UNDERSTANDING BINDING PRAYERS
QUESTION? / COMMENT!
I was wondering if you could clear something up? I was listening to sermons by priests of the xxxx, and more than one has said that binding prayers, imprecatory prayers, etc…are dangerous for the laity and aren’t to be prayed for the same reasons that the long form St. Michael prayer aren’t to be prayed. I was wondering if you had any insight on this as I am now confused on what is proper and what is not, especially regarding my own prayer life, especially since these priests are traditional and well-formed.
Also, I’m purely asking just to understand for my own soul, but how come things like deliverance prayers, Dominion, etc…weren’t widely written of in regards to the laity, or mentioned by Saints such as St. Francis de Sales who was a bishop and wrote and directed the laity, etc… Is it because of our times? Thank you!
ANSWER! / COMMENT!
“To bind” comes from the Holy Bible, I would classify that as traditional & pre-Vatican II. The word is written well over 70 times. The word “to bind” means “to tie down or tie up” (katadeo); it means “to bind together like a prisoner in confinement” (sundeo); it means “to bond or fetter as in a prisoner” (desmos); it also means “to stretch the body forth in preparation for a scourging” (Proteino).
‘Binding prayers’ (against demons) were probably first coined by the protestant Pentecostals (in 1901 in Topeka Kansas & 1906 at the Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles) and the phrase became popular with the Catholic Charismatic Renewal which started in 1967. ‘Binding Prayers’ are meant to bind demons from harming you, your family and your property. Some people say this is NOT part of Catholic tradition. That’s NOT true, the “August Queen Prayer” was given on January 13, 1864, to a holy soul, Father Louis Cestac, who died in 1868, he was accustomed to the favors of the most Holy Virgin. This Priest saw demons spread out over the earth causing unbelievable ravage. The Holy Virgin gave him this prayer and the Priest was instructed to ask for her intercession through this prayer in order for Our Lady to send the holy legions to combat and overthrow the powers of hell (cf. https://www.michaeljournal.org/articles/roman-catholic-church/item/the-a...).
Another famous Catholic ‘Binding Prayer’ is the ST PATRICK’S BREASTPLATE (THE LORICA). This is an Irish breastplate prayer or song, the Lorica is a Latin word, pronounced loːˈriːka, meaning “body armour”. In biology a lorica is a shell-like protective outer covering. St. Patrick’s Breastplate is a faith-filled prayer from the 5th century, and is attributed to Ireland’s patron saint. This litany or invocation is said to have been written by Saint Patrick in the year 433 A.D. as he appealed for divine protection - https://www.redthreadpoets.com/st-patricks-breastplate-the-lorica/ against a culture of luciferian occultist.
St. Vincent de Paul (1581) prayed: “With these beads (Mother Mary,) bind my children to your Immaculate Heart.”
St. Louise de Marillac (1591) prayed: “Commend your children to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. When parents pray the Rosary, at the end of each decade … say to her ‘With these beads bind my children to your Immaculate Heart,” she will attend to their souls.’”
The allusion is probably to Ephesians 6:14, where the Apostle bids his readers stand, "having put on the breast-plate of righteousness". The first five sections of the prayer or hymn begin "I bind unto myself today", followed by a list of sources of strength that the prayer calls on for support - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Patrick%27s_Breastplate. What’s interesting about this ‘minor exorcism’ prayer is that we bind ourselves to God and we literally hide behind God as our shield against our infernal enemies.
Who can use ‘binding prayers’ and how do I use ‘binding’ prayers? “The Church in her wisdom and experience has always known that authority is one of the primary requisites in order to drive out a demon…For it is when we remain under the authority structure that God has established by the divine positive law (i.e. the authority of the Church) and the natural law, that we remain protected. For this reason, if the laity always remains within the confines of the authority that God has given to them by the natural law; such as commanding demons to leave their own bodies, or those over whom they have authority by the natural law (such as their children or their wife, etc), then they will experience little or no (demonic) retaliation, as a general rule” (Fr Ripperger – Deliverance Prayers for the Laity p.7-8).
I will simplify it, a lay Catholic can do ‘binding prayers’ over himself, his wife, his children, his house and everything inside that house. That’s where his or her authority stops. I cannot do ‘binding prayers’ over Planned Parenthood, Family Planning Associates, the Airport, Walmart, Target, my neighbors house, my best friends house – why? Because I have ‘no authority’ over those places. When you enter those places you can do a ‘binding prayer’ over yourself, because you have 100% authority in relation to yourself. You cannot do a ‘binding prayer’ over a place that is not yours, we know this by ‘natural law’ and ‘divine positive law.’ When you step out of your lane of authority you open yourself to diabolic retaliation against your marriage or your children, demons will attack your sacrament that unites you to God and the fruits of that sacrament and demons are just watching and waiting for you to step out of your lane of authority.
Short example: if a cop has probable cause that a person has committed a crime he has the authority to arrest the person, which means the cop will bind him or her with handcuffs. No problem, it’s all legal.
However, if a person who is not a cop forcibly puts handcuffs on a person and moves them against their will this is called a crime. Why? The person does not have the authority to arrest & use force against another person and much less to move them against their will. The person will be arrested and prosecuted for ‘false imprisonment, battery, kidnapping & impersonating a Police Officer.
Without having to rehash all of the answers, Fr Ripperger has a section in the fourth chapter of his book ‘Dominion’ that answers your question in more detail.
Lastly, any Priest criticizing Fr Ripperger in the field of 'exorcism, deliverance and spiritual warfare' is punching way above their weight class.
Have you seen Fr Ripperger’s curriculum vitae?
Doctorate in philosophy Years Attended 1995-1996
Pontifical University of the Holy Cross Rome, Italy
License in philosophy Years Attended 1994-1995
Pontifical University of the Holy Cross Rome, Italy
Masters in theology Years Attended 1989-1990
Holy Apostles College and Seminary Cromwell, Connecticut
Masters in Philosophy Years Attended 1987-1989
Center of Thomistic Studies at the University of St. Thomas Houston, Texas
Bachelors in Philosophy Years Attended 1984-1987
University of San Francisco San Francisco, CA
Bachelors in Theology Years Attended 1984-1987
University of San Francisco San Francisco, CA
Certificate of Completion Years Attended 1984-1987
St. Ignatius Institute (University of San Francisco) San Francisco, CA
Fr Ripperger has been driving demons out from people for almost two decades. His books are the locus classicus on the topic of Catholic Spiritual Warfare, Fr Ripperger has spilled 2,677 pages of ink on Spiritual Warfare, what other Catholic even comes close to that research. Here are his Spiritual Warfare books:
1] The Science of Mental Health – 692 pages.
2] Dominion – 586 pages.
3] Diabolic Influence – 810 pages.
4] Minor Exorcisms and Deliverance Prayers – 454 pages.
5] Deliverance Prayer for use by the Laity – 135 pages.