How common are exorcisms nowadays?

[pablope]

Thanks, JimG, Pablope, and e_c – especially for the links.

To Pablope,
I find Catholicism fascinating in a lot of ways, and this is one area of interest.

I had heard somewhere where the demon possessed do not blaspheme Mary. Is that true? If so, I wonder why – does God not allow it or does Mary command respect from even the evil one? I will read the URLs and see what other interesting info there is on this subject of exorcism. it has been a curiosity of mine for a while, although dormant until now.

Hi, Tommy,

From what I remember, and am not sure if it is from the book The Rite by Baglio, and as you can read from the prologue, demons speak with forced reverence about Mary, because of her obedience to the Lord…as one reason…and Mary’s love can overcome the devil.

Here are two articles, I recalled: churchpop.com/2015/06/07/st-john-paul-ii-romes-chief-exorcist/

And the most powerful intercessor of all?

“Of course, the Madonna is even more effective. Ah, when you invoke Mary!”

“And, once I also asked Satan, ‘but why are you more scared when I invoke Our Lady than when I invoke Jesus Christ?’ He answered me, ‘Because I am more humiliated to be defeated by a human creature than being defeated by him.”

churchpop.com/2015/03/13/why-are-demons-so-afraid-of-mary/

Reading them as a Protestant, what particularly shook me about Amorth’s accounts of several of his exorcisms was the presence and power of Mary…bvear this in mind, because when a demon trembles at the name of Mary, doesn’t it follow that it must be Mary the demon is trembling at?

One of Amorth’s accounts that really bothered me went like this. During a particularly challenging exorcism, the demon-possessed individual suddenly began screaming out. In their pain, the demon, speaking through the individual, agonized over the searing pain and light they were experiencing, “She’s here, she’s here!” the possessed individual was screaming and explained it was Mary and it was her light that the demon could not bear.

There, in the exorcism, Mary, Mother of God, came to pray for the possessed individual and the demon responded. In fact, it hurt the demon to be that close to her…But demons respond to Mary. Her name. And when she’s prayed to, in at least several of the encounters Amorth records, she makes herself present, and she prays for the possessed. And the demons hate it.

Like the famous wedding at Cana where Mary asks Jesus to perform a miracle and He does, in these recorded exorcisms it seems a similar thing is taking place—and that’s worth taking note of.

 

[e_c]

Thanks, JimG, Pablope, and e_c – especially for the links.

To Pablope,
I find Catholicism fascinating in a lot of ways, and this is one area of interest.

I had heard somewhere where the demon possessed do not blaspheme Mary. Is that true? If so, I wonder why – does God not allow it or does Mary command respect from even the evil one? I will read the URLs and see what other interesting info there is on this subject of exorcism. it has been a curiosity of mine for a while, although dormant until now.

What should be clear is 2 things.

1. It’s real.
2. For some reason it’s only Catholic priests who can do anything about it.

Authority and truth are intimately connected. Doesn’t it seem that this is a real sign that the Catholic Church is the one with lawful authority, and therefore the truth?

 

[rcwitness]

What should be clear is 2 things.

1. It’s real.
2. For some reason it’s only Catholic priests who can do anything about it.

Authority and truth are intimately connected. Doesn’t it seem that this is a real sign that the Catholic Church is the one with lawful authority, and therefore the truth?

I’m not under the impression number 2 is accurate.

 

[Tommy999]

What should be clear is 2 things.

1. It’s real.
2. For some reason it’s only Catholic priests who can do anything about it.

Authority and truth are intimately connected. Doesn’t it seem that this is a real sign that the Catholic Church is the one with lawful authority, and therefore the truth?

1. I believe demon possession is real, too. I wanted to clear that up if you thought I believed otherwise.

It’s somewhat of an unexplored issue for me because I don’t hear about it in Protestant circles, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t believe demon possession can occur in a person. I just figured in today’s world it was sometimes dismissed as mental illness, which I assume it might be in some cases – but not all.

 

[e_c]

I’m not under the impression number 2 is accurate.

It’s true that laity are sometimes integral to exorcisms, but Holy Orders is pretty much essential.

Maybe sometimes there are Orthodox who do exorcisms successfully, but I’ll doubt it until someone provides me with a good example of that occurring.

