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My wife and I watched "The Exorcism of Emily Rose" the other night. I thought it was pretty good. Not gory or bloody or gross, I thought it was accurate to what I've seen of Exorcisms on TV. Like on 48 hours, 20/20 and the rest; sometimes they are filmed for posterity and the victim sometimes gives permission for it to be released.

How does the East feel about possession, obsession, opression, etc... by demons? (These are terms from Latin dealing with various types of manifestations.)

I know there was a Romanian incident a few months ago in which a nun who was being exorcised died during the ritual. How is the Exorcism done in the East. Is it the same as in the West?

The Euchologion contains prayers for exorcism, see below. They are simply read over the possessed person or at the affected building. There is no set formal ritual as the Roman Rite has.


Prayer of interdiction of St. Basil the Great
that is read by a priest over one suffering from demons

O God of gods and Lord of lords, Creator of the fiery ranks, and Fashioner of the fleshless powers, the Artisan of heavenly things and those under the heavens, Whom no man has seen, nor is able to see, Whom all creation fears: Into the dark depths of Hell You hurled the commander who had become proud, and who, because of his disobedient service, was cast down from the height to earth, as well as the angels that fell away with him, all having become evil demons. Grant that this my exorcism being performed in Your awesome name, be terrible to the Master of evil and to all his minions who had fallen with him from the height of brightness. Drive him into banishment, commanding him to depart hence, so that no harm might be worked against Your sealed Image. And, as You have commanded, let those who are sealed receive the strength to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and upon all power of the Enemy. For manifested, hymned, and glorified with fear, by everything that has breath is Your most holy Name: of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, now and ever and into ages of ages. Amen.

Prayer for a building afflicted by evil spirits

0 Lord God of our salvation, Son of the living God, Who art upborne by the cherubim and art infinitely more exalted than all the principalities and virtues, powers and dominions: Thou art great and fillest all around Thee with dread; Thou art He that set heaven like a chamber; Thou art He that created the earth in Thy might and hast ordered the universe in Thy wisdom, Who hast shaken the nethermost parts of the earth from their foundations and made its pillars immovable, Who speakest to the sun, and it shineth not; Who sealest the stars; Who forbiddest the sea, and driest it up; Whose wrath melteth the principalities and virtues; by Whose power the rocks are ground to powder! Thou didst break down the gates of bronze, and the gates of iron didst Thou destroy; Thou didst bind mighty [Satan] and didst shatter his vessels; by Thy Cross didst Thou cast down the tyrant [of hell], didst draw forth the serpent with the hook of Thine incarnation and, having set him in Tartarus, didst bind him with bonds of darkness. Therefore, 0 Lord, Thou confirmation of them that place their hope on Thee, mighty rampart of them that trust in Thee: drive away, put to flight and cause to depart every machination of the devil and every satanic assault, every attack of the adversary and oppressive power, from this roof and from them that are sheltered thereby and walk about beneath it, who bear the sign of the victory of Thy Cross, which terrifieth the demons, and who call upon Thy good name. Yea, 0 Lord, Who expelled a legion of demons and commanded the deaf and dumb demon and the unclean possessing spirit to depart from man and to leave, never to return; Who destroyest all the array of our invisible foes, Who hast made wise the faithful who know Thee, [saying]: Behold, I give you power to tred on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: do Thou Thyself, 0 Master, Who art beyond all harm and temptation, preserve all who are in this habitation, delivering them from terror by night and the arrow that flieth by day, from the thing that walketh in darkness, from the mishap and demon of noonday; that Thy servants, handmaids and children, who enjoy Thine aid, may all, in oneness of mind, faithfully chant as with one voice: the Lord is my helper and I will not fear what man shall do unto me; and again: I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me.
For Thou, 0 God, art my confirmation, the mighty Lord, the prince of peace, the Father of the age to come, and Thy kingdom is eternal; and Thine alone is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Dear Dr. Eric,

There was some great film clips of Exorcism in Russia on a show on the History Channel. They showed both a young and older lady being exorcised. One thing I disliked about the show was the writer/narrator's comments that some of the women (I am paraphrasing here) just wanted to go a bit wild, and when they got it out of their system, then stated to the priest they were possessed, at which point the exorcism ritual would start. To me, that is the work of the evil one, trying to make us disbelieve in evil and attributing it to just poor choice.

The evil one is everywhere!

In Christ,

Michael

There are, of course, the Prayers of Exorcism that are prayed by the priest over the one to receive the Mystery of Baptism.

