What is Binding Prayer from a Catholic Perspective?

What is Binding Prayer from a Catholic Perspective?

From a Catholic perspective, binding prayer is a form of prayer that is used to bind or restrict the actions of an individual, group, or entity that is believed to be causing harm or committing evil acts. This type of prayer is often used to combat spiritual oppression or to protect oneself or others from negative influences. It is typically a specific, powerful and direct form of prayer, often used in exorcism or deliverance ministry. It is believed to have a supernatural power to bind the devil and his agents and protect the person or people being prayed for. It is usually led by a priest or other spiritual leader.

What Saints are Associated with Binding Prayer?

Several Catholic saints have spoken about the power of binding prayer. One notable example is St. Padre Pio, who was known for his strong devotion to the power of prayer and his ability to perform spiritual healing. He encouraged the use of binding prayers to combat the influence of evil spirits and to protect oneself and others from negative influences.

St. Francis of Assisi, is another example, he was known for his deep devotion to God and his ability to cast out evil spirits. He is said to have used binding prayers as part of his spiritual practices, to protect himself and others from the influence of the devil.

Additionally, St. Michael the Archangel is often invoked in binding prayers, as he is considered to be a powerful defender against evil and a protector of the Church.

What is the connection between Fr. Chad Ripperger and Binding Prayer?

Fr. Chad Ripperger is a Catholic priest, theologian, and exorcist who is known for his teachings on spiritual warfare and the use of binding prayers. He is a member of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter and has written several books and given numerous talks on the topic of spiritual warfare and the use of binding prayers.

Fr. Ripperger emphasizes the importance of understanding the nature and power of evil spirits, and the role of binding prayers in protecting oneself and others from their influence. He also stresses the importance of a strong spiritual foundation and a deep relationship with God in order to effectively use binding prayers.

Fr. Ripperger's teachings and writings on spiritual warfare and binding prayer have been widely popular among catholic circles, and he is considered a leading expert on this topic.

What are some binding prayers that Fr. Ripperger might use?

I don't have specific binding prayers that Fr. Chad Ripperger might use, but in general, binding prayers used by exorcists and those who practice spiritual warfare include the use of holy water, the Sign of the Cross, and the names and titles of God, Jesus, and the saints to invoke their protection and power against evil spirits.

One common binding prayer that is used in Catholic Church is the "St. Michael the Archangel Prayer" it goes like this:

"St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen."

Another example of a binding prayer is the "Prayer to Rebuke Evil" which goes like this:

"In the name of Jesus Christ, I command all evil spirits to leave me and to leave this place. I bind you, Satan and all your minions, and command you to leave me alone and to leave this place alone, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen."

It is important to note that binding prayers should only be used by those who have been trained in spiritual warfare and have the authority to use them, such as a Catholic priest or other spiritual leader.

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I hope you found this information on binding prayer helpful! I want to acknowledge the help of Internet sources in collecting this information including Al. I read through the information and it all sounds legitimate. Please comment any questions you may have and God bless!

Give us this day our DAILY bread? Could it mean more?

I was reading some Twitter posts and came across something very interesting, something I had never heard before. It was the Lord's prayer from the Douay-Reims Bible, the traditional English Catholic Bible from 1582.

I was intrigued. Why is it translated that way? Normally, the word used there is "daily", but they are using "supersubstantial". So, of course, I Googled it, and was amazed. There was a very thorough article on the subject explaining it.

Here's a few takeaways from the article:

• The Greek word used in the Gospel in two places (Luke 11:3 & Matthew 6:11) is "epiousios".
• Not only are these the only places in the Bible where this word is used, they are the only places in all of literature!
• The word was, in fact, invented by the Gospel writers and is derived from the root words "epi" meaning over or above and "ousia" meaning being, essence, or substance.

The word "ousia" is also found in such words as homoousia which describing the fact that Jesus Christ, the second person of the Holy Trinity, is of the same substance as God the Father, the first person of the Holy Trinity (i.e. 1 God, 3 persons).

The translation of "supersubstantial" is apt in this circumstance.

St. Jerome, who first translated the Bible from Greek to Latin, uses the word "daily" in one context for the word and supersubstantial in another. Yet, St. Jerome himself stated:

“We can also understand supersubstantial bread in another sense as bread that is above all substances and surpasses all creatures.”

