If Catholics are really born for combat like Pope Leo XIII said then why don't more Catholics engage in combat against the fallen angels and the evil

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In his encyclical Sapientiae Christianae, Pope Leo XIII declared that “Catholics are born for combat.”

There are a number of very efficacious prayers that can be prayed to counter Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. One of the most well-known is Pope Leo XIII’s prayer to St. Michael, which Pope Leo XIII ordered to be prayed after Masses in a community setting, but was subsequently removed as a required prayer after Masses in 1964 with the Vatican II document Inter Oecumenici, most likely largely due to the insidious and cunning influence of Satan, who does not want to be thrust into Hell by St. Michael.

Other prayers to counter Satan and the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls are the prayer to Our Lady Queen of Angels: http://www.catholic.org/prayers/prayer.php?p=7

Another very powerful prayer for deliverance from evil is the Prayer to Defeat the Work of Satan: http://www.catholic.org/prayers/prayer.php?p=2158

Also, the rosary of Our Lady of Tears is remarkably powerful against the powers of Hell: “https://www.sign.org/prayers-and-devotions/lady-tears-devotion”

And Padre Pio called the rosary his "weapon " against Satan.

In spite of the fact that Jesus instructed us to pray to be delivered from evil in the Our Father, and also the frightful fact that the devil prowls around the world like a lion devouring whomever he can (1 Peter 5:8),
It seems evident that there is an alarming and frightful lack of awareness and zeal in the battle against the evil spirits amongst the Church Militant.

If all members of the Church militant prayed the aforementioned prayers daily with devotion, then Satan and the evil spirits prowling about the world devouring who they may would be crippled drastically, if not totally defeated. Indeed Jesus taught us, “ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened unto you” (Matthew 7:7).

I think Pope Leo XIII was absolutely correct when he declared that “Catholics are born for battle.” However, it is poignant to observe how few Catholics fight zealously in the battle against evil that they have been called by God to partake in.

Please correct me if I’m wrong
 
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I think that “combat” is simply far less interesting in reality than it is in practice.

My husband and I engage in “combat” against the world every day…by simply loving, respecting and caring for each other. By raising our children in the faith. By being there for friends of faith and those who have none.

Satan hates families. The level of divorce and the hatred of children makes that VERY clear among our peers. We both have friends who are “already” divorced despite have wed less than a decade ago. We see the couples who are anti-child and how they preach their lifestyle to the world openly discussing birth control and sterilization.

War isn’t always “hot” we’re not always wrestling with the devil. Sometimes, fighting means being incredibly dedicated to the word of God in a hostile world. Combat? I’m in the trenches every day. Every time I make a meal, forgive a sin and wipe a booger I am showing God’s love and graces to a world that demands division and strife.
 
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There are entire prayer groups and web pages and blogs devoted to this kind of thing, actually. They do not necessarily pray the prayers you mentioned, but the idea is to pray as a combat warrior. They also sell combat-themed prayer stuff, although you don’t need to buy it in order to say the prayers. Reproductions of the WWI “Combat Rosary” that was issued to US troops are popular.

I think the websites are in part trying to appeal to men and get more of them interested in praying and such, as it seems like women “prayer warriors” usually outnumber the men, although it could be the men just pray more quietly without posting as much about it.
 
You make some excellent points. Indeed, combat is not just prayer, although prayer is a very important part of combat. Combat against Satan is also picking up our crosses daily and following Jesus’ footsteps.

Please forgive my failure to mention the rosary in my initial post. Padre Pio referred to the rosary as his “weapon” against Satan. In the rosary prayer, we pray that by meditating on the mysteries of the rosary we may “imitate what they contain.” Hence, prayer becomes action.

Also, I’m sorry I failed to mention the rosary of Our Lady of Tears in my initial post. In this rosary, we pray to Jesus: “O good Master, grant that we take to heart the lessons which the tears of Your most holy Mother teaches us, so that we may fulfill Your holy will on earth.”

“Through this rosary the devil will be conquered and the power of hell will be destroyed.” -Our Lady of Tears as she appeared to Sister Amalia of the Scourged Jesus in Campinas, Brazil on March 8, 1930

https://www.sign.org/prayers-and-devotions/lady-tears-devotion

Indeed, an integral component of combat against the evil spirits and their malicious works is striving daily to live the lessons that Jesus and Mary have taught us.
 
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Of course, the rosary is part of the contentious battle to fight against the powers of Satan. Although Mary has asked people to do this, it’s not a charism or practice that my family has been called to do personally.

And that’s an interesting position to be in.

The biggest thing about spiritual warfare is being exactly where God wants you to be and doing exactly what He wants you to be doing. As a child, even with fallen away guardians, I was enamored with the idea of saying rosary after rosary to rescue souls in purgatory. While I doubt I was as successful freeing souls as my childish imagination reached, I know it did much good in the spiritual world.

Today, as I mentioned, my battle is quite different. It is not easy to be there for a friend whose husband left and is now trying to figure out how to parent. It’s not easy to be there for an overwhelmed mom of many. It’s even harder to be in a group of other mothers who discuss their “side dishes” and sterilization openly.

