Posted on 11/21/2020 7:37:06 AM PST by SeekAndFind
It’s hard to overemphasize the monumental impact The Exorcist has had on American culture. The nation was captivated in 1973 when the film burst onto the big screen, terrifying moviegoers with the otherworldly story of a little girl who was “possessed by a mysterious entity.”[i]
The success and immediate impact of The Exorcist was so jarring that the film caught the notice of outlets like the New York Times, with 1970s news reports detailing not only its popularity but also the pervasive problems the movie was creating. After the film’s release, a 1974 Times piece warned of “terrified teenagers and priests” who were losing sleep as well as a “wave of inquiries” from people worried that they or their loved ones were possessed.
The impact was immediately widespread and palpable. Decades later, though, the movie is still wildly popular, continuing to petrify viewers across the globe.
As it turns out, The Exorcist was inspired by the strange, supposedly real-life events surrounding a young boy named Robbie Mannheim (an alias used to protect his real identity) — happenings that were said to have unfolded in 1949 on the campus of Saint Louis University (SLU) in Saint Louis, Missouri.
It was Robbie’s weeks-long exorcism there that became the basis of author William Peter Blatty’s 1971 book The Exorcist, a literary project that went on to inspire the timeless 1973 film by the same name.
Robbie was a fourteen-year-old boy from Mount Rainier, Maryland, in January of 1949, when he started experiencing some truly concerning issues in his life and home.
From scratching sounds on the walls and floor of his bedroom to his mattress moving and other elements, Robbie’s family started becoming concerned over the supposedly inexplicable events that were taking shape.
There are some theories surrounding the spiritual catalyst for these supposed issues and manifestations. Robbie’s Aunt Tillie is named as a family member from St. Louis who was close to the teenager; she was said to have been interested in the occult.[vi] Aunt Tillie reportedly introduced Robbie to the Ouija board before her death, based on some accounts. And, according to a St. Louis University retelling of the story, chaos erupted after he tried to use the board to reach Tillie in the afterlife.[vii]
Regardless of the true cause of these issues, Robbie’s family reportedly sought the help of a doctor, a psychiatrist, and a psychologist; they also reached out to a Lutheran minister named Reverend Luther Miles Schulze to help halt the chaos.[viii]
Schulze, who apparently wasn’t able to tackle the issue himself, sent them to a priest named Father E. Albert Hughes, who some believe unsuccessfully attempted to perform an exorcism and was injured in the process after the boy reportedly broke off a piece of the spring from his mattress and slashed Hughes’s arm.[ix]
Continuing on their desperate quest for spiritual healing, the family decided to take Robbie to St. Louis, and that’s when the boy’s parents connected with SLU. What followed was “one of the most remarkable experiences of its kind in recent religious history,” as the Washington Post stated in 1949.[x]
Robbie and his family stayed with a relative who went to SLU, and she connected them with Father Raymond Bishop, one of her former professors at the university. After connecting with other leaders and priests at the school, including Father William Bowdern, the decision was made to perform an exorcism on Robbie — a process that took more than a month.
Bowdern, who led the exorcism, was joined by Bishop, with Bishop keeping a diary of the entire ordeal.[xii] Other priests also took part throughout the month-long attempt to rid Robbie of demonic influence.
The twenty-six-page diary has been of great interest over the years, as it details what priests who were present during the exorcism claimed to have viewed and experienced. Perhaps most strangely, Bishop wrote of apparitions and images that purportedly appeared on Robbie’s body, including an image of the devil on his leg and the word hell popping up on his chest.[xiv]
Reverend Walter H. Halloran, one of the priests involved in helping with the exorcism, also publicly addressed these claims years later. He revealed some of the events he witnessed, corroborating the claim that he saw the word hell emerge on the boy’s skin— something that apparently happened “a number of times.”
If not for the Washington Post’s report, Robbie’s case would have likely remained quiet and forgotten. But somehow the Post caught wind of the exorcism, publishing an August 20, 1949, front-page story titled, “Priest Frees Mt. Rainier Boy Reported Held in Devil’s Grip.”[xvii]
The lede of the article, by journalist Bill Brinkley, proclaimed that a boy had “been freed by a Catholic priest of possession by the devil,” and noted that it purportedly took twenty to thirty exorcism attempts to ensure that the expulsion was successful.[xviii]
Blatty himself discovered Robbie’s story in the Washington Post report; it was a tale that stuck with him, with the author coming to believe it would boost people’s faith.
