6 Reasons St. Joseph is the Terror of Demons

He is one of the most important figures in salvation history. He is the most powerful saint in heaven, beloved and honored by Catholics for centuries. Yet little is known of the life of St. Joseph outside of tradition and private revelation.

He is a spiritual father; a protector and provider; a pattern for a life hidden in Christ and cloaked in docility. His divine call by God the Father was a great and mysterious grace that cannot be easily reduced to a list of specific qualities; there would not be enough space to contain them. 

Such is the generosity of God when He asks something tremendous of His beloved children. 

Of his many titles in the Litany of St. Joseph, Terror of Demons has enjoyed wide recognition recently. It's an ancient title, uniquely relevant to our times. But why do demons fear this humble and quiet saint?

Here are 6 reasons St. Joseph is known as the Terror of Demons:

1. The Significance of His Mission   

God chose St. Joseph for a highly exalted role in our salvation - protecting the Sacred Humanity of Christ. The extraordinary nature of St. Joseph's vocation as head of the Holy Family meant he was the earthly protector of both the Blessed Virgin and Jesus. 

In that sense, our eternal life depended upon St. Joseph's paternal care. 

The Church honors Mary with its highest form of veneration, known as hyperdulia, meaning she is exalted above all God's creatures. St. Joseph receives veneration known as protodulia. "Proto" means "first," signifying St. Joseph as first among the saints, behind Our Lady, in the honor due to him. 

We all receive a calling from God. This unique mission is ours alone. Remaining steadfast in our commitment to this singular mission gives honor to God and roots us in devotion, trust, and faith. Collectively, as we carry out our missions with certainty and fortitude, we usher in His Kingdom.

The weight of his purpose, the importance and nobility of his mission, and the commensurate graces God the Father bestowed upon St. Joseph all cause demons to fear him.

[[42147,47923]]

[[47953]]

2. His Supreme Obedience 

God endowed St. Joseph with graces proportionate to his high calling, because only a strong, faithful, and obedient man could fulfill the will of God in raising His Son to manhood. St. Joseph's life was wholly devoted to God's will, just like the lives of Christ and the Blessed Mother.

Uniting our wills to God's conforms us to Christ. This does not only happen in singular, grand moments like the Crucifixion, but in the very ordinary moments of everyday life. These ordinary moments, when consecrated to God, become powerful sources of grace and union. 

A life of obedience to God's will protects the soul, shielding it from the clutches of evil. The enemy wants nothing more than to separate us from God. Obedience unites us to Him protectively. 

Supreme obedience like St. Joseph's is incredibly powerful, giving God full reign in the soul and thwarting the attempts of the evil one. 

[[48982,46732]]

3. His Blessed Purity 

According to tradition and the writings of saints and mystics, St. Joseph made a vow of perpetual virginity at the age of 12 and prayed fervently for the coming of the long-awaited Messiah. He became a quiet, modest man of the House of David, devoted to prayer and the practice of virtue.

Tradition says that when the holy priest Simeon called all eligible men to the temple so that a spouse could be chosen for Our Lady, the Spirit inspired him to give each man a dry rod. As Simeon prayed for God to manifest His Divine Will, St. Joseph's staff bloomed with pure white lilies and a white dove hovered above his head. 

God chose the most chaste of spouses to protect the purity of the Mother of God and guard her perpetual virginity. This same purity of heart was necessary for the man who would be father, teacher, and protector of the Messiah.

The way to spiritual perfection is to image God, who is all pure. Purity protects us from the snares of darkness and enables us to surrender to Him in childlike trust.

The earthly father of Christ was a model of purity in body, mind, and soul. Imagine the fear of the evil spirits, whose mission is defilement, when they encounter such incredible purity as Joseph's.

[[48962,33952]]

4. His Protection of the Universal Church

The Church was born from the Blood and water that gushed forth from the side of Christ. Who better to guard what was so precious to his Divine Son than St. Joseph? Who better to understand the worth of such a perfect sacrifice and intercede for the needs of the Church? 

There is no one better than Joseph, who instructed the Child Jesus in the practice of His faith and the devout worship of the Most High God. That is why he is the perfect Patron and Protector of the Universal Church.

As Our Lady continues to nurture and care for the Church in her spiritual motherhood, it receives strong and faithful protection from the fatherhood of St. Joseph. 