Yet my very presence, my children’s very presence, speaks volumes. When someone falls in love with my friends third or fourth or fifth child they realize the value of family. When someone realizes that sometimes single moms didn’t intend to be the only one raising their child and give them mercy, it speaks volumes. When confronted with a woman who has “traditional” values and is extremely contented in those, women who are living a heedless and troubled life stop and think.

All this–every moment–done without a single audible utterance of the word “Jesus” yet a complete turning of the heart is there. And the battles are fought and won–not by me, but by God Himself.
 
I love the Saint Michael prayer. The church hasn’t forbidden saying it after mass, and my best friend and I do; we’re converts to the Catholic church as of 2015. We were pagans, both priests, and we know what’s out there. We pray the Saint Michael and other prayers daily, but we don’t tell anyone else how they have to pray. I’ll just say that if you had seen what we’ve experienced, you’d likely never cease praying. Please don’t misunderstand, we don’t pray out of fear of the Devil, he’s scary without God, but out of utter awe of the amazing power of El Shaddai; God Almighty.

This Sunday is my parish’s “Fiesta de San Miguel” to honor the feast of the Archangels (the following Friday is the actual feast day this year.) I look forward to the fiesta and to the actual feast day every year.

The Chaplet of Saint Michael is also powerful!
 
A lot of Catholics don’t even understand who and what the Enemy is, and by the time they figure it out, the battle is already over.
 
Spiritual Combat comes in many forms from monk and nuns praying in their cloisters to the protester outside a Planned Parenthood Clinic, to the person writing a letter to their Congressman or the editor of their paper, to priest doing exorcism, or deliverance apostolates like the St Padre Pio Center for Deliverance Counseling.

We are all in God’s Army. The only questions to ask are 1) what is my rank; 2) what is my assignment.
 
Spiritual combat is pretty simple , just say no to temptation and sin,

And don’t dialogue with the devil.

Go to Mass, engage in the Sacraments.
 
The context of Pope Leo XIII’s quote was about defending the faith not “fighting demons.” So if you’re going to assign meanings to his phrase about being “born to combat” that the Pope himself didn’t intend in that encyclical, as judged by the context of paragraph 14, you might as well be honest and openly admit you’re doing so. Your interpretation of that phrase is an extrapolation, not a quotation.

As to why more Catholics don’t pray the St. Michael prayer: how do you know how many do or don’t? And how many things do YOU not do that you ought to be doing? And should we start threads about that demanding your answers?

And for pity’s sake, Inter Oecumenici is not a document of the Second Vatican Council. Stop claiming it is, and stop claiming that its suppression of the Leonine Prayers is an act of satan. You are doing your cause no good, but are coming across like a fanatic.
 
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BroIgnatius said:
Spiritual Combat comes in many forms from monk and nuns praying in their cloisters to the protester outside a Planned Parenthood Clinic, to the person writing a letter to their Congressman or the editor of their paper, to priest doing exorcism, or deliverance apostolates like the St Padre Pio Center for Deliverance Counseling.

We are all in God’s Army. The only questions to ask are 1) what is my rank; 2) what is my assignment.
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Indeed - and some of us even incorporate the battle into our working lives, such as those whose job is to advocate for and assist the poor, the homeless, the physically disabled, the mentally ill, victims of crime and violence and so on.
 
“how many things do YOU not do that you ought to be doing? And should we start threads about that demanding your answers?”

I have my share of sins, if not more, there’s no doubt that. However, I will continue to confess them through the Sacrament of Penance, not on a public forum. But thank you for your suggestion.

“And for pity’s sake, Inter Oecumenici is not a document of the Second Vatican Council. Stop claiming it is”

This is an excerpt from the introduction of Inter Oecumenici:

"I. NATURE OF THIS INSTRUCTION
  1. Among the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council’s primary achievements must be counted the Constitution on the Liturgy, since it regulates the most exalted sphere of the Church’s activity. The document will have ever richer effects as pastors and faithful alike deepen their understanding of its genuine spirit and with good will put it into practice."
Whether or not Inter Oecumenici is technically a Vatican II document, it is unequivocally categorized as a contributing factor to what is declared to be one of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council’s “primary achievements”: the Constitution of the Liturgy.

“As to why more Catholics don’t pray the St. Michael prayer: how do you know how many do or don’t?”

No one knows exactly how many Catholics pray the St. Michael prayer. However, I would say that it is more than reasonable to conclude that substantially fewer Catholics know of the prayer and pray the prayer regularly contemporarily than when it was prayed after all low Masses as Pope Leo XIII had ordered, after having a vision which revealed to him that Satan’s power and threat to mankind would increase substantially in the late nineteenth century. In fact, at the end of his Angelus message given in St. Peter’s Square, Sunday, April 24, 1994, Pope John Paul II urged Catholics “not to forget” Pope Leo XIII’s prayer to St. Michael.
 
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“stop claiming that its suppression of the Leonine Prayers is an act of satan.”

I made no such claim in this post. I wrote that the suppression of the Leonine prayers was “most likely largely due to the insidious and cunning influence of Satan.” Also, I edited my previous post that used the phrase “work of Satan” to “influenced by Satan.”

