Saint Cyprian of Carthage
(c. 200-258)
God gives the Devil power against us in two
modes: either for punishment when we sin, or
for glory when we are tested.
--St. Cyprian of Carthage
Draw near to
God, and Satan will flee from you
--St. Ephraem the Syrian
The soul possesses freedom; and though the
Devil can make suggestions, he doesn't have the
power to compel you against your will.
--St. Cyril of Jerusalem
The Devil's snare doesn't catch you unless you
are already nibbling on the Devil's bait.
--St. Ambrose
The strategy of our adversary can be compared
to the tactics of a commander intent upon seizing
and plundering a position he desires. The
leader of an army will encamp, explore the
fortifications and defenses of the fortress, and
attack at the weakest point. In the same way,
the adversary of our human nature examines from
every side all our virtues, theological, cardinal,
and moral. Wherever he discovers the defenses
of eternal salvation to be the weakest and most
lacking, there he attacks and tries to take us by
storm.
--St. Ignatius of Loyola
We have been called to heal wounds, to unite
what has fallen apart, and to bring home those who
have lost their way. Many who may seem to us
to be children of the Devil will still become
Christ's disciples.
--St. Francis of Assisi
St. Francis
Preaching to the Birds
by Giotto
1257-1377
"Repent and believe the Good News!"
Penance means conversion. The Confraternity of
Penitents is a world wide private Catholic
association of the faithful, completely loyal to our
Pope and the Magisterium.
Our Rule of Life has been reviewed by our bishop and
recognized in these words: "this Rule does not
contain anything contrary to our faith; therefore it
may be safely practiced privately by you or by
anyone inclined to do so. . . . His Excellency
is appreciative of your efforts to live and promote
Franciscan spirituality and especially promote the
neglected practice of penance and he wishes you
success" (January 30, 1998).
Members of the Confraternity of Penitents live this
Rule in their own homes, devoted to prayer, penance,
fasting, conversion, and works of mercy modeled on
Jesus Christ and inspired by the lives and teachings
of
St. Francis,
St. Dominic,
St. Therese,
St. Benedict,
St. Augustine,
St. Ignatius,
and all the saints, most especially Mary, the Mother
of God, who lived a life of true penance
(conversion) in perfect union with our Lord.
May Our Lady and all the saints intercede for all
who wish to embrace a life of penance, anywhere in
the world, so that the grace of God will assist them
to obtain every virtue necessary for a life of
holiness and surrender to the Will of God! Amen.
PRAYER OF PENITENTS
"Most High, Glorious God, enlighten the darkness
of my mind, give me right faith, a firm hope and
perfect charity, so that I may always and in all
things act according to Your Holy Will. Amen."
(Saint Francis's prayer before the San Damiano
Crucifix)
MISSION OF PENITENTS
"Go and repair My House
which, as you can see, is falling into ruin." (The
message given to St. Francis in a voice from the San
Damiano Crucifix.)
ACTION OF PENITENTS
To pray for God's
specific direction in one's life so that, through
humbly living our Rule of Life, each penitent may
help to rebuild the house of God by bringing love of
God and neighbor to his or her own corner of the
world.
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DEALING WITH THE
DEVIL
ROME, FEB. 11, 2005 (Zenit.org).- In his
commentary on the Gospel of the first Sunday of
Lent, Capuchin Father Raniero Cantalamessa, the
preacher of the Pontifical Household, alerts the
faithful about the devil's action and reminds
them that Christ has conquered him.
Matthew (4:1-11)
"Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the
desert to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for
forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he
was hungry. The tempter approached and said to
him, 'If you are the Son of God, command that
these stones become loaves of bread.' He said in
reply, 'It is written: 'One does not live by
bread alone, but by every word that comes forth
from the mouth of God.'' Then the devil took him
to the holy city, and made him stand on the
parapet of the temple, and said to him, 'If you
are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it
is written: 'He will command his angels
concerning you' and 'with their hands they will
support you, lest you dash your foot against a
stone.'' Jesus answered him, 'Again it is
written, 'You shall not put the Lord, your God,
to the test.'' Then the devil took him up to a
very high mountain, and showed him all the
kingdoms of the world in their magnificence, and
he said to him, 'All these I shall give to you,
if you will prostrate yourself and worship me.'
