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Devil
/ Satan / Evil
Also See:
Evil
/ Satan (Topic Page)
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"At
once the Spirit drove [Jesus] out into the desert, and he remained
in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan. He was among wild
beasts, and the angels ministered to him." (Mk. 1:12-13)
"And
no wonder, for even Satan masquerades as an angel of light. So it
is not strange that his ministers also masquerade as ministers of
righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds."
(St. Paul, 2
Cor. 11:14-15)
"Finally, draw your strength from the Lord and from his mighty power.
Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil. For our
struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens. Therefore, put on the armor of God, that you may be able to resist on the evil day and, having done everything, to hold your ground. So stand fast with your loins girded in truth, clothed with righteousness as a breastplate, and your feet shod in readiness for the gospel of peace. In all circumstances, hold faith as a shield, to quench all (the) flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."
(St. Paul, Eph. 6:10-17)
"So submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."
(St. James, Jms. 4:7)
"Be sober and vigilant. Your opponent the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for (someone) to devour."
(St. Peter, 1 Pt. 5:8)
"We know that we belong to God, and the whole world is under the power of the evil one."
(St. John, 1 Jn. 5:19)
"Sin
it were to believe the devil." (St. Thomas More)
"They
that follow not Christ Jesus, follow Satan" (Dom Gueranger)
"[T]he
devil flees those who resist him" (Catechism of the Council
of Trent)
"[Satan]
always rejoices at dissension" (Pope St. Boniface I, 422
A.D.)
"The
smoke of Satan has entered everywhere. Everywhere!" (Fr.
Gabriele Amorth, chief exorcist in Rome)
"Draw
near to God, and Satan will flee from you." (St. Ephraem the
Syrian, Doctor of the Church)
"There
is no man that Satan does not tempt towards evil." (Fr.
Fanzaga)
"[B]y the envy of the devil, death came into the
world." (Baltimore Catechism)
"Be not overcome by evil, but overcome evil by
good (cf. Rom. 12:21)."
(Catechism of the Council of Trent)
"How many enemies to vanquish - the devil, the world, and
ourselves." (Catechism of the Cure de Ars)
"When you have made a good confession, you have chained up
the devil." (Catechism of the Cure de Ars)
"We also know the value of our soul by the efforts the
devil makes to ruin it." (Catechism of the Cure de Ars)
Q:
"Which is the greatest evil in the
world?" A: "Sin." (Catechism of St. John Neumann)
"The devil does all he can to defile our soul, and yet our
soul is everything." (Catechism of the Cure de Ars)
"[T]he chief aim of the evil one is to deprive us of our
heavenly inheritance." (Catechism of the Council of Trent)
"It is thus that the Sacrament of Penance snatches us from
the claws of the devil." (Catechism of the Cure de Ars)
"The Sign of the Cross is formidable to the devil, because
by the Cross we escape from him." (Catechism of the Cure de
Ars)
"If
the demon leaves you alone, it means that you are in his
net." (Fr. Fanzaga)
"Remember
that the devil doesn't sleep, but seeks our ruin in a thousand
ways." (St. Angela Merici)
"The
enemy is glad to make you lose time when he cannot make you lose
eternity." (St. Francis de Sales, Doctor of the Church)
"Do
not fool yourself. If you travel the way of sin, it is Satan who
keeps you on a leash." (Fr. Fanzaga)
"This
is the contrivance of the Devil, ever to mix error with
truth." (St. John Chrysostom, Doctor of the Church)
"The
Devil attacks men in three ways: by suggestion, by snare, and by
possession." (Fr. Delaporte)
"If
we do not entrust ourselves to God, we sell ourselves to the
devil." (St. Paulinus of Nola)
"[Satan]
will continue to attempt the capture of your soul until the final
instant of your existence on earth." (Fr. Fanzaga)
"Innocence
is a great fortress: a child is stronger than we are against the
devil because he is innocent." (Pope Paul VI,
1972)
"The
devil's snare doesn't catch you unless you're already nibbling on
the devil's bait." (St. Ambrose, Doctor
of the Church)
"No
wickedness, no heresy, not even the Devil himself can deceive
anyone without counterfeiting virtue." (St. Dorotheus of
Gaza)
"God
gives the devil power against us in two modes: either for
punishment when we sin, or for glory when we are tested."
(St. Cyprian of Carthage)
"For
it is of the devil to cast one's self into dangers, and try
whether God will rescue us." (St. John Chrysostom, Doctor of
the Church)
"The
tempter, ever on the lookout, wages war most violently against
those whom he sees most careful to avoid sin." (Pope St. Leo
the Great, Doctor of the Church)
"What
are the Church's greatest needs at the present time?...one of the
Church's greatest needs is to be defended against the evil we call
the Devil." (Pope Paul VI, 1972)
"...having
tempted [Christ] in the desert with pleasure, [the devil] retires
from Him until the crucifixion, when he was about to tempt Him
with sorrow." (St. Theophylact)
"For
he accused God to man, saying to Eve, But of envy He has forbidden
you the tree: and to God he accused man, as in Job, Does Job serve
God, for wrought?" (St. Theophylact)
"After
all, what is history, since the revolt of Lucifer, but a picture
of the war that is being waged between God and Satan?"
