Why did everything get worse after I became a catechumen?

I really don't like the way spiritual warfare is often presented on the internet, because it places too much emphasis on what the devil is doing. The devil does devilish things because he's the devil. Our emphasis in the church is on growing close to Christ through prayer, fasting, and participation in the sacraments. But it is a reality that as we seek that end, the devil is more active in our life.

With pretty much every group of catechumens I see the same scenario. I tell them, when you try to become Orthodox, you will see a noticeable uptick in the intensity of spiritual warfare. People take it with a wink and a nudge, and then they become catechumens and things get a little crazy. They find themselves in arguments out of the blue with their spouse, or something happens at work to keep them from church, or they start having the worst nightmares of their life.

Sometimes, sadly, the children even start to see things. One family I knew before I was a priest had a six-year-old daughter who started experiencing things around the house. I told them to have the priest come bless the house, and after the blessing the daughter said, the black cat left when the priest blessed the house. The power of the sacraments is much more profound than people realize, to the degree that the devil is forced to do more warfare against them to prevent them from becoming Orthodox. We're doing nothing to make the devil do this. It is simply a spiritual reality.