The Liber Christo Method: A Field Manual for Spiritual Combat

by Dan Schneider

teach you set prayers that assist in liberation, there is no “magic bullet” or quick fix. As Father Amorth writes, “There is always a strong temptation for charismatics, sensitives and exorcists … of finding the quickest way to heal, by going outside the common sacred means to obtain grace.” Those who seek quick solutions outside of the ordinary channels of obtaining grace, he says, “unwittingly fall into the trap of magic.”17

Liberation is not static, nor is it merely the cessation of pain and suffering. On the contrary, as I wrote, “freedom from diabolic affliction and its effects … also means freedom for new life in Christ. The ultimate goal … is the salvation of souls—which is ‘the supreme law in the Church.’”18 You will only slay your giants—the infernal and ancient enemy—with the Church’s ancient weapons in hand. These ancient weapons include the sacraments and embracing suffering in reparation for one’s sins and the sins of others,

To wit, if a person dies in a state of mortal sin, that person will be the slave, for eternity, of the demon who enticed him to mortal sin. The torment of enslavement, both experienced now and for eternity, is the goal of the demon. What keeps most people enslaved is fear. Because of fear, the story continues, not a single soldier from the Israelite army accepted the Philistine’s challenge. Even King Saul, who himself “stood head and shoulders above the people” (1 Sm 9:2), was afraid to meet Goliath in battle. In fact, Scripture tells us that King Saul himself “was tormented by an evil spirit” due to his own disobedience to God’s commands and pride

This book is great particularly this highlight meant much to me it is relevant to all mankind and personally. For me I partly related so; Fear comes in many forms timidity seems to have afflicted me in many ways but also over reacting to offenses has been difficult for me to react to rationally, even when I'm aware of a reasonable reaction sometimes, I'm too proud or too afraid too often. The demons wispering to us are clever instigators and fear mongers among other things. Timidity is worth mentioning because in my experience I've failed to do what I believe is pleasing to God for the sake of societal acceptance or preconcieved norms in my imagination etc. I can sense the demons attempt to enslave me even in this world fairly easiy due to timidity but still have difficulty overcoming the overbearing thoughts. The only acceptance we require or even want is Gods and Gods alone. Deny yourself submit to the authority of the Catholic church established by Jesus Christ and listen honestly and attentively as a good servant for the message of our Lord.

The king was not only disobedient (see 1 Sm 15:19) and proud (erecting a trophy in his own honor, see 1 Sm 15:12), he was vain (fearing man rather than fearing God, see 1 Sm 15:24), angry and resentful (see 1 Sm 18:8) to the point of rage (see 1 Sm 18:10), murderous (see 1 Sm 19:1), melancholic (see 1 Sm 16:14) to the point of despair (see 1 Sm 28:5), performed liturgical rituals that only a priest should do (a usurpation of authority in 1 Sm 13:8–9), and finally abandoned God and consulted a witch (see 1 Sm 28:8–11) in direct violation of God’s command against conjurers, fortune tellers, and the like

“psychological compatibility with the demon,”

God will never allow you to be tempted beyond what you can endure, however, and when you conquer various temptations, you grow in virtue, self-mastery, and mastery over the enemy. Temptation is, as Father Ripperger writes, “a school of humility” because it reveals the deficiencies in our formation and causes us to “distrust ourselves because of our weaknesses.”27 He notes also that by “fighting demons and vanquishing them, the demons become weaker, not only in the lives of the individual who fights them but in the lives of others as well.” Thus, he states, “people have to understand that it is not unfair for God to allow this because He is actually giving them something greater.”28 The demon becomes an instrument of both our sanctification and education. Saint Bonaventure gives four reasons why God allows demons to influence a person: to reveal God’s glory, to punish sin, to rebuke a sinner, or to educate a person.29 That is, God allows all demonic activity (whether ordinary or extraordinary) for a greater good.

When painful memories are not fully integrated by a willful act of linking with the suffering of Christ, however, they present an acute spiritual vulnerability.

Pope Saint John Paul II noted, when Jesus calls His mother “woman” from the cross, He is showing us that she is the “woman” whom God said would have total enmity with the seducer of mankind and be with the Redeemer. In what is called the protevangelium (or “first gospel” announcing our redemption), God tells the serpent in the Garden that He “will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike at your head while you strike at his heel” (Gn 3:15).

