Can a lay person say a prayer to break curses over himself?

[Brendan_64]

There are prayers that are formed to banish curses, but can a lay-person licitly say these in private with regard to curses or evil influences that may be holding sway over himself (as opposed to praying them over another person)?

Can a lay-person, by the power of Christ, licitly command curses to go from himself? Can a lay-person licitly take authority over curses etc that may be effecting himself, or is that be strictly the preserve of an ordained priest or deacon?

I have read that if done privately and relating only to himself, a lay-person can licitly do this. Is there anyone on here who could confirm what the Church teaches on this?

 

[Nelka]

I don’t know if we can pray anything beyond the St. Michael prayer.

 

[Ad_Orientem]

Deliverance Prayers for Use by the Laity by Fr. Chad Ripperger. Among other things it includes “Prayer for breaking curses of the Occult” (p. 24). I assure you this priest is staunchly orthodox.

Not necessarily suggesting you purchase the book, but it’s evidence that deliverance prayers are permitted. What are forbidden are prayers and rites reserved to clergy and authorized persons, such as Solemn Exorcism from the Roman Ritual (see Inde ab aliquat annis). And out of prudence, we shouldn’t take on more than we can handle. But if you’re being attacked, by all means defend yourself in all humility, begging God for grace. And get help from a holy priest. Maybe contact a monastery and submit a prayer request.

 

[JoyousCatholic]

Deliverance Prayers for Use by the Laity by Fr. Chad Ripperger. Among other things it includes “Prayer for breaking curses of the Occult” (p. 24). I assure you this priest is staunchly orthodox.

Not necessarily suggesting you purchase the book, but it’s evidence that deliverance prayers are permitted. What are forbidden are prayers and rites reserved to clergy and authorized persons, such as Solemn Exorcism from the Roman Ritual (see Inde ab aliquat annis). And out of prudence, we shouldn’t take on more than we can handle. But if you’re being attacked, by all means defend yourself in all humility, begging God for grace. And get help from a holy priest. Maybe contact a monastery and submit a prayer request.

I am a huge fan of Fr. Ripperger…he is an amazing, gifted and very holy priest.

However, I would highly recommend that you get an exorcist priest…in particular, a traditional FSSP priest. Due to special graces, priests have very special graces that give them more authority over evil, so their exorcisms and deliverances tend to be more efficacious.

 

[Bonnie]

Curses have no effect. They are simply words. If they had an affect, then it would be magic, which doesn’t exist.

 

[Jerome1974]

I’m actually reading a book right now by the late Fr. Gabriele Amorth about this topic.

He says that Jesus gave the apostles, disciples, and all believers in him (read us) “…the power of driving out demons in his name”, citing Matthew 10:1, Luke 10:17, Mark 16:17. However, in the same paragraph, he says that “[exorcism] was immediately placed under the control of the bishops and by some priests delegated by bishops.”

Here’s the problem, though. Exorcism is a sacramental, instead of a sacrament, and thereby functions EX OPERE OPERANTIS Fr. Amorth even alludes to that just before the second quote above.

Every little bit helps, but I suppose an apt analogy would be holding a book closer to your face instead of going to an optometrist for glasses or maybe losing weight solely by dietary controls instead of going to a personal trainer/nutrition adviser. Maybe someone else can provide a better answer.

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,
Oh price of the heavenly host, by the power of God
thrust into Hell Satan and all the evil spirits
who roam throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

Curses have no effect. They are simply words. If they had an affect, then it would be magic, which doesn’t exist.

I tend to agree with this. The prayer to St. Michael is good to say generally on a daily basis, and I have said a “deliverance prayer” when someone vandalized my property in a minor way, but someone placing a curse on you is empty words. They have no power over you to put evil on you. The demonic influence creeps in when someone actually falls into the state of mind of believing the curse. Stay strong in God and you should be fine.

 

[Jerome1974]

I’m actually reading a book right now by the late Fr. Gabriele Amorth about this topic.

He says that Jesus gave the apostles, disciples, and all believers in him (read us) “…the power of driving out demons in his name”, citing Matthew 10:1, Luke 10:17, Mark 16:17. However, in the same paragraph, he says that “[exorcism] was immediately placed under the control of the bishops and by some priests delegated by bishops.”

Here’s the problem, though. Exorcism is a sacramental, instead of a sacrament, and thereby functions ex opere operantis Fr. Amorth even alludes to that just before the second quote above.

Every little bit helps, but I suppose an apt analogy would be holding a book closer to your face instead of going to an optometrist for glasses or maybe losing weight solely by dietary controls instead of going to a personal trainer/nutrition adviser. Maybe someone else can provide a better answer.