(Liturgical Year)
"The angels who did not remain faithful to God were cast
into hell, and these are called bad angels, or devils."
(Baltimore Catechism)
"The devil amuses us till the last moment, as a poor man
is kept amused while the soldiers are coming to take him."
(Catechism of the Cure de Ars)
"[W]e must watch over our mind, over our heart, and over our
senses, for these are the gates by which the devil
penetrates." (Catechism of the Cure de Ars)
"The Angels banished for ever from Paradise and condemned
to hell are called demons, and their chief is called Lucifer or
Satan." (Catechism of Pope St. Pius X)
"The good God leaves us free to choose life or death; if
we choose death, we shall be cast into the fire, and we must burn
forever with the devils." (Catechism of the Cure de Ars)
"Satan, however, is overcome not by indolence, sleep,
wine, reveling, or lust; but by prayer, labor, watching, fasting,
continence and chastity." (Catechism of the Council of Trent)
"The devil is also called evil, because, although we have
never injured him, he wages perpetual war against us, and pursues
us with mortal hatred." (Catechism of the Council of Trent)
"If one were to have recourse to and invoke the devil, he
would commit an enormous sin, because the devil is the most wicked
enemy both of God and of man." (Catechism of Pope St. Pius X)
"And
let us be very careful of the malice and the subtlety of the
Satan, who wishes that a man not raise his mind and heart to
God." (St. Francis of Assisi)
"The
devil and the other demons were created by God good according to
their nature, but they made themselves evil by their own
doing." (Fourth Lateran Council, 1215)
"There
are three principal weapons that the devil likes to carry in order
to wound our souls. They are gluttony, arrogance and
ambition." (St. Ambrose, Doctor
of the Church)
"The
devil only tempts those souls that wish to abandon sin and those
that are in a state of grace. The others belong to him: he has no
need to tempt them." (St. John Vianney)
"The
greatest of all evils is not to be tempted, because there are then
grounds for believing that the devil looks upon us as his
property." (St. John Vianney)
"[A]s
chastity is the way that leads to God, so fornication is the way
that leads to the Devil" [Pseudo Chrys (as quoted by St.
Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church)]
"They do whatever they please with us; they suggest to us
evil-speaking, calumny, hatred, vengeance: they even drive us so
far as to put our neighbor to death." (Catechism of the Cure
de Ars)
"For
because the traitorous angel fell, and was justly cast down from
the honors he enjoyed, burning with envy he now endeavors to expel
those whom God calls to heaven." (Vespers Hymn)
"When
the devil is called the god of this world, it's not because he
made it, but because we serve him with our worldliness." (St.
Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian
in the history of the Church")
"It
is a mark of the evil spirit to take on the appearance of an angel
of light. He begins by whispering thoughts that are suited to a
devout soul, and ends by suggesting his own." (St. Ignatius
Loyola)
"The
devil kisseth when he meaneth to kill; he giveth us a draught of
poison in a golden cup, and in sumptuous and stately ship wafteth
his passengers upon the rock of eternal ruin." (St. Robert
Southwell)
"Let
not the heretic entrap you by bringing examples from the
Scriptures. The devil makes use of the testimony of the Scriptures
not to teach but to deceive." (St. Ambrose, Doctor of the
Church)
"He
is called the enemy on account of the losses he inflicts on men;
for the assaults of the Devil are made upon us, though their
origin is not in his enmity towards us, but in his enmity towards
God." (St. John Chrysostom, Doctor of the Church)
"Hence instead of cherishing resentment against our
neighbor, we should turn our hatred and anger against Satan
himself, by whom men are instigated to harm us." (Catechism
of the Council of Trent)
"We always have two secretaries: the devil, who
writes down our bad actions, to accuse us of them; and our good
angel, who writes down our good ones, to justify us at the Day of
Judgment." (Catechism of the Cure de Ars)
"Some say,
'I have done too much evil; the good God
cannot pardon me:' My children, this is a great blasphemy; it is
putting a limit to the mercy of God, which has no limit - it is
infinite." (Catechism of the Cure de Ars)
"A good Christian watches continually, sword in hand, the
devil can do nothing against him, for he resists him like a
warrior in full armor; he does not fear him, because he has
rejected from his heart all that is impure." (Catechism of
the Cure de Ars)
"Among
the absurd fallacies introduced by the demon into the world none
is greater or more pernicious than the forgetfulness of the hour
of death and what is to happen at the court of the rigorous
Judge." (Ven. Mary of Agreda)
"Let
the enemy rage at the gate, let him knock, let him push, let him
cry, let him howl, let him do worse; we know for certain that he
cannot enter save by the door of our consent." (St. Francis de Sales, Doctor of the Church)
"[Satan]
is 'a murderer from the beginning', is also 'a liar and the father
of lies' (Jn 8:44). By deceiving man he leads him to projects of
sin and death, making them appear as goals and fruits of
life." (Pope John Paul II, 1995)
"The
strategy of our adversary can be compared to the tactics of a
commander intent upon seizing and plundering a position he
desires. The leader of an army will encamp, explore the
fortifications and defenses of the fortress, and attack at the
weakest point." (St. Ignatius Loyola)
"['(The
devil) was a murderer from the beginning' (Jn. 8:44).] The devil
did not go, girt with a sword, against man: he sowed an evil word,
and slew him. Do not suppose therefore that you are not guilty of
murder, when you suggest evil thoughts to your brother." (St.
