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.
Ah, the fathers. When did God revoke the commandments?
I hope those will be my hands someday. Pray for me.
He didn’t. However, the Incarnation changed things. A great theologian named John from the city of Damascus (hence, he is called St. John Damascene) wrote about this.
So Jesus said it was ok to make for oneself some graven images out of trees? Can you show me this in the bible, thanks in advance.
Yes, I will! I’m not here as often as I used to be, but I have not forgotten you. Send me a note every once in a while with an update if you feel like it. = D
Acts 5:29
Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.
Mind meld!
I couldn’t remember if I told you or not. :-)
St. Michael’s Exorcism prayer needs to make a comeback in the Church!
That was pretty funny that you thought of the exact same verse! Something like that happened to me today. I was talking about a book to a friend of mine on Sunday, and I ran into the author of that book after Holy Hour this evening!
They are right. (Mark 5:15)
Psalm 95 (94): 8
Could it be that according to some theologies that you arrive with one prayer and there really is nowhere to go and you are just biding your time waiting for heaven?
That they think they've reached the pinnacle while we believe our journey and relationship with God grows through this earthly life and into the next?
That we believe in the Mysteries of God which will be revealed in eternity and that we understand that our relationship with God is in faith even when we don't understand
That we say "yes" to God everyday of our lives.
That when we say that yes, that we are committed to the journey as well as the destination.
Is it because we realize that sometimes we lose our compass and our map but also realize that we always have GPS (God providing steering?) ;-)
That not everything was written nor could it have been because God is so much more than what we can imagine?
That we can't limit God?
That we hold onto the Word as well as the Tradition because Jesus gave us both.
Because we understand what Paul said and know that not all is revealed to even the most zealous followers of Christ?
"Now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. ...then I shall understand fully..."
When a good king rises up and does away with the profane worship, which includes making little cakes for The Queen of Heaven, making idols out of tree stumps, etc etc ,(God is clear on what "idols" are, whether you agree or not) then the nation finds itself on the right path again. This happens somuch, it really must mean something to God. If you believe God and not men, of course.
There’s no way you could have read that all already properly.
That’s a good answer. So who or what put that canon together? Let me rephrase that, who or what institution did God show what was Truth and what wasn’t?
IF IT’S NOT LATIN IT’S NOT RITE!!!
You forget there is no “nation” anymore. Remember what St. Paul said about Jews and Greeks?
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