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,
Oh price of the heavenly host, by the power of God
thrust into Hell Satan and all the evil spirits
who roam throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen.

 

[Tim_D]

Curses have no effect. They are simply words. If they had an affect, then it would be magic, which doesn’t exist.

I was just about to ask this question. Does the Church even teach about “curses?” Isn’t the idea of curses simply superstition?

 

[Thom18]

I was just about to ask this question. Does the Church even teach about “curses?” Isn’t the idea of curses simply superstition?

Seconded. I thought “curses” had no power. The responses to this thread had me scratching my head.

 

[esieffe]

Deliverance Prayers for Use by the Laity by Fr. Chad Ripperger. Among other things it includes “Prayer for breaking curses of the Occult” (p. 24). I assure you this priest is staunchly orthodox.

Not necessarily suggesting you purchase the book, but it’s evidence that deliverance prayers are permitted. What are forbidden are prayers and rites reserved to clergy and authorized persons, such as Solemn Exorcism from the Roman Ritual (see Inde ab aliquat annis). And out of prudence, we shouldn’t take on more than we can handle. But if you’re being attacked, by all means defend yourself in all humility, begging God for grace. And get help from a holy priest. Maybe contact a monastery and submit a prayer request.

The advice above is all good. You are allowed to pray deliverance prayers for yourself and members of your immediate family, meaning your children and your spouse.
The book “Spiritual Warfare” by Paul Thigpen is a vast resource and includes pages and pages of deliverance prayers.

Laudate is a Catholic app that has some deliverance prayers and it is free. It can be used on android or Iphone. It is recommended that the Laity NOT use the St. Michael long prayer. The short prayer is fine.

Journal your experiences in the event you need to involve a priest. You should consider having a priest or deacon bless the house. You can sprinkle holy water or blessed salt around the house.

It goes without saying that you should frequent confession, and communion. Spending time in adoration would be a bonus.

Praying for you.

 

[MtnDwellar]

I did a search for the word curse in the Bible.

178 Bible results for “curse.”

 

[MtnDwellar]

Here’s a prayer against diabolic oppression:
sensustraditionis.org/Oppression.pdf

 

[Dorothy]

Deliverance Prayers for Use by the Laity by Fr. Chad Ripperger. Among other things it includes “Prayer for breaking curses of the Occult” (p. 24). I assure you this priest is staunchly orthodox.

Not necessarily suggesting you purchase the book, but it’s evidence that deliverance prayers are permitted. What are forbidden are prayers and rites reserved to clergy and authorized persons, such as Solemn Exorcism from the Roman Ritual (see Inde ab aliquat annis). And out of prudence, we shouldn’t take on more than we can handle. But if you’re being attacked, by all means defend yourself in all humility, begging God for grace. And get help from a holy priest. Maybe contact a monastery and submit a prayer request.

Excellent post! I second the recommendation of Father Chad Ripperger on this subject.

 

[oldgraymare2]

Here is Exorcist Fr. Amorth explaining about different types of curses from the website st. peter’s list:

stpeterslist.com/amorth-and-curses

 

[Tim_D]

Here is Exorcist Fr. Amorth explaining about different types of curses from the website st. peter’s list:

stpeterslist.com/amorth-and-curses

No offense but that reads like something from an old movie back in the '30s. A hex? The evil eye? Curses? C’mon.

 

[oldgraymare2]

Curses have no effect. They are simply words. If they had an affect, then it would be magic, which doesn’t exist.

I posted to a link to Exorcist Fr. Amorth’s explanation on curses, if you would be interested in taking a look at it.

 

[Ad_Orientem]

Magic does not exist, but demons do. And they may choose to work at the bidding of men, whether to lure men into the service of evil, to keep them away from God, to mock the work of the Holy Ghost, or purely for the sake of doing evil.

 

[FrDavid96]

There are prayers that are formed to banish curses, but can a lay-person licitly say these in private with regard to curses or evil influences that may be holding sway over himself (as opposed to praying them over another person)?

Can a lay-person, by the power of Christ, licitly command curses to go from himself? Can a lay-person licitly take authority over curses etc that may be effecting himself, or is that be strictly the preserve of an ordained priest or deacon?

I have read that if done privately and relating only to himself, a lay-person can licitly do this. Is there anyone on here who could confirm what the Church teaches on this?

The Church teaching is obvious.

So obvious that you’re not seeing it—although I know you know it.

In the Our Father, we pray “deliver us from evil.”

How could the Church declare illicit what Christ commanded us to do?

Caution: if this sort of thing persists, by all means one should go to a priest for a blessing or even a minor exorcism (in the extreme, a major exorcism).

 

[Brendan_64]

Thanks for all of your advice.