Augustine, Doctor of the Church)
"Believe
me, Brethren, Satan dreads the watchings of holy men, and their
prayers, and fasts, and voluntary poverty, and works of mercy, and
humility, and above all, their ardent love for Christ our Lord, at
the mere sign of whose most holy Cross he is disabled and put to
flight." (St. Antony)
"All
those who love the Mother of God, that is to say, all true
Catholics, are persuaded that, after God, Mary is our principal
support in our conflicts with Satan. This persuasion is not merely
a pious conjecture; it rests on constant experience and on
dogmatical foundations the most unshaken." (Fr. Delaporte)
"For however great the power and pertinacity of Satan, he
cannot, in his deadly hatred of our race, tempt or torment us as
much, or as long as he pleases; but all his power is governed by
the control and permission of God." (Catechism of the Council
of Trent)
"Whoever, then, purposes to enlist, under the standard of
Christ, must first of all, enter into a sacred and solemn
engagement to renounce the devil and the world, and always to hold
them in utter detestation as his worst enemies." (Catechism
of the Council of Trent)
"The
devil has never made anyone or begotten anyone or created anyone;
but whoever acts as the devil does becomes in one sense a child of
the devil, as if begotten by him. The child resembles the father,
not because they are literally kin, but because the child imitates
the father." (St. Augustine, Doctor of the Church)
"The
basic, universally accepted subdivision of satanic activity is the
following: the demon operates an ordinary activity, temptation,
and an extraordinary activity, which includes the entire range of
evil disturbances, of various degrees of seriousness and
nature." (Gabriele Amorth, Chief Exorcist of Rome)
"We
must avoid addressing the demon directly to find out his name and
- I add - anything else. All other considerations aside, a direct
dialogue with the demon can be dangerous to anyone who dares to
initiate it without the due authorization of the Church, and
therefore without her protection." (Gabriele Amorth, Chief
Exorcist of Rome)
"And
while in times past demons, occupying springs or rivers or trees
or stones, cheated men by deceptive appearances and imposed upon
the credulous by their juggleries, now, after the divine coming of
the word, an end is put to their deceptions. For by the sign of
the cross, a man but using it, their wiles are put to
flight." (St. Athanasius, Doctor of the Church, c. 318 A.D.)
"['(The
devil) was a murderer from the beginning' (Jn. 8:44).] Consider
too, it was not one man only that he killed, but the whole human
race, inasmuch as in Adam all die; so that he is truly called a
murderer from the beginning." [Origen ("the greatest
scholar of Christian antiquity" - although he would
eventually be excommunicated and be regarded as a heretic), 3rd
century A.D.]
"Satan
is a pure spirit. We have given him a physical image in order to
picture him in our minds. When he appears to us, he takes on a
concrete form. However ugly we can picture him in our minds, he is
infinitely uglier still. I am not speaking of physical ugliness,
but of perfidy and distance from God, who is the summit and
culmination of every beauty." (Gabriele Amorth, Chief
Exorcist of Rome)
"When
he saw that man was made in the image and likeness of God, the
Devil realized that it was useless for him to fight against God,
so instead he entangled God's image in evil. In the same way, an
angry man might throw stones at the emperor's image, since he
cannot throw them at the emperor and so must be content with
striking the wood that bears his likeness." (St. Basil the
Great, Doctor of the Church)
"That
is truly the devil's language, which seeks to cast down the soul
of man from the high ground of its good deeds, while he shows at
the same time both his weakness and malice, for he can injure no
one that does not first cast himself down. For he who forsaking
heavenly things pursues earthly, rushes as it were willfully down
the self-sought precipice of a falling life." (St. Ambrose,
Doctor of the Church)
"Language is inadequate to depict the cruel tyranny which
the devil exercises over those who, having shaken off the sweet
yoke of God, and broken the most lovely bond of charity by which
our spirit is bound to God our Father, have gone over to their
relentless enemy, who is therefore called in Scripture, the prince
and ruler of the world, the prince of darkness, and king over all
the children of pride." (Catechism of the Council of Trent)
"But
our Lord calls the devil the father of a lie for this reason:
Every one who lies is not the father of his own lie; for you may
tell a lie, which you have received from another; in which ease
you have lied, but are not the father of the lie. But the lie
wherewith, as with a serpent's bite, the devil slew man, had no
source but himself: and therefore he is the father of a lie, as
God is the Father of the truth." (St. Augustine, Doctor of
the Church)
"But
it is not Satan alone that tempts men, for sometimes a host of
demons combine to attack an individual. This that evil spirit
confessed, who, having been asked his name by Christ the Lord,
replied, My name is legion; that is to say, a multitude of demons,
tormented their unhappy victim. And of another demon it is
written: He taketh with them seven other spirits more wicked than
himself, and they enter in and dwell there." (Catechism of
the Council of Trent)
"The
sign of the cross is the most terrible weapon against the Devil.
