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.
Joe ... thank you! I had never considered this and you are absolutely right. He suffered great indignity at the hands of the Romans who spoke Latin. And we know who goaded them on.
Your postings are quite inspirational.
For you, tiki, and for all the blind visitors to this thread
Luk 16:29 Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.
Luk 16:30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.
Luk 16:31 And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.
There are two valuable lessons is these verses...
One is that the rich man couldn't communicate directly with 'Saint' Lazarus...
The second one is that Abraham suggested that if people want the truth, then pay heed to the writing of the scripture...
How many time did Jesus say 'it is written'...Or, 'have you not read'???
And you will not know about the mystery of the church until your READ what Paul has to say about it in the scripture...
Eph 3:4 Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)
Yes, a couple of very good lessons...The unsearchable riches of the scripture...
That’s beautiful.
Things in the temple were man-made. Even though they were made at the instruction of God they were still THINGS MADE BY THE HANDS OF MEN TO BE USED IN WORSHIP. According to your rules that’s still idolatrous. So are any pictures you own or any ‘art’ or knicknacks that resembles stuff.
LOL
And when you do that tinkly thing on the high keys of a piano... that really ticks him off!
I find it fascinating that such animated discussion on both sides was provoked by an article about Satan and exorcism.
Hmmmmmm...
That's strange. Most muslims don't like that either.... I sense a connection there.
Please check this website:
I am a Knight of Columbus from a fairly large Council. About 10% of my Brothers are Catholic converts. And, they tend to be the most devout.
May God grant you the grace to look at the Church with an open mind! If it is His Will, it will be done!
Peace be with you!
Frank
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| First reading | Ecclesiasticus 44:1 - 13 © |
|---|---|
| Next let us praise illustrious men, our ancestors in their successive generations. Some have left no memory, and disappeared as though they had not existed, they are now as though they had never been, and so too, their children after them. But here is a list of generous men whose good works have not been forgotten. In their descendants there remains a rich inheritance born of them. Their descendants stand by the covenants and, thanks to them, so do their children’s children. Their offspring will last for ever, their glory will not fade. |
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I would have LOVED to have been able to say "We don't go to school." Much of the school day was a waste of time until I got up into high school.
If you’d said it in a deep, sinister voice, with a flash of glowing red eyes, maybe it would have worked for you.
Go ahead and laugh :)
Is your sister Legs_to_there, by the way?
She drew the line though, when the Opus Dei folks asked her why she didn't transfer to Belmont Abbey College . . . "Hey, I worked HARD to get into Davidson!" (even if they are a bunch of Presbyterians).
I told her she can always go to Mass at Belmont Abbey and get the same general effect.
Well, I do have a deep, sinister voice that I hold in reserve (it scares the dogs when I break out my baritone) but my eyes are just twinkly and hazel.
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