I’m not referring to the movie. And yes, the real Emily Rose was a willing soul; however, many victim souls choose this when God creates them. It’s not always God asking an adult whether s/he would do this. So one of us could be a victim soul and not know it.
Fr. Amorth, who’s done thousands of exorcisms, disagrees with you about the necessity of being open to demons (though he does say God has to permit it). Fr. Amorth talks about ways that people have become afflicted through no fault of their own, from curses, hexes or other such spells.
Perhaps God allows the person to be possessed so that the person would find help later on. The Church Fathers had great sympathy to the possessed because they thought it was a sign for the possessed person to receive help. Not everyone becomes possessed but everyone must encounter temptation in their life but in order to help those who were more inclined to sin the Lord may give permission for the devil to possess such a person. I do not believe the devil can do more harm on us as he is permitted to do because God only gives the devils certain parameters to follow but when a person begins to sin greatly or even to prevent a person to continue sinning greatly the Lord may permit possession as to allow the person to become healed later on with the prescribed prescriptions. In the case of St.Seraphim of Russia, the great Orthodox saint was permitted untold attacks by the devils. Although the saint was never possessed he had experienced this great struggle in order to transform him into a great saint. We all have inherited certain weaknesses, some more than others. As the devils were given permission by God to do battle with this Orthodox monk it is certain when people do not choose what is right that God might allow possession to occur in order to correct the situation. It seems to happen in order to arrive at a greater good. The Orthodox monk who did battle with the devils did not waver from his goal to be united with Christ and his victory was rewarded with great sanctity. The possessed person is also one of God’s children and perhaps this is the only way God will be able to reach to such a person.
God permits demonic possession? I have heard of the whole pornography being a gateway drug to possession
She chose to remain possessed so that people would hear her story. Like Fr. Amorth said, way too many people “forgot” that demons exist and are quite active. He blasts a lot of bishops for this. Emily allowed herself to be used as an instrument to wake people up to the fact that even if we ignore demons, that doesn’t mean they aren’t there.
she is so kind sacrificing herself for the greater good of mankind
I think there is a healthy fear of such things. When this fear is diluted, like flirting with vampires, questionable “games” that cross the boundary between just entertaining and the occult, Ouija boards that invites spirits, substance abuse, etc., then the path is easier to trod, but no less dangerous.
BUt what did she accomplish thru this…it didnt change anything, the world still thinks the same way?
The woman I mentioned above had a habit of blaming others for her own actions. Her frequent refrain was “you made me do it, you made me curse”, etc., said to young children as well. She thought religion was baloney but made sure her kids outwardly performed all their obligations mainly for show. Obviously, she felt herself out of control so someone else must be responsible for what she was doing, like a robot. The sewer mouth though was really over the top, and very suspicious in my opinion, not just a personality disorder but something else.I think we can all agree, whether one believes in possession of any kind, that it can never been an excuse or defense for one’s actions.
The devil made me do it.
I read something like 80% of the people who come in for exorcism have actually be sexually abused in their childhood.
Without going into too much detail, I feel the case I mentioned is a family disease. The sister of this woman was really bad news, horribly abused her own daughter, and other unsavory stuff I won’t mention here. Another sister, probably the “best” of all three, was incredibly selfish.
perhaps it is better not to know. This is honestly creepy.
I’m not sure ignorance is better. The truth does set one free in the sense that if you know whom or what you are fighting, you have a better chance of defeating it. Also this is set so far back in history that the source is or reason for all this badness is already gone.
Source for the statements in bold, please?
A Nun told me this. We were talking about my friend, whose little boy is dying.
Sorry, but I don’t find hearsay to be compelling enough to accept those statements as fact.
If you only take the counsel of those protected by the charism of infallibility, you won’t be accepting many statements as fact from anyone…Sorry, but I don’t find hearsay to be compelling enough to accept those statements as fact.
As much as I have a great respect for nuns, they are not infallible. I don’t know the context (it doesn’t sound like possession was likely even the context) or the details of what was said (nor am I asking), and I don’t know her source for this idea. I can’t find any evidence of this being a teaching of the Church, only that the status of any victim soul is a matter of private revelation.
I might agree with the idea that a victim soul does not always have to be an adult. It’s the “could be a victim soul and not know it” part that I find highly suspect.
As a person who has had 12 years of Catholic School, I have a really hard time with this. I never heard of such a thing. There is a difference between being tempted and even persecuted but possession is an entirely different ball game. No one should be “open” to it.