Thus the Church wishes not only that we should have it continually
in front of our minds to recall to us just what our souls are
worth and what they cost Jesus Christ, but also that we should
make it at every juncture ourselves: when we go to bed, when we
awaken during the night, when we get up, when we begin any action,
and above all, when we are tempted." (St. John Vianney)
"This
matter of the Devil and of the influence he can exert on
individuals as well as on communities, entire societies or events,
is a very important chapter of Catholic doctrine which should be
studied again, although it is given little attention today. Some
think a sufficient compensation can be found in psychoanalytic and
psychiatric studies or in spiritualistic experiences, which are
unfortunately so widespread in some countries today." (Pope
Paul VI, 1972)
"The
evil spirits, cunning thieves that they are, can take us by
surprise and rob us of all we possess. They are watching day and
night for the right moment. They roam incessantly seeking to
devour us and to snatch us in one brief moment of sin all the
grace and merit we have taken years to acquire. Their malice and
their experience, their cunning and their numbers ought to make us
fearful of such a misfortune happening to us." (St. Louis de Montfort)
"Every
believer, through baptism and confirmation, must feel engaged in
the battle against the demon. We know that we are temples of the
Holy Spirit; the demon would like to wrest that privilege from
us... Just as the demon fights against us daily, so we must battle
daily against him... Today, it seems that this sense of battle is
absent from our preaching and our catechesis. And yet, the entire
Bible, particularly the New Testament, insists upon it."
(Gabriele Amorth, Chief Exorcist of Rome)
"Believe
me when I tell you that Satan's nefarious and dark activity - as
Pope [John] Paul II calls it - is more widespread and deadly than
we think. The skeptical sarcasm of worldly pseudo-experts, and
sometimes even Christians and teachers of religion, is the fruit
of disinformation and, therefore, of superficiality. This
skepticism is itself one of the main components of the victory
that the evil one wants to win, under the cover of silence."
(Bishop Gemma)
"[The
demon] can bring about physical effects on matter and physical
illness on the human body. He can also affect our psyche through
dreams, thoughts, and imagination. He can transmit his own
thoughts to us, such as hatred or despair. All these phenomena can
appear in victims of satanic ailments and, most of all, in
victims of possession. The true perfidy and ugliness of this
spiritual being is greater than anything we humans can imagine or
depict." (Gabriele Amorth, Chief Exorcist of Rome)
"[Referring
to Lk. 4:9-13:] Whence
know you, Satan, that those things are written? Have you read the
Prophets, or the oracles of God? You have read them indeed, but
not that yourself might be the better for the reading, but that
from the mere letter you might slay them who are friends to the
letter. You know that if you were to speak from His other books,
you would not deceive." [Origen ("the greatest scholar
of Christian antiquity" - although he would eventually be
excommunicated and be regarded as a heretic), 3rd century A.D.]
"But
the Lord, to prevent the thought that those things which had been
prophesied of Him were fulfilled according to the devil's will,
and not by the authority of His own divine power, again so foils
his cunning, that he who had alleged the testimony of Scripture,
should by Scripture himself be overthrown. Hence it follows, And
Jesus answering said, It is said, You shall not tempt the Lord thy
God (Lk. 4:12)." (St. Ambrose, Doctor of the Church)
"Or
thus: The devil is not a singular, but a common name. In
whomsoever the works of the devil are found, he is to be called
the devil. It is the name of a work, not of a nature. Here then
our Lord means by the father of the Jews, Cain; whom they wished
to imitate, by killing the Savior: for he it was who set the first
example of murdering a brother. That he spoke a lie of his own,
means that no one sins but by his own will. And inasmuch as Cain
imitated the devil, and followed his works, the devil is said to
be his father." (St. Augustine, Doctor of the Church)
"Finally,
in every instance of vexation, contempt, and abhorrence, you
pronounce the name of Satan. He it is whom we call the angel of
wickedness, the author of every error, the corrupter of the whole
world, through whom man was deceived in the very beginning so that
he transgressed the command of God. On account of his
transgression man was given over to death; and the whole human
race, which was infected by his seed, was made the transmitter of
condemnation." [Tertullian ("an excellent early Christian writer" - although he would ultimately fall into heresy),
c. 2nd century A.D.]
"Isaiah,
setting forth the devil under the figure of the prince of Babylon,
says, How are you fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the
morning! Ezekiel says, You have been in Eden, the garden of God.
Which passages, as they cannot be interpreted in any other way,
show that we must take the word, He stood not in the truth, to
mean, that he was in truth, but did not remain in it; and the
other, that the devil sins from the beginning, to mean, that he
was a sinner not from the beginning of his creation, but from the
beginning of sin. For sin began in him, and he was the beginning
of sin." (St. Augustine, Doctor of the Church)
"Sorcery,
by means of enchantments, divinations, superstitions and the
invoking of demons, is prohibited by both civil laws and the
sanctions of the sacred canons. We rule, decree and ordain that
clerics who are found guilty of these things are to be branded
with disgrace at the judgment of superiors. If they do not desist,
they are to be demoted, forced into a monastery for a period of
time that is to be fixed by the will of the superior, and deprived
of their benefices and ecclesiastical offices. Lay men and women,
however, are to be subject to excommunication and the other
penalties of both civil and canon law." (Fifth Lateran Council)
"We
can surmise that [the devil's] sinister activity is present
wherever denial of God becomes radical. While our natural tendency
is toward God, wherever the devil is active we find a radical
denial, which can be as subtle, difficult, or sophisticated as you
please, but it is radical denial nevertheless... [W]e can see the
hand of Satan in every hypocritical and powerful lie against the
truth. We can identify the prodding of the devil wherever love is
absent, dead, and where selfishness is cold, cruel, and so on, and
where the name of Jesus is defamed with conscious and rebellious
hatred." (Pope Paul VI, 1972)
"[The
Church] firmly believes, professes, and teaches that no one
conceived of man and woman was ever freed of the domination of the
Devil, except through the merit of the mediator between God and
men, our Lord Jesus Christ; He who was conceived without sin, was
born and died, through His death alone laid low the enemy of the
human race by destroying our sins, and opened the entrance to the
kingdom of heaven, which the first man by his own sin had lost
with all succession; and that He would come sometime, all the
sacred rites of the Old Testament, sacrifices, sacraments, and
ceremonies disclosed." (Pope Eugenius IV, "Cantata
Domino", 1441/2 A.D.)
