Lesson Nine
Another important aspect of spiritual warfare is to ensure that our homes have the blessing and protection of God. This is formally done by a priest, and there are a few methods of blessing available.
A priest can perform the blessing simply by sprinkling holy water and following any of several blessings from The Roman Ritual. In the Rite of Blessing Holy Water, the blessing implores:
May everything that this water sprinkles in the homes and gatherings of the faithful be delivered from all that is unclean and hurtful; let no breath of contagion hover there, no taint of corruption; let all the wiles of the lurking enemy come to nothing. By the sprinkling of this water, may everything opposed to the safety and peace of the occupants of these homes be banished, so that in calling on your holy name they may know the well-being they desire, and be protected from every peril.
During the month of June — dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus — both homes and families can be consecrated or enthroned to the Sacred Heart. Part of this process involves placing an image of Christ and His Sacred Heart in a place of honor in the home. Jesus promised St. Margaret Mary Alacoque that He “will bless the homes where an image of My Heart shall be exposed and honored.”
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In my Chicago home, hanging in a place of honor, are two vintage icons. One is of the Sacred Heart and the other depicts the Immaculate Heart of Mary. My great-grandfather brought these icons to the United States after his flight from Europe almost a century ago. They hung prominently in our family farmhouse for decades and protected the farm from all sorts of evils as the years passed. When the farm was sold, my father moved the sacred images to Chicago. There they remain, important reminders of who reigns in this world and in my home.
For anyone who wants to learn more about such home consecrations, I recommend The Enthronement of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a book by Cdl. Raymond Burke. In it, the former chief Vatican lawyer explains devotion to the Sacred Heart and then guides his readers step-by-step through the process of enthroning and consecrating the home to the Sacred Heart.
Summary: Have your home, your business or your farm blessed. Mount pictures of the Sacred Heart up high to show who rules your home and family life. These blessings will help ward off the presence and influence of the evil one.
Lesson Ten
Another thing evil spirits can do (if God allows them to), is make noises and scare people. They can, at times, manipulate our perception of physical reality. These evil entities hate us, and out of hate, they try to dissuade us from doing God’s will. These machinations occur oftentimes just before you are about to do something important for God and for His Holy Church.
St. John Vianney
St. John Vianney reported having horrible demonic assaults every time he was about to forgive a big sinner in the confessional. The saint said he could tell when he had “a big fish to catch in the confessional” the next day. The Devil knew that, if he could take out St. John Vianney, then the big sinner would not be saved and a good man would be prevented from doing God’s work.
In my own life, the week before fleeing Chicago in 2018 to save my life, a couple of events occurred in which the laws of nature appeared to get twisted by a malevolent force that was attempting to hurt me and thwart what I was doing. In the fall of that year, I was in a spiritual battle with two Chicago politicians, Alderman Deb Mell and Mayor Lori Lightfoot. Both were conspiring to remove me from my parish.
The first diabolical warning was the crashing of a large tree branch from a healthy maple no more than 4 feet from where I stood on the street. Witnesses remarked on how “unnatural” this was to happen on a windless afternoon. In the end, it took a couple of strong men to drag the branch out from the road it was blocking.
A second event that same week was no less peculiar. It happened the night there had been a protest at my parish. For my safety, Chicago police escorted me home. I made sure that, before I went into my home, the wrought iron gates outside my home were all locked. I checked and double-checked. But at 3 a.m., I was awakened to hear the front gate squealing on its hinges, seemingly unlocking itself.
At first, I hid under the covers, as though that would protect me. But I quickly grabbed my Rosary and started to pray, and in the light of morning, I inspected what had happened. I discovered that the deadbolt to the gate, still latched, had been pulled out of the mortise. How this could have been done by any human being was hard to imagine. Blessedly, a wrought iron fence was not my only defense that night, as I had my Rosary. Our Blessed Mother kept me safe, even if the wrought iron could not.
