If you want detailed information on demonic possession and exorcism, I can’t recommend more, Fr Malachi Martin’s book,
“Hostage to the Devil.”
As I remember from the book, demonic possession just doesn’t happen, but rather, it’s a process. The demon works on the victim over time who eventually gives up to the demon, God’s greatest gift and that is, “free will.”
In the book, Hostage to the Devil, there are five documented cases of demonic possession which happened in the United States. One is a young girl, but there is even a Catholic priest who was demonically possessed.
Also according to the book, the exorcist priest, will combat the same demon for most of their life.
Most exorcist are not highly intellectual, nor are they dynamic in anyway. In fact, they are usually very humble simple priest. A priest with pride will be defeated in an exorcism. Great humility is mandated.
In one of the cases in the book, the victim is a Jewish teen. After the teen had spent years in psychiatry without success, his brother’s decided to seek out a priest, for they felt he may be possessed. The teen’s psychiatrist however, who was also Jewish and an athiest, opposed the exorcism, believing that the problem was purely pyschological. However, the brother’s found a priest and wanted him to do the exorcism. **The rule in exorcism is that only the priest and a strong person, perhaps a police officer, could be in the room. **However, the teen’s doctor refused to allow this. He insisted that he be allowed into the room as well. The priest finally agreed under the condition, that the doctor was to remain absolutely quiet, he was not to speak a word. The doctor agreed.
As the exorcism began the demon immediately went to work on the doctor, speaking to him about his mother, who had died years before. The demon told the doctor that his mother was in hell with him doing things I can’t mention here. The doctor remained silent until the demon started revealing things that happened between the him and his mother, back when he was a young boy. The doctor reacted by speaking against the demon. Now, the demon had him. For one, he broke the promise he made to the priest to remain silent. Second, he was an athiest and didn’t believe such things. Before it was over, the demon won the debate with the doctor. The doctor was left in the corner having a nervous breakdown, and had to be carried out and brought to a hospital. Then the demon violently attacked the priest physically. The priest was so badly beaten, that it took 3 months in the hospital to recover. The exorcism failed. However, after the priest revovered, he went back and performed a sucessful exorcism.
I may have some of the details incorrect, being it’s been a long time since I read the book. But the gist of it is correct.
All that being said. **I strongly advise, don’t spend much time on this subject. **Don’t give the devil more time than necessary. Go back to your spiritual devolopment in getting closser to Jesus,
and always look to Our Blessed Mother for protection.
It’s not a book for the sensitive, It kept me up at night a couple times.
Jim
