EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT EXORCISM BUT DIDN'T KNOW QUITE WHOM TO ASK

SpiritDaily ^ | July 9, 2010 | Father Thomas J. Euteneuer

[NYer]

The new and highly informative book by U.S. exorcist Father Thomas J. Euteneuer might be called "everything you wanted to know about exorcism but didn't know who to ask."

Its actual title is Exorcism and the Church Militant, and in it the priest, who also heads Human Life International, covers most major aspects of deliverance from evil spirits -- the difference between a possession and an infestation, the role of laity in deliverance, development of the Church's exorcism rituals, how demons enter, the way they hide from the priest, how dioceses handle such cases, and so forth.

Want to know if during an exorcism a demon can jump from one person to another?

"Except for true victimization by people practicing evil, demons can only enter a person with his permission," writes Father Euteneuer. "That is to say, demons can be sent into other people through deliberate victimization, which is usually the result of some form of targeting of vulnerable people by others practicing the occult arts; but demons do not jump from one person to another, even in extraordinary exorcism. The exorcist must always instruct his team never, under circumstances, to invite the devil to come out of a person and into himself because it never actually helps the original victim."

We may add a caution: without proper preparation -- especially fasting -- even a priest can be vulnerable. Demons can extend their wickedness to others, for sure, and we have seen cases where priests practicing exorcism or preaching spiritual warfare themselves became infected. Usually, it can be traced to pride (which weakens our bubble of protection). All of us must be careful of that. As Father Euteneuer says, "We must always avoid the two extremes: that of believing that we are invulnerable to them and that of attributing too much power to them."

Can demons hide?

"In fact," he says, " it is rare when demons do not try to hide from the exorcist."

Should an exorcist taunt the demon?

Never.

What does the Church teach?

There is so much about that in this book that it's unfair to synopsize.

Properly presented to a bishop, claims Father Euteneuer, most requests for a solemn exorcism are granted.

The problem: many dioceses are without exorcists or have priests who believe more in a psychological explanation.

Father actually reprints the 1614 Rite of Exorcism.

Like so many others, he warns of special harm caused by contact with the occult -- and here we all need to realize that it can enter subtly through horoscope and "fun" things like fortunetellers and computer games or movies or novels.

Can practicing Christian have a demon? Yes. How many exorcists are there? As Father Jeffrey Grob of the Chicago Archdiocese has lamented in a doctoral dissertation on the subject: "It is staggering to realize that there are no more than seventeen officially appointed exorcists working in the United States. Seven dioceses have exorcists working on a case by case basis in various parts of the country."

Staggering -- or terrifying?

Jesus cast out demons constantly. Obviously, there are many, although, granted, also obviously, many cases are one of "deliverance" more than full possession necessitating solemn exorcism.

But still!

As for the tools the Church grants us:

"Sacraments and sacramentals undoubtedly protect us from the power of evil but not because they are magic," opines Father Euteneuer. "They are, rather, spiritual fountains which confer grace, provided that the recipient of these marvelous gifts uses or receives them with faith. The protection of the Church’s spiritual resources can be likened to an electrified fence around a house."

[greatplains]

Ha! My first thought exactly!

[small voice in the wilderness]

I’ve seen that adding to or taking from God’s Word is when evil is allowed in. that and the ‘yea, hath God said’ question of the originator of evil!

[Manic_Episode]

Deliverance

Another Deliverance

A Very Dramatic Deliverance.

[Desdemona]

Luther was possessed, eh. Well, that explains a lot. ;)

[johngrace]

Wow! Just my thoughts too. I like you.

"I’ve seen that adding to or taking from God’s Word is when evil is allowed in. that and the ‘yea, hath God said’ question of the originator of evil!"

The Ex-Monk Mad man took old testament books out of the Bible, Also tried to continue the madness by taking out the book of James and Revelation. Truly madness!

[Dajjal]

I will definitely buy a copy asap. But an article Fr. Euteneuer wrote on the subject some months ago left me with grave doubts. It was something along the lines of "I just completed a very long and difficult exorcism -- it took four hours."

Anyone familiar with Fr. Malachi Martin's discussions on exorcisms would know that for Fr. Martin, that would be an extremely short exorcism, with a high probability of recidivism.

[Pyro7480]

Perhaps the last session lasted four hours?

[Desdemona]

The Ex-Monk Mad man took old testament books out of the Bible, Also tried to continue the madness by taking out the book of James and Revelation. Truly madness!

He added phrases and took a few out as well.

[Desdemona]

FOUR HOURS! That’s ALL???? Father Amorth always said they took 10-12 and you needed one for each demon. Since they travel in packs, it’s not unusual for an individual to need four or five separate exorcisms for a single infestation.

[jonno]

BUMP (in the night...)

[editor-surveyor]

“What is a demon?

Where do they come from?”

.
According to the epistles of Enoch, they are the disembodied spirits of the offspring of unions between the fallen angels and women.

They are definitely not the fallen angels themselves.
.

