History tells us that, in the early struggles against paganism, one of the ways in which spiritual warfare was conducted was the destruction of sacred groves. Following the example of St. Martin of Tours, the Celtic saints in particular, would destroy the sites of pagan worship.
Now, we know from St. Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians that pagan worship is the worship of demons. And, as he reminds them elsewhere, "For, although we are in the flesh, we do not battle according to the flesh, for the weapons of our battle are not of flesh but are enormously powerful, capable of destroying fortresses."
Now, how does that apply to us, as Lay Dominicans - or lay persons in general? These saints who did this were PRIESTS, after all!
Well, we are priests. But of a different order, the royal priesthood.
In Exodus 19:6, The Lord tells Israel, "You will be for me a kingdom of priests".
In his First Epistle, St. Peter tells us that we are "a chosen race, a royal priesthood".
And in the Apocalypse, we read that we are "a kingdom, priests for his God and Father".
We do have authority as priests, but only insofar as it is flows from the Ministerial priesthood.
As such, we may use sacramentals, not to physically destroy the demonic places - such a thing would certainly not be acceptable in our culture - but to take back those places from the demons.
We are authorized to use Holy Water and Blessed Salt to sanctify those places, to take them back from the demons.
A simple example.
A few years back, a man noticed a "gay" bar in his city. Resolving to take arms against the demons that dwelt there, he drove around the block on two separate occasions, informing the demons that the land was not their to occupy, that it belonged to the Lord, and that they must leave that land.
The bar went out of business.
What if we did the same, repeatedly, circling the abortion mills in our towns? What if we took back the government buildings? The schools?
We have the authority.
Let us go forth and take back the land that the glory of the Lord might shine forth.
.jpg)
