Spiritual Warfare in the Life of the Christian
By Fr. Jay Kythe, OSB
The Abbey’s retreat master offers a reflection on five key teachings and ideas for Christians to keep in mind about the spiritual struggle they encounter in their own lives.
This article was originally published in our September 2024 Kansas Monks newsletter. See our Newsletter Archive at www.kansasmonks.org/newsletter to read the rest of the September issue.
“Something strange is happening — there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness … The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised up all who have slept ever since the world began. God has died in the flesh and hell trembles with fear.”
I begin with the first paragraph of a text printed in the Office of Readings for the Liturgy of the Hours for Holy Saturday. This ancient homily for Holy Saturday is one of many similar texts that, throughout the centuries, convey a truth that we confess in the Apostles Creed: “He descended into hell.” St. Melito of Sardis, St. Irenaeus, St. Ephrem, St. Maximus the Confessor, St. Gregory of Nyssa, St. Augustine, and others all convey the same truths of our salvation, that Christ is the Victor over sin and death. By his death on the Cross, He defeats death. By his descent to the abode of the dead, he rescues fallen humanity from the domain of evil, a mission that begins with His Incarnation and concludes with His Resurrection.
Every discussion on the topic of spiritual warfare must begin somewhere here, with the truths of the faith. Without these axiomatic assertions, we tend to “Hollywoodize” the topic of spiritual warfare. We see things in dualistic terms, that there is a good side and an evil side and that they are fighting against each other in a cosmic battle. Yet, this is completely incorrect. The good side is the side of the omnipotent God, who created everything and “saw that it was good” and who strives to bring fallen humanity back into a right relationship with the Father. The side of evil cannot stand up to this, yet it tries to drag down His creation, the greatest of which is the human person. Because of free will, demons, which had been created as angelic persons, chose to follow the angel of light, Lucifer, who asserted himself above God by his words, “I shall not serve.” God could have created them without free will, yet He desired to create persons who would choose to serve Him. He gave the same gift to human persons. It is His goodness and His love that would draw them back to Him, and it is those demons who despise Him that would strive to draw human persons away from Him.
Michelangelo, circa 1487-1488, The Torment of Saint Anthony, oil and tempera on panel
Spiritual warfare is the spiritual reality of the fight over our souls. We are that important to the Father! The Second Person of the Trinity comes to us in the Incarnation to rescue us from the clutches of evil. That reality is why the enemy tries to pull us away from the work of the Trinity. We are that important! The battleground is the field of human relationships.
There are two resources that I turn to in understanding the topic of spiritual warfare. First of all, C.S. Lewis’ book The Screwtape Letters is perhaps the best treatise on this topic, imaginatively written from the perspective of demons. The second resource comprises the writings of Fr. Gabriele Amorth, who was an exorcist in Italy for many decades until his recent death. His understanding of the work of deliverance is very clear and based on the foundation mentioned above.
We must be clear on the fundamentals of spiritual warfare, lest we enter a “Hollywoodized” version that usually captivates people’s imaginations. Such a false vision would delude us into seeing demons everywhere and missing the theological foundations that guide our lives. Therefore, we must keep in mind the fundamental elements, with respect to spiritual warfare:
1. God has the victory. This reality is always our starting point. And we must keep in mind how He won that victory: it was the surrender of Christ to the will of the Father. This surrender brought Him to His death on the Cross and His Resurrection. Likewise, we see the perfect fiat of Mary surrendering to the Father’s will. The method of victory isn’t warfare in the sense that we think; surrender to God is what always wins the battle. The martyrs are powerful examples of this; the enemy despises such powerful witnesses of Christlike surrender.
2. The modus operandi of demons is to “divide and conquer.” Christ prays for unity in John 17; the entire chapter is His prayer for us to stay united in Him. The enemy desires to break this apart. Think of Christ’s words about how a house divided against itself cannot stand (Matthew 12:25-26). Therefore, victory is always Christ’s, especially as He defeated the abode of the enemy by His Passion, Death, and Resurrection. As the demons try to divide people, they themselves live in a world of hatred.
3. Demons don’t want to be seen. They do their work best in secret, under the surface. The moment they are noticed, they have lost ground. Many a crisis in which our emotions are unreasonably enflamed are caused by the enemy. The enemy sows confusion and discouragement, landing the person in spiritual desolation (see the works of St. Ignatius of Loyola for more information on spiritual consolation and desolation). However, when the cause of such darkness is clearly the works of the enemy, then they are brought into the light.
4. Once the enemy is seen, we can address the situation. Notice I said to address the situation, not to combat them directly. There is a distinction between deprecatory prayers (asking God to cast out the demons) and imprecatory prayers (commanding the demons to leave). The former type of prayer is the most typical. Untrained laity are not encouraged to command the demons directly. Demons are subtle and can cause much damage; therefore, we must rely more on God and His omnipotence. Therefore, prayers such as the St. Michael prayer and the Hail Mary (see below) and prayers of surrender to God are most powerful.
5. Demons hate the holy. They hate the Church. They hate sacraments. Fr. Gabriele Amorth was known to say that one good confession is worth more than many exorcisms. They will try to create doubt about the efficacy of the sacraments. The sacraments unite us with the Father and prepare us for heaven. Therefore, they hate all those who are the ministers of the sacraments, especially priests. Sacramentals are also very efficacious, such as the use of holy water and blessed salt.
They hate people striving for holiness, not just priests, but also all those in consecrated lives, such as monks and religious sisters. They hate the saints, especially the Blessed Virgin Mary. They particularly hate Mary because she was a created being who surrendered to the Father’s will so perfectly by her fiat. They hate the prayer “the Hail Mary.” Fr. Amorth explains in his writings that one Hail Mary prayed well can defeat the enemy. Praying the Holy Rosary is indeed a powerful attack against the evil one! In addition, invoking St. Joseph is also powerful, for one of his titles is “terror of demons.” We call upon him who protected the Blessed Mother and the Son of God as they fled into Egypt.
As a Benedictine monk, I recall in The Life and Miracle of St. Benedict by Pope Saint Gregory the Great a retelling of how he combatted the enemy. His prayer always revealed what the enemy was up to. Therefore, it is good to pray for clarity and to have spiritual insight into life. We must invoke St. Benedict often, as well as carry a St. Benedict medal, blessed with the exorcism blessing. He becomes a powerful patron and intercessor for us, encouraging us to grow in faith and receive his fatherly protection.
We are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses and called upon by the Holy Trinity in our journey to the eternal kingdom! Let us stay close to the angels and the saints in the struggle against the enemy.
About Fr. Jay Kythe, OSB
Fr. Jay converted to the Catholic faith from Hinduism as a young man. After ordination as a diocesan priest, he sought out the monastic community of St. Benedict’s Abbey to become his lifelong home.