Lay Exorcism

[Spyral]

I recall that there is a prayer to consecrate a room/exorcise it for the laity - possibly involving St Michael. However I cannot find this. Any ideas?

 

[Mintaka]

Room blessings are a thing for deacons and priests to do, and exorcisms likewise. Why don’t you just ask at your parish? Most priests and deacons are happy to come and do a blessing.

Now, that doesn’t mean you can’t ask God and the saints for a blessing on your house, but that’s not the same thing as having the power to bless. Lay prayers asking for blessing have a totally different tone, a lot like saying grace before meals.

And there’s no such thing as a lay exorcism, unless you count Baptism.

Of course, laypeople are totally free to use sacramentals of a protective nature. Feel free to use blessed Epiphany chalk, holy water, blessed salt, blessed Candlemas candles, Easter water, and all the rest. That’s what they’re there for.

But all the “house blessings for laypeople” that I’ve seen which involved St. Michael, were pretty much attempting to do clerical blessings, didn’t have Church approval, and were huge overreaches. You don’t want to get into that.

The traditional lay approach is simply to ask God’s blessing all the time. Like the old Irish custom of saying, “God save all here!” whenever you enter a house, or saying grace whenever you eat. It’s not a big single thing; it’s a continual asking for God’s blessing.

Here’s a typical sort of daily lay blessing prayer for a house:

Bless this house, o Lord, we pray.
Make it safe by night and day.
Bless these walls so firm and stout,
Keeping want and trouble out.
Bless the roof and chimney tall,
Let Thy peace lie over all.
Bless the doors that they may prove
Ever open to joy and love.
Bless the windows shining bright,
Letting in Thy heavenly light.
Bless the hearth a-blazing there,
Smoke ascending like a prayer.
Bless the people here within,
Keep them pure and free from sin.
Bless us all, that one day, we
May be fit to dwell with Thee.

Anything more elaborate, you want a deacon or a priest.

 

[Mintaka]

Oh, and here’s a nice old prayer from an 1883 Irish Catholic prayer book:

We beseech thee, O Lord, by the intercession of the blessed Mary, ever Virgin,
defend this, thy family, from all adversity;
and mercifully protect us, now prostrate before thee with our whole hearts,
from all the snares of our enemies.
Through Christ Our Lord. Amen.

 

[Bookcat]

What you may be referring too is not licit for Lay Persons (noted by the Holy See) to use (even though some may say it is…it is not --this is of course though different from the “St. Michael prayer” which can be pf course prayed)

As to exorcism per se –

Can. 1172 §1. No one can perform exorcisms legitimately upon the possessed unless he has obtained special and express permission from the local ordinary.

§2. The local ordinary is to give this permission only to a presbyter who has piety, knowledge, prudence, and integrity of life.

vatican.va/archive/cdc/index.htm

 

[Bookcat]

One may though for example pray the St. Michael Prayer in general… etc as a prayer

“St. Michael the Archangel defend us in battle…etc”

 

[Bookcat]

Have the room blessed and make use of Holy Water, Crucifix and a blessed St. Benedict medal with faith… etc

 

[may_they_be_one]

Room blessings are a thing for deacons and priests to do, and exorcisms likewise. Why don’t you just ask at your parish? Most priests and deacons are happy to come and do a blessing.

Now, that doesn’t mean you can’t ask God and the saints for a blessing on your house, but that’s not the same thing as having the power to bless. Lay prayers asking for blessing have a totally different tone, a lot like saying grace before meals.

And there’s no such thing as a lay exorcism, unless you count Baptism.

Of course, laypeople are totally free to use sacramentals of a protective nature. Feel free to use blessed Epiphany chalk, holy water, blessed salt, blessed Candlemas candles, Easter water, and all the rest. That’s what they’re there for.

But all the “house blessings for laypeople” that I’ve seen which involved St. Michael, were pretty much attempting to do clerical blessings, didn’t have Church approval, and were huge overreaches. You don’t want to get into that.

The traditional lay approach is simply to ask God’s blessing all the time. Like the old Irish custom of saying, “God save all here!” whenever you enter a house, or saying grace whenever you eat. It’s not a big single thing; it’s a continual asking for God’s blessing.

Here’s a typical sort of daily lay blessing prayer for a house:

Bless this house, o Lord, we pray.
Make it safe by night and day.
Bless these walls so firm and stout,
Keeping want and trouble out.
Bless the roof and chimney tall,
Let Thy peace lie over all.
Bless the doors that they may prove
Ever open to joy and love.
Bless the windows shining bright,
Letting in Thy heavenly light.
Bless the hearth a-blazing there,
Smoke ascending like a prayer.
Bless the people here within,
Keep them pure and free from sin.
Bless us all, that one day, we
May be fit to dwell with Thee.

Anything more elaborate, you want a deacon or a priest.

How about using the Word of God, which we’ve been exhorted to do? (Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ. ~St. Jerome). Clever rhyming prayers, or sayings do not carry the same power as the Word of God. The Word is active and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword…

And sacramentals are great, but we don’t need to only use them out a need to “be protected”— we also have a WEAPON through which we can STAND OUR GROUND!

So speak Scriptural blessings over those battling with demonic/spiritual attacks, over your home, and over everything!

St. Paul wrote the following to ALL the believers in Ephesus, not just the deacons/priests (from Letter to Ephesians Ch 6):

*10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. *

God’s mighty Word is our hope and shield in times of trouble! It is Himself, His HOLY SPIRIT, speaking directly to us and our situations! God does not leave us without power and weaponry… we are a holy priesthood, children of God, brothers & sisters of the Firstborn Son, Jesus Christ Our Lord!

Therefore, we may BOLDLY go before the throne of grace! If we are in Christ, we are righteous, and the prayers of the righteous are powerful!

Hope this encourages everyone to stand firm on the promises of Christ through His Word!

 

[anruari]

And there’s no such thing as a lay exorcism, unless you count Baptism.

That’s not true: its just forbidden as a matter of discipline. for the very good reason that if your’re dealing with real cases of possession that’s far to dangerous for the average lay person to mess with.
and there have been a small number of cases where people thought they were performing an exorcism which ended up with horrendous consequences such as the “possessed” person being killed.

If you are looking to bless a room or house in normal circumstances then there is literature available and others have made suggestions. If you genuinely believe there is an evil force affecting a specific location then you need to call in the priest in your dioceses who is authorised to investigate such cases and carry out an exorcism if it is warranted. Most priests are not approved for this in the modern church, and some dioceses don’t even have an official exorcist. (and may need to get one in from a neighbouring dioceses.)

 

[Bookcat]

As I recall the Priest does not need to be an exorcist to do an “exorcism of place” but they need the authorization of the Bishop.