Angels and Demons are certainly active in the world, far more so than we can perceive. In short, angels work to get us to Heaven, while demons work to drag us down to Hell.
It is generally agreed in the Catholic world that we have one Guardian Angel (one angel for each person), whose job it is to specially protect us from and lead us Home. However, if we are damned, our guardian angels are not damned, for they cannot lose the beatific vision of God, which they possess forever. Demons, on the other hand, constantly “prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls” (From the Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel). Satan has “come down to [us] in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short” (Rev 12:12). What can we do? We can pray frequently to angels for assistance and fight against demonic forces. We must stay close to the sacraments, above all Holy Communion and Confession, and must prefer death and every other type of suffering to any sin.
It is a general rule that in temptations against purity of heart, including against chastity, the best remedy is to flee to God, or to the angels and saints, and most of all to Mary, immediately and completely. The temptation may last and may cause great anguish, but if we make that initial and definite choice for God, then we need not dear the devil’s vain attacks. If, however, we are tempted to sloth, anger, gluttony, avarice, pride or things of that sort, we should fight them head on with the Lord’s assistance.
In all these temptations, the Blessed Virgin Mary, as tradition has testified, should be our go-to. We should call on her as soon as we think of her and recommend ourselves to her without reserve. Since by Mary, we get to Jesus, so by Mary will the Lord help us. Mary is a perfect model and intercessor for us. She is the perfect model because her every action is sinless and pure and more pleasing to God than even the greatest action of any other saint or angel, because she did everything with greater love than all others. She is the perfect intercessor because God loves her above all others, for she is most “lovable.”
She is also the perfect model of humility, which is the foundation of remaining in a State of Grace and persevering to the end in God’s Love. The Blessed Virgin Mary was exalted above every creature that had been or ever will be exalted. Yet she was also the most humble. She lived thirty years of her life as a humble mother unknown beyond her family. Even after Christ ascended into Heaven, it is believed she lived in a small house in Ephesus, in modern day Turkey, where the apostle John took care of her until she died. In fact, out of all her attributes the devil most hates her humility. When a soul grows magnanimously in love of God, he or she is wont at some point to experience abominable temptations, which may last with them for a long while. If the soul resists them, they are meritorious in God’s sight, for the soul, despite having all sensory delights which it formerly had in serving God taken away from it, still serves God. These trials are sent to humble the soul, often to prepare them for greater trials, or at the very least to purify them of deep-seated pride which they possess. Humility is the bedrock upon which charity is built; and it is only by our charity that God will judge us in the end.
Acting humbly enables one to act more charitably, and acting charitably humbles one, because he realizes more and more that God is his end, not himself. So, let us do our best to avoid all sin, but no matter how many times we fall into sin, even if they be most grave sins, let us never despair, for despair to the end is the only unforgivable sin. Rather, let us always seek to humbly love God above all things, “serve him without fear,” and seek the angels and saints, and most of all the Blessed Virgin Mary’s, assistance in time of need (Jn 1:73).