At this, Jesus said to him, 'Get away, Satan! It
is written: 'The Lord, your God, shall you
worship and him alone shall you serve.'' Then
the devil left him and, behold, angels came and
ministered to him."
Today the devil, Satanism, and other related
phenomena, are gaining momentum and this is very
disturbing. Our technological and industrialized
world is overrun with wizards, witches,
occultism, spiritualism, voluble fortune
tellers, vendors of spells and amulets, as well
as authentic Satanic sects. Thrown out the door,
the devil has come back in through the window.
That is, expelled from faith he has returned
with superstition.
The episode of Jesus' temptations in the desert
helps to clarify matters. First of all, does the
devil exist? Does the word devil really indicate
a personal reality, gifted with intelligence and
will or is he only a symbol, a way of speaking
to indicate the sum of the moral evil of the
world, the collective unconscious, collective
alienations, etc.? Among intellectuals, many do
not believe in the devil understood in the first
sense.
But we must note that great writers and
thinkers, such as Goethe and Dostoyevsky, took
the existence of Satan very seriously. Charles
Baudelaire, who was certainly not of the race of
saints, said that "the devil's greatest cunning
is to make people believe he doesn't exist." The
principal proof in the Gospels of the devil's
existence is not in the numerous episodes of
exorcism of the possessed, because the
interpretation of these events might have been
influenced by beliefs on the origin of these
illnesses. The real proof is in the saints!
And Jesus, who was tempted in the desert by the
devil, is the obvious confirmation of it. Proofs
also are the many saints who fought in life with
the prince of darkness. They are not "Don
Quixotes" who fought against windmills. On the
contrary, they are very concrete men of very
sound psychology.
If many find it absurd to believe in the devil
it is because they base themselves on books,
spend their lives in libraries or at a desk,
while the devil is not interested in books, but
in people, especially saints. What can someone
know about Satan who has never had anything to
do with the reality of Satan, but only with the
idea of him, namely, with cultural, religious,
ethnological traditions about Satan? They
usually address the topic with great certainty
and superiority, dispatching it all as "Medieval
obscurantism."
But it is a false certainty. As someone who
boasts of not being at all afraid of a lion,
adducing as proof that he has seen many
paintings and photographs of lions which have
never terrified him.
Moreover, it is all together normal and
consistent that someone who doesn't believe in
God doesn't believe in the devil either. It
would even be tragic if someone who doesn't
believe in God believes in the devil! The most
important thing that the Christian faith has to
tell us is not, however, that the devil exists,
but that Christ has conquered the devil. Christ
and the devil are not for Christians two equal
and opposing princes. Jesus is the only Lord.
Satan is only a "ruined" creature. If he is
granted power over men it is so that men will
have the possibility to make a free choice, and
also so that they will not "become proud"
believing that they are self-sufficient and not
in need of a redeemer.
"Old Satan is crazy," says a Negro spiritual.
"He shot me to destroy my soul, but missed and
destroyed my sin instead." With Christ, we have
nothing to fear. Nothing and no one can harm us,
if we ourselves don't will it. Satan, said an
early Father of the Church, after the coming of
Christ, is like a dog tied to a pole: he can
bark and hurl himself as much as he likes, but
if we don't get close to him, he cannot bite.
Jesus in the desert freed himself from Satan to
free us from Satan! This is the joyful news with
which we begin our Lenten journey.
Father Raniero Cantalamessa
[Original in Italian published in "Famiglia
Cristiana." Translation by ZENIT]
Confraternity of Penitents
520 Oliphant Lane
Middletown RI USA
02842-4600
401/849-5421
bspenance@hotmail.com
copenitents@yahoo.com
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