Clearly, this is a reference to the Holy Eucharist. If it were meant simply as "daily" as in something you pray for each day, then they would have used a pre-existing word such as "hemera" which means daily. They intended for the word to mean something more. Plus, they specifically used the word bread. They didn't say food or sustenance, or anything other word, but bread.

Given those pieces of information, it seems clear they intended something very special and unique in the prayer. They are referring to bread, but bread whose substance is "above" or "beyond", something supernatural. Well, that accurately describes the Eucharist. Appearance of bread, but in substance, something greater, something supernatural. Specifically, the body and blood of Christ.

To read the full, very interesting article, please click here.

Shocking but True: The Catholic Church is not about Rules

There is a common misconception in my opinion that the Catholic Church is about rules, but I think that's false. Unfortunately this isn't just believed by outsiders, but by most insiders in the Church as well.

The best way I can put it is that rules exist as a necessary consequence of the deeper teachings of Jesus Christ. Looking at the Catholic Faith as a series of rules takes away from the totality of the faith and is a form of reductionism.

I could use countless analogies to illustrate this point. The goal is music is to express an idea in a beautiful and appealing way. Because of this, there are rules. For example, if one wishes to express a happy theme, they would play the music in a major key. In music theory, major keys follow a pattern. For example, the basic C scale has no sharps or flats. On a piano, you would only play the white keys. Along with the melody, there are rules in terms of making chords which sound good.

No one would describe playing the piano as "following the rules". No one would say they listen to a particular piece because the person playing it is "following the rules" better than others. No, the music is either beautiful or it is not. It is either emotive or it's not. Randomly mashing the keys will produce noise as opposed to music.

Even someone with no musical training or experience can tell if a particular piece has the intended effect. They can tell whether or not they enjoy listening to it  and whether or not it expresses what it is meant to.

You could say the same for countless other endeavors, such as cooking, engineering, carpentry, etc, etc. Yes, all of these professions have rules that must be followed, but the rules come as a natural consequence of the overall goal.

When it comes to the Catholic faith, I find all too many cradle Catholics just following the rules, but are not really interested in going any further. To me that's like trying to get 50% on your test to just barely pass. Does this really show a true love for what you are doing? By the way, I am not saying I am better than others or have achieved some high level of spirituality. I am just thinking about this concept, and am myself also pursuing this!

As one priest put it, God wants everyone to be saved, so therefore salvation should presumably be easy. In Catholic theology, in order to enter into heaven, one must be in the state of grace, that means not having any mortal sins that have not been absolved. Therefore, staying out of mortal sin is sufficient to enter heaven, even if it means having to spend some time in Purgatory.

However, the saints were never satisfied with doing the bare minimum. Something I have come to appreciate more and more about the Catholic faith is that it's based on a relationship with God. This might sound obvious. But our ultimate goal is to be united with the triune God, through his Grace. This is our ultimate end as human beings. Following the rules naturally flows from this endeavor.

A holy priest recently explained that there are three phases of the spiritual life: the purgative way, the illuminative way, and the unitive way.

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia,

The unitive way is the way of those who are in the state of the perfect, that is, those who have their minds so drawn away from all temporal things that they enjoy great peace, who are neither agitated by various desires nor moved by any great extent by passion, and who have their minds chiefly fixed on God and their attention turned, either always or very frequently, to Him.

This is what we should be seeking to attain.  That's the goal of our Catholic Faith and what the great saints were able to experience. I think this is how our faith should be explained and told to others. Many outsiders see the Catholic faith as a series of strict rules, rather than the attainment of a personal and deep relationship with God that is beyond words.

What happens when people don't realize this? Well again we go back to the rules. People ask about the minimum requirements. People ask questions all the time like "Are Catholics allowed to....." "Wait, are you saying Catholics can't......." Often these questions are related to forms of pleasure attained through sex or food. As Catholics, we should try to change the conversation. Instead of explaining in detail what we are allowed to do, we should explain the point of the Faith, which is union with God. Otherwise people think it's just some kind of strict regimen that we follow.

At the beginning of this essay, I gave several examples of endeavors wherein there is an obvious end and means. Because people understand the end, they are able to accept the means. That's why we should emphasize the end. Imagine if someone was hooking up the electricity to a house and said "I don't think it's important to follow all these rules created by people, I just do what I think feels right for me, I'm open-minded." If that person was incorrectly installing the wiring and creating fire hazards, no one would think they were doing something good. They would be shocked (quite literally). People would be concerned, not because they are sticklers but because they understand the ultimate end of what is being done. The electricity is being hooked up in a safe and regulated way to ensure heat and light to the house.

