To the soldiers of our King the shield of Faith is indispensable. Without Faith it is impossible to please God, and without Faith no one can be a true soldier of Jesus Christ. It is the Faith of the Christian that overcomes the world and puts the devil to flight. The Faith of the martyrs won them their crown; the Faith of confessors enabled them to work miracles; it is this Faith which is dear to every true Catholic beyond all else. And this Faith must be a living Faith, if it is to avail us against the foe. It must be actuated by charity; it must comprise firm confidence in God and dependence on Him. With such a Faith we are secure against all the assaults of the King's enemies.

The Christian soldier must also have the sword of the Spirit, which is the "Word of God," and which consists in obedience to all those holy inspirations that God puts into our minds, and all the holy lessons that we learn from Holy Scripture, the sermons we hear, the pious books we read, and the example of others. These holy inspirations are chiefly gained in prayer, and without prayer we shall never be safe. Without prayer we never shall be able to put the devil to flight, and to withstand the seductive influence of the world, and the temptations of the flesh.

The Christian soldier must also be clothed with the breastplates of justice. Justice is the virtue which makes us give to each his due, and primarily which makes us give God His due. To God we owe everything we have; nothing is really our own. Yet how grudging we are in giving to God His due in our worship, in our alms, in our remembrance of Him, and our dependence upon Him.