Never heard of a Protestant doing real exorcisms, only the “deliverance” type stuff which is psychological rather than actually spiritual.

The demons aren’t afraid of them. They’re afraid of people with lawful authority.



What were you thinking of specifically?

 

[e_c]

1. I believe demon possession is real, too. I wanted to clear that up if you thought I believed otherwise.

It’s somewhat of an unexplored issue for me because I don’t hear about it in Protestant circles, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t believe demon possession can occur in a person. I just figured in today’s world it was sometimes dismissed as mental illness, which I assume it might be in some cases – but not all.

Before there is a major exorcism (as opposed to one which any priest can do), there needs to be a serious medical and psychological evaluation. Many cases are indeed dismissed. It’s easy in some cases though to know you are dealing with something else… The person knows information about the exorcist he couldn’t possibly know naturally (extended family history, past sins never confessed, etc… both of which I have heard about happening), speaking languages they don’t know (a common one), other special knowledge (like of which saints’ relics are in the room), and physical phenomena like levitation, unnatural motion, vomiting things they hadn’t eaten (iron nails is a common one).

A lot of cases don’t present these factors, but are instead just like an intense anxiety and mild paralysis which doesn’t respond to anything but exorcism.

 

[rcwitness]

It’s true that laity are sometimes integral to exorcisms, but Holy Orders is pretty much essential.

Maybe sometimes there are Orthodox who do exorcisms successfully, but I’ll doubt it until someone provides me with a good example of that occurring.

Never heard of a Protestant doing real exorcisms, only the “deliverance” type stuff which is psychological rather than actually spiritual.

The demons aren’t afraid of them. They’re afraid of people with lawful authority.



What were you thinking of specifically?

Perhaps you are right. It just wouldn’t surprise me if there are some genuine no Catholic exorcisms. I definitely agree the Church ordained are the common means.

 

[Tommy999]

Before there is a major exorcism (as opposed to one which any priest can do), there needs to be a serious medical and psychological evaluation. Many cases are indeed dismissed. It’s easy in some cases though to know you are dealing with something else… The person knows information about the exorcist he couldn’t possibly know naturally (extended family history, past sins never confessed, etc… both of which I have heard about happening), speaking languages they don’t know (a common one), other special knowledge (like of which saints’ relics are in the room), and physical phenomena like levitation, unnatural motion, vomiting things they hadn’t eaten (iron nails is a common one).

A lot of cases don’t present these factors, but are instead just like an intense anxiety and mild paralysis which doesn’t respond to anything but exorcism.

Perhaps you are right. It just wouldn’t surprise me if there are some genuine no Catholic exorcisms. I definitely agree the Church ordained are the common means.

Thanks for the good info, e-C and rcwitness. . Yes, that makes sense they would do a thorough evaluation on the person to make sure what they are dealing with first.

Follow up question:
Do people who become possessed tend to have any traits in common before possession?

For example, do they tend to be non-practicing Christians who start dabbling in the occult (Ouija boards, séances, etc) or come from a family that is not well-catechized. or can they actually be from a devoutly Christian home, as well?

 

[Bookcat]

Follow up question:
Do people who become possessed tend to have any traits in common before possession?

For example, do they tend to be non-practicing Christians who start dabbling in the occult (Ouija boards, séances, etc) or come from a family that is not well-catechized. or can they actually be from a devoutly Christian home, as well?

Yes that is the more likely way such happens (the first part).

 

[Tommy999]

Yes that is the more likely way such happens (the first part).

Thanks, Bookcat. I was thinking along those same lines but didn’t know for sure.

 

[ShanPO]

Hi there, I actually just finished reading a book by an exorcist who lived in Rome.

amazon.com/Exorcist-Tells-His-Story/dp/0898707102/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1481899311&sr=8-1&keywords=an+exorcist+tells+his+story

Father Gabriele actually passed away this past September after being an exorcist for 30 years or so. It was an interesting read, and I’ve already read The Rite. I think sometimes it’s difficult for us to wrap our brains around demons and Satan because it’s not really a tangible thing. We see evil all the time but even we religious folks tend to say it’s mental illness or any number of other things and demonic possession is usually last on the list or reasons, if it even makes the list at all.

 

[Tommy999]

Thanks, ShanPO. The description of the book looks just like the kind of thing I was looking for.