Can lay Catholics command Satan/Demons in Jesus Name?

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Can lay Catholics command for example:
  1. Satan/Demons to leave their home and not to return in Jesus Name?
  2. rebuke Satan in Jesus Name?
 
It depends.

I believe the common opinion is that one can only give commands over that which one has authority. A father can bless his children, but a child cannot bless his father. Inanimate objects, even one in a person’s possession, may not be truly under the spiritual authority of that person.

A good rule of thumb would probably be for a layman to ignore any spirits and get a priest or bishop, who has authority and training, to take care of the problem. If the spirit is of God, then they will guide the layman through what he should do, and God won’t mind because He gave us priests and bishops, in part, for this very reason. If the spirit is of Satan, then the priests and bishops will banish it, and God won’t mind because again, that’s part of why He gave us priests and bishops!
 
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ChunkMonk said:
It depends.

I believe the common opinion is that one can only give commands over that which one has authority. A father can bless his children, but a child cannot bless his father. Inanimate objects, even one in a person’s possession, may not be truly under the spiritual authority of that person.
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Wait what? Can you back this up with any sort of Church teaching? It dosn’t make any sense.

A priest came to bless my house and Fr. knew well that it was purchased by my husband before our marriage and therefore not “mine”. He had no issue blessing it for me and instructed me in the prayers I could assist in.
 
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A priest has authority over everything and everyone who is not his superior. So that priest could bless you, the house, the dog, another priest, and everyone else… Except the bishop.

I don’t believe either you or your husband necessarily have spiritual authority over any object, no matter who bought it or even created it. The prayers and blessings you could say for your own house are the same you could say for any house at all. The prayers and blessings the priest can say are different.
 
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ChunkMonk said:
A priest has authority over everything and everyone who is not his superior. So that priest could bless you, the house, the dog, another priest, and everyone else… Except the bishop.

I don’t believe either you or your husband necessarily have spiritual authority over any object, no matter who bought it or even created it. The prayers and blessings you could say for your own house are the same you could say for any house at all. The prayers and blessings the priest can say are different.
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Again, where is the Church teaching on that. I know when the Bishop came to say a Mass to check in, he still paused before Fr before reading the Gospel.
 
Marriage confers a special type of authority, so you had that even tho your husband bought the house before your marriage. It’s not always the same as the legal situation.
 
Annie said:
Marriage confers a special type of authority, so you had that even tho your husband bought the house before your marriage. It’s not always the same as the legal situation.
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Still, I don’t think the Church teaching is that you can only bless a subordinate. I know the youth minister blessed the bus we were on when going to WYD. He was not the leader, did not own or operate the bus and was not a priest.
 
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Where is the official Church teaching that all blessings of all men in all positions are equal in efficacy or type?

Authority is a strange thing, it can depend on many facets. Even when a superior officer is on board a naval ship, all orders are still given through the captain of said ship, so maybe there is some of that at play.
 
It’s not that a priest giving a blessing to his superior would be invalid (all other factors being equal). It is that since the superior has spiritual authority over him, it is not fitting for him to be the recipient to a blessing.

Would it make sense for Peter to bless Jesus? No.

Regarding lay people giving blessings: though a lay person isn’t incapable of giving a blessing, his blessing does not bring with it any special grace from the Church, because he has no spiritual authority to give such grace.
A father has spiritual authority over his wife and children, however, so there are special graces given when he blesses them.
 
dshix said:
It’s not that a priest giving a blessing to his superior would be invalid (all other factors being equal). It is that since the superior has spiritual authority over him, it is not fitting for him to be the recipient to a blessing.

Would it make sense for Peter to bless Jesus? No.

Regarding lay people giving blessings: though a lay person isn’t incapable of giving a blessing, his blessing does not bring with it any special grace from the Church, because he has no spiritual authority to give such grace.
A father has spiritual authority over his wife and children, however, so there are special graces given when he blesses them.
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But I don’t see how this would work in a family setting. My mother, for instance, seems well within her right to bless my Gran before surgery, especially given that she’s my grandmother’s primary care-giver.
 
Yes, exactly. Those who have authority over someone can bless them. We can, of course ask God to bless anyone.
 
This is a common, bible alone practice, based on a mis-reading of scripturee alone. It is also potentially very dangerous. Engaging the demonic directly is a poor idea. There are spiritual warfare prayers in which one appeals to the Almighty to rebuke the evil one (such as the prayer to Saint Michael), but the devil would have no influence at all if the laity could command him at will. We must never forget that this world is his princedom and he has been allowed certain authority that far surpasses ours. Authority over the demonic had to be given by Christ directly and specifically to the Apostles. Can any layperson claim that?

Those who dispute this should read Acts 19:11-17 (the seven sons of Sceva) and ponder the outcome of their attempted exorcism.
 
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With respect to demons, I think rose of mary has it right. With respect to blessings, I just sign the cross over whoever I’m trying to bless and ask God to bless 'em.
 
I think Sonja Corbitt in her book Fearless said it best when she quoted Ephesians 6:10-13 (the prologue before the famous Armor of God passage) and pointed out that St. Paul wants us to be on the defensive against the enemy.
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. (Ephesians 6:10-13, RSVCE)
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In fact, Scripture in general discourages us to be on the offensive against demons, like for example Acts 19:11-17 as said by po18guy above. In the end, to directly attack them is unnecessary: “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).
 
I thought priests were allowed and even encouraged to pray this, and it was just forbidden for laity to say it. Do you have a source for priests not being allowed to say it?
 
Yes, I’m familiar with the prayer. I said it earlier this year in my house after some drunk broke a window in my absence. I left out the parts designated only for priests. Later I read a lot of confusing stuff about its being either banned for the laity or banned in group gatherings by the laity but okay for a private situation like mine. It seemed pretty heavy duty prayer so as a lay person I would only say it when feeling really besieged, but I didn’t know priests had a limitation on saying it. Cardinal Burke is a good authority when it comes to old prayers.
 
You did not state if there were certain goings on. either way I believe yes you can pray you may rebuke him in Jesus name and kick ’ him out. If he dare enter . I say the prayer to St.Michael the Archangel everyday it is a very powerful prayer and it saw me through a very desperate situation. God BLESS.
 
Neophyte,
You are wrong, and being rude about it as well. We may request God’s blessings on anyone: May God bless ______. However, only someone in authority can definitively bless, as the priest blesses at the end of Mass.

Ask your priest about this.
 
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