Please listen to Father Broom's talk on Spiritual Combat
The word of God teaches us that our life on earth is warfare and the Lord reminds us that if we have decided to follow the Lord we must be prepared for combat. The Sacrament of Confirmation strengthens the Gifts of the Holy Spirit within our souls and transforms us into “Soldiers of Christ” the King. With the “Cristero” martyrs of Mexico our battle cry must be “Viva Cristo Rey!”—long live Christ the King.
An important note! The devil exists, has keen intelligence (in a
perverted way), is exceedingly sly and crafty, and is constantly at work and
persistent in his work--- temptations. However, God, Mary, His angels and
saints are far more powerful than the devil!
Two extremes must be avoided with
respect to the devil. These were warnings given by the Servant of God Pope Paul
VI. The first extreme to avoid is to deny that the devil exists. Indeed this is
one of the tactics of the devil. On the other hand, we should never give the
devil too much importance. Individuals, fearful alarmists, speak more of the
power of the devil than of the Omnipotence of God Himself. Let us avoid the two
extremes!
SPIRITUAL WEAPONS TO
CONQUER THE DEVIL!
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| Could you not watch with me one hour? |
VIGILANCE! Stay awake and pray so that you are not put
to the test and overcome by the temptations of the devil. The precise reason
for the Apostles fall, abandoning Jesus in the Garden, was that they were not
vigilant in prayer.
NAME IT AND CLAIM IT! When the temptation breaks it can prove
exceedingly useful to simply admit in a very calm manner, “I am being tempted
by the devil, the enemy of God!” Name
it! Claim it! And then tame it! Discovering
the enemy on the attack is half the battle! Ignorance of the enemy’s presence
can augment his power over us!
AVOID THE NEAR OCCASION OF SIN. Often we are tempted because we place
ourselves in the near occasion of sin. Remember the many proverbs! “Do not play with fire!” and “He who plays in
danger will perish in danger!” again, “He who walks on thin ice will fall
in!” Finally, “He who walks on a
slippery slope will slip and fall!” One
of the reasons why Eve ate from the forbidden fruit was due to the simple
reason that she was near the tree that God told her not to eat from!
STATE OF DESOLATION! While in this state St. Ignatius arms us
with four key weapons: more prayer, more meditation, examine your conscience
(to see why you are in desolation) and finally to apply yourself to some
suitable penance. Some devils are expelled only through prayer and penance!
SACRAMENTALS. The proper use of Sacramentals can prove to
be very efficacious in fighting against the devil, and especially three: the
Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, the medal of Saint Benedict, and finally
HOLY WATER. St Teresa of Avila insists on
using Holy Water to expel the devil from our presence. Why?
The devil is inflated with pride and Holy water is small and
inconspicuous—this the devil hates and cannot endure. Exorcisms have recourse
to holy water!
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| Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I give You my heart and my soul |
FIERY DARTS THAT PENETRATE THE SKY. When being assaulted by the enemy it is
highly recommended to offer short and
fervent prayers, ejaculations; these can prove exceedingly efficacious in
putting the devil to flight. Some examples of these short but powerful prayers
might be: Jesus I trust in you… Sweet Heart of Mary be my salvation… Lord, save
me… Lord come to my rescue, and of course invoking with faith and confidence
the Holy names of JESUS, MARY, AND SAINT JOSEPH…
REJECT IMMEDIATELY! Part of the problem in spiritual combat is
the lethargic, slow and anemic response to the temptation. God’s grace must
always prevail through the weapon of prayer. Still, we must engage our own will
in manfully and forcefully rejecting the temptation from the start. Frequently
temptations get a stronghold over us because we open up the door and the tail
of the devil enters and it is difficult to kick him out!
LAZINESS. On one occasion in the Diary of St. Faustina the devil was roaming the corridors frantically looking for somebody to tempt. St Faustina stopped the devil and told him out of obedience to Jesus to tell her what was the greatest danger (the devil’s major tool) to conquer the nuns. Reluctantly the devil responded--- Lazy and indolent souls! All of us have heard the proverb: “Idleness is the workshop of the devil!” This means that if we do not have anything to do then the devil will give us a lot to do.
The great Saint John Bosco mortally feared vacation time for his boys in
the Oratory. Why? Too much free time gives full entrance and game to the devil
in the life of the youth! How often have
we sinned preceded by moments, hours or even days of indolence and
laziness! Our philosophy should be that
of St. Alberto Hurtado, “There are two places to rest: the cemetery and
heaven.” In the present it is time to work out our salvation in fear and
trembling. May St. Benedict’s motto be ours: “ Ora y Labora…”—meaning, “Work and pray!!!”
