Why did the demons fall? We have all wondered about this at some point. If the angels could fall ...? And so on.
The fall of the angels occurred before the events of the Bible, of Genesis, so we don't have a narrative about this from Scripture. Revelation 12 and some other passages refer back to the fall of the angels, but there's not a lot of detail.
So what happened? How do we know? What information can we even trust on this subject?
Heads up! Before reading about angels and demons, it's always good to ask for St. Michael the Archangel's protection. Let us pray, Oremus ...
There are some ancient Jewish texts that provide some background, but this is dangerous territory. What you study might study you back.
For my safety and yours, I rely on exorcist priests and the saints for my information. There are some amazing exorcist priests you can listen to, including Fathers Chad Ripperger, Vincent Lampert, and Carlos Martins. Listening to them, plus a healthy diet of the Sacraments, should keep you safe in this subject.
I have also authored a book on this subject, available in paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats. The narrator for the audiobook is particularly good. His name is Alan Turton; he's a retired BBC announcer; and his voice is captivating.
So ...
Why Did the Angels Fall?
All the demons fell because of Christ.
Fr. Chad Ripperger has said that the devil confirmed to him what St. Louis-Marie de Montfort said (more on de Montfort's statements in a moment). That is, every single demon fell in relationship to Christ, but under a specific aspect.
Take the example of the demon Isis. Who is the demon Isis? Here's a video of Fr. Ripperger discussing this demon:
The demon Isis, according to Ripperger, fell under the aspect of Christ's Mercy. Isis fell because he would not accept Christ's Mercy for men.
Whenever an exorcist encounters Isis in an possession, therefore, there's a conspicuous amount of cruelty. The level of cruelty is far greater.
Why? Because cruelty is the inversion of Christ's Mercy.
Like Isis, all demons fell because of a specific aspect of Christ. Except one.
Why Did the Devil -- Lucifer, Satan, and Beelzebub -- Fall?
First off, Lucifer, Satan, and Beelzebub are all personalities within the devil. This is discussed in depth in this article I have written:
All the demons fell because of Christ, but one fell for the Blessed Mother. This originally comes from St. Louis-Marie de Montfort.
Fr. Ripperger said that the devil confirmed what St. Louis-Marie de Montfort said. That is, every single demon fell in relationship to Christ, but under a specific aspect. The devil fell for Christ under the aspect of the Virgin Mary.
The devil fell for the Blessed Mother.
The Blessed Virgin Mary is beautiful. It's understandable why someone would "fall" for her. But this is a whole different kind of "fall."
Fr. Ripperger says that Beelzebub told him the following:
[Beelzebub] would not accept that there would be a woman who would outstrip him in Grace so much so that her grace would outstrip all intelligent creatures combined. He said I always knew, once I saw her, I would be second best.
Beelzebub was struck by the Blessed Mother's beauty:
Once I saw her, she was so beautiful ... Just the sheer, sheer beauty.
But there's more ...
What is it, Specifically, about the Blessed Virgin Mary that Horrifies the Demons?
Fr. Ripperger said, "One time a demon just looked at me and said her power is in her humility."
The Blessed Virgin Mary has perfect power over the demons, Ripperger said, because of her perfect humility. She is the handmaid of the Lord.
Beelzebub was talking above to Fr. Ripperger about the Virgin Mary's interior beauty. At a certain point, Fr. Ripperger decided to dig deeper into this statement. What about the Virgin Mary's beauty?
Important Note: Exorcist priests, like Fr. Ripperger, are not just being curious. In all these questions, Fr. Ripperger isn't just asking demons about the mysteries of the universe, treating them like oracles. That would be extremely dangerous and insanely stupid. There is always a point to these questions, to their interrogations. What is that point? To find the demons' weaknesses, to attack them, to dislodge them. It is extremely useful in an exorcism to know what a demon hates, what hurts and terrifies them. This will become the most powerful tool of the exorcist.
So, Fr. Ripperger asked Beelzebub, "That's a broad statement. What about her beauty?"
Beelzebub answered, "It was the purity of [her beauty]."
Fr. Ripperger again responds "That's pretty broad, too. What about the purity?"
Beelzebub answered, "It was the purity of her love."
Fr. Ripperger again responds "Again, that's a broad statement. What was it?"
Beelzebub finally answered, "It was that when she sacrificed herself, she never once counted the personal cost."
"To Give and Not to Count the Cost"
Now think about that, we're always counting. Always counting. This isn't necessarily an evil, we want to build up our treasure in Heaven. We want to sacrifice for others, for our spouses and our children, at our cost.
But the Virgin Mary never counted the cost. "A sword pierced her heart, as well" and she never counted the cost.
Like the prayer of St. Ignatius of Loyola, "to give and not to count the cost."
This, Fr. Ripperger tells us, is one of the reasons why God's love for [Our Lady] is different than it is for anybody else. God loves all of us, obviously. But there's a specific reason why God's love for the Virgin Mary is different.
