may be new to this concept, anyone who has never fought this intense battle. The battleground of spiritual warfare can be confusing, yet in order to stay on that narrow path that leads to salvation, and avoid the wide path that leads to destruction, we must navigate it.
At the end of the article I will give 5 tips on how to get involved in the fight of your life today!
Christ Has Already Won
Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross and resurrection from the dead has ensured His victory over the devil and his minions. The thing is, Jesus was always going to win, and will always win. Television and other popular media tends to depict the devil and God in this tug of war fighting for humanity, making it look like the devil is on an even playing field. Nothing could be further from the truth, Jesus is all powerful. Jesus is God. The devil is a creature, created by God the Father. The devil is only allowed to have power by God. The devil is completely powerless against the power of Christ.
So as long as we cling to Christ, and walk the path He set for us, we will be fine. The devil loves to lead people astray however, not because he can gain victory over Christ, but because he can spite Christ. Jesus loves us so much He died for us. The devil knows this well and wants to take as many souls away from the goodness of Christ as possible.
What Are Demons?
The devil and his minions (demons) all used to be angels. When the angels were created, God allowed the angels a choice, follow Him or follow themselves. The angels had free will, just like we do, and just like us they needed to choose to love God. The devil wanted to be in control and rebelled against God. His pride couldn’t allow him to submit to God.
One third of the angels rebelled with him. They were cast out of Heaven, and now continue to work against God. Their goal is to spite Our Creator, by twisting His other creations, us. Every sin they tempt us to commit is spite toward God, who the demons hate.
They hate us too, and want to inflict suffering on us, because God became human, Jesus Christ. The Son infuriates them, because humanity is inferior to the angels, so why would God become a person? And the fact that a lowly person, the Blessed Virgin, would become Queen of Heaven also infuriates them.
How Are We Attacked?
The enemy will tempt us and trick us as much as they can. They never reveal their plans to us, and do not want us to know what happens when we sin. The temptations and tricks of the devil and his demons are called ordinary activity. Ordinary because we face these attacks day in and day out. We need to face these temptations with vigor and extreme fealty to God, because mortal sin can separate us from God.
Extraordinary activity is what we usually think of when we talk about being attacked by the devil. There are four forms of extraordinary activity: infestation, oppression, obsession, and possession.
- Infestation-this is when a demon has control over a place or object. Odors, noises, and objects being thrown around are common in this form of activity. This is often mistaken as a haunting, where people think it is a ghost. In fact the demon prefers that they are mistaken for a ghost. This is what makes ghost hunting a very spiritually dangerous activity.
- Oppression-this is when a demon actually physically attacks a person. People may feel pushes or hit, and will also develop scratches or bruises.
- Obsession-in this attack the demon invades a person’s mind and assaults it. Hallucinations, obsessive thoughts, hearing voices, and extreme and unexplained depression or anxiety could be signs of this.
- Possession-the fourth activity is the least likely to happen. This is when a demon takes control of a person’s body. This could happen without a person’s choice or a person could welcome it. Supernatural strength, levitation, walking up walls, and animalistic behavior can be indicators of possession. Some other indicators might be knowledge of things they couldn’t possibly know about and aversion to holy objects.
It’s important to remember that extraordinary activity is rare. Possession is the rarest of all demonic activity, though it receives the most attention. We need to remember that the ordinary activity, temptations and tricks, are what we are most often fighting against. Ordinary activity is where most of our battles are going to be fought. Our focus in spiritual warfare should be avoiding sin and not giving in to temptations.
If you are facing extraordinary activity however, you should seek out your diocese exorcist. Talk to your parish priest or contact your bishop to find out how.
Who Are Our Allies?
Through God’s mercy, we do not need to face this war alone. The Holy Trinity, The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit will always come to our aid. Besides God, we do also have allies in the Blessed Virgin Mary, the saints, and the angels.
The Blessed Virgin is the Mother of God, and she is the Queen of Heaven. All demons, including the devil, are terrified of her and hate her. A single glance from Mary in their direction is enough to send them fleeing. Mary is also a mother to all of us, and she loves us all as a mother loves their children. Call on her often and ask for her intercession.
The saints are praying for us often. Find out your patron saints, such as the saint you’re named after, your confirmation saint, or other saints that are patrons of your interests or occupations. There are also saint specifically known for their war against the devil. St Benedict, St Anthony, St Patrick, and many others are ready to intercede for us.
St Michael, St Gabriel, and St Raphael are the three archangels the Church knows about and allows devotions for. They are fantastic allies to call on for help. Also, every single one of us has a guardian angel, and angel assigned to guide and protect us from God when he created reality. These angels love us dearly, and are always at our side when we need them. They are also more powerful than any demon that might attack us.