JESUS IN THE DESERT AS SUPREME
EXAMPLE: HIS THREE WEAPONS! Of course our best example for all is Jesus who
said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.”
At the end of forty days in the desert, the devil came to tempt Him.
Jesus forcefully and easily conquered the devil by using three weapons that we
must learn to use: prayer, fasting, and the use of the Word of God. Jesus had a prolonged prayer experience in
the desert. Added to that was forty days of fasting; He ate nothing. Finally
the devil tempted Him by using the Word of God; Jesus also used the Word of God
as a sharp arrow to puncture the efforts of Satan. Fervent and prolonged
prayer, constant self-denial, and familiarity with the Word of God, both
meditating on it and putting it into practice are efficacious weapons indeed to
combat and conquer Satan.
OPENNESS TO YOUR SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR. Once again, the Master Saint Ignatius comes
to the rescue! In the 13th Rule of Discernment the saint warns us
that the devil likes secrecy in the sense that if one is in a profound state of
desolation that to open up to a Spiritual Director can conquer the temptation. By clamming up it
is like a cut or wound that is hidden beneath a band aid. Until that wound is
exposed to the sun and a disinfectant the wound not only will not heal but it will
become all the more infected, it will fester and risk the danger of gangrene or
worse yet amputation. Once the
temptation is revealed to an able Spiritual Director it is often
conquered. Overwhelmed by temptation,
doubt and confusion shortly before making her vows, St Therese opened up to her
Novice Mistress and Superior revealing her state of soul. Almost immediately
the temptation disappeared, she made her vows and went on to be one of the
greatest modern saints. What would have
happened to her if following the counsel of the devil she kept her state of
soul secret? Undoubtedly we would not have Saint Therese of Lisieux, Doctor of
the Church.
ST. MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL. In our battle with Satan we should use all
the weapons in our arsenal. God chose
Saint Michael the Archangel as the faithful angel, the Prince of the Heavenly
Host, to cast into hell Satan and the other rebellious angels. St Michael,
whose name means, “Who is like unto God”, is just as powerful now as he was in
the past. In the midst of the storm of temptations, why not lift up your heart
to St. Michael and call upon him. You
can pray the famous prayer “St. Michael the archangel, defends in battle….” Or
simply beg for his intercession! His
help from the heights of heaven will help you to be victor in your combat with
the devil.
MARY MOST HOLY. As a whole the Mexican people have great
devotion to Mary, especially under the title of Our Lady of Guadalupe. However
in Guadalajara, Mexico, in addition to venerating Mary, Our Lady of Guadalupe
as Patron of Mexico and the Americas, they honor her with another title: “La General del ejercito!”---- meaning that
she is the “General of the Army”. In our
battle against the ancient serpent, Genesis 3:15 honors the woman who crushes
the head of the serpent with her heal. “I will put enmity between you and the woman
and between her offspring and yours; He will strike at your head, while you
strike at his heel.” (Gen. 3:15).
Indeed the ancient serpent the devil can strike out at us with his ugly tongue
and spew out venom, but relying and trusting in Mary, she
will crush his ugly head. Viva Cristo Rey! Viva Maria Reina! Long live Jesus
and Mary!
Fr. B.
ReplyDeleteThe war really is true. I see it daily, especially when evil spirits prompt other kids to harass or bully my kids at school. The evil spirits agitate unwitting, spiritually immature people to aggress against good kids to demoralize them. It is very common in public school since God has been kicked out and replaced with official atheism.
It is like the communists won the cold war and instituted their policies in American schools. Such view are furthered by non-stop anti-Christian propaganda spewed by the media.
All of this will cause civilization to unravel much more rapidly than it was build up, and people will wonder why it happened.
The remedy is in the small practices outlined above as well as reparation for the sins of others.
I have taught my grandchild who is 15 years old to pray the Rosary. If she does not do it then it is on her that she has left off one of the best weapons we have to withstand evil and temptation.
DeleteThank you for giving me the reminder of all the means we have available for the spiritual battle. I think things get very intense during Lent, but also when we see great things happening around us, like the Holy Father Benedict retiring and an election of a new Holy Father. To keep focused on the goal, heaven, is always a good incentive too. Yours in Christ, Tanya
ReplyDeleteTwo cavils, Fr Brom, one of which you evidently addressed earlier,
ReplyDelete( http://fredbroom.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/living-out-lent-to-max-almsgiving-part.html ),
but should surely have figured here, as well - one of the Eastern church fathers, I believe, having recommended it as more powerful even than prayer and fasting (although in motivation, underpinning them all), namely, almsgiving.
