Spiritual warfare is real, and as the U.S. Church embarks on this Eucharistic Revival together, you can be sure that the enemy will do everything in his power to undermine efforts to reignite devotion and fervor for the Eucharist.
Thankfully, the Church offers her faithful powerful defenses against these attacks in the form of prayer. One prayer that is particularly effective against advances from the devil is the Holy Face Chaplet. This prayer centers around a battle cry of sorts that invokes the name of the Lord and compels his enemies to flee: “Arise, O Lord! and let Thy enemies be scattered, and let them that hate Thee flee from before Thy Face.”
This chaplet is composed of a cross and 39 beads; of these are six single beads and 33 grouped beads. The 33 grouped beads represent the 33 years of the mortal life of Jesus. The first three beads recall the 30 years of his hidden life and are further divided into the five groups of six beads each, in honor of the senses of touch, hearing, sight, smell and taste of Jesus. As each of these senses were situated principally in his holy face, this prayer renders reparative homage for all the sufferings which Our Lord has endured in his face through each of these senses.
St. Athanasius said the devils hate the words, “Arise, O Lord and let they enemies be scattered,” taken from Psalm 68, more than any other Scripture verse. When these words are spoken, enemies of the Lord have no choice but to cower and retreat. This prayer will serve as a powerful spiritual armament in the Eucharistic Revival. We encourage you to pray this chaplet at least once per week, and daily if possible. Arise, O Lord and thy enemies be scattered!