"Two
things may be considered in the assault of the demons - the
assault itself, and the ordering thereof. The assault itself is
due to the malice of the demons, who through envy endeavor to
hinder man's progress; and through pride usurp a semblance of
Divine power, by deputing certain ministers to assail man, as the
angels of God in their various offices minister to man's
salvation. But the ordering of the assault is from God, Who knows
how to make orderly use of evil by ordering it to good. On the
other hand, in regard to the angels, both their guardianship and
the ordering thereof are to be referred to God as their first
author." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and
"greatest theologian in the history of the Church")
"The
wicked angels assail men in two ways. Firstly by instigating them
to sin; and thus they are not sent by God to assail us, but are
sometimes permitted to do so according to God's just judgments.
But sometimes their assault is a punishment to man: and thus they
are sent by God; as the lying spirit was sent to punish Achab,
King of Israel, as is related in 3 Kings [1 Kings] 22:20 For
punishment is referred to God as its first author. Nevertheless
the demons who are sent to punish, do so with an intention other
than that for which they are sent; for they punish from hatred or
envy; whereas they are sent by God on account of His
justice." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and
"greatest theologian in the history of the Church")
"From
all this we may understand that the power of these enemies [the
demons] is great, their courage undaunted, their hatred of us
enormous and unmeasured; that they also wage against us a
perpetual war, so that with them there can be no peace, no truce.
How great is their audacity is evidenced by the words of Satan,
recorded by the Prophet: I will ascend into heaven. He attacked
our first parents in Paradise; he assailed the Prophets; he beset
the Apostles in order, as the Lord says in the Gospel, that he
might sift them as wheat. Nor was he abashed even by the presence
of Christ the Lord Himself. His insatiable desire and unwearied
diligence St. Peter therefore expressed when he said: Your
adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion goeth about, seeking whom
he may devour." (Catechism of the Council of Trent)
"The
one need that holds my attention this morning is unusual and
difficult: defense. The thought haunts me. Defense against whom?
Saint Paul tells us that we must fight. We know that, but against
whom? Saint Paul reminds us often that we might fight, like
soldiers. He says that our fight is not against visible things,
such as flesh and blood. Still, we must engage in battle. I call
it 'combat against the darkness'. We must fight against spirits,
the spirits that swarm around us. In other words, we must fight
against the demon... Anyone who refuses to acknowledge the
existence of this terrible reality departs from the truth of
biblical and ecclesiastical teaching... How many times does Christ
himself alert us to the importance of the reality that is
Satan?" (Pope Paul VI, 1972)
"Jesus
also calls the demon 'murderer from the beginning', 'father of
lies'. He is the sophisticated seducer of man's moral balance. He
is the evil and cunning charmer who knows how to infiltrate
everyone's individual psychology. He finds the open door and comes
in: through our senses, our imagination, and our concupiscence...
Again through utopian logic, disordered social contacts, bad
friends, and bad worldly ideas, [the devil slips] into our actions
and introduces deviations that are all the more deadly because
they appear to conform to the physical or psychological and
instinctive structure of our person: this is why temptation is so
seductive. These structures run deep and influence our
personality. He takes advantage of our own fabric, our makeup, to
enter our psychology subtly." (Pope Paul VI, 1972)
"How
comes it that man is ever ready to join hands with Satan for his
own destruction? But Lucifer himself was at first his own only
enemy; and surely his folly is more difficult to explain than that
of the frail creature he strives to draw after him along the path
of pride which led him to perdition. It is pride that made him the
prince of folly and the father of lies. His intellect, though the
loftiest in heaven, was not proof against self-love, which induced
him to take complacency in his created nothingness, to 'detain the
truth of God in injustice,' and to prefer darkness to the light.
Thus it is that men, following Satan's example and dishonoring God
to exalt themselves, 'become vain in their thoughts', till such a
darkness comes over their mind and heart and senses, as strikes
with astonishment the soul that remains simple and upright in its
humility." (Liturgical Year)
"[W]e
know that this dark and disturbing being truly exists and is still
active with predatory cunning. He is the hidden enemy who sows
error, misfortune, decadence, and degradation in human history. We
must remember - this is also genuine Gospel - the revealing
parable of the weeds sown among the wheat. The servants, those who
cultivated the fields, marvel at this: 'Where have the weeds come
from?' The master of the field, who symbolizes God, answers:...'it
is the enemy of man who did this.' Evil, which is spread
throughout the world, has its own personal, intentional history.
