Can lay Catholics command Satan/Demons in Jesus Name?

Status
Not open for further replies.
I think your RCIA catechists are in for a wild ride.
Wait, and learn about the church from people who are trained to do so. Listen, Study, and Pray.
 
In theory, yes. The baptized possess a share in the priesthood of Christ, and as such, a properly disposed layman may, in extraordinary circumstances, directly address and command evil spirits.

Whether they should, is usually a general NO, because of the danger involved, and most laymen, even if devout, are likely not sufficiently disposed to address evil spirits. If there is a suspicion of oppression, a layman should contact a holy priest, who has more authority than a layman, or if one cannot, invoke God and St. Michael, rather than addressing spirits directly.
 
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.
Click to expand...
There are exceptions. It is traditional in some places for a newly-ordained priest, for example, to confer his very first blessing on his ordaining bishop.
 
This is how I pray St. Benedict’s exorcism prayer very often:

"May the Holy Cross by my light.
May the dragon never be my guide.
Step back Satan.
Never tempt me with your vanities.
What you offer me is evil.
Through the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, drink your own poison."

I have added an invocation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, bearing in mind the words of St. Maximilian Kolbe who assures us: “It is the Immaculata alone who has from God the promise of victory over Satan.”
 
Last edited:
My understanding is you say “May God rebuke this spirit now” or similar; indirectly commanding but not engaging with the entity.
 
The Catholic Truth Society has published a little booklet in the UK called Prayers for those in Spiritual Affliction. It states that the CDF issued a statement in 1985 that the Prayer of Pope Leo XIII should only be used by priests, however, part of his prayers can be used by layity. It then has the prayer ‘O God, our refuge and our strength, look down in mercy… and for the liberty and exaltation of our Holy Mother the Church: through Christ Our Lord. Amen’.

The prayer to St Michael is for the use of all the faithful.

It’s a good little booklet but I’m not sure if it’s available in the USA.

Beware of using prayers found on the internet. Some are not authorised for use and may also come from unreliable sources.
 
Take it up with the experts then.

Do you have any evidence for your position?
 
Guest1 said:
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?
Click to expand...
These are complicated questions which can’t be answered, yes or no, without qualification.

In general, the answer is yes to both. But not just any lay Catholic. However, Catholic history is replete with lay Catholics who have commanded Satan to leave in the name of Jesus. All you have to do is search the history of the Saints. St. Faustina comes immediately to mind.

(You might object that she’s a nun. But nun’s are lay Catholics. There is not a rite of ordination for women. Thus all nuns are examples of very faithful, lay Catholics.)
In religious organizations, the laity consists of all members who are not members of the clergy, usually including any non-ordained members of religious institutes, e.g. a nun or lay brother. … In the context of specialized professions, the term lay is often used to refer to those who are not members of that profession.
Laity - Wikipedia
Click to expand...
Catholics who are Catholic in name only but have no true devotion or faith in God, should think twice before using the Lord’s name in vain.

Acts 19:13 Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth.14 And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so.15 And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?
16 And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.
 
Last edited:
God made the universe and ‘He saw all that He had made and it was very good.’ The world is God’s kingdom and Satan does not have any authority over it.

I know that saint Paul calls Satan the ‘God of this world’, but according to John ‘we are not of the world, as I (Jesus) am not of this world.’ So Satan has a lot of power over worldly people, who fall for his many temptations, but not over us Christians.

According to saint Therese of Lisieux Satan is a coward and very scared of people in a state of grace. So we as lay people may not have the authority to exorcise demons, as long as we are in a state of grace nothing could ever harm us. Helping others with exorcisms should only be done by priests. Satan does not see the priest, he sees Jesus.
 
Guest1 said:
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?
Click to expand...
Despite what you may have been told by those not in the know, the answer to both of this questions is absolutely yes.

You can find these sort of prayers and other in our Spiritual Warfare Prayer Catalog, which includes prayers from exorcists such as Father Amorth and from many other sources.

Jesus gave the power to do this to all believers. The Church has the authority to restrict this activity, however. The only restriction is solemn exorcism reserved to a priest. Deliverance prayers are permitted, and conversing with demons, such as asking for their name. That is not permitted. But, commanding demons to leave and rebuking is permitted.
 
Last edited:
Le_Bonvivant said:
as long as we are in a state of grace nothing could ever harm us.
Click to expand...
No true. Padre Pio was in a state of grace and he was physically attacked by demons nearly every night. State of Grace is not a magical protection.

Again, we need to know what we are talking about in this subject. Armchair opinions are not helpful and can be dangerous.
 
Last edited:
LuciaPacifici said:
My understanding is you say “May God rebuke this spirit now” or similar; indirectly commanding but not engaging with the entity.
Click to expand...
You are talking about deprecatory prayers, which we may say. But, we can also say direct commands. These are called imperative prayers. It is imprecatory prayers that we cannot say. These are prayers, for example, that bring down curses upon the demons
 
Oh I didn’t know that. If that’s safe then I’m ok with saying the prayers. I just don’t want to start any conversations with a demon.
 