“When I heard about this case and read the details, that seemed so compelling. I thought, ‘My God, if someone were to investigate this and authenticate it, what a tremendous boost to faith it would be,’” Blatty told IGN. “I thought, ‘Someday I would like to see that happen. You know, I would like to do it.’”[xx]
And he notably claimed Bowdern — the lead exorcist — once wrote him and confirmed that this was truly the case.[xxii]
“He said, ‘I can tell you one thing . . . the case I was involved with was the real thing. I had no doubt about it then. I have no doubt about it now. Good luck with your apolistic pursuits,’” Blatty recounted.[xxiii]
To this day, Robbie’s real-life identity is not widely known. He reportedly got married and had children. There are no sources reporting his death, with his identity remaining a secret despite the cultural fascination that stemmed from his ordeal.
Regardless of where you stand on this story, it’s essential to remember the truths embedded in Ephesians 6:11. We are called to “put on the full armor of God,” as scripture tells us this will help us “stand against the devil’s schemes.”
In the end, this simply means holding close to faith, seeking God and following Christ, as these steps will help protect us from evil. For more about what this truly means, be sure to explore these realities in Playing with Fire: A Modern Investigation into Demons, Exorcism, and Ghosts.
Excerpted from PLAYING WITH FIRE: A MODERN INVESTIGATION INTO DEMONS, EXORCISM, AND GHOSTS. Copyright © 2020 by Billy Hallowell. Published by Emanate Books, a division of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.
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ABOUT BILLY HALLOWELL
His latest book, Playing with Fire: A Modern Investigation into Demons, Exorcism, and Ghosts is available wherever books are sold.
Learn more by visiting: https://www.thomasnelson.com/9780785234517/playing-with-fire/.
[i] The Exorcist, directed by William Friedkin (Burbank, CA: Warner Bros., 1973).
Fr. Ripperger
11-12-2020
U.S. Graceforce Podcast #64
Dear Jesus and Mary,
I ask that, if it be Thy Holy Will, all curses and evil sent against President Trump,
our country or the election process be sent back from whence they came. Amen.
Thank you for sharing this.
If you call for the devil, the devil’s gonna come.
I seem to recall an article about a reporter who eventually found out who the boy was and contacted him by phone as an adult. The man admitted that he was that boy and was the subject of an exorcism but he did not personally remember the details of what happened.
its funny, as the years went by, reviewers of the movie kind of laugh at Ellen Burstyn, who played the girls mother in the movie....her acting is so over the top, they think its the mother who needed the Exorcist, not the girl...lol...i thought the movie was very good...the book was even better.
Watched it on Halloween. Good show.
The battle is real. At my Christian Scientist grandmothers funeral a cold breeze blew under the tent where the immediate family and pastor were when the pastor started to pray. The breeze was strong enough to knock his notes off his lectern. Family members outside the tent didn’t feel it.
***The success and immediate impact of The Exorcist was so jarring***
I remember Paul Harvey telling of a play in England called THE EXORCISM which was playing up on THE EXORCIST movie craze. The star was Mary Ure, wife of Robert (JAWS) Shaw.
After the disastrous opening Mary Ure drank alcohol and took barbituates, and died.
This so scared the British that they could not get anyone to go near the play and it too died the death.
I saw that movie when it was in it’s first release. It freaked me out, and the two adult men I saw it with.
It was a dark and stormy night after we came home from the movies. As I was sleeping, the wind blew open the garage door below my bedroom with a crash. I nearly levitated out of my bed!
RE: I nearly levitated out of my bed!
Too bad, there were no smartphone cameras to take videos then :)
RE: Watched it on Halloween. Good show.
If you like it, try the other movie that is also listed among the scariest of all time -— THE OMEN ( Starring Gregory Peck ).
It is ever true:
Play stupid games. Win stupid prizes.
I really enjoy listening to George Noory/Coast to Coast, late at night as I have insomnia. He makes it clear to never let that board into your house, especially in the hands of children.
Satan doesn’t need that any more. He has television
Snoopy: “It was a dark and stormy night...”.
A couple of years after my college graduation and the publication of the book, I was visiting on of my former instructors, Fr. Kaiser. Some how the book/movie came up and he told me that he was acquainted with the priest who did the exorcism and that the case was quite real. He said that the movie’s scenes of the girl’s reactions was more Hollywood than what really happened. And reemphasized that the case was real and some aspects were worse that what was written by Beatty.
Many years later, the topic came up at work with a colleague who told me that he new the younger priest who had been the pastor of my friend’s Catholic church. He said that the priest only slept during the day as the emotional residue from the exorcism, left him with a fear of being spiritually attacked during the hours of physical darkness.
Amen
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