[lastchance]

I just got back from Father’s lecture. What a wonderful, engaging speaker he is. I strongly recommend seeing him if anyone gets the chance.

[mlizzy]

Another thing to remember is that a lot of times manifested evil disguises itself as something good and wholesome. And, no, I’m not talking about Harry Potter.

I read Michael D. O'Brien's book on Harry Potter, Harry Potter and the Paganization of Culture, and thought it gave some good information on how the devil wiggles himself into the lives of countless children through "fantastic" films and books, not to mention their parents. Graduating from Harry Potter, one goes to Twilight, and now there are kids who actually are biting one another instead of kissing ... Link.

[mlizzy]

I just got back from Father’s lecture. What a wonderful, engaging speaker he is. I strongly recommend seeing him if anyone gets the chance.

Fr. Euteneuer is a saint-in-the-making. I would love to hear him speak. What was his talk about? How many people were in attendance?

[Desdemona]

The objection to Harry Potter is "the glamorization of witchcraft", truth be told. Even Fr. Amorth said that. Charmed, Bewitched, Freaky Friday, The Shaggy Dog, and a variety of other presentations did the same thing and there wasn't nearly the outcry and they made it look more normal, not it's own little world.

I think it's interesting that fantasy, but not sci-fi fantasy is an issue. I don't remember any outcry over Star Wars and feeling the force flow. Good Heavens when Yoda gets the X-wing fighter out of the swamp without anything but the force....

But that wasn't what I was referring to. I was really thinking in terms of destruction of the family and all the assorted language that attacks the transmission of life such as "protected" and "safe" and "planning", etc.

[mlizzy]

Star Wars had a hero, though. Harry Potter, on the other hand, was rewarded for breaking the rules and lying. I like this from an article on Fr. Euteneuer:

‘I’m very set against Harry Potter,’ he said. ‘It’s pumping into our children’s minds the language and imagery of the occult. It’s extremely spiritually dangerous.’

He also called attention to a growing fascination with the cult of the vampire, especially through the popularity of books and movies like Twilight, where the main character falls in love with a vampire.

‘I predict that in the next 10 years or so, we’ll see an explosion of occult activity,’ said Fr. Euteneuer. ‘The number of soft-core occultism in the form of things like Harry Potter, Wicca and the New Age is on the increase. These are the gateways to the hardcore stuff. Ask any inner-city police department if they’re seeing evidence of Satanism. They’re organizing whole task forces to deal with crimes having to do with these things. As society becomes more faithless, this wickedness comes and fills the vacuum.’” --John P. Connolly, The Bulletin

[Desdemona]

So, Buffy the Vampire Slayer meant nothing? Vampires are somewhat darkly romantic. Always have been, probably always will be. Twilight, whatever that is, certainly isn't unique. Lost Boys, From Dusk Til Dawn, Angel, etc., preceded it.

Harry Potter is rewarded for breaking the rules? That's an objection? He does an awful lot of heroism to not be a hero. He does get detention in every book and in the end, he isn't the one to kill the bad guy. Didn't mean to spoil it for you if you didn't know that. I can see where the glamorization issue would be a concern if it isn't thoroughly explained that this is fantasy. I'd be more worried about Ouiji Boards which are based on actual occult practices than a world that's made up and uses a lot of western European mythological imagery.

It just seems like the massive vitriol is kind of chicken little-ish. There's other things out there that are far more sinister.

[mlizzy]

You'd have to refer to what Fr. Euteneuer and Michael D. O'Brien have said in regard to Potter. They are much more aware of how destruction of the soul can take place. Also the Pope was against Potter and other fantastical movies/books. I've provided quotes on Euteneuer I think, but there's much more online. O'Brien's Web site is here. His book was a real eye-opener for me, however, I've always been a bit skeptical over the Potter series, ever since our spiritually dry priest gave it the thumbs up.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its ilk were all lead-ins to deeper occult stuff. The devil would never go from Ozzie and Harriet to late-term abortion all in the period of a year or two. He takes small steps just like the boiled frog story ...

[Desdemona]

Considering that Ozzie and Harriet had one of their granddaughter's birth certificate altered to make it look like she wasn't conceived before her parents' wedding, I wouldn't use them as an example to emulate.

In spiritual warfare, I'm beginning to believe that the fictional stuff is more a bunch of red herrings than anything. There's actual real demonic practices out there and it's been around for a lot longer and that's the stuff that, for me anyway, attracts trouble which is why I stay away from doing any sort of seeking info even if it's in preparation for defending the Church. I had to quit and the subject in question at that point was freemasonry.

[lastchance]

He spoke on how exorcism is not at all like shown in popular culture. The main focus of his talk was not exorcism but on the coming battle facing all Christians. He said this is evidenced by the increase of acceptance of the occult. Whether in actual practice or in movies and books that gloss over this and make it attractive. He said this is evidenced by the increase acceptance of immoral teachings and practice.

He emphasized the necessity for humility and complete reliance on Christ in spiritual warfare. And he reminded us of that frequent reception of the sacrament of confession and the Eucharist will give us Grace.