I have attended a couple workshops on exorcism. I have spoken with exorcists. Again and again I have heard – and said – how the Devil hates Latin. This is more than a witticism.

Over at NLM I found yet another confirmation that the Devil hates Latin. There is a piece about a talk given by the priest who was the inspiration for the movie The Rite. Read the whole thing, but this is the part that most interested me:

However, he did explain that the Rite of Exorcism is only said in Latin. One reason is practical – there is no approved translation in English as yet. He gave another reason why he was so strongly in favor of the use of Latin in the Rite of Exorcism: “The Devil hates Latin, it is the universal language of the Church.” I asked him about this afterwards, and he repeated it, saying that his personal experiences as an exorcist who has performed many, many exorcisms have convinced him of this. He told me he had heard from exorcists who did exorcisms in Italian, Spanish and Portuguese (the only approved vernaculars for this Rite) that Latin was the most effective language.

And there are a lot of people out there, liberals mostly, who hate Latin.

What does it mean for the identity of Catholics in the Latin Church when they almost never hear any Latin and have even been led to disdain it?

Let’s all recite together the Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel just to irritate the Enemy, and throw some Holy Water around while you’re at it:

Sancte Michael Archangele, defende nos in praelio.

Contra nequitiam et insidias diaboli esto praesidium.

Imperet illi Deus, supplices deprecamur.

Tuque princeps militiae caelestis,

Satanam aliosque spiritus malignos,

qui ad perditionem animarum pervagantur in mundo

divina virtute in infernum detrude.

Amen.