Armor for the Battle (#170)

Welcome back to Considering Catholicism. We’re kicking off 2024 and the third year of this ministry.

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Now, as for today’s topic, I hate being a Negative Nelly, like Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh. And over the last few years, I’ve started tuning out TV commentators and podcasters and YouTubers that run around like Chicken Little shouting that the sky is falling. Maybe I should, because those guys and gals that post every day about how everything is going to hell in a hand basket get all the clicks. And in podcasting, like the rest of the online economy, clicks mean dollars. Which is why those online influencers run their shows that way. Hmmmmmm…. maybe I should do more episodes about how there’s nothing but doom and gloom ahead because maybe this show would explode and I’d get rich. I gotta think about this…

But I don’t do that, for a lot of reasons. Maybe I’ll do an episode about why I don’t think pessimism is the best way to meet the future.

But today, I want to make a rare exception and not be pessimistic exactly, but realistic. Because I believe, for a lot of reasons, that demonic activity and spiritual warfare and is going to become more…blatant, more obvious in within our culture in the year or years ahead.

To be clear, it’s always present, even when we don’t pay attention or recognize it for what it is.

The Bible, the Church, and the testimonies of the saints all teach us that demonic activity and spiritual warfare is a constant. But within what we might call Western Civilization, the influence of the Church, what we might call Christendom (and that’s another topic for another episode) at least provided a counterbalance to demonic forces blatantly revealing themselves. That doesn’t mean that they didn’t, from time to time. Some of the most famous might include the American Slave Trade, the desecrations of churches and murder of clergy during the French Revolution, the genocides and perversions of the Nazis and Marxist revolutions. All of those, and many more, were moments when the curtain was pulled back and Hell’s hatred for Christ and his Truth, Goodness, and Beauty were made manifest for all to see.

But I think we’re entering another of those chapters. Because the cultural, moral, and intellectual remnants of Christendom are being knocked out of our civilization. That’s like knocking out the load-bearing walls in your house. We are becoming a proudly a post-religious culture, but that’s self-delusion. Because something will fill that vacuum. As GK Chesterton said, “When men stop believing in God they don’t believe in nothing, they believe in anything.” And as Bob Dylan said, “You’ve got to serve someone. You can serve the Lord or you can serve the devil, but you’re going to serve someone.”

And so, I believe that paganism, the occult, and strange new religions are going to continue to grow amid the ruins of Christendom in the West. And I fear that at the centers of power in our civilization, the places where our cultural and government elites gather and make their plans, these occult influences, this new paganism, are only going to become more blatant in their rebellion against Christ, his Kingdom, and his created order.

So, what can we do?

Well, in Ephesians, chapter 6, St. Paul addresses this directly. And bear in mind that he wrote this 2,000 years ago, so this is nothing new. But it’s just as real today as it was then, and it’s on display again today as it was when he wrote this during the height of the pagan Roman Empire. Here’s how he describes our situation, then and now:

(Ephesians 6:12)

For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

And the first pope, St. Peter, wrote in 1 Peter 5:12

1 Peter 5:8

Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour.

So, what do we do? Well, in Ephesians 6 Paul doesn’t just warn us, he instructs us how to prepare for spiritual battle.

Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm…Fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace… With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

So, we can’t defeat spiritual enemies by physical means. We must equip ourselves for spiritual warfare with spiritual armor and weapons.

And of all the spiritual armor and weapons available to us, I’d like to focus today on two prayers that you should learn and make use of, especially as the times that we live in get weirder and darker.

The first is one that you might, or should, already know and I hope that you’re already using everyday. That’s the St. Michael Prayer. It’s short, but powerful. It’s a prayer to St. Michael, who the Bible tells us is the archangel that commands the heavenly armies that will on the Day of Judgment cast Satan and his rebellious angels (the demons) into hell.

And there’s an interesting story about how it was written by Pope Leo XIII the 1880s after he had been given of how Satan would attack the Catholic Church in the century ahead.

The prayer goes like this:

St. Michael the Archangel, 
defend us in battle. 
Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil. 
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, 
and do thou, 
O Prince of the heavenly hosts, 
by the power of God, 
thrust into hell Satan, 
and all the evil spirits, 
who prowl about the world 
seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

I strongly encourage you to memorize this prayer and use it daily. I have worked it into my daily prayer routine and you can as well. And you should.

But there’s another prayer that I want to introduce you to. It’s much longer, and much older.

