(LifeSiteNews) — On this episode of the John-Henry Westen Show, exorcist Fr. Chad Ripperger sits down with me to take a deep dive into the Holy Eucharist, the reverence it is owed, its importance in spiritual warfare, and why the devil and his demons hold such disdain for the Blessed Sacrament.
My discussion with Fr. Ripperger begins by outlining the unfortunate reality that many who call themselves Catholic today do not believe, or no longer believe, in the Real Presence of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament.
In light of this sad reality and given Fr. Ripperger’s expertise, I asked the exorcist to explain the importance of the Eucharist, how demons view the Eucharist, and what that means for us Catholics who are engaged daily in the spiritual battle of life.
“Obviously,” Fr. Ripperger explained, “the demons actually heard Christ talk about what the Eucharist actually was when he was talking about it. So they actually have the knowledge of what it is.”
Fr. Ripperger explained that because of the fall, demons do not have the virtue of supernatural faith, but because of this knowledge of what the Eucharist is, namely, the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ, “they’ll often attack” people when they are approaching to receive the Blessed Sacrament.
The exorcist mentioned that while these attacks often occur in people who are possessed, they also occur in those who are not possessed. Relaying what he means by “attacks,” the priest gave examples of Catholics who have told him that all through Mass they will feel fine, but when it comes time to receive the Eucharist, they are belied with impure or otherwise bothersome thoughts.
Fr. Ripperger even shocking explained that while he had a demon “on the ropes” during the exercise of his exorcist ministry, he inquired if it was the demon who was behind the spiritual bombardment of one man afflicted by these attacks. “Yeah, that’s me,” he recalled the demon replying.
Outlining why demons would do this, Fr. Ripperger said that even though demons, by nature of their fall, do not have the virtue of faith, because “their knowledge is infused by God, they know the substance of a thing, or they see the substance of a thing intellectually.”
Since demons have this knowledge, and because the fact that when we Catholics receive the Eucharist we truly are receiving the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord, they tend to lash out. This is even truer, he said, because when we Catholics receive the Blessed Sacrament in a state of grace the “merit” of our prayers are “elevated” because Christ is truly dwelling within us.
“And so the demons know that,” said Fr. Ripperger, adding that “you can actually receive additional graces” because God is “present in you,” which thereby “increases the merit of your act.”
“That’s why they tend to attack people during that time is to reduce the, merit and the efficacy of the person’s prayers during that time frame,” he continued.
Later in the program, Fr. Ripperger goes into the importance of reverence for the Holy Eucharist. Specifically, he outlines the reason the Church has for centuries practiced the distribution of Holy Communion directly on the tongue while the recipient is kneeling. In line with proper reverence, Ripperger explained, is the insistence that all those in a state of mortal sin refrain from approaching the Blessed Sacrament, and the importance on reception of the Eucharist being denied to those in public life who openly reject Church teaching, such as pro-abortion politicians.
I encourage all of you to watch or listen to this ever-important episode with Fr. Ripperger on the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar and the spiritual battlefield in which we all reside.
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