Holy Scripture states: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, prowls about, seeking whom he may devour” (1Peter 5:8). Now suppose that a vicious, ravenous lion had escaped from the local zoo of a town. Would it not be incumbent upon that town’s government to ensure that the people of that town were notified and made cognizant that there was a vicious lion prowling about their territory, seeking those vulnerable to being devoured?

Similarly, Pope Leo XIII composed the prayer to St. Michael after he had a vision of a fearful battle that would be waged by Satan on Jesus’ Catholic Church, a battle in which Satan would be allowed unprecedented power. Pope Leo XIII was behooved to ensure that the faithful were notified and made cognizant that Satan, like a vicious and powerful lion, was prowling about them with unprecedented power and devouring whomever he could. Therefore, Pope Leo XIII prudently ordered that after all low Masses the faithful were to be made cognizant of the fearful threat posed by Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the ruin of souls. According to People Leo XIII, Satan was granted 100 years of unprecedented power in his efforts to prevail against Jesus’ Church in 1884, and in 1964 Pope Leo XIII’s order that the prayer to St. Michael be prayed amongst the faithful after all low Masses was rescinded.

I think that it is very reasonable to suppose that Pope Leo XIII’s order was rescinded before the end of the 100 year period was significantly due to the cunning wiles of Satan. Indeed, lions are known to silently stalk their prey, hoping that their prey will remain incognizant of them until it is too late. The last thing that a lion who prowls about seeking prey wants is for its potential prey to be alerted of its presence and schemes, as was accomplished after all low Masses before the suppression of the Leonine prayers by Inter Oecumenici.

Are you of the opinion that the leaders of the Catholic Church are impervious to being influenced by Satan?

The Vatican’s chief exorcist, Father Gabriele Amorth, directly refutes this view. According to Father Amorth, who has been the Vatican’s chief exorcist for 25 years, “The Devil resides in the Vatican and you can see the consequences.” Further, Father Amorth attests that the evil influence of Satan is evident in the highest ranks of the Catholic hierarchy, with “cardinals who do not believe in Jesus and bishops who are linked to the demon.”
 
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I say the Hail Holy Queen followed by St. Michael prayer at the end of every rosary I say, and follow with the Memorare, then the concluding prayer on the crucifix. I like saying the St. Michael prayer, it reminds me of my mother, and of that soldier named Michael who said St. Michael, whom he always prayed to, appeared and saved him from enemy troops in Korea.

I also pray to St. Benedict and St. Joseph to protect my house.
 
“We pray the Saint Michael and other prayers daily, but we don’t tell anyone else how they have to pray”

Did Jesus not tell us how to pray? Jesus told his followers: “Thus therefore shall you pray: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name” (Matthew 6:9).

Correspondingly, does not the Pope, as the Vicar of Christ, have the authority to tell us how to pray when necessary? Pope Leo XIII composed the prayer to St. Michael after having a fearful vision of Satan being allowed unprecedented power for 100 years in his war against Jesus’ Catholic Church. Pope Leo, therefore, told us to pray the prayer to St. Michael after all low Masses beginning in 1886, largely to make sure that the faithful were cognizant of the fearful, unprecedented threat posed to them by Satan and his army. Pope Leo certainly was in the right in telling us how to pray. Despite this, his order to pray the prayer to St. Michael after Mass was rescinded in 1964, which was before the end of Satan’s 100 years.
 
Thank you for sharing this. It is inexpressibly unfortunate that Pope Leo XIII’s order to pray the St. Michael prayer after all low Masses was rescinded approximately 20 years before the end of Satan’s 100 years of unprecedented power in his efforts to prevail against Christ’s Church.

It is indeed true that Satan is cunning, but we need not make his job so easy! So many naive people commenting here eliminate from consideration the possibility that the removal of the prayer to St. Michael from recitation after all low Masses was part of Satan’s strategy to prevail against Christ’s Church by reducing the cognizance amongst the Church Militant of the gravity of the threat posed to them by the powers of Hell in these times, and also by preventing the power of St. Michael from becoming too great. The naivety and ignorance is truly strikingly egregious!!
 
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I agree, Love and Nonviolence are the ultimate “weapons” against evil.
 
I use the Manuel for Spiritual Warfare. Even use it when I pray the mysteries on the rosary.
 
The “Our Lady Queen of Angels” prayer is just the type of prayer people interested in this topic are looking for. Here is the link, and a little about it:


Just a reminder, we are only to use the St. Michael short prayer. The long prayer is to be used by Priests only with approval of a Bishop. I was shocked to run across that. This came from Benedict XVI, and word about this has not gotten out. Sorry, I can’t recall where I found that, maybe a google search will bring it up. In the meantime this is a great prayer to use along with the Michael short prayer.
 
Ad hominem? Real creative there. 10/8.

I’m not of the camp that is obsessed with picking on the Second Council, but yes, “fighting demons”. They’re real, we’re under siege nearly every instant in this Fallen world. (Literally all of Holy Tradition, Scripture, and History confirms this)
 
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