We should always be ready to ask our allies for help. Every being in Heaven, angels and people, want us to make it up there with them.
How To Be Strong Spiritually
A strong prayer life is vital to becoming a strong spiritual warrior. We need to pray often and we need a structured prayer life. Prayer brings us closer to God, and strengthens our virtues and gives us more grace.
We also need to pursue virtue. Besides prayer, actually practicing a virtue increases how much of a virtue we have. Virtues are needed to fight against sin and temptations.
And most importantly, we must remain in a state of grace. Mortal sin actually kills us spiritually, placing us in a state of sin, and when this happens we are completely vulnerable. Mortal sin separates us from that saving grace of God.
There are several consequences of this. In a state of sin we are headed toward eternal damnation, and if we die in it we are likely going to hell. Prayer is less efficacious, because our relationship with God is severely damaged. We are wounded intellectually, meaning that we are more easily tricked or tempted. Spiritual truths become doubts. Being in a state of sin is extremely dangerous spiritually, and we need to go to confession regularly to make sure we are in a state of grace.
We can and should continue to pray in a state of mortal sin, but it’s only out of God’s mercy he hears us. We need to pray against sin and plead for God’s mercy when we pray in mortal sin, because at that point we are in desperate need of that mercy. The flood of graces we would normally receive in prayer in a state of grace are just not available in a state of sin.
Sacramentals
Sacramentals are blessed objects and prayers given to us by the Church, with the blessings and prayers of the Church behind them. They all are related to one of the 7 sacraments.
Common sacramentals are holy water, a blessed crucifix, brown scapular, Miraculous Medal, the St Benedict Medal, blessed salt, and a blessed rosary.
These sacramentals are very helpful when we need immediate help in the spiritual battle. Blessing ourselves with holy water when we are tempted or facing despair could mean the difference between giving in or winning that battle. These sacramentals are well known as a kind of repellent for demons. They cannot stand holy water or the St Benedict Medal. They hate that the brown scapular keeps so many souls from being corrupted by them. A Catholic needs an arsenal of these blessed and holy objects to help us fight.
Avoid The Occult
Something disturbing about the modern culture is it’s acceptance of occult activities as normal or fun and exciting. So many people go to psychics, do seances, play with ouija boards, do tarot, use sage, do reiki, and so many other pagan things. I’ve even seen Christians, among them are Catholics, who claim that they are allowed to practice magic. These so called “Christian” witches are in fact committing mortal sins and breaking the first commandment.
These pagan practices are spiritually very dangerous. They are violation of the first commandment, and because of that anyone who does these things are placing a different being in place of God. A being that is always a demon. These activities can open the door for extraordinary activity from the devil and his minions.
Catholics must avoid any and all pagan practices, magic, divination, voodoo, psychics, communication with the dead, and superstitious activity.
Exorcists speak often about how people are possessed because they used tarot cards or went to a seance. Or their home infested because they “cleansed” it with sage. The enemy wants you to do these things, and wants you to just think they’re fun and a game. This is serious business however, and you cannot have this stuff in your life. The occult opens doorways you do not want opened.
5 Tips To Get Started
Not sure where to start? Here are 5 things you can start doing right now to set you on the right path. These 5 things will form a great foundation for your fight against evil. Once you have these 5 things as a part of your life, you can start discovering other ways to combat darkness with your Catholic Faith.
- Frequent The Sacraments-the sacrament of Confession and the Eucharist are vitally important. Confession brings you out of a state of sin and into a state of grace, which protects you from the enemy. The Eucharist fills us with Christ, and gives us abundant graces to face temptations and grow in virtue. Confession at least once a month and the Eucharist every Sunday and Holy Day are the minimum in a life of a spiritual warrior.
- Develop A Prayer Life-prayer is vital to our spiritual lives and especially spiritual warfare. The rosary is important to pray everyday, however if that is too advanced at this stage you can start with an Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be, and St Michael Prayer. Having a scheduled prayer life is very advantageous, so come up with some prayers in the morning and before bed.
- Get To Know The Blessed Virgin-the devil and his minions fear Mary with a complete hatred and distaste. Mary is completely without sin, and completely obedient and humble toward God. She will fight for you like a mama bear fights for her cub. Pray for her help often.
- Get Acquainted With Your Guardian Angel-at the beginning of creation, God created an angel to watch over you when you come into this life. This angel is more powerful than the devil himself. Your guardian angel also loves you more than any person could. They are your partner you can count on to get through this crazy life. Pray to them often.
- Use Some Sacramentals-keep a holy water font by your door, sprinkle holy water around your house or on your bed before going to sleep, and of course bless yourself with it. Other sacramentals are also very powerful in our fight, and it would be a good idea to start wearing a Miraculous Medal or St Benedict Medal every day.