Consecration to St. Joseph

By Chris Sparks

February 15 is a common start day for the 33-day preparation for the consecration to St. Joseph on the solemnity on March 19, as described in the popular book by Fr. Donald Calloway, MIC. 

That makes me think of one of St. Joseph's titles in his litany, "Terror of Demons." And C.S. Lewis.

I love C.S. Lewis. I consider him one of the greatest Christian writers of all time, a man of incredible wisdom and inspired insights into the way the world works and relates to God.

Spiritual realities are real
One of his greatest insights dealt with the way in which spiritual realities are - well, real. That is, whether or not you believe in God, the saints, angels, or devils, they still exist, and still are active in the world. Now, our prayers or failure to pray; our openness to God and the action of spirits, or our refusal to be so open, does really, truly matter, as well. Why? Because God cares about our free will, and enforces certain boundaries on spiritual activity based around that care for our freedom.

And so Lewis can fruitfully depict a paradox in the final book in The Chronicles of Narnia where a general of an invading army colludes with Narnian traitors to pretend that Tash, the demonic god of the invading forces, is the same as Aslan, who is the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity under a different name in a world of talking animals. The general doesn't believe in either Tash or Aslan. He doesn't believe in spiritual realities. He's solely focused on military might and earthly power. But in the world of Narnia, both Aslan and Tash are real.

One of the most haunting lines of the entire series occurs as a result.

"He called for Tash: Tash has come."

It's put a little more prosaically a few lines later: "People shouldn't call for demons unless they really mean what they say."

Demons in the news
That in a nutshell is why I hear about events like that SatanCon in Scottsdale, Arizona, from the past week, and take it seriously.

The so-called Satanic Temple that sponsored it professes to be a collection of atheists who are making a point. They say they don't believe in any of it; they just want to troll Christians, to make a point about religious liberty in this country (namely, that by the rules they see the Christian community seek to have applied to faith in this country, satanism ought to have a place in public life), and to look outrageous while doing it.

But you shouldn't call for demons unless you mean it - and of course I would say don't ever call for demons even if you mean it!

For all that the modern world can't imagine that demons are real; for all that the New Age has tried to co-opt angels for their own purposes and reduce God to some sort of force or energy that they can control; for all that our friends and neighbors can't take serious Christian faith seriously - for all that, God, angels, and demons exist. And inviting them in makes a real difference in our lives and communities.

So no matter what the "Satanic Temple" thinks they are doing, they're playing with fire. Whether or not they believe in the devil, the devil and his minions are real - and what would the "Satanic Temple" folks do if hell actually showed up?

Duty to pray and warn
But we can't just wait for the consequences of their actions to catch up to these folks. We Catholics are bound in charity to care even for those who are foolish, even for those who play with fire and get burned. We are not free to simply ignore folks doing this sort of thing or watch the consequences catch up to them, eating our popcorn and commentating their downfall. We are bound to pray for them, to warn against this sort of thing, and to also warn against excessive fear of or fascination with the demonic. We are bound to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus, a message that God is almighty, not the devil; that "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it" (Jn 1:5).

Saint Faustina is our model for this sort of Christian realism, of both recognizing the dangers and existence of the demonic, but also knowing that if God is for us, it doesn't matter if hell comes after us. She wrote:

Jesus made known to me how very pleasing to Him were prayers of atonement. He said to me, The prayer of a humble and loving soul disarms the anger of My Father and draws down an ocean of blessings. After the adoration, half way to my cell, I was surrounded by a pack of huge black dogs who were jumping and howling and trying to tear me to pieces. I realized that they were not dogs, but demons. One of them spoke up in a rage, "Because you have snatched so many souls away from us this night, we will tear you to pieces." I answered, "If that is the will of the most merciful God, tear me to pieces, for I have justly deserved it, because I am the most miserable of all sinners, and God is ever holy, just, and infinitely merciful." To these words all the demons answered as one, "Let us flee, for she is not alone; the Almighty is with her!" And they vanished like dust, like the noise of the road, while I continued on my way to my cell undisturbed, finishing my Te Deum and pondering the infinite and unfathomable mercy of God (Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, 320).

So prayers of atonement for this sort of satanic foolishness are in order. We ought to consider what sort of spiritual reparation we can make on behalf of the folks who put on this convention.

Our own sanctification
We also ought to consider how best to accomplish our own sanctification, how to welcome Heaven into the world, to set a light in the world that will drive out the darkness. One of the most powerful means of welcoming in Heaven's action to earthly affairs is consecration of all sorts. Bishops consecrate altars and churches, for instance, establishing the places where Heaven and earth come together in the Liturgy. Our brothers and sisters in the religious life are consecrated to God in a special way. And every single Christian is consecrated to God through Baptism.

Saints and theologians open the door to us also making special acts of consecration to some of the greatest members of the whole household of God, such as Our Lady or St. Joseph. As we see an increase of shameless, public satanism, occultism, and other such things, why not respond by consecrating yourself to St. Joseph, the Terror of Demons? Why not welcome our Spiritual Father's special intercession for yourself? Saint Faustina certainly did!

Saint Joseph urged me to have a constant devotion to him. He himself told me to recite three prayers [the Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory be] and the Memorare once every day. He looked at me with great kindness and gave me to know how much he is supporting this work [of mercy]. He has promised me this special help and protection. I recite the requested prayers every day and feel his special protection (Diary, 1203).

So whenever you see people inviting in the demonic, don't panic; turn to prayer. Imitate St. Faustina. Trust in God. Invite Heaven to come into the situation, especially our Spiritual Father, St. Joseph, the Terror of Demons. Make the consecration to St. Joseph, using the book by Fr. Calloway. If you've missed the start date to prepare for a consecration on March 19, then plan to start your preparation on March 30, planning to make your consecration on May 1, the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker.

Saint Joseph, Universal Patron of the Church, pray for us!