Although Mary is also a redeemed creature (the first of the redeemed, and in the most sublime way), she nonetheless cooperates with Christ in a unique and unrepeatable way. Her participation in the acquisition and distribution of her Son’s graces is unique and forms her special role in defeating the demon. From the cross, Christ entrusted humanity to His mother with the command, “Behold, your mother” (Jn 19:26). In calling His mother “woman” (Jn 19:26; cf. 2:4), Jesus points to Mary’s special mission of the New Eve, echoing the words of the first Adam (“This one shall be called ‘woman,’” Gn 2:23). Significantly, God promised that a “woman” would accompany the promised redeemer and participate in the “crushing of the head” of the serpent (Gn 3:15). The cooperation of Mary is realized during the very event of redemption (i.e., during the earthly life of her Son), and her free consent was necessary for it to take place. Thus, Pope Saint John Paul II said that her suffering at the foot of the cross was “a contribution to the Redemption of all” and “was mysteriously and supernaturally fruitful for the redemption of the world.”180 The Blessed Mother’s role in salvation history has long been affirmed by the Church and continues today in her prolific, maternal mission as advocate for the people of God. Because of her special relationship with the Holy Trinity, her strategic position in the economy of grace uniquely and singularly impacts the redemption of humankind. Her motherly c...

the Church’s teachings on the mother of Jesus, moreover, the dogmas tell us who Mary is (as she proclaimed to Saint Bernadette at Lourdes, “I am the Immaculate Conception”), and doctrine tells us what she does (as she said to Saint Juan Diego at Tepeyac, “I am the one who crushes the stone serpent [Guadalupe]…. I am your merciful mother.”).

The four Marian dogmas are as follows: Divine Motherhood, Perpetual Virginity, Immaculate Conception, and the Assumption.

theologians distinguish between latria (worship) and dulia (honor). Worship is owed to God alone

“because God has given Mary such great power against the devils that—as they have often been obliged to confess, in spite of themselves, by the mouths of the possessed—they fear one of her sighs for a soul than the prayers of all the saints, and one of her threats against them more than all other torments. What Lucifer has lost by pride Mary has gained by humility. What Eve has damned and lost by disobedience, Mary has saved by obedience.”191 Saint Bruno said, “In Eve are darkness and death; and in Mary, life and light.

Pope Saint Paul VI wrote, “Knowledge of the true Catholic doctrine regarding the Blessed Virgin Mary will always be a key to the exact understanding of the mystery of Christ and of the Church.” That is to say, if you understand her “person and office” of her role in salvation history as “woman and mother,” you will more clearly understand both Christ and His Church.

Mother to the Son → Co-Redemptrix • Spouse of the Holy Spirit → Mediatrix of All Graces • Daughter to Father → Advocate for the People of God

Moses to the people of God just after the giving of the Law on Mount Horeb: “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone! Therefore, you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. Take to heart these words which I command you today. Keep repeating them to your children. Recite them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them on your arm as a sign and let them be as a pendant on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates” (Dt 6:4–9).

Their pursuers were no more. Pharaoh and his army were dead, but the effect of their cruelty still lingered as they crossed over. God had miraculously freed His people from physical oppression. Now they had to learn to live as free people. In a similar way, your battle will move from exterior to interior as you come to separate yourself more and more from your oppressor.

theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity.

prudence, justice, temperance, and fortitude. These are ‘acquired by human effort’ (cf. CCC 1804) and are essential in spiritual warfare.”

A sacrificial theology means that you must begin to see yourself as an “associate” of Christ in the distribution of the graces of redemption. You must learn to echo the words of Christ who said, “This is my body which I give up for you.” That is, develop a Eucharistic spirituality that offers your body (all of your physical, emotional, spiritual, and psychological affliction) for Him and for others.

No suffering need be meaningless, we are given an opportunity to offer something to God and even to offer it up for a cause.

A recent Pew Research survey, for example, reveals the modern diminution of marriage through the widespread acceptance of artificial means of contraception among Catholics. In this study, only 8 percent of Catholics, and 13 percent who attend Mass every Sunday, say that contraception is morally wrong. Additionally, 41 percent think it is morally acceptable and 45 percent do not even think it is a moral issue at all.315 Part of the sacrificial nature of marriage, however, is the cross of living the Church’s moral teaching on sexuality, to include the openness to life. The demon’s plan is working in this decisive battle in part due to sexual immorality. Saint Alphonsus Liguori refers to impurity and sexual sins as “hell’s widest gate” because “it is by this gate that the greater number of the damned enter.” His words are sobering: Some will say that it is a trifling sin. Is it a trifling sin? It is a mortal sin. St. Antoninus writes that such is the nauseousness of this sin that the devils themselves cannot endure it. Moreover, the Doctors of the Church say that certain demons, who have been superior to the rest, remembering their ancient dignity, disdain tempting to so loathsome a sin. Consider then how disgusting he must be to God, [when the impure person], like a dog, is ever returning to his vomit, or wallowing like a pig in the stinking mire of this accursed vice (2 Pet 2.22). Recalling that the great flood was the result of the sexual immorality of Sodom and Gomorrah (...

