In the great spiritual battle that rages around us on every side, we know that besides the name of Jesus the devil is deathly afraid of the Blessed Virgin Mary. She is the human creature who reversed the disobedience of Eve and is a constant thorn in the Enemy’s side.
While it is important and essential to invoke the Blessed Mother in our fight against Satan, recently we have gained another great advocate and soldier who can help us crush the head of the serpent: St. John Paul II.
[featured-image single_newwindow=”false”]Pope John Paul II, during his first U.S. visit in 1979, at Yankee Stadium, New York City[/featured-image]
This is confirmed from the real life experience of an exorcist.
Father Gabriele Amorth, the chief exorcist in Rome most widely known for his book An Exorcist Tells His Story
“I have asked the demon more than once, ‘Why are you so scared of John Paul II and I have had two different responses, both interesting. One, ‘because he disrupted my plans.’ And, I think that he is referring to the fall of communism in Russia and Eastern Europe. The collapse of communism.”
“Another response that he gave me, ‘because he pulled so many young people from my hands.’ There are so many young people who, thanks to John Paul II, were converted. Perhaps some were already Christian but not practicing, but then with John Paul II they came back to the practice. ‘He pulled so many young people out of my hands.'” (CNA, emphasis added)
Father Gabriele, at the time of the interview, “has carried out most of his 70,000 exorcisms over the past 26 years.” Suffice to say, when he talks about his conversations with demons he does so from real life experience.
Saint John Paul the Great
This then brings up an intriguing question which I don’t think has ever been examined very properly, what was John Paul II’s strategy in waging war with Satan? He is certainly now a great intercessor in Heaven against the Evil One, but he only received such prominence because of the life he lived on Earth.
This is an aspect of his life that few dwell on, but was an essential part of his spirituality. John Paul II was well aware of the battle at hand and recognized that his mission to reclaim the culture required him to fight against Satan. While at the Shrine of St. Michael in Rome he said,
“This battle against the devil which characterizes the Archangel Michael is still going on, because the devil is still alive and at work in world. In fact, the evil that is in it, the disorder we see in society, the infidelity of man, the interior fragmentation of which he is a victim, are not merely the consequences of original sin, but also the effect of the dark and infesting activity of Satan, of this saboteur of man’s moral equilibrium.” (Address of Pope John Paul II on May 24, 1987 at Monte Gargano, emphasis added)
This question gains even more importance with the fact that the whole world will be turned to John Paul II when World Youth Day begins next summer in Poland. Pope Francis chose Poland as the next host country on account of its association with raising one of the greatest Saints of the 20th Century.
Spiritual Combat
One clue that John Paul II left for us was in an address he gave that highlighted the spiritual combat of a religious monk. He said,
“More than ever in the lives of Christians today, idols are seductive and temptations unrelenting: the art of spiritual combat, the discernment of spirits, the sharing of one’s thoughts with one’s spiritual director, the invocation of the Holy Name of Jesus and of his mercy must once more become a part of the inner life of the disciple of the Lord. This battle is necessary in order not to be distracted (aperíspastoi) or worried(amérimnoi) (cf. 1 Cor 7:32,35), and to live in constant recollection with the Lord (cf. Saint Basil the Great, Regulae Fusius Tractatae VIII, 3; XXXII, 1; XXXVIII).” (emphasis added) (St. John Paul II, Address, emphasis added)
Additionally, John Paul II highlighted the power of “penance, but above all [the] uninterrupted listening to the Word and […] unceasing prayer.” He further explained that this “journey which, starting with self-denial, leads to perfect charity.”
Defeating the influences of the devil is hard work, as John Paul II clearly proclaimed. It involves:
- Discernment of Spirits
- Spiritual Direction
- Invocation of the Holy Name of Jesus
- Devotion to Divine Mercy
- Penance
- Listening to God’s Word
- Unceasing Prayer
- Self Denial
- Charity
One other key is devotion to the holy Mother of God, whom the devil passionately hates.
Let us end with John Paul II’s encouraging words that can be applied to the spiritual battle we fight every day, “Be not afraid!”