Why “Blind” Satan?

Why did our Blessed Mother choose to say “blind Satan”? Why not bind or cripple or weaken or defeat Satan? It’s such an unusual phrase. When we use it, people seem puzzled, especially priests and bishops. So why did she choose this unusual phrase?

Whenever I question why our Blessed Mother chose unusual wording in the Flame of Love, after praying and thinking about it, I come to see how brilliant her choice of words always is. For example, why “the effect of grace” and not just “the grace” and we come to see that grace is not an end in itself. What we really seek is the effect grace has. The effect of drawing people to Jesus initially, then making Jesus literally present in their being, and ultimately bringing them into complete union with Jesus and thus into the very life of the Trinity. Now, asking for this effect of grace to pour out upon all of humanity makes perfect sense.

The same with “blinding” Satan. It’s especially meaningful at this time of year when we are one week away from Christmas. How do we blind Satan? As our former US Spiritual Advisor, Monsignor Ralph Chieffo pointed out, we don’t poke out his eyes, i.e., our warfare is not one of aggression. Rather, we shine a light so bright that he cannot see. Our warfare is one of displacement – the same way the light displaces the darkness.

Let’s see just how scriptural this is. Every year, at the Mass during the day for Christmas, what gospel do we read? The Prologue of Saint John:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

John 1:1-5

Saint John continues this theme of light in his first letter:

Now this is the message that we have heard from him and proclaim to you: God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all. If we say, “We have fellowship with him,” while we continue to walk in darkness, we lie and do not act in truth. But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, then we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of his Son Jesus cleanses us from all sin.

I John 1:5-7

Is our Lady’s choice of words now beginning to make sense? Light blinds those who dwell in darkness so they can no longer exercise their power. Some of you may be familiar with the famous science fiction novel by H.G. Wells, The Time Machine. The time traveler travels to the future where he encounters a childlike, innocent, almost utopian world inhabited by a people called the Eloi. All is well during the daylight. But, when night falls, and especially the dark night of the new moon, another, more powerful race who live in the darkness, the Morlocks, emerge and hunt the Eloi, dragging them underground and devouring them (“the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” I Peter 5:8). The Morlocks completely overwhelm the Eloi when there is darkness. The only way the time traveler can defend the Eloi in the darkness is to create light. The light shining in the darkness blinds the Morlocks who inhabit the darkness and they cannot drag the Eloi to their destruction.

Our defense against the great demonic power of those who prowl in the darkness is light, the light that blinds those who prefer the darkness. In fact, Saint Paul tells us to “put on the armor of light” (Rom 13:12) and he tells us what that armor and the source of that light is two verses later: “put on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom 13:14) – the Christ who is the light of the world (John 8:12). Yes, Jesus, the Flame of Love of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, is the light within us that blinds Satan so that he can no longer hunt souls, capture them into sin, and drag them into hell.

And this brings us to the critical point. WE MUST BE THE LIGHT THAT BLINDS SATAN – all the time! It is not just for us. We must be the light that helps free those in danger as the light freed the Eloi from being hunted and eaten by the Morlocks. WE must shine in the world with the light of Christ: “You are the light of the world” (Matt 5:14) and “your light must shine before others” (Matt 5:16) MUST! ALL THE TIME!

This is our great privilege, opportunity, and responsibility – TO BE THE LIGHT THAT BLINDS SATAN all the time. Look at it this way. Imagine yourself in a room with many others. The room is completely dark – filled with fear and unknowing – the Morlocks ready to attack. You now are given a light – a light that gives hope, that shows a better way. What will happen if you decide to turn that light off for a little while? The darkness takes over again – in our lives and the lives of those around us.

Please brothers and sisters, we must shine with this light of Christ, the light of sacrificial love that blinds Satan, the love Satan cannot comprehend and cannot overcome, and we must shine with it continually. We can’t stop when it’s no longer fun, when it’s inconvenient, when it’s hard, when we’re tired, when we’re ridiculed, when people aren’t responding, when we don’t feel like it, when we’re in a hurry, when we’re under stress, when it hurts, when it costs us, when it’s a person who has hurt us, when it’s unfair. If we stop shining, what will happen to the others in the room?

But let us not stop shining. With our Blessed Mother’s help, let us shine continually, blinding Satan with the light of Jesus, the Flame of Love of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, in every moment, in every action, in every place, in every choice, with every person. Remember the others in the room – let us shine for them.

. . . everyone who hands himself over, with loving renunciation, ignoring himself, is a broom in the divine hand. Only by the incessant offering of sacrifices [love in every moment] will you all be worthy of My taking you into My hand and using (you) for the most effective cleansing. Yes, through you I will sweep the schools, theaters, movie theaters, offices, workshops and factories, hospitals and night clubs, the streets, the flowery meadows, the leafy trees and everything, wherever there’s sin!

April 9, 1964 – Critical Edition

With our Mother’s help, let us shine until the perilous dark of night is no more for it is God who is light who now shines in us as He does in our Blessed Mother full of grace. BE THE LIGHT THAT BLINDS SATAN – ALWAYS! Love in every moment.

Night will be no more, nor will they need light from lamp or sun, for the Lord God shall give them light, and they shall reign forever and ever.

Revelation 22:5