Day 8: Terror of Demons and Protector of the Family

On the eighth day of the Saint Joseph Novena, we invoke one of his most ancient and powerful titles: Saint Joseph, Terror Daemonum, Terror of Demons. The title appears in the Litany of Saint Joseph and in the testimony of saints across the centuries who have invoked his protection against the spiritual enemies of the Church and of individual souls. Today we pray for protection against every form of spiritual evil that threatens the family, the parish, and the soul.

Today's meditation

The Catholic tradition has long held that Saint Joseph, by virtue of his particular dignity as the head of the Holy Family, holds a corresponding particular authority over the powers of darkness. The chief saints of the Catholic spiritual tradition (Saint Teresa of Avila, Saint Francis de Sales, Saint Alphonsus Liguori) have all testified to the power of Saint Joseph's intercession in matters of spiritual combat. The Litany of Saint Joseph invokes him with the title Terror of Demons, and the prayer of Pope Leo XIII Ad te, beate Joseph explicitly entrusts the Church to him for protection from the assaults of the enemy of souls.

Saint Joseph protected the Holy Family from Herod, who in the order of grace was an instrument of the spiritual evil that has hated the seed of the woman from Genesis 3:15 onward. The flight to Egypt is the first protection of the Holy Family from spiritual evil, and the patronage continues from heaven over the household of faith that the Holy Family represents.

Today's intention

Today, place under Saint Joseph's protection your family and your home: ask him to drive away every spiritual evil that threatens your spouse, your children, your siblings, your parents, your in-laws. Pray for those whose families have been attacked by addiction, by infidelity, by abuse, by the loss of faith, by despair. Pray for those who are conducting themselves under spiritual oppression of any form. Pray, also, for the Universal Church under the spiritual attacks of our age.

The traditional St Joseph novena prayer

O Saint Joseph, whose protection is so great, so strong, so prompt before the throne of God, I place in you all my interests and desires. O Saint Joseph, do assist me by your powerful intercession, and obtain for me from your Divine Son all spiritual blessings, through Jesus Christ, our Lord; so that, having engaged here below your Heavenly power, I may offer my Thanksgiving and Homage to the most Loving of Fathers. O Saint Joseph, I never weary contemplating you, and Jesus asleep in your arms; I dare not approach while He reposes near your heart. Press Him in my name and kiss His fine Head for me, and ask Him to return the Kiss when I draw my dying breath. Saint Joseph, Patron of departing souls, pray for me. Amen.

Reflection

The Catholic doctrine of spiritual combat holds that the Christian life is a real struggle against real spiritual enemies. "For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12). The Catholic faithful are not asked to fight these enemies in their own strength; they are asked to fight in the strength of Christ, with the aid of His Mother, the holy angels (especially Saint Michael the Archangel), and the saints, of whom Saint Joseph is preeminent in the household sphere.

The Catholic home is meant to be a sanctuary against the spirit of the world. The placement of an image of the Holy Family or of Saint Joseph in the home, the keeping of holy water for the blessing of the household, the praying of grace before meals, the family rosary, and the Sunday observance are not optional decorations of Catholic life; they are the lived form of the protection Saint Joseph offers from heaven. Today's prayer renews these practices in the home and asks Saint Joseph to drive away whatever spiritual evil has been encroaching on it.

If you suspect particular spiritual oppression of yourself, your home, or a family member (the patterns of inexplicable family conflict, the recurrence of certain temptations, the difficulty of prayer, the disturbance of sleep), today is the day to bring it to Saint Joseph in confidence. The Catholic faithful in such circumstances should also speak with their pastor; ordinary spiritual oppression is addressed through the sacramental life and the disciplines of prayer, while extraordinary cases (the very rare instances of demonic possession or oppression in the technical sense) are addressed by the diocesan exorcist with the bishop's authorization.

Closing prayers

Pray seven times each: the Our Father, the Hail Mary, and the Glory Be.

Saint Joseph, Terror of Demons, defend us in battle, and pray for our families.