This post is from some client work I’ve been up to, work that is still “in the works,” if you know what I mean. Enjoy.
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This won’t be your typical “here are the religious roots” of Halloween messages that all the other Catholic content creators are churning out at this time of year.
Yes, it is true that the secular culture revels in a corrupted form of what is truly a special day on the Liturgical Calendar, but …
We’re taking a different approach by tackling the problem head on …
And focusing on the devil.
Hollywood went all-in with the latest big-budget horror film that focused on the sacred Catholic Rite of Exorcism.
Universal Studios ponied up $400M for the rights to the Exorcist film franchise back in 2021.
The acquisition finally bore fruit with the release of The Exorcist: Believer movie, the sixth installment in the series, but the box-office returns were less than stellar.
It’s safe to say that Hollywood was hoping to cash in on the public’s fascination with evil, but you know how bad they usually are when it comes to depicting the truth about the Catholic Church and Her battle against Satan.
The bottom line?
Don’t let Hollyweird catechise you or your kids.
So, where should you turn instead?
Simple …
Solid Catholic sources.
If you want to know more about the solemn Catholic Rite of Exorcism, God sent us an expert for the modern Church, a man who is no longer with us …
The late Fr. Gabriele Amorth.
Fr. Amorth was the chief exorcist in Rome for decades, and fought the devil one-on-one. Through the power of Christ, he literally performed tens of thousands of exorcisms, and wrote a lot of books …
Two of his best?
An Exorcist Tells His Story and the aptly-named sequel, An Exorcist: More Stories.
Both are excellent additions to any Catholic’s home library, the kinds of books where you’re going to want to fold the page corners and write notes on the margins.
These books are also eye-opening and insightful.
Not only do you get a first-hand perspective on the deceptions of the devil, you’re also served a healthy dose of orthodox theology and stories about actual exorcisms.
The point of these two books isn’t to cultivate an unhealthy curiosity about evil …
It’s about how souls are delivered through Christ, how people find healing in Jesus, and learning what the enemy is up to.
Another great book, one that dives even deeper into the nature of demonic psychology, is written by another exorcist who also happens to be an internet celebrity in the Trad community.
The book is Dominion by Fr. Chad Ripperger and covers a ton of material. Seriously, this book is almost thick enough to do bicep curls with, but none of the content is superfluous.
Fr. Ripperger includes chapters on how demons order their will …
Their sin, and, equally important …
Their weaknesses.
What’s especially interesting in Dominion is the focus on Angelology – the study of angels – which explains God’s order of creation and how it matters in the realm of spiritual warfare.
Fr. Ripperger has an even more important offering, one that you can use every day to ward off the devil and his unholy minions.
It’s a book titled Deliverance Prayers: For Use by the Laity.
Deliverance Prayers is short, but it’s not one of those books you sit down and read from cover to cover. It’s a book of deliverance prayers, as the title suggests, that lay people can use.
WARNING!!!
There are specific ground rules you have to follow with the material, like staying in your lane when it comes to who has the proper authority to recite the prayers.
The book covers all of that in detail, and if you don’t follow the guidance, you’re going to open yourself up to some bad stuff. These are powerful prayers, and they can make a real difference for your entire family, but don’t overstep your authority.
The big takeaways from these four books are simple …
- Get holy.
- Go to confession.
- Live a Sacramental life.
- Follow the Church and its Teachings …
- And reject evil.
See? Simple!
Now, since we’re on the topic of evil, and the devil, and all the recent “talk” about the end times with that new war going on in you know where…
We couldn’t close this out without a little somethin’ somethin about the Antichrist.
There are two must-read books on the subject, and both are on the older side.
The first is titled Antichrist by St. Robert Bellarmine. Again, don’t trust Hollywerid to get this right – go to a Saint.
This book dates back to the 16th Century when St. Bellarmine was defending the Church against Protestant heretics who were teaching that the Pope was the Antichrist, so that should give you a taste of what to expect.
The second book is called The Antichrist: The Final Campaign Against the Savior, by Fr Vincent Miceli S J, which was first printed in 1981, so it’s not that old, but old enough.
Fr. Miceli walks you through all the relevant prophecies in Sacred Scripture on the topic, and covers the Greek and Latin Fathers of the Church, to give you a character outline of the Son of Perdition.
It’s not a breakdown of the Book of Revelation, like what Taylor Marshall does in Antichrist and Apocalypse, but it’s a good read.
Overall, the most important thing to remember is: Christ is King and every knee shall bend before Him. The forces of hell will never be able to stand against the power of Our Blessed Lord.
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There are more links in there than what I would advocate for.
When it comes to daily emails, you should only have one main link for people to click on.
Why?
Think of your email as a bucket, and every link you put in there is like drilling a hole in it. The more holes you have, the more water is going to leak out. More links mean more exit points for your reader – when you give them mulitple links to click on, and they take you up on the offer, the chances of them coming back to buy whatever it is your trying to sell goes WAY, WAY, DOWN!
In the sample I have above, we’re talking about a newsletter with curated content, which is a different sort of beast. If you want, we can talk about it. Just reach out to me by sending an email to [email protected].
Stay holy my friend.