What habits do demons hate? Arm yourself with knowledge of the enemy from Dan Schneider, Fr. Ripperger, and the saints!
Demons Hate Discipline
This “legal battle” is fought in a most peculiar way. The demon responds to the imposition of order as much as to deliverance prayers themselves. As I stated elsewhere, those who seek lasting liberation must acquire “a continual and habitual practice of the Catholic faith built on a monastic foundation of prayer and discipline.”
David did not pick up the sling for the first time when confronted by Goliath. Day after day, alone among the sheep, he practiced and perfected the skill. Following his example, the Liber Christo model accompanies you to the gunnery range, so to speak, to teach you how to fight your daily spiritual battles. A key to accuracy with your sling is the spiritual discipline of ascesis—that is, self-discipline and mortification. This includes a theology of suffering and the centrality of sacramental confession as two formidable weapons.
The Power of Mortification
The practice of Christian ascetical practices—through fasting, vigils, and other disciplines—help to mortify (literally, “to put to death”) sinful tendencies. As Clement states, we also fight against impurity “through the devotion to the five Sacred Wounds of Jesus, particularly the wounded feet of Jesus. The desecration and wounding of His flesh was the result to our own sins of the flesh and, therefore, meditating on His wounds makes satisfaction for our carnal sins. In so doing, we slowly purify the unholy images embedded in our memories by the holy images of Christ’s wounds.” When a demon tempts us with unholy images, we project back to him images of the wounds of Christ.
Retreat to the Desert
A weakened will is strengthened by mortification or deprivation of the flesh, specifically of the five senses. In cutting off stimulation to the senses through the eyes and ears and the insatiable desire for information or stimulation, the media fast draws the soul to a “desert” experience, which opens the soul to encounter God. This also helps to bring the instinct into right order under the soul.
The withdrawal into the desert is the act of blocking out all worldly distractions by depriving your senses and ordering your life to prayer. In military language, to withdraw for a period of prayer and fasting is like “reconnaissance by fire.” Ground forces will use this tactic to expose an enemy who is hiding and refusing to engage in battle. In this tactic, a military unit will briefly expose itself to draw fire from the enemy who reveals his position with his muzzle blast. By analogy, when a Christian follows Christ into the desert and picks up the ancient weapons of prayer and fasting, that same “tempter” is drawn out and exposed.
How to Combat Family Vices
Notably, in the story of the boy possessed by a demon in Mark 9:24–29, the father intercedes for his son to Jesus through the disciples (see Mk 9:17). Jesus gives us clues as to how to drive this demon out of the family line: “This kind can only come out through prayer and through fasting” (Mk 9:29). Demons perpetuate by wounding within the family, so work on yourself first to develop the virtues to counteract it:
Fear → Hope and confidence
Depression → Joy via charity, telling God you love Him, etc.
Despair → Hope
Fear of suffering → Fasting, penances, voluntary suffering
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This article is taken from a chapter in The Liber Christo Method by Dan Schneider, PhD which is available from TAN Books.