The Church is a powerful force in the world, uniting us all to Christ the Head and forming His Body, ushering in the Kingdom and standing against the forces of darkness. St. Joseph, as Patron of the Universal Church, is a formidable foe for the evil forces seeking the ruin and destruction of the Body of Christ and God's Church. 

[[22589,50675]]

[[4312,47141]]

5. His Patronage of a Good & Happy Death

 After devoting his life to Our Lady and Jesus, St. Joseph died in the love, peace, and comfort of their presence. Only Christ's and Mary's deaths surpassed Joseph's in holiness. Because of this, he is known as the Patron of the Dying. 

Throughout time, Catholics have prayed to St. Joseph for the grace of a good and happy death, one where they too are blessed with the presence of Jesus and Mary and accompanied by the saints and angels. 

Death is the final opportunity for the devil to snatch a soul from Christ. At the end of life, souls are susceptible to despair, fear, guilt, and regret. These and other emotions can become a foothold for the Evil One. 

St. Joseph's life stands in complete opposition to these. It is proof of God's unfathomable goodness, comforting love, and intimate, protective presence in our lives. This holy saint represents the hope of heaven and the glory of the Risen Christ. 

In our final hours, when Satan seeks to rip us from the grasp of God, Joseph, powerful protector of souls, will shepherd us to the safety of His beloved Son and protect us from the enemy of our salvation. 

[[49401,52042]]

[[37813,49307]]

6. His Paternal Care for the Domestic Church

God placed Joseph at the head of the Holy Family, and Jesus called him "Abba" or Father. When St. Joseph appeals to Jesus on our behalf, it is a paternal petition. No one else in the history of our Faith can make that claim. It is his alone.

For this reason, there is great power in his intercession before the throne of God. Those who invoke him are sure to be heard.

Joseph guarded and defended his Holy Family from demonic and human assaults. We too live in an age where our families are under attack, and the holy institution of the family is subject to the snares of the Evil One.  

Before her death, Sr. Lucia dos Santos, the eldest Fatima seer, wrote, "The final battle between the Lord and the kingdom of Satan will be about marriage and the family." Indeed, the family is the first place God's children should come to know and experience His love. 

[[48493,3563]]

As the supporting pillar of creation, the family is the embodiment of the truth of God's plan for life in the world. There we learn the truth about relationships between men and women, about the presence of our loving God, and about the virtues of sacrifice and service. The family also represents the timelessness of God's love and the connectedness of generations who hold and pass on our Faith. 

What better portal for Satan to enter? Who better to protect it than Joseph?

The family is under attack, and St. Joseph is the model of earthly fatherhood. Because he is Patron of the Domestic Church, the strength, submission, truth, vigor, obedience, purity, and protection of the human family are St. Joseph's God-given domain.  

Evil does not want us to understand this, or to place ourselves under his powerful protection, because dark forces cannot prevail against it.

[[33415,6953]]

[[1730,]]

Why Go to St. Joseph?

Though St. Joseph's holiness is unfathomable, we can begin to measure it by the degree to which demons fear his intercession. 

Devotion to the earthly father of Christ has always been strong in the Church, but it is experiencing a resurgence needed for our troubled times. This is especially true of his title, Terror of Demons. 

When you are overcome by the trials of your life, go to Joseph. Even when he lacked understanding, his desire for God and conformity to God's will gave him the conviction and serenity to entrust everything to the Lord. 

Completely obedient in the face of great questions, mysteries, and perils, he safeguarded the lives of the Blessed Virgin and the Christ. Honoring God, this pure saint loved and cherished Mary, the Immaculate Conception, and Jesus, the Messiah, in deepest humility.

His life was completely hidden in Christ and Our Lady. To protect them, he kept them in obscurity until the appointed time. In docility and devotion, he models for us a life radically responsive to God and to our own callings. 

[[51877,11180]]

[[48029,40527]]

Terror of Demons, Pray for Us

Evil is no match for this life of purity, trust, and love. If we all aspired to be like Joseph, the kingdom of Satan would be destroyed. This is the great fear of the forces of darkness. 

Let us not only call out to St. Joseph, Terror of Demons, whose powerful fatherhood can protect us from the enemy and lead us to peace. Let us model our very lives after his, to create a fierce weapon against the evil that threatens us all. 

St. Joseph, Terror of Demons, pray for us!

[[49437,47477]]