"You will crush the devil and he will bite your heel" Who? A Woman? Or her child?

[Wandile]

(1)
Regardless of where the fear comes from, he is afraid “of blaspheming Our Lady”. Of course, this fear ultimately goes back to God’s authority over him. But he’s not afraid of blaspheming Christ. So while demons clearly fear God period, not “more than” or “less than” any creature, we can say without error (though it’s just one way to put it) that we have the impression that Satan is more afraid of Our Lady than of Christ, at least during exorcisms, and at least concerning the way he addresses them. And we can’t extend this beyond the limited scope of the data we have, since we don’t know what goes on beyond that rite…it’s possible that regularly he does insult her and we don’t know it…we have no way to know it, period. We also know that in context the demons (and scarcely ever Satan himself is addressed) are driven away by the authority of Christ and of the Church, that is, they are not exorcised in the name or by the power of Mary. That should clarify things even further.

First I don’t think the fact that the devil doesn’t blaspheme Mary stems from the fear of her. Rather it stems from the fear of the one who has authority over all thing. The same one who bared the devil from being allowed to blaspheme her. Secondly I don’t think you understand what the theological implications of “Satan fears Mary more than Jesus” are. I it should be blatant to you No being is feared more than God by the demons. Sure they blaspheme him, because he permits this and not because they aren’t scared of him. So again demons fear God the most for He in and of himself has the true judicial authority to over them. He is the barer of their doom… so to speak.

(2)

Does this behavior of Satan constitute any indication whatsoever of anyone being greater or lesser than God? Does it matter at all if he fears her more? For instance, there are things I, as a creature, I am afraid of, even though in themselves are no cause for fear. Ex. I may be afraid of a power plug, even though I actually fear electricity. I may be afraid of a certain mosquito, even though I actually fear some grave illness. I may fear death even though I actually fear leaving my loved ones alone. I may be afraid of something I see, even though I am afraid of what I don’t see. I may be afraid of temptations, even though I actually fear offending God. In short, my fear is no meter, no scale. Neither is his. And all it’s fine as long as I keep aware that only God is, and that all creatures - yes, all creatures - are nothing before God. And nobody who is particularly devout to Mary with true devotion has forgotten that - in fact, that’s why we greatly rejoice…because in her lowliness she was greatly exalted by God, and that’s a great mystery and indeed reason for joy and hope.

Yes it does theologically. The fact is you ignore that Satan has knowledge of the divine and created to an extent we cannot fathom. He thus know enough about God and Mary to know who he fears more. Trust me on that. Now this is not a competition betweene God and Mary and I’m not trying to take anything away from the blessed Mother. However we need to know where to draw the line about what is theologically correct and what is not. Saying Mary is feared more by the demons is incorrect on ALL grounds no matter how twist it. Its simple as that. It elevates her to a position above God that is not truly hers. For unlike us , as I said, demons have met God and know his wrath of justice and know for sure that he unparalleled. :tsktsk:

 

[R_C]

Thank you for taking the time and clarifying the matter even further. I understand your point much better now. I was not keeping into consideration that which you have mentioned - the fact that all spirits, regardless of whether or not they rejected God, have a level of knowledge of the divine that is not comparable at all with our imperfect knowledge. I understand your argument and I do not uphold that Satan fears any creature more than the Creator - just that, from this described behavior, one can get that impression.

On behalf of the original user who had posted that phrase, I must say that after all he was possibly just paraphrasing a quote from St. Louis de Montfort’s Treatise:

Thus the most fearful enemy that God has set up against the devil is Mary, his holy Mother. From the time of the earthly paradise, although she existed then only in his mind, he gave her such a hatred for his accursed enemy, such ingenuity in exposing the wickedness of the ancient serpent and such power to defeat, overthrow and crush this proud rebel, that Satan fears her not only more than angels and men but in a certain sense more than God himself.

This does not mean that the anger, hatred and power of God are not infinitely greater than the Blessed Virgin’s, since her attributes are limited. It simply means that Satan, being so proud, suffers infinitely more in being vanquished and punished by a lowly and humble servant of God, for her humility humiliates him more than the power of God.

 

[murraymuzz]

Please clarify this quote for me, and please provide sources! Someone told me that it’s saying a woman will crush the devil, but I say it’s saying her SON will do that. Thanks!

You are both correct, the word being used in the original Hebrew uses a word that represents a plural, so when it says he or she in English, in Hebrew it’s better understood as the children of the woman, which could mean either he or she.

thejewishhome.org/counter/Gen315.pdf

 

[Candescent]

Please clarify this quote for me, and please provide sources! Someone told me that it’s saying a woman will crush the devil, but I say it’s saying her SON will do that. Thanks!

In the Stone edition of the Chumash, page 17, this passage is translated as:

’ I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will pound your head, and you will bite his heel ’

Can any of you throw light on why the Jewish translation is so different than the accepted Catholic translations?

 

[just_came_back]

Based on the gadarene demoniac in Holy Scripture, I would say Satan’s minions 100% fear Christ as they cried out “LEAVE US ALONE!” and begged the Son of God to send them into the herd of pigs instead of the abyss. I can see where Mary would bring some discomfort to ole scratch, based on the fact the he took Eve away from God hook, line, and sinker. I don’t think, and of course I was not there, Eve put up much of a fight but Mary, being full of grace obviously helping, said yes to God the moment she was conceived and THAT sent chills up the devil’s spine.

Think about this. Satan has always made humanity look like idiots in sinning, but this one young virgin whom God Himself chose to bear the Son, never gave into Satan. I could see where he knew then his goose was cooked. Why do we read that he tempted Christ so heavily in Gethsemane and prior to that in the Judean wilderness?

His plans backfired and once Jesus gave up the ghost, Satan was toast. The result is his tearing down of society these last 2,000 years but one day, like all of us, probation will close and Satan will render an account before God and the world whom he deceived. I look forward to the day when God cast his butt into the never ending lake of fire for all the junk he has spewed on humanity and even in my own life. Praise be to God!