Our life on earth is a constant battle, until the day we die! Our spiritual battle consists in conquering three basic enemies: the devil, the flesh, and the world. The devil is known as the father of lies; the flesh rebels against the spirit; the world tries to seduce us into believing that we can discover true happiness in this world and all that it has to offer.
THE DEVIL AND HOW TO CONQUER HIS ATTACKS. Jesus states that the devil is both a liar and a murderer from the beginning. (cf Jn 8: 44) Until our last breath the devil is out there to tempt us. Saint Peter states that the devil can be compared to a roaring lion that seeks to devour us and we must resist him. (cf 1 Pt. 5:8) Let us now set up our spiritual combat and strategy to conquer the devil and his wily, crafty, and astute attacks. We will offer five spiritual weapons.
1. VIGILANCE. Jesus states that we must be constantly on guard and vigilant against the attacks of the enemy. He will come like a thief in the night, at the moment you least expect it.
2. PRAYER. Prayer is a powerful weapon that we can wield and utilize in any time, place, and circumstance. Saint Alphonsus states that there are no strong or weak persons, but rather those who pray and those who do not pray. The strong person—the prayer-warrior; the weakling, the person who prays little or not at all!
3. PENANCE. Jesus stated unequivocally that some devils can be cast out only by prayer and penance. The devil fears the person who prays, but even more so, the devil is terrified when the person adds to prayer a life of fasting, self-denial and penance.
4. CONFESSION. No doubt a most powerful weapon to conquer the devil on many occasions is to have recourse to the Sacrament of God’s mercy and forgiveness, the Sacrament of Confession. In Confession, the most Precious Blood of Jesus washes us clean, but also the Precious Blood of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ serves as a powerful shield to protect us against the fiery darts of the enemy, the devil and his minions!
5. OUR LADY. In Mexico, there is an expression for Our Lady, “La General del ejercito”—the General of the Army! The devil has a mortal fear of Our Lady. The Protoevangelium states that the serpent’s head will be crushed by the woman. (Gen. 3:15) That woman is the Blessed Virgin Mary. Most powerful is the weapon of the most holy Rosary. As David conquered his enemy Goliath with his slingshot, so our spiritual slingshot to conquer the devil is the most Holy Rosary.
In conclusion, let us conquer the devil by the practice of vigilance, fervent prayer, the practice of penance, having recourse to the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and by placing ourselves under the protection of Mary and wielding her weapon—the most Holy Rosary. Long live Jesus the Lord! Long live Mary most Holy!
