Exorcism

[Sanctus]

Ah yes, the intriguing topic of exorcisim(s). What do you think of them? Does anyone have any first hand knowledge of one being preformed? Have you read the book by Fr. Gabriele Amorth titled An Exorcist Tells His Story? I’d just like some stories, this is something that has always intrested me.

 

[Mysty101]

I’m curious —would you post an opinion poll about any other valid rite of the RCC?

Exorcism is–that’s it. I attended a Mass celebrated by the Diocesean exorcist. It is a very low profile ministry, for obvious reasons. One very interesting thing he said—No matter how he prepares, he is almost always late for every meeting. The night he celebrated Mass for us, he allowed 2 hours for an hour trip, and was still 45 minutes late. Somebody doesn’t like what he is doing!!!

 

[cleopa]

…or maybe he needs to reset his clocks once in a while.

~cleopa

 

[Bill_A]

I pray to saint Michael alot, and or because alot of weird stuff goes on at my local parish and nieghborhood. Last Thursday I was praying to Saint michael, and My dog was sniifing something and cut his nose on a piece of glass. The Vet bill was $95.

 

[Mysty101]

cleopa:

…or maybe he needs to reset his clocks once in a while.
~cleopa

I am just relating what was told to me. He said he does leave extra time, but something always happens, and this is only since he has been involved in exorcisms.

No need to be sarcastic.

 

[Sanctus]

Mysty101:

I’m curious —would you post an opinion poll about any other valid rite of the RCC?

I don’t quite understand what you mean but I included several options (some not in line with the Church) because I realize that there are people on these forums who aren’t Catholic and I wanted to somehow try and represent them. Also, since the new revised rite of exorcism has come out it is questionable which one of the top two statements is most in line with church teaching.

 

[FightingFat]

I don’t know much about exorcism…I know I have been very, very scared a couple of times and all that worked was prayer.

 

[springbreeze]

Sanctus:

Ah yes, the intriguing topic of exorcisim(s). What do you think of them? Does anyone have any first hand knowledge of one being preformed? Have you read the book by Fr. Gabriele Amorth titled An Exorcist Tells His Story? I’d just like some stories, this is something that has always intrested me.

Dear friend

To question the validity of exorcism is to question the reality of satan in this world .

Will you construct a poll to debate whether Christ is Truly Present in the Eucharist?

Equally that would be a redundant post wouldn’t it?

I hope and pray I never need an exorcist for any purpose whatsoever, we pray daily in Mass to be protected from evil and in the ‘Our Father’ we ask God to ‘deliver us from evil’.

Baptism is an exorcism, the Blessing given to Holy Water is an exorcism and the prayer of that blessing is within that Holy Water, that is why people and houses are blessed with the prayer of exorcism in that Holy Water.

My best advice to your dear friend, is to lose your fascination for the things of evil, they may well just fascinate themselves with you. Rather concentrate on following our Lord and pray daily to keep us from sin and from evil.

I certainly do not feel equipped to deal with satan without Our Lord and exorcism is THE way to deal with a severe attack by satan and this can only be done by a Priest who is trained to do so, it would be sheer foolery for a lay person to even attempt this.

Faith is stronger than evil and faith is only stronger than evil because it resides in Christ Jesus, clinging to Him and His Cross.

God Bless you and much love and peace to you

Teresa

 

[_Joshua]

I know first hand that the evil one or his demons can enter people or animals.
About 3 years ago I was leaving a friends house in the small hours of the morning.
A black labador dog came running up towards me growling fiercly, I stood my ground, not because I was afraid.
I could see evil in it’s eyes, so I made the sign of the cross, and the dog took to it’s heels.
Saint Faustina was going to her Church to pray, when a black cat tried to block her, she knew it was evil. If you don’t believe in it you will be easier prey.
Heres a true story of possession, catholiceducation.org/articles/religion/re0137.html

 

[serendipity]

It is a theological fallcy to equate the sacrament of baptism with the rite of exorcism. The baptized is not infected by demonic possession, but receives a sacrament to remove the stain of original sin; or rather than removing a stain, more appropriately to mend a vessel for God’s grace that Adam and Eve’s sin cracked.

There are polls on other topics; including one on “do you believe with everything the church teaches,” and it seems that this question falls into that category.

I definitely believe that exorcisms are a valid rite of the church, although not all people who believe they need them are in fact demonically possessed. Some suffer form mental illnesses, and it is the wisdom of the churches that has people screened by mental health experts.

