A secular book about exorcism says that one thing rankles demons.Posted on 05/31/2007 8:43:12 AM PDT by NYer
A secular book about exorcism says that one thing rankles demons.
"The devil doesn't like Latin," writes Tracy Wilkinson in The Vatican's Exorcists. "That is one of the first things I learned from Father Gabriele Amorth, long known as Rome's chief exorcist, even though that has never been his formal title.
"Now past the age of eighty, Father Amorth has dedicated the last decades of his life to regaining a measure of respectability for exorcism. Despite his advancing age, he continues to perform the rite several times a week at his office in Rome.
"Scores of people seek him out. He prefers to use Latin when he conducts exorcisms, he says, because it is most effective in challenging the devil."
That tidbit comes to us at a time when Benedict XVI is ready to loosen restrictions on Latin Mass. It's in the new book -- a secular and sometimes skeptical but fascinating glimpse into the world of Italian priests who see their job as casting out demons.
While the numbers dwindle in countries like the Canada, France, and the U.S., exorcists are on the rise on the Vatican's home turf -- thanks largely to priests such as Father Amorth.
In Italy the number of exorcists has grown tenfold in the past decade, according to the priest (who is himself author of two bestsellers, An Exorcist Tells His Story and An Exorcist: More Stories). Credit is also due to the legacy of John Paul II -- who made the notion of exorcism, which was founded by Jesus Himself, respectable again.
Father Amorth was born in Modena in northern Italy and has been a priest since 1954. In 1986 he began performing exorcisms under the tutelage of the vicar for Rome.
According to Wilkinson, Father Amorth accepted the task "after praying to the Virgin Mary for her steadfast guidance and protection."
"On the walls of Amorth's exorcism chamber, eight Crucifixes and pictures of the Madonna are hanging, plus a picture of Saint Michael the Archangel," says the book. "A two-foot-high statue of the Virgin Mary, the Madonna of Fatima, sits on a corner table.
"There are also pictures of the late Pope John Paul II; the popular saint Padre Pio; Amorth's mentor, Father Candido; and Father Giacomo Alberione, the founder of the Society of Saint Paul Congregation."
Father Amorth calls them "my protectors," adding that "the more recent addition of John Paul's has been especially effective and helpful."
"The demons become very agitated at his presence," Father Amorth says of the late Pope -- who himself performed several exorcisms during his pontificate and warned of the rise of dark forces both in 1977 and then in 2005 just days before he lapsed in his final bout with illness.
How is exorcism done? There is the Crucifix. There is the Holy Water. There are the ritual prayers. Many times, those afflicted have to come back on a regular basis -- the process a gradual one.
In Father Amorth's appointment book, women outnumber men by three to one. That is perhaps because they are more in tune with the spiritual, says the exorcist, or because they are special targets as the descendants of Eve.
The very word "hysteria" -- so often seen in the possessed -- comes from the Greek word hyster for womb. Greeks believed it was caused by abnormalities in the uterus.
"I maintain that in part, the reason is because women are the ones who do the most praying," says the priest. "Another reason is women are more inclined to approach a priest than are men, in case of need."
In some cases, say other exorcists, the devil attempts to mask possession as insanity. This sets up conflict with the far newer practice of psychology -- which looks down on exorcism as the psychiatrist's couch has replaced the confessional.
"An exorcism is the residue of a medieval practice completely devoid of any foundation in reason," the book quotes Sergio Moravia, a philosopher at the University of Florence, as saying. "I don't think it's crazy. It's worse."
Exorcists counter that psychological diagnoses such as "multiple personality" and "schizophrenia" are clinical covers for an infestation.
That opinion is shared by the many who have sought the services of Father Amorth -- finding relief when the devil was cast away after years of frustration at the hands of psychiatrists who saw their problems so differently.
Blessed salt and Holy Water are often used not just by the exorcists themselves, but by those who have been exorcised -- to stave off further disturbances.
Extraordinary strength, preternatural knowledge, speaking in foreign tongues unknown to the victim, vomiting of strange objects, and violent aversion to holy objects make pure psychological explanations suspect in strong cases.
Prayer, of course, also chases the devil and his manifestations away -- apparently, Latin in particular.
Bishop Andrea Gemma of Isernia -- who himself performs exorcisms -- ascribes the Church's move from Latin as part of a global plot to undermine Christianity.
"The devil is happy with the near-disappearance of Latin," said the bishop.
Does exorcism mask psychological illness with the supernatural, or is psychology itself a ruse, at least in certain instances, to prevent deliverance?
We have only to study the ministry of Jesus to know the answer.
We are spiritual beings. As CS Lewis so brilliantly put it: "You don't have a soul. You are a Soul. You have a body." The body part is quite temporary. A composite implies that the two are one, but really we will live long after our bodies have been surrendered to the flames.