Old Testament New Testament The High Priest See Lv 21:10; Mt 26:57 → Jesus Christ Our “eternal High Priest” (see Heb 7:1–3) Types of Sacrifice Offered The chief priest was designated to enter the Holy of Holies and perform the religious rites on the annual Day of Atonement (see Lv 16). → Types of Sacrifice Offered Jesus gave His Body and Blood on the cross for the atonement of the sins of humanity (see Lk 23:46). Ordained, Full-Time Minis-terial Priests Pre-Levitical (see Ex 19:21–22) Levitical (see Ex 19ff) → Ordained, Full-Time Ministerial Priests See Lk 22:7–20; Rom 15:15–16 Types of Sacrifice Offered Animal (see Ex 29:10ff), drink (see Nm 15:10), grain (see Lv 2:14ff), etc. → Types of Sacrifice Offered All the sacrifices offered by the members of the common priesthood of all Christians plus the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, which makes available to individual Christian souls, throughout the course of history, the merits of the once-forall Sacrifice of Jesus Christ (see 1 Cor 10:16; 11:23–30) The Common Priesthood Shared by All Jews See Ex 19:6 → The Common Priesthood Shared by All Christians See 1 Pt 2:5; Rv 1:6 Types of Sacrifices Offered Spiritual sacrifices to God (see Hos 14:2); also commissioned ordained, full-time ministerial priests to offer ritual sacrifice to God on their behalf in the Temple (see 2 Mc 12:43) → Types of Sacrifices Offered Spiritual (see 1 Pt 2:5), bodies (see Rom 12:1), donations (see Phil 4:18), praise, good deeds, generosity (see Heb 13:15–16)...

wives may command the demons to leave their husband’s bodies and the husbands their wives’ bodies. For the husband it is a two-fold authority; the one as head of the household and the other by virtue of the rights over his wife’s body. As for other familial relationships, he further explains: From experience, most exorcists concede that there is an ability to command the demons to depart … in relation to those of one’s immediate family. 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 the obligation to take care of them in their need as a result of the natural law. For this same 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.389

In the name of Jesus Christ [and by the authority given to me by natural law by God the Father Almighty], I bind any demon present to (n.) that is known to Saint Michael, his/her guardian angel, and the Virgin Most Powerful, and I command them to leave immediately, quietly, and permanently and go to the foot of the cross of Jesus Christ to receive their sentence. Another binding prayer that can be used when you have legitimate authority by office as per above, can be as follows: In the name of Jesus Christ, and by the authority given to me through natural law by God the Father Almighty, I bind any evil spirit (of x., or afflicting my son or daughter, etc. that is present to this home, that is afflicting my wife, that is harassing my husband’s body, etc.), and I send them to the foot of the cross of Jesus Christ to receive their sentence.

The following Prayer and Blessing of Authority is an imprecatory prayer that can be prayed by someone who has proper authority: In the name of Jesus Christ, and by the authority given to me through natural law by God the Father Almighty, I bless (n.) and I bind the spirit of (n.) or any spirits which are afflicting me (or, my wife, child, home, etc.) and I command these evil spirits to go immediately, quietly, and permanently to the foot of the Cross to be judged and sentence by Jesus Christ as He wills.

“keep close to the Catholic Church at all times” because “the Church alone can give you true peace, since she alone possesses Jesus, the true Prince of Peace, in the Blessed Sacrament.”

Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom His love commits me here; ever this day (or night) be at my side, to light and guard, to rule and guide. Amen.

Punishing Prayer. This is designed to ward off evil spirits who try to afflict you while you sleep. Besides keeping a blessed candle lit and playing Gregorian chant at low volume in the home, this prayer can be prayed before going to bed. This prayer may be modified for any form of temptation or diabolic attack throughout the day: Lord Jesus Christ, I ask Thee that from now and until I fall asleep, while I sleep and during my dreams, that if any evil spirit tries to affect me that Thou wouldst punish him by making him focus on the thing that causes the most pain during the entire time he tries to affect me and for ten minutes more. I also ask Thee to not allow him to retaliate. Other prayers are found in the appendix.