I also don’t see how this topic expresses fascination with evil. It is another extension of the teaching of the church and who knows - the thread might provide knoweldge that others could use or awaken some one to a sense of vocation.

 

[springbreeze]

serendipity:

It is a theological fallcy to equate the sacrament of baptism with the rite of exorcism. The baptized is not infected by demonic possession, but receives a sacrament to remove the stain of original sin; or rather than removing a stain, more appropriately to mend a vessel for God’s grace that Adam and Eve’s sin cracked.

There are polls on other topics; including one on “do you believe with everything the church teaches,” and it seems that this question falls into that category.

I definitely believe that exorcisms are a valid rite of the church, although not all people who believe they need them are in fact demonically possessed. Some suffer form mental illnesses, and it is the wisdom of the churches that has people screened by mental health experts.

I also don’t see how this topic expresses fascination with evil. It is another extension of the teaching of the church and who knows - the thread might provide knoweldge that others could use or awaken some one to a sense of vocation.

Dear friend

I apologise if I have offended anyone, clearly that wasn’t my intent to offend and cause hurt.

You are correct when you state what baptism is of course people who are being baptised are not possessed with demons etc, but by the very nature of holy water and the prayer it carries (which is an exorcism in it’s nature) that is part of it, Fr Corapi speaks on this in one of his talks on Spiritual Combat with satan.

When I mentioned fascination with evil, sometimes a person can become overly curious in this area not because they are attracted to evil, but just by being drawn to eg tales of exorcisms of poltergeiests etc, this can beome a fascination that is not a healthy one for a soul, so my comment here was one purely to protect anyone who is becoming ‘overly’ interested in this topic.

God Bless you and much love and peace to you

Teresa

 

[_Joshua]

springbreeze:

When I mentioned fascination with evil, sometimes a person can become overly curious in this area not because they are attracted to evil, but just by being drawn to eg tales of exorcisms of poltergeiests etc, this can beome a fascination that is not a healthy one for a soul, so my comment here was one purely to protect anyone who is becoming ‘overly’ interested in this topic.

Teresa

I know where your coming from Teresa, if someone doesn’t believe in demonic posession, or takes the attitude " lets try it and see what happens" then they are playing with fire ( spiritual fire)
Some have tried ouji and other forms of contacts, for fun with horrible results.

As Father Peter Mary from Chicago says, " once we invite him in, he won’t be long taking you up on it"
So don’t invite him in, it’s very difficult to get him to leave.

 

[Mysty101]

serendipity:

It is a theological fallcy to equate the sacrament of baptism with the rite of exorcism. The baptized is not infected by demonic possession, but receives a sacrament to remove the stain of original sin; or rather than removing a stain, more appropriately to mend a vessel for God’s grace that Adam and Eve’s sin cracked.

from the Catholic Encyclopedia

(2) Baptismal exorcism

At an early age the practice was introduced into the Church of exorcising catechumens as a preparation for the Sacrament of Baptism. This did not imply that they were considered to be obsessed, like demoniacs, but merely that they were, in consequence of original sin (and of personal sins in case of adults), subject more or less to the power of the devil, whose “works” or “pomps” they were called upon to renounce, and from whose dominion the grace of baptism was about to deliver them. Exorcism in this connection is a symbolical anticipation of one of the chief effects of the sacrament of regeneration; and since it was used in the case of children who had no personal sins, St. Augustine could appeal to it against the Pelagians as implying clearly the doctrine of original sin (Ep. cxciv, n. 46. P.L., XXXIII, 890; C. Jul. III, 8; P.L., XXXIV, 705, and elsewhere). St. Cyril of Jerusalem (Procat., 14, col. 355) gives a detailed description of baptismal exorcism, from which it appears that anointing with exorcised oil formed a part of this exorcism in the East. The only early Western witness which treats unction as part of the baptismal exorcism is that of the Arabic Canons of Hippolytus (n. 19, 29). The Exsufflatio, or out-breathing of the demon by the candidate, which was sometimes part of the ceremony, symbolized the renunciation of his works and pomps, while the Insufflatio, or in-breathing of the Holy Ghost, by ministers and assistants, symbolised the infusion of sanctifying grace by the sacrament. Most of these ancient ceremonies have been retained by the Church to this day in her rite for solemn baptism.

 

[springbreeze]

Mysty101:

from the Catholic Encyclopedia

Dear Mysty

Thank you dear friend for this quotation.