It was either written by, or is attributed to St. Patrick, the missionary who converted the island of Ireland to Christianity in the mid-400’s AD, not long after the fall of the Western Roman empire.

Patrick was raised a Roman Catholic in Western Britain, probably somewhere along the coast in Wales. But when he was sixteen years old, he was captured by Irish pirates raiding the British coast. He was taken to Ireland and spent six years as a slave, serving pagan Celtic tribal chief. During that time, he learned their language and customs. But after six years, he escaped and made his way home. He went to Rome, became a priest and was commissioned as a missionary to return to Ireland for the Lord sent him a vision, calling him to return and preach the Gospel to the pagan Celts.

And so he went. And what he accomplished is unparalleled in the history of Christian missions: he converted a nation, not with an army or army of missionaries, but largely by himself through the power of God and the force and determination of Patrick’s personality. But he faced terrible opposition from warrior chiefs and the pagan druids. They tried to kill him with the sword, with fire, with poison. Druidic wizards and witches cast spells upon him and manifested demons. And he always faced hunger, cold, wild beasts, and every manner of danger.

But Patrick believed that the Catholic faith was true. And in the face of pagan worship of nature, pagan worship of many gods, pagan worship of demons, Patrick put his trust into and proclaimed the truth of the Holy Trinity and the reign of the Lord Jesus Christ over every created thing.

This prayer is known as the Lorica of St. Patrick. If you’ve ever seen pictures of Roman soldiers, you’ve seen the lorica that legionaries wore. It was a segmented armor that covered their torso. And so, St. Patrick used this prayer as his armor against all opposition and spiritual attack. In English, it’s usually called the Breastplate of St. Patrick.

It’s a long prayer, so you probably can’t memorize it. But it’s widely available, so get a copy in a prayer book or prayer card, or print it or put it in the notes in your phone. I’ve put it in the show notes for this episode.

Pray it regularly, let it be part of your armor of God that St. Paul told us we should use to defend against demonic warfare, especially if the world around you keeps getting weirder. 

Let me read it to you:

**St. Patrick's Breastplate/Lorica**

I arise today

Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,

Through belief in the Threeness,

Through confession of the Oneness

of the Creator of creation.

I arise today

Through the strength of Christ's birth with His baptism,

Through the strength of His crucifixion with His burial,

Through the strength of His resurrection with His ascension,

Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom.

I arise today

Through the strength of the love of cherubim,

In the obedience of angels,

In the service of archangels,

In the hope of resurrection to meet with reward,

In the prayers of patriarchs,

In the predictions of prophets,

In the preaching of apostles,

In the faith of confessors,

In the innocence of holy virgins,

In the deeds of righteous men.

I arise today,

Through the strength of heaven,

The light of the sun,

The radiance of the moon,

The splendor of fire,

The speed of lightning,

The swiftness of wind,

The depth of the sea,

The stability of the earth,

The firmness of rock.

I arise today,

Through God's strength to pilot me,

God's might to uphold me,

God's wisdom to guide me,

God's eye to look before me,

God's ear to hear me,

God's word to speak for me,

God's hand to guard me,

God's way to lie before me,

God's shield to protect me,

God's host to save me

From snares of devils,

From temptation of vices,

From everyone who shall wish me ill,

afar and near.

I summon today

All these powers between me and those evils,

Against every cruel and merciless power

that may oppose my body and soul,

Against incantations of false prophets,

Against black laws of pagandom,

Against false laws of heretics,

Against craft of idolatry,

Against spells of witches and smiths and wizards,

Against every knowledge that corrupts man's body and soul;

Christ to shield me today

Against poison, against burning,

Against drowning, against wounding,

So that there may come to me an abundance of reward.

Christ with me,

Christ before me,

Christ behind me,

Christ in me,

Christ beneath me,

Christ above me,

Christ on my right,

Christ on my left,

Christ when I lie down,

Christ when I sit down,

Christ when I arise,

Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,

Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,

Christ in every eye that sees me,

Christ in every ear that hears me.

I arise today

Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,

Through belief in the Threeness,

Through confession of the Oneness

of the Creator of creation.

***************************

So, in 2024, as you arise, consider putting on the Lorica or Breastplate of St. Patrick. Arise to and through the power of the Holy Trinity, and keep Christ before, behind, and beside you.

Whatever weird and wicked things the world comes up with next cannot defeat us. I’ll leave you with these words from St. Paul in Romans chapter 8, verses 38-29:

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.