In a book full of unusually potent prayers against evil, a priest offers certain observations we haven’t seen elsewhere.
To wit (in Deliverance Prayers: For Use By the Laity): author/exorcist Father Chad Ripperger explains how family members have special authority over demons that haunt loved ones, and how Mary illuminates the spiritual world around us — and the evil that may be tripping us up.
“From experience, most exorcists concede that there is an ability to command demons to depart in relation to those of one’s immediate family,” notes Father Ripperger in the book. “It appears due to the nature of the obligations of the Fourth Commandment, that children, when saying binding prayers and other prayers of this sort for the parents, do not seem to be affected.
“This may flow from the fact that they have an obligation to take care of them in their need as a result of natural law. For this reason, exorcists have noted a lack of retaliation when the prayers are said for one’s siblings. This does not appear to be the case for godparents or grandparents since they do not have the same obligations under the Fourth Commandment.”
Take that to discernment. This is a short book yet one packed with detail — prayers protecting self, health, family, home, forming a perimeter of protection against a laundry list of potential harms — prayers of deliverance from sexual demons, attachments, curse, occult ties, generational spirits, even against Masonry (if one has been involved in Freemasonry), many of the prayers highly specific, with long lists of spirits, long and short prayers, some in Latin. This book is far more detailed than a recent one released from the U.S. bishops; it is in fact the most detailed one we have.
When one does not have authority over plaguing spirits, asserts Father Ripperger, instead of direct casting out, one can use words such: “Jesus, I ask Thee to bind the spirit of [naming specific type of evil spirit, such as spirit of infirmity, of occultism, spirit of gluttony, etcetera].”
One can certainly quibble with the notion: many deliverance folks have long reported success directly casting out spirits even from perfect strangers. But particularly interesting, in this book filled with very specific prayers for many situations, is what he describes as the special power of deliverance when Mary is petitioned under the title of “Our Lady of Sorrows.”
Suddenly, he notes, we have true authority in her.
And that, he writes, is for two reasons.
“The first is that when Saint Joseph and Mary took Jesus to Saint Simeon, he said to Our Lady that her heart would be pierced so that the thoughts of many would be revealed. Our Lady, by undergoing the Passion with Christ, would merit an intimacy with God that no other creature had.
“As a result, He reveals things to her that He does not reveal to others. However, He will allow us to petition her so that she may reveal hidden things related to the spiritual life.” In other words: she tells us what we need to pray about.
And in spiritual warfare, the priest points out, “precision is everything.”
It’s why many across Christian denominations have long taught adherents to name particular spirits — give them a moniker.
Spirit of sloth. Spirit of anxiety. Spirit of depression — if we may insert here a few examples; Father Ripperger names hundreds.
The more specific the weapon, the more effective it will be. We are using a spiritual “smart bomb” for targeting what we need to target. Deliverance prayers, binding prayers, prayers to various saints, invocation of the Heavenly Court are among the prayers. There are prayers for cardinal and occult spirits; there are prayers to severe ties, bond, and attachments. There are prayers against torporific and pestiferous entities.
If we pray to Our Lady of Sorrows, Father Ripperger posits, she will reveal the nature of the demon we’re dealing with — whether in our own lives or in the lives of those to whom we have obligations.
And the second reason to go to her under this title?
Here he goes to Saint Bridget of Sweden, who quoted the Virgin as saying, “I will defend them in their spiritual battles with the infernal enemy and I will protect them at every instant of their lives.”
[resources: Deliverance Prayers: For Use By the Laity highly recommended]
