from Helps to Happiness by Father John Carr, C.SS.R.
Do you believe in the Devil?—You suppose you do, you say. For God’s sake mind yourself!
We talk a lot about the Devil. He supplies us with nouns, adjectives, adverbs, verbs, interjections when we indulge in explosive or breezy talk, or wish to drive home a point.
Artists, too, have been busy with him. We all know that goatish-looking creature complete with horns and tail; or that fire-breathing dragon; or that monstrous serpent with very evil eyes—all wearing the dark, sinister-looking green favored by his portrait painters.
It is all a feeble effort to express the inexpressibly wicked; but it can mislead, and the Devil asks for nothing better than that it should.
That he should be just the “painted devil” to frighten “the eye of childhood”; that he should not be taken seriously, but be looked on more or less as a joke; that he should not be believed to be there at all—all this leaves him an open field.
For he hates publicity of any sort. In a word, he hates to be shown up. Let us show him up. Though his “name is Legion, for we are many,” as he tells us, we will keep him in the singular.
We must know then, in the first place, that this Devil is a person, an individual with an intellect, as much a person as you or I.
We must know, in the second place, and we must never forget it, that he is an angel—yes, I said an angel—a fallen one, but an angel still; degraded and despoiled of supernatural gifts, it is true, but retaining his angel’s nature, with its tremendous though perverted powers.
We know his past; he fell from light to darkness, from love to hatred, from bliss to woe, from an eternal heaven to an eternal hell created especially for him.
The intelligence of this evil spirit and his knowledge of men and things gathered through the ages are truly formidable. He knows mortal man well by this: every chink in his amour, every weakness of his heart.
He knows to a nicety what weapon to draw from his well-stocked armory and how best to use it.
Then, behind all this vast power and experience is the driving-force of a hatred for God and for all who would be God’s, and an envy, beside which human hate and envy, even at their worst, are feeble things.
But the Devil has not everything his own way. Though mighty, he is not almighty, as his power falls infinitely short of God’s. His hatred and his longing for our ruin fall infinitely short of God’s love and yearning for our blessedness.
Though near us, he can never get as near as God and never a hairs-breadth nearer than God allows him. And never, never can he force our will to say “Yes” while we want to say “No.”
At the same time the Devil can do much—far, far too much. Occasionally, in the case of great Saints who are interfering greatly with his activities, he comes out into the open, declares himself, tries to terrorize, and even uses violence.
But for the ordinary run of us he remains a hidden foe, working on our imagination, kindling our sensual nature, telling us pleasant lies (he is the Father of them and was so from the beginning), and setting traps of all sorts for our soul.
As his program is immense, and as he knows “he hath but a short time,” he often adopts simpler tactics: he tempts men and women to tempt others. In the giver of bad example, for instance, in the teller of the immoral story and in the seducer, he has most effective agents, who leave him free for further mischief elsewhere.
Such is this Devil whose name we so freely use and whose picture often just raises a smile.
How are you to deal with him, you ask? Pray that you may always recognize him at once and see the cloven hoof, even though it wear the most civilized-looking boot or the daintiest shoe.
Then, don’t argue with him. You are no match for him, and his logic is devastating. Not that he has reason on his side, but his cunning is devilish (we’ll borrow an adjective from him this once).
Then, there are sacred Names he hates to hear, Names that recall his worst defeats: Let him hear them—again and again and again.
In a word, when the Devil tempts you to sin yourself, or to help him in his dirty work by tempting others, then you may—without any violation of charity or any breach of the proprieties—send him literally, unequivocally—above all, wholeheartedly and unhesitatingly—to HELL.
“The Devil exults most when he can steal a man’s joy of spirit from him. He carries a powder with him to throw into any smallest possible chinks of our conscience, to soil the spotlessness of our mind and the purity of our life. But when spiritual joy fills our hearts, the Serpent pours out his deadly poison in vain.” – St. Francis of Assissi
Excellent sermon Spiritual fly swatters, binding prayers, etc.
This journal is for the single lady who is in the interim before finding her vocation in life. At this very important crossroad in life, this journal can help with discipline, inspiration and encouragement.
All of the quotes deal with a young lady’s time in life….whether it is courtship, religious vocations, modesty and just a better spiritual life in general. A form of Morning and Night Prayers that I have used personally through the years is included at the beginning of the Journal.
This 30~day journal is a tool that will help the young woman to be disciplined in the next 30 days to write down positive, thankful thoughts. It will help her focus on the true and lovely by thinking about good memories, special moments, things and people she is grateful for, etc., as she awaits the time her vocation is made manifest to her.
The journal will assist the young lady as she works on that inner happiness that needs to be developed before she finds her vocation.
NOW is the time to improve our lives!
Available here.
This is a unique book of Catholic devotions for young children. There is nothing routine and formal about these stories. They are interesting, full of warmth and dipped right out of life. These anecdotes will help children know about God, as each one unfolds a truth about the saints, the Church, the virtues, etc. These are short faith-filled stories, with a few questions and a prayer following each one, enabling the moral of each story to sink into the minds of your little ones. The stories are only a page long so tired mothers, who still want to give that “tucking in” time a special touch, or pause a brief moment during their busy day to gather her children around her, can feel good about bringing the realities of our faith to the minds of her children in a childlike, (though not childish), way. There is a small poem and a picture at the end of each story. Your children will be straining their necks to see the sweet pictures! Through these small stories, parents will sow seeds of our Holy Catholic Faith that will enrich their families all the years to come!
That was very very good! And the saintly reminders at the end, those were great follow-ups… Now comes the test, to actually remember when the time comes. Thank you.
Unless one cannot see the forest for the trees, looking at the world today it would be hard to miss seeing that old devil and his minions. They are hard at work, their time is ending as Fr. Ripperger was told by a demon, and so their evil has been ramping it up at a break-neck speed. But always and forever we need to recall that: “where sin abounds, grace abounds the more.” Our Lady said that: “graces are tied with little ribbons, and it is prayer that cuts them free to those who ask for them.” May The Holy Spirit grant us each the courage to ask for those graces so we may defeat satan and all his evil spirits.