In the second mansion of St. Teresa of Avila’s Interior Castle, the battle gets loud. You have started praying, you are doing the daily examen, and suddenly you see your sin, your patterns, and your past more clearly than ever. The enemy rushes in with shame, discouragement, confusion, and the lie that “all of this was easier before you started getting serious.”

In this episode of The Devil is in the Details, Dan and Jordan continue their series on The Devil in the Castle and unpack the spiritual warfare of the second mansion, where the soul is spiritually awake but still fragile.

You will hear about

• How daily mental prayer and the examen wake you up to the real state of your soul

• The way the enemy weaponizes shame, universal negatives, and “you will never change”

• Why quitting prayer to “make the attacks stop” is like paying protection money to the mob

• Practical tactics to resist temptation in the first wave and train your will to fight

• The need to flee near occasions of sin, change life systems, and sometimes even leave relationships or environments

• How detachment from media, noise, and certain friendships actually weakens the enemy’s grip

• Why small daily mortifications and physical discipline strengthen you for spiritual battle

They also touch on redemptive examen, the sovereignty of God in the middle of the fight, and concrete tools like Into the Deep, Finding Peace in the Storm, and the Holy Habits app to help you keep going when the battle feels most intense.

This episode is part of a series on The Devil in the Castle. For full context, start with the introduction and first mansion, then continue through the playlist. Resources and free courses on mental prayer, spiritual warfare, and discernment of spirits are available at SpiritualDirection.com and ApostoliViae.org.

If you are not practicing mental prayer every day, are you really on the road to heaven? The saints would say that you're not.

In this episode of The Devil is in the Details, Dan and Jordan continue their series on The Devil in the Castle and Saint Teresa of Avila’s Interior Castle, stepping from the courtyard into the first mansion. They unpack why the saints, including Teresa of Avila, Alphonsus Liguori, and Aquinas, insist that daily mental prayer and a daily examen are not optional extras, but essential for salvation and authentic discipleship.

You will hear about

• Why Aquinas can say it is a sin not to pray

• How mental prayer actually gives you self knowledge and heals self delusion

• What a simple daily examen looks like in real life

• The “handles” sin creates for the enemy, and how they fall off as you grow in charity

• The lies that keep people from engaging in spiritual warfare, especially fear of “stirring things up”

They also walk through the "demonic goal" for those in the first mansion, the enemy’s tactics to keep you from daily prayer, and the concrete remedies the Church gives us, such as Mass, confession, mental prayer, and a spiritual rule of life.

When Catholics actually pray the Rosary well, hearts heal, families are protected, and hidden lies lose power. Gabriel Castillo (Gabby After Hours) joins Jordan to unpack real spiritual warfare (the 95% that happens in our minds and hearts), how Mary personally heals father/mother wounds, and why a daily Rosary fuels Confession, the Eucharist, and peace of soul.Gabriel’s new book: The Power of the Rosary• Book: https://sophiainstitute.com/product/the-power-of-the-rosary/• Audiobook: https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Power-of-the-Rosary-Audiobook/B0FNS35SBB?srsltid=AfmBOorwoJ7b_vCPR-FXfXmf-lQ-kkJZkn6yTCHvJEZzK_TEZZ2xq6rf• Gabriel’s channel (Gabby After Hours): https://www.youtube.com/@gabiafterhours