We have explained the ultimate end of our Faith - union with God. This must remain at the forefront of any discussion. It should be framed in the positive. Otherwise, it can end up sounding arbitrary. It's also important to explain why a particular rule will bring about a particular outcome. Again, this is important in how things are phrased.

One thing that prompted this essay is the common attitude I have observed from my fellow Catholics in which they have this mentality of just following the rules. Again, I am not advocating not following the rules. To the contrary, I am saying people need to go beyond the rules, to understand WHY they are doing them and what the ultimate purpose is for these rules.

For example, when we pray, we are connecting with God. The better we pray, the better we connect with our Creator. If we see prayer as some regimented perfunctory task, then we will not attempt to grow deeper in our connection to God through prayer.

Another example is the Mass. I often see people talk during Mass or just before when others are praying. Fr. Ripperger talks about how we have been indoctrinated as Catholics with the idea that the only form of prayer is verbal prayer and because of this people think that when there is any silence whatsoever, then nothing is "happening" and they can be free to whisper to the person next to them. I'm not coming at this from a place of judgment. Most people are not doing this maliciously. I have done it myself on many occasions. But to go back to the original point, these people may think of everything in terms of rules, and the rules state you must go to Mass. There isn't a specific rule saying not to whisper during Mass, but that would come from an overall attitude of reverence for the Mass. The attitude of reverence would come from knowing what the Mass is and its ultimate purpose.

The same goes for reverence towards the Eucharist. If people truly understand that they are partaking of the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ in order to attain a close union with him, they would not casually receive communion and think nothing of it. The latter attitude again comes from thinking in terms of the rules. The "rules" state that you must line up, receive communion and consume the Eucharist. That's it. Those are the rules. But the Eucharist is so much more than that.

Overall I think this is a huge problem in our Church, both inside and out. I don't wish to come across as some kind of expert. I am simply seeking to understand these issues. Please comment below if you have of your own input to add to this discussion.

Happy Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord January 3, 2021

Prayer on the Epiphany of The Lord:

Father: Christ has appeared among us.

All: Come, let us adore Him.

Mother: The precious gifts which the Magi brought to the

Lord this day are threefold,

and they are signs of divine mysteries.

By gold the power of the King is signified,

by frankincense His great priesthood,

by myrrh the burial of the Lord.

All: The Magi worshipped the Author of our salvation in

the crib,

and of their treasures they brought to Him gifts of

mystic nature.

Youngest Child: Glory be to the Father and to the Son and

to the Holy Ghost.

All: As it was in the beginning,

is now and ever shall be, world without end.

Amen.

Father: Let us pray. O God,

by the leading of a star Thou didst manifest Thine

only begotten Son

to the Gentiles on this day;

mercifully grant that we who know Thee by faith,

may be brought to contemplate the beauty of Thy

majesty.

Through the same Jesus Christ Thy Son.

All: Alleluia.

The following hymn serves well as a conclusion.

Additional verses may be composed by members of the

family.

The Wise Men tune Jesu Dulcis Memoria

Now there appeared a brilliant Star

Which led the wise Men from afar.

They came and, kneeling down, adored

And offered gifts to Christ, the Lord.

Feast Day of Our Lady of the Rosary - October 7, 2015

Wednesday, October 7, 2015 is the Feast Day of Our Lady of the Rosary. This day commemorates the victory of Christian forces over Muslim invaders in the Battle of Lepanto in 1571.

What happened was Pope Pius V called for all of Europe to pray the rosary for a victory. There was even a rosary procession in Rome. After everyone said the rosary, the Christians miraculously overcame the invading Muslim forces. Remember, Muslims at the time were centered around war and conquest. They were very powerful and formidable. Most of their time and energy was spent developing new ways of subjugating various lands.

To give you an idea of the immensity of the Christian victory, the Christians killed 20,000 Muslims vs. 7500 Christians that were killed. Also, the Christians were able to release 12,000 captive Christians. This battle was extremely important and decisive. Had Christian forces failed, it is possible all of Europe would be completely conquered by Muslims, and non-Muslims would quickly become second-class citizens.

