The devil doesn’t have a prayer

In an interview in Exorcists against Satan by Italian journalist Fabio Marchese Ragona, Pope Francis was asked about the devil. “It is possible that I get on the Devil’s nerves,” he said, “because I try to follow the Lord and do what the Gospel says. And that annoys him. At the same time, he is certainly happy when I commit some sin. He seeks man's failure, but he has no chance if there is prayer.” It is a great mystery that God should permit diabolical activity, says the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “but we know that in everything God works for good with those who love him” (CCC 395). Take the simple steps of daily prayer and good works to keep the devil at bay.