The other cavil I have is that you gave the impression that desolation was always incurred by personal sins, while, spiritual desolation is a trial which is a gift of God; it may often be the case also in relation to desolation as a general human trial.
That's my two penn'orth, anyway. But then I haven't sat down to write an article - otherwise very helpful - such as this, amid many other duties.
Beautiful. Oh, how many saints we would have if these things were spoken of in Sunday homilies!
ReplyDeleteExcellent, Fr. Ed! Bridget
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful "tool kit" for protecting our souls! Many many thanks for this timely post!
ReplyDeleteDear Father . . . love your blog. All this information is so helpful. God bless you. - Vera Sands
ReplyDeleteFather,
ReplyDeleteWhat great advice! Everyone is tempted and at times the temptation can be very strong. Thank you for helping us to focus on those gifts available to help. Keep up the good work!
Thanks "Fadda" :0)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Fr. Broom! Excellent advice!
ReplyDeleteGod bless you! - Tiina
Thank you Father...may God bless you
ReplyDeleteThis is a wonderful reminder list, all in one place. The ones I had to learn by hard experience, even though I was taught them as a child (but did not apply them because I didn't really take them to heart) was to immediately and forcefully reject temptation; saying a strong NO! and "I renounce you Satan, and all your works, and all your empty promises" (my baptismal promises) and repeating that until the temptation abates works very well for me. If it doesn't stop it, I go immediately to St. Michael's prayer. The other principle above had to learn the hard way was to avoid the near occasion of sin, especially bad companions. When I kept friends who engaged in sinful behavior (drinking, sexual seduction, immodest dress, lack of responsibility) I ended up falling into those sins and worse. After I had paid a huge price but finally extricated myself from that kind of life, I had to end a innocent friendship with someone who came out to me as an active homosexual because I knew the near occasion of sin was very dangerous. He was a wonderful fellow, and I liked him very much as a friend. It was painful to end the friendship. I still pray for him, and hope he left that way of life, but my soul is too precious to me to risk him converting me away from God in hopes I would be able to convert him to God.
ReplyDeleteI also know confessing even really horrible, socially unacceptable sins is scary but forces acknowledgement of the sin and stops it in its tracks. I would love, however, to have a spiritual director to reveal temptations and doubts to, because it is so obvious saying them out loud causes Satan to flee. However, with the current shortage of priests and so many "religious" really New Age liberals, it's hard to find a trusted, knowledgeable, spiritual director to talk these things over with. Thanks for these great guidelines, Father. God bless you.
I truly believe in the power of the green scapular in these days!!
ReplyDeleteThank you father. I think its important to note that temptation in itself is not sin. They are an opportunity to grow in holiness. Every time we resist a temptation is like adding a jewel to our crown. Like a bride bedecked for her groom we will go to meet the Lord. The Eucharist and prayer are very important to sustain us in strength. I use to go to confession out of fear of going to hell. As long as I lived in the state of grave sin I was never tempted. It was only when I was in the state of grace that I was attacked. It took total surrender to God to overcome my weaknesses. Now I go to confession because I am truly sorry, not just fear of hell. I find every temptation an opportunity to pray, and/or to intercede for others. Walk into a mall, or watch T.V., computers, and one finds hundreds of things or people to pray for.
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful that your name is Broom, Father! And here you are with your devotional bristles to help us sweep the "filth" (Pope Benedict's word) from our surroundings.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
I have been tempted thousands plus times and each time at the first moments I offer the temptation to our Holy Mother and the temptation is gone like the wind. If a lusting temptation of the flesh, the woman the devil wants me to lust, I offer the her to our Holy Mother, Mary that she will offer the woman to Jesus for graces to live a Holy Life and receive abundances of graces! It works perfectly because God is perfect and He gives us the tools and the graces for fortitude.
ReplyDelete+Laudetur Jesus Christus et Ave Maria Regina Mundi Victoriosa+
ReplyDeleteThank You, Father Broom, and i thank all those who have responded here. It is such a feeling of elation and awe to see so many "saints in the making" gathered here. It makes me think of how beautiful Heaven will one day be... .
Onward Christian Soldiers!
In Cordibus Jesu et Mariae,
maria in detroit
That is so beautiful to read all these comments, a lot of people are believing that we need God every day and everywhere. We all see how the world is divided and war is still devastating. I join you in prayers.
ReplyDelete