Remember the devil?

Recently a well known blogger ran a post in essence stating that we are becoming a little too obsessive regarding the devil.

Just another Disney film.....or is it?

In short, we are  giving rather too much credit for the ills of the world and our personal troubles to the devil and his demons; we are crying "wolf" perhaps a little too often.

There is some good sense in that.
We should no more see the works of Satan in everything around us than we should be blind to those occasions when he is hard at work making our lives harder and endangering our souls.

But how to tell the genuine from the false?

Archbishop Fulton Sheen used to say that, when he gave a retreat for priests, when normally 50 or 60 priests would be present, there was usually some evidence of the demonic.

One or possibly two members of the audience would be tainted with some aspect of Satan and this would normally be revealed when ++Sheen focused, particularly, on redemptive suffering and the cross.

There would be some throat clearing and foot shuffling and then the challenging questions, denying fundamental elements of Catholic belief.

OK, no spinning heads or glowing eyes, just a bit of aggression and rebellion.

Remember, this is not the devil as such, it is as a result of some sin of pride or disobedience that has tinged the person concerned with the demonic.

It is like carrying a virus that manifests itself from time to time until it has taken a firm grip of the system over a number of years and erupts into something far, far more sinister.

I see evidence of the demonic in the manner in which many Catholics (laity as well as clergy) respond to any questions regarding the Ordinary Form of Mass, the Latin Mass.

Several times I have had occasion to ask if a Latin Mass could be arranged or, if a visiting priest could offer a Latin Mass at our parish church.

The response has always surprised me by its vehemence and expressed repulsion at the prospect.

When arranging my son's Nuptial Mass some years ago I made the request for it to be a TLM only for the priest to make a face as if he had trodden in something rather offensive and remark dismissively that he didn't go along with all of that.....he almost said "rubbish" but he stopped himself just in time.

How can you not "go along" with the Mass in its traditional form?

Drop in to a parish open meeting and put forward a proposal for a weekly Latin Mass, or Benediction or Confessions at a regular time and in a confessional as opposed to Father's sitting room and you will hear howls of derision and abuse.

That's the demonic at work.

And, if Fulton Sheen found one or two cases of the demonic among a group of priests, how many more instances are there in the world around us?

It's around us in our everyday lives: television programmes that reflect themes that make Christianity an object of mockery and ridicule, films where the Holy Name is abused, advertising posters ostensibly selling soap powder via a storyline of adultery or perversion, and Women's Hour on BBC Radio Four is one of the worst offenders; the list is endless.

So, do not see the devil at work every time you reverse into a brick wall at the supermarket or, when you find that the 8.10 Reading to Paddington has been cancelled; but do lookout for signs of the devil; the demonic, when you raise issues of orthodoxy at all times.

And when you do come across the demonic at work, remember the "Michael" prayer, as a certain US priest likes to call it.

And remember not to cave in to demonic pressure.

Archbishop Fulton Sheen found that by not wavering from his course, matters would resolve themselves within 24 hours.

On day two of the retreat, there would be one or two empty seats.

The obstructive priests had departed and with them the demonic.





 

We are never far from the demonic!

Much as in the same way it is said that in big cities one is never more than 12 feet from a rat, so it is with the demonic. The devil and his demons go rampaging throughout the world looking for souls to master and destroy and the evil one is never more than a few feet from us..


"Even priests can be affected
by the demonic"


Archbishop Fulton Sheen (whose cause for beatification is being forwarded in Rome right now) made a telling statement in one of his retreats for priests series. He said that, out of an audience of 50 or 60 priests, there would always be one or two who were tinged with the demonic.
 "Mention the sacrifice of Calvary as re-enacted in the Mass and they would begin to shift uncomfortably in their seats.
                                                    By the end of the day they would be gone!"

He would go on to state that this contact with evil surrounds us in our daily lives.

I do not mean (and the Archbishop did not mean) that such people were actually possessed of a demon (although that may have been the case in some instances), it was more a situation where some element of the demonic had been allowed to enter their minds. The avenues for such a possibility are, of course, endless and they perhaps pervade the life of the Church today more than at any other time in its history.
Pornography, paedophila, marriage breakdown, drug abuse, homosexuality, perversions of every form, disbelief in the the Sacred Species, "liberated" nuns, women priests, apostasy and just plain everyday secular wrongdoings.

All have an essence of the demonic but, normally, due to our practice of regular Mass attendance and reception of the Sacraments and the subsequent graces we receive, we are able to automatically fend off most, if not all that Satan sends our way. We should not forget, either, the power of our Guardian Angel who must be fully occupied in overseeing our spiritual welfare.