Before important decisions and work projects, realize that the Devil may try to trip you up. Anticipate this. Double up on your prayers and seek out the sacraments to fortify yourself.
Summary: Don’t be surprised when an evil spirit tries to assault you in some fashion to thwart you from doing God’s will. It’s par for the course, when you’re in the thick of the battle, that the evil one will try to stop you. I cannot emphasize enough the importance of always striving to be in a state of grace, going to confession often, and receiving the sacraments of the Church regularly so that, come what may, you are spiritually prepared.
Lesson Eleven
Another important weapon in spiritual warfare is exercising the virtue of humility. A humble man who is devout and in a state of grace cannot be harmed by the Devil. The Devil will try — rest assured — but will not succeed.
This often-misunderstood virtue is considered of little import or even irrelevant in our modern world. It is wrongly assumed to mean something akin to belittling oneself. In fact, it is the opposite of the sin of pride, which the fallen angels committed when they assumed they were like God.
St. Teresa of Ávila
That’s one reason why the Devil hates humility so much. The Devil also hates that Jesus humbled himself to assume a human nature to carry out the salvation story that defeated Satan for all time. This seemingly little virtue is a very big piece of armor we must wear for our spiritual fight.
Saint Teresa of Ávila had a lot to say about its importance. Once, she wrote, “There is more value in a little study of humility and in a single act of it than in all the knowledge in the world.”
The Catholic Encyclopedia defines humility as “a quality by which a person considering his own defects has a lowly opinion of himself and willingly submits himself to God and to others for God’s sake.”
Striving to be humble, to be a person of humility, is a day-to-day task, so never brag about how humble you are. Just when you think you have this virtue down pat, you catch yourself being proud and conceited.
No fallen human being, even the smartest man, is more intelligent than the Devil. God, who created the angels, made them with a super intellect. Satan, after his fall, did not forfeit this capacity, so only a foolish man would try to outsmart an evil spirit.
Summary: Practice the virtue of humility. This virtue will fortify your armor and make it impervious to attacks by the Devil. Make it a practice to pray the Litany of Humility daily.
Lesson Twelve
One healthy spiritual practice for every disciple to do on a day-to-day basis is to tell the evil one to get lost! Some days this has to be done more than once. In short, you have to regularly and repeatedly some days just tell the Devil to go away.
Call to mind what Matthew’s Gospel records about Jesus sending the evil one on his way:
Again the devil took him up into a very high mountain, and shewed him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them, and said to him: All these will I give thee, if falling down thou wilt adore me. Then Jesus saith to him: Begone, Satan; for it is written: The Lord thy God shalt thou adore, and him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil left him; and behold, angels came and ministered to him.
Even in the old Hollywood movie The Wizard of Oz, the good witch, Glinda, says directly to the Wicked Witch of the West: “Begone! You have no power here!” Immediately after the wicked witch’s exit, Glinda made a disparaging remark about how the evildoer left in her wake the strong scent of sulfur.
Although it’s a secular fairy tale, the story teaches hard truths. The Devil has no power over any man without his consent. Tell the Devil to go, and he has to go. Each and every man — made in the image and likeness of God — has the power to forbid evil from coming into his heart and mind.
Living in a fallen world, with lots of evil powers at work just below the surface, it’s hard some days to keep the evil one at arm’s length. But, this can be done, aided by the frequent reception of the sacraments of the Church, regular intervals of prayer and the use of sacramentals.
Enroll yourself in the Confraternity of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, and wear religiously the brown scapular that Mary bequeathed to the Church. Mary, the good mother that she is, has promised her protection to all those who wear the scapular. Why not avail yourself of her help? The Devil, who hates the Blessed Mother even more than any of us, will keep his distance from anyone who wears her scapular.
Summary: Get into the daily practice of telling the Devil to take a hike! If you don’t, he has a habit of making himself at home in your head. There’s nothing better to clear your head after a nasty dream than to say; “Begone! You have no power here!”