Waging War: Why do Catholics neglect spiritual warfare?

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GladTidings said:
This is the danger. Unless someone has a legitimate charism for this kind of thing, and has the blessing of a Bishop, and works with an exorcist, they should probably not attempt to tell demons to take a hike. Perhaps the OP does, who knows. But what if he doesn’t?

Acts 19, 13-20 says it all; 15 “the evil spirit said to them in reply, ‘Jesus I recognize, Paul I know, but who are you?’” Then they were attacked.

As a former non-Catholic who grew up watching adults trying to tell demons to flee, in the name of Jesus, I can tell you, it can end badly. My sister still does this, and her life is not the best. At least one suicide attempt, that we know of.

Not to mention, If someone is not in a state of grace, are they in even more danger while trying to command demons? Would most parish priests advise this practice?

The bottom line is, (in my opinion) it is a good thing that some Catholics are smart enough to avoid certain spiritual warfare, and just leave it to the pros. After all, when “it” hits the proverbial fan, where do people go for help? Not the Baptist church, not the Lutheran church, not the church located downtown where the insurance company used to be.
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You make some good points. Again, I’m not referring to possession, just harassment. And it is not, in any way, frowned upon by the Church. The type I’m referring to, at least. I can see how an unstable personality could come to harm, or perhaps the person just has some spiritual illness already. Don’t know. I do know it’s very useful and I’m grateful to have been introduced to it.
But from the responses, I now see there is a lot of trepidation by many Catholics, which is a pity.

I suggest you discuss it with God and your priest if you consider it at all. Especially if you are suffering.
 
Michael Scanlan was the president of Franciscan University of Steubenville, where I attended and majored in Theology. He was a very holy priest of the Franciscan Order. He was still there when I attended and I adored him! What a beautiful soul! He is rejoicing with Our Lord in Heaven now. I’ll definitely be looking for that book - Thank you!
God bless!
 
@SeekerOfTruth7

I’m tempted to say Confession is stronger than the Eucharist as far as demons go but I may be wrong , just take this into account! 😀
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It’s possible, but one who partakes of the Holy Eucharist partakes of the blood, body, divinity, and soul of Christ. The Eucharist is so holy, that confession and absolution is needed to even partake of it worthily. I was merely speaking of the two greatest weapons a Catholic has.
 
SeekerOfTruth7 said:
It’s possible, but one who partakes of the Holy Eucharist partakes of the blood, body, divinity, and soul of Christ. The Eucharist is so holy, that confession and absolution is needed to even partake of it worthily. I was merely speaking of the two greatest weapons a Catholic has.
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Couldn’t have said it better myself
 
Your point aligns with my possibly demonic sleep paralysis that stops completely when I receive daily Communion.
 
DrawNearToGod said:
Your point aligns with my possibly demonic sleep paralysis that stops completely when I receive daily Communion.
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Daily communicant, Rosary, yet still harassed (from time to time). Keep in mind that before these things completely heal our souls, which can take time according to God’s will, some of us (many, actually) have deep wounds that act as chinks in our armour that the devil can exploit.
 
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I don’t know if you’re saying you also have demonic sleep paralysis or related night terrors, but if so, there’s this Satanist-turned-Catholic who advises exorcists and his name is Zachary King, he advises tracing a cross with holy water on your

Forehead
Nose
Both eyes
Both ears
Mouth
Throat
Back of neck
Heart

…before bed. He says he’s had great luck with this. It worked for me last night, we’ll see if that continues.

 
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Again, our Bishop approved - Diocese of Savannah - though I moved to FL recently. Several faithful priests as well. Never any priest that frowned upon it. I think people are misunderstanding me. This is not about some problem I’m having. This is a lesser-known weapon in our arsenal.
 
I would hope everybody in this thread going on about possible demonic attacks is discussing them with a priest and not just resorting to self-help videos or books.
 
My priest has told me that it’s possible I’m being attacked by demons. I’ve met with an 88 year old exorcist three times who deemed me non possessed (I didn’t think I was) but didn’t say one way or another whether my sleep paralysis was demonic. He prayed over me but was frankly very unhelpful and didn’t remember anything I said by the end of our conversations.

I’m not going to go into the details of my experiences on here.

I wouldn’t assume all priests are knowledgeable about the demonic beyond that they tempt us and are bad. Some may be. Demonology is not taught in seminaries, and there are priests who don’t even believe in demons, including the Jesuit Superior General. I listen to Zachary king (the video) because he was a Satanist for 26 years and advises exorcists about the kinds of demons there are.
 
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It’s been my experience that many priests are not at all knowledgeable about extraordinary diabolical phenomena.

I have tried speaking with priests about my experiences and received very little help. Most of what I know I learned by reading books written by exorcists and listening to Fr. Ripperger’s talks.

The one priest who was helpful is now retired. He gave me excellent advice that I continue to put into practice.

Also, not every diocese has an exorcist so if one is needed the bishop has to ask to have one come in from another diocese.
 
urownway said:
Oh and demons don’t speak English
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Seriously? Where do you get this? Demons are pure intelligence, (not a compliment) and I am sure they understand English. They have been watching us from the beginning.
 
Maybe your problems are because you desire to know a lot about, and converse with, demons?
 
jofa said:
This is a lesser-known weapon in our arsenal.
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How many books on this subject can you find that have a Nihil Obstat, from Rome? Fr. Hugh Barbour on Catholic Answers Live one time, downplayed the idea of the laity getting involved in this kind of thing.
 
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I don’t know what you mean. The name Jesus is the same in English.
 
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