So today, say a rosary to commemorate this important event!

St. Benedict of Nursia: patron saint of kidney diseases

Several months ago, my grandmother was diagnosed with kidney disease. Ultimately she had one of her kidneys removed. She is now recovering in hospital and doing better every day. While praying for her I decided to find out who the patron saint of kidney problems was. It is no other than St. Benedict of Nursia. He is the founder of Western monastacism, and thousands of monks today use his Rule of St. Benedict, a guide for every aspect of a monk's day. It was written in the 6th century. It is even good to read through if you are not a monk for it offer timeless wisdom.

There is an interesting story as to why St. Benedict is the patron saint of kidney problems. It is said that Benedict went to implement his rule at a monastery, but some of the monks there thought it was too hard to follow. They sought to poison his kidneys in order to make him ill. However, he blessed the drink and the poison did not affect him.

Monks have had such an important role in Western society. Let us always remember their contribution to the betterment of humanity.

Added October 5, 2015:

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Feast Day of St. Clement Mary (Maria) Hofbauer

Today, March 15th, is the feast day of St. Clement Mary (Maria) Hofbauer, who is the Patron Saint of Vienna, Austria. This date marks the date of his death at the age of 68. He was born in the Czech Republic, in what was Moravia, and is considered the second founder of the Redemptorists, after Alphonsus Liguori.

Hofbauer has special significance for me for 2 reasons.

First of all, my usual parish is St. Teresa's, which is a Redemptorist community. Secondly, my first car, which I still drive has the license plate HOF188. This is amazing because HOF = Hofbauer, and amazingly, he was beatified in 1888. So, my license plate is saying something about Clement's beatification. HOF 188. I am reminded of Hofbauer when I think of my license plate.

As I was searching for a prayer to St. Clement Hofbauer, I found another connection to him. Sometimes I troubled by irrational fears about faith, even though I love it so much, and realize Christ and his Church is the only true path to salvation. This prayer that I found, which is attributed to St. Clement is the following:

A Prayer for the Preservation of Faith - St. Clement Hofbauer

O my Redeemer,
will that dreadful time ever come,
when but few Christians shall be left
who are inspired by the spirit of faith,
that time when Thine anger shall be provoked
and Thy protection shall be take away from us?
Have our vices and our evil lives
irrevocably moved Thy justice to take vengeance,
perhaps this very day,
upon Thy children?
O Thou, the beginning and end of our faith,
we conjure Thee,
in the bitterness of our contrite and humbled hearts,
not to suffer the fair light of faith
to be extinguished in us.
Remember Thy mercies of old,
turn Thine eyes in mercy upon the vineyard
planted by Thine own right hand,
and watered by the sweat of the Apostles,
by the precious blood of countless Martyrs
and by the tears of so many sincere penitents,
and made fruitful by the prayers
of so many Confessors and innocent Virgins.
O divine Mediator,
look upon those zealous souls
who raise their hearts to Thee
and pray ceaselessly
for the maintenance of that most precious gift of Thine,
the true faith.
We beseech Thee,
O God of justice,
to hold back the decree of our rejection,
and to turn away Thine eyes from our vices
and regard instead the adorable Blood
shed upon the Cross,
which purchased our salvation
and daily intercedes for us upon our altars.
Ah, keep us safe in the true Catholic and Roman faith.
Let sickness afflict us,
vexations waste us,
misfortunes overwhelm us!
But preserve in us Thy holy faith;
for if we are rich with this precious gift,
we shall gladly endure every sorrow,
and nothing shall ever be able to change our happiness.
On the other hand,
without this great treasure of faith,
our unhappiness would be unspeakable and without limit!
O good Jesus, author of our faith,
preserve it untainted within us;
keep us safe in the bark of Peter,
faithful and obedient to his successor
and Thy Vicar here on earth,
that so the unity of Holy Church may be maintained,
holiness fostered,
the Holy See protected in freedom,
and the Church universal extended
to the benefit of souls.
O Jesus, author of our faith,
humble and convert the enemies of Thy Church;
grant true peace
and concord to all Christian kings and princes
and to all believers;
strengthen and preserve us in Thy holy service,
so that we may live in Thee and die in Thee.
O Jesus, author of our faith,
let me live for Thee and die for Thee.

Amen.