Section 4 | Rule 16: The Evil Spirits’ Desire to Remove the Mother’s Influence from Her Children

A s God wills that the Custos protect his wife from the world, the flesh, and the devil, the evil spirits, on the contrary, will attempt to seduce and convince the wife (and her husband) to conform to the world and its maxims. According to the holy pontiff John Paul II, the preferential and natural place for a woman is in the home, and yet there exist certain conditions that sometimes demand that women work outside the home.5 Considering this, the evil spirits will use those conditions in order to tempt the woman to believe that she will receive more honor, respect, and fulfillment by working outside the home than by embracing the saintly vocation of motherhood. Additionally, the evil spirits will instill the fear into the married couple that the husband’s income will not be capable of providing for the family; or that the family will benefit from a dual income and that therefore both the husband and the wife must work outside the home. By instilling fear, inducing covetousness, and promising to satisfy the desire of greed, which is idolatry (see Eph. 5:5), the evil spirits will attempt to remove the mother’s influence from her children, in order that the world may indoctrinate them. This often results in a miserly attitude toward bearing children and an increased temptation to use contraception. This is no small matter. If it be in his power, the Custos is to protect and provide for his wife’s vocation of motherhood by allowing her to remain in her home. Let the Custos always remain hopeful, believing that God will provide.

Devin Schadt | Executive Director of the Fathers of St. Joseph

Ite ad Joseph