If we look at the rite of Baptism within that also, is the rejection of satan and all his works. Parents and Godparents do this on behalf of a baby/child and adults do this for themselves.

When we celebrate Easter we also again profess our rejection of satan and all of his works. Each time we bless ourselves with holy water we remember our baptism, our rejection of evil and our profession of faith and the fact we are a new creature in Christ Jesus, in that Holy water is the prayer of exorcism.

Thank you so much again

God bless you and much love and peace to you

Teresa

 

[springbreeze]

Rituals and uses of holy water

The ritual of consecrating holy water traditionally is performed on Holy Saturday and during the vigil of Pentecost. Once consecrated, more ordinary water can be added to the supply of holy water, and the entire quantity of water remains consecrated provided that the amount added is less than the amount of water that was there. Holy water can in fact be consecrated upon any day in the liturgical calendar except Easter Sunday and Pentecost itself. The ritual of preparing holy water is itself in form an exorcism; the priest first exorcises the salt, and then the water itself; the traditional Latin formula for exorcising and blessing the water is:

Exorcizo te, creatura aquæ, in nomine Dei Patris omnipotentis, et in nomine Jesu Christi, Filii ejus Domini nostri, et in virtute Spiritus Sancti: ut fias aqua exorcizata ad effugandam omnem potestatem inimici, et ipsum inimicum eradicare et explantare valeas cum angelis suis apostaticis, per virtutem ejusdem Domini nostri Jesu Christ: qui venturus est judicare vivos et mortuos et sæculum per ignem. (I exorcise thee in the name of God the Father almighty, and in the name of Jesus Christ His Son, our Lord, and in the power of the Holy Ghost, that you may be able to put to flight all the power of the enemy, and be able to root out and supplant that enemy and his apostate angels; through the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will come to judge the living and the dead and the world by fire.) Deus, qui ad salutem humani generis maxima quæque sacramenta in aquarum substantia condidisti: adesto propitius invocationibus nostris, et elemento huic, multimodis purificationibus præparato, virtutem tuæ benedictionis infunde; ut creatura tua, mysteriis tuis serviens, ad abigendos dæmones morbosque pellendos divinæ gratiæ sumat effectum; ut quidquid in domibus vel in locis fidelium hæc unda resperserit careat omni immunditia, liberetur a noxa. Non illic resideat spiritus pestilens, non aura corrumpens: discedant omnes insidiæ latentis inimici; et si quid est quod aut incolumitati habitantium invidet aut quieti, aspersione hujus aquæ effugiat: ut salubritas, per invocationem sancti tui nominis expetita, ab omnibus sit impugnationibus defensa. Per Dominum, amen. (God, Who for the salvation of the human race has built your greatest mysteries upon this substance, in your kindness hear our prayers and pour down the power of your blessing into this element, prepared by many purifications. May this your creation be a vessel of divine grace to dispel demons and sicknesses, so that everything that it is sprinkled on in the homes and buildings of the faithful will be rid of all unclean and harmful things. Let no pestilent spirit, no corrupting atmosphere, remain in those places: may all the schemes of the hidden enemy be dispelled. Let whatever might trouble the safety and peace of those who live here be put to flight by this water, so that health, gotten by calling Your holy name, may be made secure against all attacks. Through the Lord, amen.) These prayers and exorcisms show the uses and powers that have been attributed to holy water in Roman Catholic tradition.

God Bless you and much love and peace to you

Teresa

 

[Sanctus]

springbreeze:

Dear friend

To question the validity of exorcism is to question the reality of satan in this world .

Teresa,
Well…wow. First the first two options in the poll are valid Catholic responses the other responses are obviously not ment for Catholics. I am a Catholic, I picked the first answer…the second answer is also correct as in the revised rite of exorcism there is now a strict warning to ensure that mental illness is not misdiagnosed as a possesion. The other answers are there for the non-Catholics on the board to express their theological viewpoint, regardless of how wrong it may be.

springbreeze:

Will you construct a poll to debate whether Christ is Truly Present in the Eucharist?

If we are now forbidden from debating whether Christ is Truly Present in the Eucharist then how are we to explain and help to convert those who do not believe? Are threads where church teachings are questioned unacceptable? Should these ones be deleted?

Do you believe everything the Catholic Church teaches?

The Eucharist,transubstatiation,belief and miracles

Real Presense

The Very Early Eucharist—Jesus not present in the Bread and Wine?

Is Christ Spiritually Present in Protestant Communion?

