Saint Faustina Kowalska, the seer of the Lord of Mercy and whose feast day is celebrated every October 5, faced the devil face to face. The saint defeated him by practicing an important virtue that made demons flee.
In her diary, Saint Faustina says that one time, after Eucharistic adoration, she was heading to her cell, a term used in religious communities to refer to her modest room.
On the way, she was stopped by a group of huge, dark dogs that wanted to attack her. She realized that they were not really animals, but demons. Then one of them assured her that they were going to tear her to pieces because she had taken many souls from them that night.
With courage and humility, Saint Faustina responded: “If such is the will of the most merciful God, tear me into pieces, because I have justly deserved it, being the most miserable among sinners and God is always holy, just and infinitely merciful.”
Upon hearing this, the evil spirits decided to flee, saying that she was not alone, but that “the Almighty is with her.”
Another time she was sleeping and Satan started shaking the bed. The saint woke up and calmly began to pray to her Guardian Angel. She then saw the souls in purgatory and among them numerous demons. One of them even jumped onto her bed in the form of a cat to torment her. But, she continued praying the Holy Rosary.In one of her diary entries, Saint Faustina gives the key to such calm in the face of the devil’s attacks. She indicates that it is the enemy who should be afraid of us and not the other way around. For this reason, she presents the virtue of humility as a weapon that demons cannot tolerate.
“Satan defeats only the proud and the cowards, because the humble have the strength. Nothing confuses or scares a humble soul,” he points out.