COMBATTING THE DEMONIC VICE OF LUST
Question:
I need to work harder to stop being in mortal sin so much. My Achilles heal is lust and I’m concerned about this virus. Any advice on what I can do to stay in a state of Grace for longer periods and hopefully for good?
Answer:
Praise God that you recognize the sin in your life. That is the grace of God opening your eyes. Now it’s time to fight it. Here is the best advice I can give you on combatting the demonic vice of lust:
What are vices? Vices are the opposite of virtues. They are perverse habits which darken the conscience and incline one to evil. The vices can be linked to the seven, so-called, capital sins which are: pride, avarice, envy, anger, lust, gluttony, and sloth or acedia (Ibid 398).
VICES versus Corresponding Christian VIRTUES
1. Pride………………………………..Humility
2. Lust………………………………….Purity
3. Anger……………………………….Meekness
4. Covetousness……………………….Charity
5. Envy………………………………..Compassion
6. Sloth…………………………………Zeal
7. Gluttony…………………………....Temperance
Take custody and snap your intellect back into order by immediately doing a prayer of rebuke, renounce and reject this demonic temptation. Here is an example: Prayer of Rebuke (Sample prayer): In the Name of Jesus, I rebuke the spirit of violence (or lust, or drunkenness, or mockery, or name of the vice) that is present at this place; evil spirit, I rebuke you, in Jesus Mighty Holy Precious name! Be gone to the foot of the cross, that Our Lord may do with you as He wills!
Prayers of rebuke, renounce & reject are usually spontaneous prayer. The format is: 1) Rebuke the evil spirit 2) order it to leave your presence, 3) in Jesus name, power and authority.
Doug Barry: "Amazing isn't it, especially when we consider the consequences of not fighting against an enemy that wants the destruction of our souls and the souls of those that we love. When you feel the attacks, the temptations to be selfish, prideful, lustful, greedy, envious or to give into division between you and our spouse or your siblings or your parents, stop, calm down and think. FIGHT BACK with the weapons that God has given us. Prayer! Sacraments! Holy Water! Veneration of a blessed Crucifix! Prayerfully repeat the name of Jesus in your heart! Do it over and over and over and don't stop! The devil wants us to give up! DON'T!"
Fr Ripperger (Exorcist; FTC companion guide p.135): "We can combat pornography through the devotion to the 5 sacred wounds of Jesus. This is the understanding that the desecration of His flesh was the response to our sins of the flesh. We should spend time meditating and reflecting on his Sacred Wounds. Then, when the demon tries to suggest time meditating and reflecting on His Sacred Wounds. Then, when the demon tries to suggest to us that we need to look at pornography, we can project back to him images of the wounds of Christ." How do we do this practically, when you get that urge towards pornography, take you rosary, go on your phone and look up graphic bloody pictures of Our Lord Jesus' Christ and his 5 wounds and pray the sorrowful mysteries of the rosary. All your dirty thoughts will be burned away with this meditation.
In Meditation we go to God on horseback. “Meditation comes from the Latin word meditation, which means ‘thinking over.’ A reflective form of prayer, it often begins with reading the Word of God and allowing it to resonate in our mind and heart. Meditation engages our powers of thought and imagination, as well as our emotions and desires. It marshals our interior powers to focus on the mysteries of our faith and on God’s will for our lives. The practice of daily meditation is a very important way to grow in holiness.”[i]
St Isaiah the Hermit (488 AD) sums up for us the grace of meditation: “Meditation melts our evil thoughts and withers the passions of the soul; it enlightens our mind, makes the understanding radiant, and fills the heart with joy. Meditation wounds demons, and drives away thoughts of wickedness. Meditation is a mirror for the mind and light for the conscience; it tames lust, calms fury, dispels wrath, drives away bitterness, and puts irritability to flight. Meditation illuminates the mind and expels laziness. From it is born the tenderness that warms and melts the soul.”[ii]
Fr Ripperger (The Catholic Approach to Liberation - Leaders Guide p.32): In monastic discipline, we order our life to prayer. Pray at 6am, noon, and 6pm is joined with the communal prayer of the Church. This perfects ‘metanoia’, leading God to flood us with His grace; this will snap the lower faculties (passions & appetites) back into order, and restore clarity to the person.
*Repentance - is the desire to change; it is the thought.
*Metanoia – is the action that leads to change.
It’s the difference between merely saying, “I need to go on a diet,” and actually changing your eating habits (ibid p.28).
Pope Benedict XVI "Fasting means abstaining from food, but includes other forms of self-denial to promote a more sober lifestyle. But that still isn't the full meaning of fasting, which is the external sign of the internal reality of our commitment to abstain from evil with the help of God and to live the Gospel."
*Fasting trains you to master & control your passions. Prayer connects you to God – Fasting disconnects you from this world.
Dr Taylor Marshall (A Laymans quick guide to Thomism) p.50: “This is the moral life. Begin by doing small things well. Actively form your conscience. Seek the truth. Do not darken the intellect. Submit your passions to right reason. Do this everyday, 365 days a year. If you fail, keep trying. Forty years from now, if you are a general of an army in a tough spot, then and only then will you know what to do and when to do it. The ability to make that right decision begins with the ability to make small right decisions.”
[i] Ibid, 570.
[ii] Magnificat, Sept 2014, Vol. 16, No 7, Peter John Cameron editor in chief, “What is Meditation”, p.5.
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