Father Johannes Michael Mary once told me that, when Our Holy Mother Teresa of Jesus started the Discalced reform, even holy people started acting demonic; I never forgot that. This can be applied to many aspects of the spiritual life, namely: doing God’s will in ALL things. The mighty Saint Paul said,

“And all that will live godly in Christ Jesus, shall suffer persecution.”

Father Gabriel of Saint Mary Magdalen O.C.D., in his book Divine Intimacy revealed how, when the devil, sees that he can no longer tempt a soul through evil “since the soul will not even be tempted toward such sin”, he will disguise himself in goodness. This is common sense, is it not? When we read such truth we think, “of course, every faithful Catholic knows this”. But it is not that simple, especially when we are faced head on with such allurements in the form of virtue. Remember Lucifer, before taking on the form of the beast, was once an angel of light. He is clever and cunning, much more so than even the most fervent apostle of Jesus and Mary. But this is where we remember that we must never rely on our own strength in trials- we must give everything to Mary and trust that, as She was given the power to crush the serpent, She will crush ours as well.

A few weeks ago, I heard a chilling homily, given by a Latin Mass priest, on the power of women who imitate Mary. He compared the actions of Judith, decapitating the evil King’s head, to Mary crushing the head of the snake. Both demonstrate great power in being faithful to God and destroying evil. It’s quite remarkable! I am merely writing this (on the shorter side) blog post today because I want to encourage those who are living “godly” lives to remember that the holier you become, the more vicious will the devil’s attacks linger in the shadows. If you are facing these temptations, this is a great sign; if you were on the wrong path he wouldn’t be fighting you. He will start to use holy people, things he knows we love, to make us second guess our actions or even decisions. Always reflect on the fruit that comes with the words of even fellow Catholics- priests as well. Saint Ignatius’s Discernment of the Spirits and holding the hand of Mary must be your weapons in this great war against Powers and Principalities, if we are to remain firm in not straying from our own pathways to eternal life.