God himself tolerates, almost defends this state of affairs: 'Do
not pull up the weeds because you may uproot the wheat along with
them...then at harvest time I will say to the harvesters, 'first
collect the weeds and tie them.' The day will come, the last day,
when this distinction will be made and the judgment will be
absolute." (Pope Paul VI, 1972)
"According to the interpretation of St.
Basil the Great, St. Chrysostom and St. Augustine, the devil is
specially called the evil one, because he was the author of man's
transgression, that is, of his sin and iniquity, and also because
God makes use of him as an instrument to chastise sinful and
impious men. For the evils which mankind endures in punishment of
sin are appointed by God... The devil is also called evil,
because, although we have never injured him, he wages perpetual
war against us, and pursues us with mortal hatred. If we put on
the armor of faith and the shield of innocence, he can have no
power to hurt us; nevertheless he unceasingly tempts us by
external evils and every other means of annoyance within his
reach. We therefore beseech God to deliver us from the evil one." (Catechism of the Council of Trent)
"The
question of the Devil is not one of mere curiosity. The question
is of a living enemy, powerful, present, dangerous, furious. You
are reminded that he has caused the terrible, irremediable ruin of
a multitude of your fellow-beings. You are warned, in particular,
to avoid dark associations, inspired by him, mysterious
operations, of which he himself...is the invisible agent. When
flight is impossible, fight. Avoid more carefully even those
trivial faults which make the Devil bolder and stronger against
you; avoid, especially mortal sin, which would deliver your soul
to him. Never sleep, if you possibly can, in the captivity of
Satan. Be on your guard against the love of riches, which fills
his nets; the love of pleasure, which leads to idolatry; and
pride, the father of all errors. Grieve not the Spirit of God.
Watch, pray. Soon you shall repose in the triumphant peace of
heaven." (Fr. Delaporte)
"The
conduct of bad men helps us, alas! to understand that of the
Devil. They walk in the ways of darkness; they rejoice when they
have done evil, and they take delight in wicked actions. Devoured
by the want of acting, and no longer able to share with man the
grace, the joy, the purity he has lost, the Devil tries to
inculcate him with impiety, blasphemy, aversion to the Supreme
Good. He sees the faithful angel, after having conquered in the
great struggle between the two angelic armies, accomplishing for
man, his young brother, the charitable ministry which has been
confided to him; he sees man, overwhelmed with those magnificent
gifts of which he is ignominiously despoiled, ascending towards
the throne which his fall left vacant. He is jealous, and his
jealously urges him unceasingly, with sin and by sin, to make
death reign on earth. In short, powerless to strike God, whose arm
chastises his insolence, he tries to avenge himself on the weaker
beings whom God surrounds with His paternal tenderness." (Fr.
Delaporte)
"He
then points out the manner of the Devil's snares, saying, While
men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares in the midst of the
wheat, and departed. He here shows that error arose after truth,
as indeed the course of events testifies; for the false prophets
came after the Prophets, the false apostles after the Apostles,
and Antichrist after Christ. For unless the Devil sees what to
imitate, and some to lay in wait against, he does not attempt
anything. Therefore because he saw that this man bears fruit an
hundred, this sixty, and this thirty fold, and that he was not
able to carry off or to choke that which had taken root, he turns
to other insidious practices, mixing up his own seed, which is a
counterfeit of the true, and thereby imposes upon such as are
prone to be deceived. So the parable speaks, not of another seed,
but of tares which bear a great likeness to wheat corn. Further,
the malignity of the Devil is shown in this, that he sowed when
all else was completed, that he might do the greater hurt to the
husbandman (Mt. 13:24-30)." (St. John Chrysostom, Doctor of
the Church)
"But
in this mercifulness of God, dearly beloved, the greatness of
which towards us we cannot explain, Christians must be extremely
careful lest they be caught again in the devil's wiles and once
more entangled in the errors which they have renounced. For the
old enemy does not cease to 'transform himself into an angel of
light,' and spread everywhere the snares of his deceptions, and
make every effort to corrupt the faith of believers. He knows whom
to ply with the zest of greed, whom to assail with the allurements
of the belly, before whom to set the attractions of
self-indulgence, in whom to instill the poison of jealousy: he
knows whom to overwhelm with grief, whom to cheat with joy, whom
to surprise with fear, whom to bewilder with wonderment: there is
no one whose habits he does not sift, whose cares he does not
winnow, whose affections he does not pry into: and wherever he
sees a man most absorbed in occupation, there he seeks opportunity
to injure him. Moreover he has many whom he has bound still more
tightly because they are suited for his designs, that he may use
their abilities and tongues to deceive others." (Pope St. Leo
the Great, Doctor of the Church)
"There
are many, who because they do not feel the assaults of demons
against them, imagine that the whole matter is fictitious; nor is
it surprising that such persons are not attacked by demons, to
whom they have voluntarily surrendered themselves. They possess
neither piety nor charity, nor any virtue worthy of a Christian;
hence they are entirely in the power of the evil, and there is no
need of any temptation to overcome them, since their souls have
already become his willing abode. But those who have dedicated
themselves to God, leading a heavenly life upon earth, are the
chief objects of the assaults of Satan. Against them he harbors
bitterest hatred, laying snares for them each moment. Sacred
Scripture is full of examples of holy men who, in spite of their
firmness and resolution, were perverted by his violence of fraud.