Fr. Ripperger said Beelzebub revealed a little bit more about God's love for Mary, later in the exorcism session:
It wasn't just that the fact she didn't count the personal cost. It was the perpetuity of her sacrifice. Through her whole life she sacrificed herself over and over and over again to God without ever once taking herself into the equation of the sacrifice ... so the reason she's different from everybody else is because all human beings count the personal costs. That means we're different that means we're different from her.
But why would Mary's sacrifices, again and again, so haunt, so anger a fallen angel?
[The angels] only got one opportunity to sacrifice, where [Mary] did it over and over and over again. [Beelzebub] said his anger with God was over the fact that he only got one shot, and she got all these opportunities to sacrifice herself.
How does Fr. Ripperger respond? The exorcist says "Well, you couldn't even do it once!" And this obviously infuriated the demon.
Our Personal Spirituality: "Do Whatever He Tells You"
Fr. Ripperger tells us that the demon Beelzebub is inadvertently giving us great advice on how to build our spiritual lives: Start sacrificing and stop counting the personal costs.
As Mary, herself, said at the Wedding at Cana, "Do whatever He tells you." Do whatever God asks of you.
What Really Infuriates the Devil? The Virgin Mary as the Mirror of God
In the particular exorcism where Fr. Ripperger was confronting Beelzebub, there was a particular title of the Virgin Mary at the heart of the matter. Beelzebub had a big beef with calling Mary by this particular title.
Our Lady, Mirror of Justice -- or, in Latin, Speculum Iustitiae.
This is a title of the Virgin Mary found in the Litany of Loreto. The meaning of this title, according to Fr. Ripperger, is that the Blessed Mother is the mirror of God, Who is Justice itself.
Fr. Ripperger suddenly understood. He said to Beelzebub, "What you really saw in her was Him, wasn't it?" That Mary is this perfect reflection of God the Father, specifically.
Beelzebub responded in the affirmative: "That's why I wanted to be God, because I wanted that beauty for myself."
Fr. Ripperger later beat out of Beelzebub: "It really boils down the twofold sacrifice that is in God the Father: the eternal willingness to sacrifice His Son." And the second component, "that God is willing to suffer the diminution of His extrinsic glory in this life through our sins, so that out of that he can bring us to a greater good." And this happens every time we sin, so, like the Virgin Mary, there is a perpetuity of God's sacrifices. They are ongoing.
Beelzebub said "That's the beauty I wanted."
What Happens When the Blessed Mother Shows Up in an Exorcism?
Most exorcist priests, if they don't already have a strong devotion to the Blessed Mother, will develop a deep love and affection for Our Lady.
Fr. Ripperger has said this is because the Blessed Mother is often involved in exorcisms. That she often is a great help to the exorcist priest. According to him:
If our lady shows up, one of two things is going to happen. First, there's going to be a significant shift in the possession, which means the demon's going to be much weaker. Something's going to come out ... It's going to speed things up significantly or they're just going to be gone. In about 70 percent of the cases that I've had, it's Our Lady that shows up that ultimately liberates [the possessed person].
Mind you, this is not unique to Catholic exorcisms. The Blessed Mother shows up in Protestant deliverance ministry, too, much to the confusion of the Protestants, especially the anti-Catholic ones. But more on this to come ...
The Look in a Demon's Face When He's About to Get His Butt Kicked
Fr. Ripperger talks about that moment when the Blessed Virgin Mary intercedes during an exorcism:
There's a specific look that demons get right before they're about to get kicked out. There's a very distinctive look that they have. It's panic, fear, etc. Then the person who's possessed will see all of a sudden. Our Lady will just appear. The abyss will open up. They feel the demon getting ripped out. [The demon] goes down. They feel it being ripped down and then they close. Part of that, I think, is because God wants to confirm to them that you're liberated. [The demon's] gone.
How beautiful and amazing is that?
Talk about a mother who kicks butt! The Blessed Mother just shows up and pulls the plug. Whoosh. The demon gets sucked down the drain.
What does the Blessed Mother do during the exorcism? What does she say? Why does the demon just get sucked down back to Hell?
Fr. Ripperger explains this, as well:
Our Lady just disappears. She literally doesn't have to say a thing. Only in one case did she actually tell the demon, "It's time." That's it.
Wow.
No one speaks softer but carries a bigger stick that the Blessed Mother.
The Changed the Overtakes Somebody Liberated from a Demon
The exorcist priest doesn't typically she the Blessed Mother. They just see the changed expression on the possessed person's face:
You see there's a countenance shift in the person's face. So the demon's manifested [in the face] and all of a sudden they'll shift. There's just like this lightness to them. A kind of a Brilliance about their face. You'll see this especially with women. When they're possessed their features are much more angular and when they're liberated, all of a sudden, they become much more feminine, much softer, much rounder. Whereas the guys look more apportioned, more normal. So you see that shift and realize, okay, [the demon's] gone.
Summary: Take the Blessed Mother with You into Spiritual Battle
Let me know what you think! Comment below and pray your Rosary daily!
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