There are more on about 1000 different topics…including almost the entire apologetics section…you get the point.

springbreeze:

I hope and pray I never need an exorcist for any purpose whatsoever, we pray daily in Mass to be protected from evil and in the ‘Our Father’ we ask God to ‘deliver us from evil’.

I too hope I never need one. They are needed though indicating that we humans in our sinful nature have a nasty knack for leading ourselves there.

springbreeze:

Baptism is an exorcism, the Blessing given to Holy Water is an exorcism and the prayer of that blessing is within that Holy Water, that is why people and houses are blessed with the prayer of exorcism in that Holy Water.

Others have already chimed in.

springbreeze:

My best advice to your dear friend, is to lose your fascination for the things of evil, they may well just fascinate themselves with you. Rather concentrate on following our Lord and pray daily to keep us from sin and from evil.

Wow…I was unaware that I had a fascination for the things of evil I have a fascination of a Church apostalate not evil. It was an honest question of how other people view evil in the world. I think it is a sad attitude though to not give evil any attention–in my opinion, satan’s greatest accomplishment is convincing us that he’s not really there and he’s not tempting us with sin. My facination is with the Church’s different apostolates one of those is a power over evil spirits. I admit I stand in awe because the Church is both the body through which we recieve the precious Body of Christ and it’s also the institution that casts our evil. My facscination is with the Church.

springbreeze:

I certainly do not feel equipped to deal with satan without Our Lord and exorcism is THE way to deal with a severe attack by satan and this can only be done by a Priest who is trained to do so, it would be sheer foolery for a lay person to even attempt this.

I agree. Were you under the impression that I was suggesting that we all become our own little exorcists? I was not. No hard feelings let’s just not presume what other people were thinking.

God Bless,

 

[puzzleannie]

yes I request exorcism every day when I pray in the Our Father “deliver us from evil”. This is a minor exorcism. We also hear minor exorcisms as one of the rites of Lent for the catechumens, which ask God to deliver them from any evil influences as they prepare for baptism.

 

[Theodred]

serendipity:
It is a theological fallcy to equate the sacrament of baptism with the rite of exorcism.She didn’t do that. She said, “baptism is an exorcism”. Baptism is not, strictly speaking, an exorcism, but exorcism plays a very important role in the sacrament’s ritual.

By definition an exorcism is a sacramental. It occurs whenever the Church asks publicly and authoritatively in the name of Jesus Christ that a person or object be protected against the power of the Evil One and withdrawn from his dominion (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1673). As such, exorcism is often an important part of many common blessings, especially blessings setting apart persons for liturgical purposes.

The Catechism goes on to state in paragraph 1673, in a simple form, exorcism is performed at the celebration of Baptism. Also since Baptism signifies liberation from sin and from its instigator the devil, one or more exorcisms are pronounced over the candidate (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1237).

From the Rite of Baptism:

**

**Celebrant: Almighty and ever-living God, you sent your only Son into the world to cast out the power of Satan, spirit of evil, to rescue man from the kingdom of darkness, and bring him into the splendor of your kingdom of light. We pray for these children: set them free from original sin, make them temples of your glory, and send your Holy Spirit to dwell within them. (We ask this) through Christ our Lord.

All**:** Amen.

Celebrant: We anoint you with the oil of salvation in the name of Christ our Savior; may he strengthen you with his power, who lives and reigns for ever and ever.

All: Amen.Furthermore, in the RCIA, each scrutiny is accompanied by an exorcism (RCIA, 154, 168, 175).

There is a difference, then, between exorcism in general and a solemn or major exorcism that can only be performed by a priest at the discretion of the local bishop, when there is a case of actual and proven demonic possession. For these situations the Rite For Exorcism would be used. It should be noted that a solemn exorcism is still no more than a sacramental.

 

[puzzleannie]

yes I request exorcism every day when I pray in the Our Father “deliver us from evil”. This is a minor exorcism. We also hear minor exorcisms as one of the rites of Lent for the catechumens, which ask God to deliver them from any evil influences as they prepare for baptism.

 

[springbreeze]

Dearest Sanctus

I apologise as it seems I have offended you. Now you make your position clear on your interest in exorcisms and I am pleased that this is the nature of your thread. It wasn’t clear to me from what you posted , then again I could just be dopey and need everything spelling out to me in order to understand where a persons thought processes are coming from.

Thank you for all of your comments directed to wards myself.

God Bless you and much love and peace to you

Teresa