Adam, David, Solomon and others, whom it would be tedious to
enumerate, experienced the violent and crafty cunning of demons,
which neither human prudence nor human strength can overcome...
But should any of the faithful, though weakness or ignorance, feel
terrified at the power of the demons, they are to be encouraged,
when tossed by the waves of temptation, to take refuge in this
harbor of prayer." (Catechism of the Council of Trent)
"For
our Redeemer and Savior knew what great errors the devil's deceit
had dispersed throughout the world and by how many superstitions
he had subjected the chief part of mankind to himself. But that
the creature formed in God's image might not any longer through
ignorance of the Truth be driven on to the precipice of perpetual
death, He inserted in the Gospel pages the nature of His judgment
that it might recover every man from the snares of the crafty foe;
for now all would know what rewards the good might hope for and
what punishments the evil must fear. For the instigator and author
of sin in order first to fall through pride and then to injure us
through envy, because 'he stood not in the Truth' put all his
strength in lying and produced every kind of deceit from this
poisoned source of his cunning, that he might cut off man's devout
hopes from that happiness which he had lost by his own uplifting,
and drag them into partnership with his condemnation, to whose
reconciliation he himself could not attain. Whoever therefore
among men has wronged God by his wickednesses, has been led astray
by his guile, and depraved by his villainy. For he easily drives
into all evil doings those whom he has deceived in the matter of
religion. But knowing that God is denied not only by words but
also by deeds, many whom he could not rob of their faith, he has
robbed of their love, and by choking the ground of their heart
with the weeds of avarice, has spoiled them of the fruit of good
works, when he could not spoil them of the confession of their
lips." (Pope St. Leo the Great, Doctor of the Church)
"The temptation which comes from the enemy takes the
form of a suggestion, as Gregory says (Hom. 16 in Evangelia). Now
a suggestion cannot be made to everybody in the same way; it must
arise from those things towards which each one has an inclination.
Consequently the devil does not straight away tempt the spiritual
man to grave sins, but he begins with lighter sins, so as
gradually to lead him to those of greater magnitude. Wherefore
Gregory (Moralium xxxi), expounding Job 39:25, 'He smelleth the
battle afar off, the encouraging of the captains and the shouting
of the army,' says: 'The captains are fittingly described as
encouraging, and the army as shouting. Because vices begin by
insinuating themselves into the mind under some specious pretext:
then they come on the mind in such numbers as to drag it into all
sorts of folly, deafening it with their bestial clamor.' Thus,
too, did the devil set about the temptation of the first man. For
at first he enticed his mind to consent to the eating of the
forbidden fruit, saying (Genesis 3:1): 'Why hath God commanded you
that you should not eat of every tree of paradise?' Secondly [he
tempted him] to vainglory by saying: 'Your eyes shall be opened.'
Thirdly, he led the temptation to the extreme height of pride,
saying: 'You shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.' This same
order did he observe in tempting Christ. For at first he tempted
Him to that which men desire, however spiritual they may be -
namely, the support of the corporeal nature by food. Secondly, he
advanced to that matter in which spiritual men are sometimes found
wanting, inasmuch as they do certain things for show, which
pertains to vainglory. Thirdly, he led the temptation on to that
in which no spiritual men, but only carnal men, have a part -
namely, to desire worldly riches and fame, to the extent of
holding God in contempt. And so in the first two temptations he
said: 'If Thou be the Son of God'; but not in the third, which is
inapplicable to spiritual men, who are sons of God by adoption,
whereas it does apply to the two preceding temptations." (St.
Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian
in the history of the Church")
"Manifold
indeed and beyond human conception are the instructions and gifts
of grace which He has laid up in us; as the pattern of heavenly
conversation, power against demons, the adoption of sons, and that
exceeding great and singular grace, the knowledge of the Father
and of the Word Himself, and the gift of the Holy Ghost. But the
mind of man is prone to evil exceedingly; moreover, our adversary
the devil, envying us the possession of such great blessings,
goeth about seeking to snatch away the seed of the word which is
sown within us. Wherefore as if by His prophetic warnings He would
seal up His instructions in our hearts as His own peculiar
treasure, the Lord said, 'Take heed that no man deceive you: for
many shall come in My name, saying, I am he; and the time draweth
near; and they shall deceive many: go ye not therefore after
them.' This is a great gift which the Word has bestowed upon us,
that we should not be deceived by appearances, but that, howsoever
these things are concealed, we should all the more distinguish
them by the grace of the Spirit. For whereas the inventor of
wickedness and great spirit of evil, the devil, is utterly
hateful, and as soon as he shews himself is rejected of all men -
as a serpent, as a dragon, as a lion seeking whom he may seize
upon and devour - therefore he conceals and covers what he really
is, and craftily personates that Name which all men desire, so
that deceiving by a false appearance, he may thenceforth fix fast
in his own chains those whom he has led astray. And as if one that
desired to kidnap the children of others during the absence of
their parents, should personate their appearance, and so putting a
cheat on the affections of the offspring, should carry them far
away and destroy them; in like manner this evil and wily spirit
the devil, having no confidence in himself, and knowing the love
which men bear to the truth, personates its appearance, and so
spreads his own poison among those that follow after him." (St.
