A mentor of mine once said that when Christians cease praying, the “force shield” of protection on a nation goes down and the demons get in. I believe this is precisely what has taken place in the West. At one point, our Western culture was, simply put, Christian culture. The demons were thwarted. It is important to ask why this was the case. The answer: Christians were praying. Families prayed together. The Church exerted great influence on culture. In particular, monasteries, which dedicated themselves to ceaseless prayer flourished with vocations.
However, things have changed as time has gone on. Instead of fervent prayer and daily repentance, Christians have married themselves to the secular age. Monasteries have closed, with many reporting a massive decline in vocational inquiries. Families have split up and fathers no longer lead their wives and children in the way they should go. Why then do we act surprised when our Western world shows signs of being demonically possessed? What war have we waged to prevent such a reality?
Many Christians have either forsaken the true faith, rolling over and showing their bellies to a more palatable and comfortable version, or they have simply maintained the false view that their freedom to go to church and worship God will always be available without pushback and have therefore placed their weapons down for the good old fashioned “safe” practice of Christianity. In either case, passivity has won the day, and it has borne fruit; the demons have gotten in.
Today, at the Olympic Games 2024 opening ceremony this reality was made clear in blasphemous detail. One of the holiest events in Christian history, the institution of the holy sacrifice of the Eucharist, was inverted by a horde of demons. Instead of Christ, a morbidly obese woman stood in his place. Instead of holy apostles, sexually provocative drag performers stood in their place. This is what the Olympic Games wanted the world to see: explicit hatred for Jesus Christ and his Catholic Church.
Our response as Christians must be nothing less than a tearful and repentant return to ceaseless prayer. Let us build more monasteries encouraging our sons and daughters to the high calling of warring through prayer against the demons. Let us lead our families by example, turning our homes into monasteries and chapels, praying the hours and offices ceaselessly. Let us keep our rosaries close and our prayer ropes on our wrists. May we regularly invoke the holy saints who have gone before us, keeping their venerable icons in our sight. May we never find ourselves making excuses for missing the Holy Mass. Instead, let us—daily if possible—find ourselves at the altar of the Lord, confessing, repenting, and receiving the precious life of Christ in the blessed sacrament.
If we do all of this, we will be taking an active role in the war that is being waged around us. Holy people make holy places, and where holiness dwells, the demons cannot stand. Friends, in the way of exhortation, we cannot expect to reap the benefits of Christ when we live without prayer and repentance of our own failure to honor him. It starts with you and it starts with me. May God help us and may he have mercy on us for our great iniquity.
Kyrie Eleison. Christe Eleison. Kyrie Eleison.
For the Family of Nations.
“Almighty God, our heavenly Father, guide, we beseech thee, the Nations of the world into the way of justice and truth, and establish among them that peace which is the fruit of righteousness, that they may become the Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.”
- 1928 American Book of Common Prayer p.44