Last edited:
Yes true. I quote here from The story of a soul:

’ a soul in the state of grace need never be afraid of the devil, who is such a coward that even the gaze of a child will frighten him away ’

The state of grace is indeed not a magical protection, it is the protection of God.

We are all on this forum to talk together and help each other, to call opinions you do not agree with ‘armchair opinions’ and ‘not helpful’ contrary to your own opinions, which you do not consider ‘armchair opinions’ but obviously the words of a very wise man, is very arrogant and less helpfull and more dangerous than the discussions we are having here.
 
Le_Bonvivant said:
Yes true. I quote here from The story of a soul:

’ a soul in the state of grace need never be afraid of the devil, who is such a coward that even the gaze of a child will frighten him away ’

The state of grace is indeed not a magical protection, it is the protection of God.

We are all on this forum to talk together and help each other, to call opinions you do not agree with ‘armchair opinions’ and ‘not helpful’ contrary to your own opinions, which you do not consider ‘armchair opinions’ but obviously the words of a very wise man, is very arrogant and less helpfull and more dangerous than the discussions we are having here.
Click to expand...
Of course we need not be afraid of the devil, but that was not the question.

Armchair opinions, however, are dangerous because they do not understand the issues and give wrong information, There is nothing arrogant about stating that. And, my friend, we are not talking about opinions I disagree with, we are talking about opinions that are wrong. It is very helpful to correct wrong opinions. In fact, instructing the ignorant is one of the works of mercy.

The Saint did not say, “as long as we are in a state of grace nothing could ever harm us.” That was YOUR opinion and conclusion. That opinion is wrong as proved by St. Pio. Or is St. Pio lying to us or was he not in a state of grace daily because he was physically attacked almost every night. That was the question, not whether or not we should be afraid.

And while we are at it, I have been physically attacked and attacked in other ways while being in a state of grace. I was not, however, afraid, which is all the good Saint was talking about.

Since you wish to bring this up, and that is the only reason for this paragraph… arrogance is stepping beyond one’s bounds. I speak from professional experience. I use to be a Baptist exorcist, and after converting to the Catholic Faith in 1993 am now a deliverance counselor (since 1993) and a professor of deliverance counseling training people on how to be one. Thus, by definition, am I am not offering armchair opinions.
 
Last edited:
‘we are not talking about opinions I disagree with, we are talking about opinions that are wrong’. Oh my… but nothing arrogant about stating that eh?

You do not speak from professional experience. A ‘baptist exorcist’ is not a profession. Neither is a ‘professor’ of deliverance counseling. It doesn’t get more ‘armchair’ than this.

Saint Therese stated there was nothing to be afraid of, because the devil will run away for anyone in a state of grace 🙂
 
Le_Bonvivant said:
‘we are not talking about opinions I disagree with, we are talking about opinions that are wrong’. Oh my… but nothing arrogant about stating that eh?

You do not speak from professional experience. A ‘baptist exorcist’ is not a profession. Neither is a ‘professor’ of deliverance counseling. It doesn’t get more ‘armchair’ than this.

Saint Therese stated there was nothing to be afraid of, because the devil will run away for anyone in a state of grace 🙂
Click to expand...
Professional, dear one, means someone who is trained and experienced to do the job. Armchair means offering an opinion that is uninformed and not from a person with experience and training.

Teaching, however, is a profession in the traditional sense.

Are you trained or have any experience in exorcism or deliverance? How many people have you helped with deliverance?

Why did the devil not run from St. Padre Pio? Why did the devil not run from St. Francis?

Also, you can check with Catholic exorcists, since you do not wish to believe me.
 
Last edited:
BroIgnatius said:
And while we are at it, I have been physically attacked and attacked in other ways while being in a state of grace. I was not, however, afraid, which is all the good Saint was talking about.
Click to expand...
How do you judge whether you are in a state of grace? St. Joan of Arc said:

2005 Since it belongs to the supernatural order, grace escapes our experience and cannot be known except by faith. We cannot therefore rely on our feelings or our works to conclude that we are justified and saved. However, according to the Lord’s words “Thus you will know them by their fruits”- reflection on God’s blessings in our life and in the lives of the saints offers us a guarantee that grace is at work in us and spurs us on to an ever greater faith and an attitude of trustful poverty.

A pleasing illustration of this attitude is found in the reply of St. Joan of Arc to a question posed as a trap by her ecclesiastical judges: "Asked if she knew that she was in God’s grace, she replied: ‘If I am not, may it please God to put me in it; if I am, may it please God to keep me there.’"

And the Apostle says:
1 Corinthians 4:2 Now it is of course required of stewards that they be found trustworthy. 3 It does not concern me in the least that I be judged by you or any human tribunal; I do not even pass judgment on myself; 4 I am not conscious of anything against me, but I do not thereby stand acquitted; the one who judges me is the Lord.

What is the sin of presumption?
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top