Finally, draw your strength from the Lord and from his mighty power. Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil. For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens. Therefore, put on the armor of God, that you may be able to resist on the evil day and, having done everything, to hold your ground. So stand fast with your loins girded in truth, clothed with righteousness as a breastplate, and your feet shod in readiness for the gospel of peace. In all circumstances, hold faith as a shield, to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. With all prayer and supplication, pray at every opportunity in the Spirit. To that end, be watchful with all perseverance and supplication for all the holy ones
Ephesians 6:10-18, New American Bible St Joseph Edition
We are in a spiritual battle, that is very clear. Unfortunately this battle is not with an enemy we can see in front of us, or one that we can defeat through our own strength. We need God to defeat the armies of darkness. How can we protect ourselves? St Paul gives us a breakdown of the things we need in our life.
Loins Girded in Truth
In the ancient world, men and women would typically wear loose tunics. This would be much more comfortable in the desert environment that they lived in. The problem is, if they had to complete a difficult task such as fighting or running, this tunic would get in the way and impede movement. Essentially to “gird your loins” means to tie up your tunic in a way that your legs can move freely without impediment. This phrase basically means to prepare yourself for a difficult task, and for purposes prepare yourself for battle.
So “loins girded in truth” means to prepare yourself for battle, the spiritual battle, with truth. This is important for the Catholic faithful, to be ready for battle with truth. The Devil and his minions attacks us with lies, half-truths, trickery, and snares. In order to defend ourselves against the attacks of the demons we must know the truth of scripture and the teachings of the Catholic Church.
So how do we prepare for battle with truth? My suggestion is to become familiar with scripture. Read your Bible every day, even if it’s just one or two verses. Pay attention to every reading at Mass. We do have three readings and a Psalm, so we have plenty to pay attention to at Mass. Pick a Gospel and read through it, the Gospel of Mark is the shortest. And then read through another.
But also get acquainted with the teachings of the Church. Christ created the Catholic Church for a reason, so that Christians could be taught and led by His Truth. The Catholic Church is the ultimate teaching authority, so you need to know what it teaches. I would suggest starting with reading through the Catechism. This book lays out all the basics you need to know.
When it comes to preparing yourself in truth, remember it is a journey. You need to keep learning, and you may find that truths you were certain about are not actually true. The point is keep going and keep learning.
Breastplate of Righteousness
A breastplate was very important for a soldier in the ancient world. It protected all those vulnerable organs like the heart and lungs. To go into battle without a breastplate was very risky, and probably meant you were not going to survive. So when St Paul refers to righteousness as a breastplate, he’s explaining that it is vital for our survival.
Righteousness is living a life of holiness. It’s striving to be right in God’s eyes, and to firmly reject those things that take us away from God. A righteous person embodies a life of virtue. For us Catholics, to be righteous means to be in a state of grace. When we commit a mortal sin, we fall from a state of grace, and essentially remove that protective breastplate.
Once this breastplate is removed, temptations become so much harder to resist. We become open to spiritual attacks, since the demons see how vulnerable we are. We’re sitting ducks, waiting to be devoured by a life of sin.
Luckily there is a solution. For those who are in a state of sin, you can get back into a state of grace with confession. This beautiful sacrament was given to us by God for this very purpose, to protect us. Without confession, we could not hope to be righteous. With confession, we can hope to be righteous again when we fall.
Besides confession, we should also strive for a life of virtue. Increasing in our virtue will make us resist temptations to commit mortal sins, and make our breastplate that much stronger.
Feet Shod in Readiness for the Gospel of Peace
Every soldier needs a good pair of footwear. If you expect to make it anywhere, you can’t walk barefoot!
So what does it mean to be shod in readiness for the Gospel of Peace? We need to discuss what the Gospel of Peace actually is. True peace is to know God. To actually have peace in your life, you need a relationship with Christ. The thing is, we also need to help others know Christ. That is what “gospel” means, to teach. So the Gospel of Peace is the teaching of peace, that is, what Christ taught us. Since we are soldiers of Christ, we need to be ready to spread His word.
How do we become ready? Well, just like when we gird our loins in truth, we need to read scripture. We need to actually know what Christ taught us if we are expected to teach it! We should also learn about the saints, their lives are spectacular and full of wisdom. And guess what? Your own life is spectacular, and your story can inspire others to follow Christ.