The author, Patrick Leigh Fermor in his book "A time to keep silence" records that, in monasteries, the holy men enclosed are subject to bombardments by Satan. He describes one monk stating that the skies over the monastery at night are dark with demons. This is a very real and powerful threat and it is only their strong mindset and inherent spirituality that keeps them safe.

But open minds are empty vessels awaiting the devil's potions. When we used to attend Mass at the Mill Hill Fathers rural base, Courtfield, on the Herefordshire/Monmouthshire borders, the great Father Hughes often used to include accounts of his travails in Africa in his sermons. He spent many years in the wilds, like most Mill Hill Fathers and Brothers, and most of the time he would be the only priest for many miles around. I remember his account of receiving a late night call to attend a dying woman some 30 miles distant.
Packing up his case containing the Blessed Sacrament and the sacred oil and all other materials necessary for the administration of the Sacrament of Extreme Unction (it was called that 50 years ago) he mounted his motor bike and set off for the distant village.
Arriving finally he was shown to a hut where the sick woman lay. He entered holding aloft his Tilley lantern only to see the woman lying on  a settle against the far wall. He had not fully entered the room before she turned to glare at him ferociously whilst her whole body levitated upwards for about 3 to 4 feet and she screamed: "I do not want you or He whom you bring with you."
Now, according to Fr Hughes, it was at this point that he turned on his heels and fled; returning to the Mission a damn sight faster than he came.
I am sure that he did flee for his life. A priest untrained in exorcism and unprepared physically and spiritually would be very hard put to counter a full on demonic attack. The great danger being, of course, that the demon might overpower him and take control.

But possession is not rare in underdeveloped countries where people have, for many years, been under the influence of pagan beliefs and ceremonies. And it is becoming increasingly common in the developed world where poor education (I mean poor Catholic education) and a lack of intellectual rigour are becoming increasingly prevalent. That is not just a malfunction of the social framework, it is, undoubtedly, Satan weaving the web of despair, dissolution and dissipation that affects so many young people today.

He has an easy target (although, since 2005 and the advent of Pope Benedict, we have begun to re-consolidate and even started regaining lost ground) but we now have two or three generations of 'latch key' children who are now parents and grandparents in their own right. And the seeds of indifference and neglect have long since grown to fruition even to the stage of being beyond recovery.
Economic statistics used to indicate (and probably still do) that, when a person has been unemployed for more than  18 months, the likelihood of them returning to the workplace was negligible. The habit of being idle and taking state handouts had become too ingrained.

 So it is with the spiritual life. Do nothing, take the handouts of violent video games, cheap cider, drugs, street crime, pornography and abortion as a means of birth control and you have a potent mix that provides easy pickings for you know who!

What can be done? How can one rewind the clock and get matters onto a footing where at least the young, the down and outs and homeless  are given a chance. We don't have the vocation numbers yet to launch a crusade, I'm not sure that, in episcopal circles, there is even a will to do so. But, we should not be prepared to roll over and accept what Satan throws at the world.

The best of weapons -
recourse to Our Lady

We must keep in mind the weapons that are at our disposal; heading the list, of course, is Our Blessed Mother, she whose heel is firmly planted on the head of the serpent. The Rosary is all powerful in this regard and is positively hated by Satan. Next comes recourse to the saints, especially those with accredited powers to overcome the devil and all his works and pomps (St Anthony, St Michael, (Padre) St Pio and St Paul of the Cross spring to mind, I am sure there are more).

Next come the outward signs of our faith that so many families neglect today. The blessing of one's house by a priest, the Epiphany chalk, a crucifix in the home, holy candles at hand, a holy water font at the side of the front door, a palm cross, statues of the saints and mementoes of the holy life - forget the strings of garlic......these things are the real McCoy and your doorstep need never be fearful of a visit by the dark angel.
And your children and friends will become encouraged to do the same; visitors to your house will benefit from exposure to the sacred rather than the profane.

Prayer to Defeat the Work of Satan

O Divine Eternal Father, in union with Your Divine Son and the Holy Spirit, and through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg You to destroy the power of Your greatest enemy – the evil spirits.

Cast them into the deepest recesses of hell and chain them there forever! Take possession of Your Kingdom which You have created and which is rightfully Yours.

Heavenly Father, give us the reign of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

I repeat this prayer out of pure love for You with every beat of my heart and with every breath I take. Amen.

Even if you can only do one thing, make it the placement of a blessed crucifix in a prominent position in your home and ask your family and friends to do the same. It may not get rid of the rats but it will certainly get rid of Satan.