CHAPTER lY.

THE DEVIL.
Sii]ce the principles of secret societies lead to the de- struction of Christ and His Clmrch, were such possi- ble, Satan, the arch-enemy of Christ, is not idle. He is to-day the same what he was in paradise, only having benefited by the experience of six thousand years he lays his snares and traps according to the circumstances. He is the devil still. But as Mr. Guyau (The None-Re- ligion of the Future, page 165), says ". . . . in our days, belief in the devil is incontestably becoming feebler, and this enfeeblement is even especially charac- teristic of the present epoch; there has at no other time been anything to equal it. There is not an educated person to be found in whom the notion of a devil does not excite a smile. That, believe me, is a sign of the times, a manifest sign of the decline of dogmatic re- ligion. Wherever the power of dogmatic religion, by an exception to the general course of things, has retained its vitality, and retained it, as in America, even to the point of giving birth to new dogmas, the fear of the devil has subsisted in its entiretv, wherever, as in more enlight- ened regions than America, this fear no longer exists ex- cept as a symbol or a myth, the intensity and the fecund- ity of the religious sentiment decline inevitably in the same degree. The fate of Javeh is bound up with that of Lucifer, angels and devils go hand in hand, as in some
24
fantastic mediaeval dance. The day when Satan and liis followers shall be definitely vanquished and anni- hilated in the minds of the people, the celestial powers will not have long to live/'
Says 0. A. Brownson (Vol. IX, pp. 77, 78) : ". . . . . you seem not to have reflected that the devil, when he would seduce, can disguise himself as an angel of light. Human nature is terribly corrupt, and yet the great mass of mankind ordinarily are incapable of choos- ing evi], for the reason that it is evil. Evil must be presented to tliem in the guise of good or they will not choose it. Tlie devil knows this, and knows the weak side of everyone, and he adapts his temptations accord- ingly. Tlie weak side of our age is morbid sentimental- ity, a sickly pliilanthropy, and the devil tempts us now by appealing to our dominant weakness. He comes to us as a philanthropist, and liis mouth full of fine senti- ments, and lie proposes only what we are already pre- pared to approve. Were he to come as the devil in propria persona, and tell us precisely who and what he is, there are very few who would not say, ^'Get behind me, Satan.'' Xothing better serves his purpose than to have us deny his existence, to describe his influence to imagination, hallucination, to natural causes or in- fluences, or, in fine, to good spirits, for then he throws us off our guard, and can operate without being easily detected. Xever was an age more under his influence than our own, and yet they wlio pass for its lights and chiefs have readied that last infirmity of unbelief, the' denial of the existence of the devil. Possessed persons are insane, epileptic, or lunatic persons, and the won- derful phenomena they exliibit are produced by an
25
electric, magnetic, or odic fluid, and are to be explained on natural principles, and such as can not be so ex- plained, are boldly denied, however well attested, or ascribed to jugglerv, knavery, or delusion. The mar- velous answers of the ancient oracles are ascribed to knavery, as if the whole world had lost their senses, and could not detect a cheat practised before their very eyes, and so bunglingly, that we who live two thousand years or three thousand years after, ignorant of all the circumstances in the case, can detect it, and explain how it was done, without the slightest difficulty. The devil laughs at it. He would have it so.^'
Instead of, as St. Peter says, "Satan going around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour,'' we may say that his satanic majesty goes back to his first tempting method and serpent-like injects his venom in the minds of men, and that even hell was let loose to do such a kind of work. Explain the secret societies with- out Satanic power! It is impossible. How can they have such a hold of so many otherwise well meaning per- sons except by satanic influence ?
Christianity asserts the existence of Satan and his intervention in human affairs, for according to it Christ was revealed from heaven and .came into this world that He might destroy the devil and his works. If there was no devil, the mission of Christ had no motive, no object, and Christianity would be a fable. . . . The Church plainlyand unequivocally recognizes the existence ^of Satan, as may be gathered from the prayers and cere- monies of baptism, as w^ell as from the significance of the sacrament itself; and not only his existence, but his power over the natural man, and even material objects.
Thus, when the Priest, in administering the Sacrament of J3aptism breatiies genti}' three times in the face of the child, he exclaims: • ^'Go out of him impure spirit and give place to the Holy Ghost.'^ The candidate before baptism is asked : ^'Dost thou renounce Satan . . . and all his works . . . and all his pomps ?" To each of wliich questions the reply is made: "I do." The whole proceeds on the belief that Satan has power over man and matter.
The difficulty of coml)atiug the satanic -spirit in Se- cret Societies and convincing people of their antichris- tian principles is very great. The most of the people are caught by words without taking note of the meaning at- tached to them.
It is the characteristic of this age that infidelity dis- guises itself in a Christian garb and utters its falsehoods and blasphemies in Christian phraseology, tlie language of truth. Satan disguises himself as an angel of li^^M, comes as a philanthropist, talks of humanity, pro Peases to be a champion of science, intelligence, education, lib- erty, progress, amelioration and the moral, intellectual and physical elevation of the poorer and more numerous classes, all good things, when rightly understood and in their time and place.
We can not oppose him without seeming to many to oppose what is Christian duty. If we oppose false in- telligence we are at once accused of being opposed to intelligence. If we oppose corrupt and baneful educa- tion we are immediately accused of being in favor of popular ignorance and lovers of darkness. If we oppose false liberty, or license presented under tbe name of lib- erty, we are charged with beins: the enemies of true
27
freedom. The press opens its cries against us and the age votes us mediaeval dreamers, behind the times, relics of the past, with our eyes on the backside of our heads, outlandish, etc., and the truth is drowned in the floods of indignation; or ridicule pours out against us. The world to-day is just as inimical to Christ as it ever was, and His cause is fought against perhaps more than ever before. The only difference is that the weapons have been changed, the battle-field transferred, the tactics im- proved and the execution greater. The enemy deals to- day with far more subtle weapons than ever before. And as the tie that binds many to the Church is weak it is easily cut asunder. Even to many so-called Christians Christ is not more than a man, and it has been argued, and plausibly so, that in the new century, the day of ad- vancement along all lines, the world has outgrown Christ. Satan still offers "the kingdom of the world and the glory thereof" in barter for worship paid to himself.
Well aware of the.satanic power Leo XIII called on all Priests to say daily after Mass :
"Holy Michael, Archangel, defend us in the day of battle; be our safe-guard against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; and do thou. Prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God, thrust down to hell Satan and all wicked spirits who wander through the world for the ruin of souls. Amen."