When speaking of Satan to children, don’t forget to remind them about Mary

The devil exists. And not only does he exist, he’s not a detail, a bit player in our spiritual life. He’s the enemy who seeks our downfall, to turn us away from God. It is he who sets everything in motion to distance us from God.

In speaking of the devil to children, it’s not necessary to have recourse to images of horned and cloven creatures, nor to more or less fantasy descriptions. On the contrary, we must explain that Satan is very strong and powerful, but that he is infinitely inferior to God. “He has no power over me,” said Jesus (Jn 14:30). The power of Satan is nothing next to God. Only God is all-powerful. Satan is not a god.

We must be careful to make this clear in the minds of children: the difference between God and Satan is a difference in nature. Of course, we’re not going to tell children that, for the word “nature” doesn’t have any meaning to them. But they must understand that Satan is a being, dependent upon God. He cannot destroy God; God could destroy him.

“Why is he evil if God created him?” children will wonder. When we speak about evil, about Satan, and hell, we must always insist on the idea of freedom. God created us good, but with free will. If we weren’t free, we wouldn’t be able to love. If I don’t know how to say “no,” my “yes” is without value. Satan chose to say “no” to God; the archangel Gabriel (for example) chose to say “yes.”

It must be explained that when we do something bad, the devil and God, both in their own way, one lying, the other true, will tell us, “It’s not as bad as that.” But the devil will try to convince us, “It’s not serious, because it’s not bad.” At the same time, God will tell us, “That was bad, but if you wish, you can admit what you did was wrong and ask me for forgiveness. And I will forgive you. Whatever you did, my love is stronger.”

When we speak of the devil to children, when we respond to their questions about him, don’t ever forget to remind them of the One whom God chose to crush the head of Satan underfoot: the Virgin Mary. Let’s show children, for example, a Miraculous Medal, where Mary is represented with a serpent under her feet. That serpent is a representation of Satan. In Mary, Satan is vanquished, crushed, because Mary refused to ever listen to him, to ever obey him. From the first instant of her existence, Mary remained without sin. Let us pray to her to keep us from the snares of the Evil One.

Christine Ponsard (1) Adapted from Aleteia

(1) Christine Ponsard (1956-2004) was a French journalist. She worked for the Catholic magazine Famille Chrétienne and organized religious retreats.