So it is not unreasonable to believe that God would attach prayers or blessings (spiritual goods) to particular physical objects.
Give some Biblical precedent that blessings are attached to objects. It is quite true that God has used physical objects in the past, but there is no where in the Bible where the objects themselves remain vested with some higher spiritual power.
Take your own example of the mud Jesus spread across the man's eyes. I have yet to hear of Holy Mud being offered to any who are blind. Or take again the incident where Elisha was on his death bed:
"Then he said, "Take the arrows," and the king took them. Elisha told him, "Strike the ground." He struck it three times and stopped. The man of God was angry with him and said, "You should have struck the ground five or six times; then you would have defeated Aram and completely destroyed it. But now you will defeat it only three times."" 2 Kings 13:18-19
I don't recall arrows becoming vested with some eternal spiritual significance. Prove it to me from the Scriptures and plain reason. The proclamation of man alone (any man) is not enough.
Darn, when I saw this thread posted this morning, can’t say I envisioned it becoming a flame war like this. What the heck started it, I really don’t want to read 200 posts.
I am afraid you're missing the point. I am saying that I fail to see how any objects themselves have any bearing. As in the examples I cited above, it was the Name along with some degree of the spiritual strength of he who was giving the command.
Experience and history does not bear this out.
Care to prove the point? As I was saying above, it is the power of the Holy Spirit, not anything we do that causes demons to fear.
"Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded." James 4:7-8
There is no account in the Bible of any who have the Holy Spirit being possessed (though they could be opposed in a very directly spiritual way) and it is, I think, reasonable to assume that it is impossible. After all, how could it be that the Holy Spirit would vacate at the behest of a demon? If, however, you take your eyes and heart off of these things and focus instead on objects, you are abandoning the source of the power.
Best darn beginner's text out there -- and it includes snippets of ancient authors right off the bat so that you can see what Greek really looks like. This was the text that my Greek 101/102 course used back in the 70s - they're up to the 2nd edition now.
It's from MIT Press but you can get it on Amazon. And you can write MIT Press and get the answer sheets for the exercises (at least I did!)
Amen.
I believe there was some Aramaic mixed in as well. Don't bump into you often outside of tech threads. :)
But keep the faith, and don't be discouraged. God will defend the right.
One of the greatest delusions of the Evil One is his tricking humanity into believing that He doesn't exist either.
Remember the flap when President Bush called the Islamic terrorists "evil-doers"???
Basically, the “children of the ‘Reformation’” took offense to the testimony of a bona fide exorcist, who told from experience that the Devil hates prayers in Latin. They’ve basically poo-pooed the concept, but it has gone further with at least two posters. One thinks that our exorcism are magical nonsense (my words, so I don’t have to ping the person if I use their actual words), and the other thought that given some of the posts on this thread from Catholic, it was still the “Dark Ages,” due to the “superstitions” based the “deceit” and “forgeries” of Rome. I guess that poster thinks Fr. Amorth is part of that “deceit.”
No, I'm quite familiar with this topic but thanks for your concern.
am saying that I fail to see how any objects themselves have any bearing.
I know you do. You also fail to understand sacramental grace, priestly authority entrusted by Christ and basic mystical theology.
I'm through discussing this topic with Protestants. There's a built in aversion to anything mystical, positive or negative, which inspires ridicule and makes rational discussion impossible.
Very profound thinking going on today and I agree though I would have never thought of it by myself.
Just the fact that we are alive every day proves that God is merciful.
Proof positive that their theology had lead to the atheism of the past century. You chip away at the mystical, and that is the result.
Something to do. Look - you spend an eternity somewhere and once it’s over, you tell me if you weren’t looking for ways to entertain yourself.
Sigh...I know but we need to be reminded constantly.
Interesting you should use the term hocus pocus. Did you know that expression was created to mock the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, specifically Our Lord's words?
Hoc est enim Corpus meum.
For This is My Body (Matthew 26:26).
Agree or disagree, but my discussion has been quite rational. I offered my opinion and cited the Scriptures to back it up. Now cite them to prove me wrong.
You Catholics, I am a lifelong Protestant, raised as an Episcopalian and most recently a member of a spirit-filled nondenominational church that has been led by a most holy pastor. Yet my soul is curious about Catholicism, and the words you have written on this forum in defense of your faith make me even more curious. You never know when you’re witnessing, or to whom, do you? Now you have filled me with a desire to go out into the woods tonight and kneel and pray about the path I should be taking in my spiritual life. Though there is much about Catholicism that makes me extremely nervous, I’m going to go to the local Catholic church and see if I can get something to study. Thank you all.
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