Deliver Us From Evil

I and my fellow brothers and sisters were privileged to have Fr. Dave Clay, one of our beloved spiritual directors in the community, give a talk on the topic of spiritual warfare. He is not an exorcist like Fr. Jocis Syquia of the Archdiocese of Manila, but he narrated to us his own personal experiences and spiritual combat with the forces of darkness, many of which were beyond explanations. I also feel grateful to Fr. Dave for sharing some of his life experiences to us and his unwavering dedication in the SSA ministry.

Meanwhile, please take some time to visit these links with regards to the topic of Spiritual Warfare: These are interviews with Fr. Syquia I suppose courtesy of the PWHS ministry.

Spiritual Warfare (Part 1)

Spiritual Warfare (Part 2)

Spiritual Warfare (Part 3)

Lastly, I urge you to read the book of Fr. Syquia on exorcism (see picture above). It is definitely one of the most informative and authoritative books written on this topic. It's available in all National Bookstore branches.

Spiritual Warfare Quotes

"Whatever the less discerning theologians may say, the devil, as far as Christian belief is concerned, is a puzzling but real, personal and not merely symbolical presence." (Pope Benedict XVI)

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"'Spiritual combat' is another element of life which needs to be taught anew and proposed once more to all Christians today. It is a secret and interior art, an invisible struggle in which (we) engage every day against the temptations, the evil suggestions that the demon tries to plant in (our) hearts." (Pope John Paul II)

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“No one wants to believe in evil, really, above all, not in an evil being, an evil spirit. Everyone wants to abolish the idea. To admit the existence of evil means a responsibility, and no one wants that responsibility. That is the opening through which the evil spirit crawls, stilling all suspicions, making everything seem normal and natural. This is the “thought,” the unwariness of the ordinary human being which amounts to a disinclination to believe in evil. And if you do not believe in evil, how can you believe in or ever know what good is?” - (Hostage to the Devil by Father Malachi Martin, Roman Catholic Priest)

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“When I am asked how many demons there are, I answer with the words that the demon himself spoke through a demonic: ‘We are so many that, if we were visible, we would darken the sun.” (An Exorcist Tells His Story by Father Gabrielle Amorth, Roman Catholic Priest, Chief Exorcist of the Vatican, Rome, Italy)

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"The Devil fears the Virgin Mary more, not only than men and angels but, in a certain sense, than God himself. It is not that the wrath, the power and the hatred of God are not infinitely greater than those of the Blessed Virgin, since Mary's perfections are limited: it is because, in the first place, Satan, being proud, suffers infinitely more from being overcome and punished by the little, humble servant of God, her humility humiliating him more than the divine power; and secondly, because God has given Mary such great power over devils that, as they have often been obliged to admit, in spite of themselves, through the mouths of possessed persons, they are more afraid of one of her sighs of grief over some poor soul, than of the prayers of the saints, and more daunted by a single threat from her than by all their other torments" (Evidence of Satan in the Modern World by Monsignor Leon Cristiani, Roman Catholic Priest)