Evangelization is the purpose of this part of our armor, because this is the mission we need to walk towards. Because we are all in this fight, and we do not leave a soldier behind, to be overtaken by the enemy.
Shield of Faith
Faith is a knowledge of God and a complete trust in Him. A strong faith in Christ will provide a strong shield against the enemy’s attacks.
What are these flaming arrows of the enemy? The Devil loves to fling all sorts of accusations against us, making us believe we are frauds or not able to gain salvation. Or maybe he would fire arrows of doubt, making us wonder if God even exists or wonder if the teachings from the Church or scripture are true. Arrows of temptation make us want to place ourselves before God. All of these attacks, if we allow them to pierce our souls, consume us, taking away our life. That is what flames do, they consume. And that is what we need protection from.
So we need a shield to protect ourselves, and that is our Faith. With Faith we know that we are not frauds when we believe we can be saved. We know that God is real and loves us so much. And Faith allows us to place God above ourselves, making all those temptations seem like big mistakes.
I wrote an article about the virtue of Faith, which you may find helpful.
Helmet of Salvation
The helmet, of course, protects our head. And what do we do with our head? We think, plan, and make decisions.
So how exactly can salvation protect our thoughts, plans, and decisions? It’s the hope of salvation that really does this. The devil and his minions likes to fill out heads with doubt or make us believe lies about whether or not we can be saved. If we start believing that salvation is not real, we would lose our motivation and fire.
Despair is a favorite weapon of the demons. It drags us down, makes us lose focus, makes us ask”why bother?” In spiritual warfare it can mean death.
So how do we increase our hope of salvation? Prayer is key in this. We need that beautiful and wonderful relationship with Christ, so we can know how important we are to Him. When we understand this we can know why we can still hope for Heaven, when we know we are awful sinners.
For more on the Theological Virtue of Hope, check out the article I wrote on this subject here.
The Sword of the Spirit
If we are called to battle, we need a weapon. St Paul describes this weapon as the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.
The Word of God is scripture, and just as with parts of our armor, we need to learn scripture for our sword. We need to sharpen our blade with important truths, such as the wonderful love of Christ, who suffered on the cross for us. The Psalms are important in spiritual warfare, and it would be a good idea to memorize some.
Here are some passages you should take a look at. It would be a good idea to make an effort to memorize some of these. Grab your Bible and take a look!
- 1 Cor 1:9
- RV 12:10
- Ps 23:1,4
- 2 Cor 11:14
- Ps 144:1-2
- Lk 1:46-47, 49, 51-52
- Jn 8:44
- 1 Tim 4:1-2
- Dt 11:16-17
- Pr 29:25
- Jas 4:7-8
Pray at All Opportunity
The last piece of our spiritual gear is prayer. Prayer is a powerful weapon, because it allows us to lift our hearts to God. When we do this, we are more united to Our Creator. It is the demons’ goal to separate us from God, so it’s a no brainer that actively uniting ourselves to God will thwart these evil plans that they have for us.
St Paul tells us to pray at all opportunity, and this is very important. We are constantly assailed by temptations and other attacks, and the enemy is always watching for the right opportunity to pounce. I wrote another article on aspirations, which are small prayers we can say throughout the day. This would be a great practice to get into.
Structured prayer can be crucial as well. Exorcists frequently talk about the importance of the Rosary, which is powerful against the forces of evil. Liturgy of the Hours is also a fantastic prayer to get into, and can allow you to sanctify the entire day. I would also suggest the Chaplet of St Michael, as this is also very powerful against temptations.
Final Thoughts
So when break down these parts of the armor, and two weapons, that St Paul gives us we see some common themes.
We need to be prepared. As with the loins girded in truth and the feet shod in readiness of the gospel. We also need to be familiar with scripture. The girded loins, the shoes, and the sword. Our Faith must become central to our lives, so that we can have the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of Faith, the helmet of salvation, and every other part.
Essentially, we cannot take off this armor, because it is placed on ourselves through consistently living the life of a strong Christian. Every move we make could make our armor stronger against the forces of evil, or it could weaken our armor, making us vulnerable. Mortal sin can even remove this armor completely. This armor needs to be taken care of, like any good soldier would do. And it is not a something we can just reach for when we need it, and then forget about it when we think we’re safe.
So take a look at the condition of your armor today. Have you taken care of every piece? Or do you need to buff out some vices on your breastplate, or sharpen your blade with scripture?