Athanasius, Doctor of the Church)
"But
our curiosity, excited by the certainly of his multiple existence,
has a right to raise two questions. Are there signs, and what are
they, of the presence of diabolical action? And what means of
defense do we have against such an insidious danger?... We have to
be cautious about answering the first question, even though the
signs of the Evil One seem to be very obvious at times. We can
presume that his sinister action is at work where the denial of
God becomes radical, subtle and absurd; where lies become powerful
and hypocritical in the face of evident truth; where love is
smothered by cold, cruel selfishness; where Christ's name is
attacked with conscious, rebellious hatred, where the spirit of
the Gospel is watered down and rejected where despair is affirmed
as the last word; and so forth. But this diagnosis is too
extensive and difficult for Us to attempt to probe and
authenticate it now. It holds a certain dramatic interest for
everyone, however, and has been the subject of some famous
passages in modern literature. The problem of evil remains one of
the greatest and most lasting problems for the human mind, even
after the victorious response given to it by Jesus Christ. 'We
know,' writes St. John the Evangelist, 'that we are of God, and
the whole world is in the power of the evil one.'... It is easier
to formulate an answer to the other question - what defense, what
remedy should we use against the Devil's action? - even though it
remains difficult to put into practice. We could say: everything
that defends us from sin strengthens us by that very fact against
the invisible enemy. Grace is the decisive defense. Innocence
takes on the aspect of strength. Everyone recalls how often the
apostolic method of teaching used the armor of a soldier as a
symbol for the virtues that can make a Christian invulnerable. The
Christian must be a militant; he must be vigilant and strong; and
he must at times make use of special ascetical practices to escape
from certain diabolical attacks. Jesus teaches us this by pointing
to 'prayer and fasting' as the remedy. And the Apostle suggests
the main line we should follow: 'Be not overcome by evil, but
overcome evil with good. ' With an awareness, therefore, of the
opposition that individual souls, the Church and the world must
face at the present time, we will try to give both meaning and,
effectiveness to the familiar invocation in our principal prayer:
'Our Father...deliver us from evil!'" (Pope Paul VI, 1972)
"Thus
we can see how important an awareness of evil is if we are to have
a correct Christian concept of the world, life and salvation. We
see this first in the unfolding of the Gospel story at the
beginning of Christ's public life. Who can forget the highly
significant description of the triple temptation of Christ? Or the
many episodes in the Gospel where the Devil crosses the Lord's
path and figures in His teaching? And how could we forget that
Christ, referring three times to the Devil as His adversary,
describes him as 'the prince of this world'?... The lurking shadow
of this wicked presence is pointed up in many, many passages of
the New Testament. St. Paul calls him the 'god of this world,' and
warns us of the struggle we Christians must carry on in the dark,
not only against one Devil, but against a frightening multiplicity
of them. 'I put on the armor of God,' the Apostle tells us, 'that
you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our
wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the
Principalities and the Powers, against the world-rulers of this
darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness on high.'
Many passages in the Gospel show us that we are dealing not just
with one Devil, but with many. But the principal one is Satan,
which means the adversary, the enemy; and along with him are many
others, all of them creatures of God, but fallen because they
rebelled and were damned - a whole mysterious world, convulsed by
a most unfortunate drama about which we know very little. There
are many things we do know, however, about this diabolical world,
things that touch on our lives and on the whole history of
mankind. The Devil is at the origin of mankind's first misfortune
- he was the wily, fatal tempter involved in the first sin, the
original sin. That fall of Adam gave the Devil a certain dominion
over man, from which only Christ's Redemption can free us. It is a
history that is still going on: let us recall the exorcisms at
Baptism, and the frequent references in Sacred Scripture and in
the liturgy to the aggressive and oppressive 'power of darkness.'
The Devil is the number one enemy, the preeminent tempter. So we
know that this dark disturbing being exists and that he is still
at work with his treacherous cunning; he is the hidden enemy who
sows errors and misfortunes in human history. It is worth
recalling the revealing Gospel parable of the good seed and the
cockle, for it synthesizes and explains the lack of logic that
seems to preside over our contradictory experiences: 'An enemy has
done this.' He is 'a murderer from the beginning,...and the father
of lies,' as Christ defines him. He undermines man's moral
equilibrium with his sophistry. He is the malign, clever seducer
who knows how to make his way into us through the senses, the
imagination and the libido, through utopian logic, or through
disordered social contacts in the give and take of our activities,
so that he can bring about in us deviations that are all the more
harmful because they seem to conform to our physical or mental
makeup, or to our profound, instinctive aspirations." (Pope
Paul VI, 1972)
Also
See: Satan
/ Devil (Catholic Life Reflections) | Satan
/ Prayer (Prayers & Devotions Reflections) | Mary
Vs. Satan (Mary, Our Mother Reflections) | Hell
/ Eternal Damnation | Exorcism
| Why
Evil is Allowed | Sin
| Original
Sin | Temptations
| Sign
of the Cross | Hell
(Topical Scripture) | Devil
/ Satan (Topical Scripture)
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