I have met a Byzantine Rite priest from North America who is a proper exorcist. He is on list kept by the bishops where he is in case of need. He has to work out if there is real demonic action in progress or other causes are at play. There is a prayer filled rite to follow and it does not involve doing anything like what happened in Romania.

ICXC
NIKA

So there is no ritual demanding the demon tell its name or prayers to the Blessed Virgin or anything like that?

In the ritual, I have heard those who did the exorcism at St. Alexius Hospital in St. Louis where the "Exorcist" movie got its "ideas" , that the demon is commanded to give its name so the priest can control it in the name of Our Lord and Saviour and expell it.

The Rite of Exorcism suggested in movies is RC. The RC rite would be worth getting hold off to see what they do, when they do it. Have you had time to check the net?

ICXC
NIKA

The book "Hostage to the Devil" by Malachi Martin has an English translation of the Roman Ritual in the back of the book. There is one section of the Ritual devoted to the exorcism of people, and another section devoted to the exorcism of places.

In the Ritual, the priests asks Evil Spirit the following:

"Tell me, with some sign, your name, the day and the hour of your damnation."

The exorcist is also to command Evil Spirit to state whether it is kept within the possessed because of some magical spell or sorcerer's symbol or some occult documents.

Great book, but very scary.

SuperSlav

Any Great Book of Needs or Euchologion will have the various prayers for exorcism. A word of warning though and this was given to us in seminary, one should not attempt to confront a possible encounter with the Evil One without prayer and preparation . I have had to do a special house blessing and read the prayers of exorcism for reasons I care not publically to disclose. Some of the things you see in movies are not sensationalism. That is all I have to say regarding this subject.

In IC XC,
Father Anthony+

I agree with you Father as I have heard this too.
There is a story in 'A Saint for our Times' of a priest who tried to exorcise a poor girl in Greece at the beginning of the 20th century. The poor girl was cursed by her own father and that is how the demon entered her. Every time the priest tried the exorcism, the demon confronted him with his unrepented sins. Finally, the priest was giving up when the demon told him that he was not only one of the most powerful on earth (the other two being in Russia and China), but that only 'the one with the nails' could exorcize him. It turned out that he meant the then deceased St. Nektarios whose body was still intact and whose 'nails' were still growing.

This is dangerous stuff and not to be treaded upon lightly. God bless you dear Father and all those clerics who have prayerfully encountered evil and fought it with the power of God.

Kyrie Eleison!

Respectfully kissing your right hand,
Alice

I definitely wouldn't try it!!!

I told my wife that if I ever would become a priest that's a job I would never want. I would also be afraid of the demon announcing my previously forgiven sins!

Thanks to all you priests that have done battle with the demons!

Dr. Eric,

Like any good tactician, Satan maps our strengths and weaknesses, our battle is preventing repetition... ,

A good read, those Screw Tape Letters...

james

I have also heard that if a demon tries to engage a person, that the person SHOULD NOT respond to it. That the person shuold immediately call out to the angels, saints, the Theotokos and Our Lord, Saviour, and God Jesus Christ for immediate and assured assistance!!!

Dear Friends,

As a child, we had moving furniture in our third-storey bedroom and other quaint events that led to a minor exorcism by a priest at the time . . .

After that, all quiet on the front . . .

Recently, I was taped for a local show called, "Ghostly Encounters" and related the whole story, including a description of the Byzantine exorcism - this will be aired in April on one of our local TV channels.

I mentioned the icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help that we had in our room - I still have it. The show is using child actors to recreate the scene as I related it - and they recently contacted me to ask where they could get a copy of the icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help for use in the recreation!

Isn't that cool?

Also, Dr Eric's question about the naming of the Mother of God and the Saints - in the Orthodox monastic tradition there is a practice for any monk in his cell to ask a visitor knocking at his door to say the Jesus Prayer before he or she will let them in.

There is a story about a visitor to an Eastern hermit in a forest.

The hermit had to leave for a while and so told him to stay in his hermitage, but to let no visitor in until they would say the Jesus Prayer . . .

As the visitor sat alone in the hermitage, he heard a loud knocking and a very coarse voice said, "Let me in!"

He responded by saying, "Say the Jesus Prayer please . . ."

The voice then shouted, "Let me in!!" And whoever it was began pounding ferociously on the door to the hermitage.

"Say a Prayer!" the frightened man inside responded.

By the time the hermit returned to the hermitage, he found his visitor huddled in a corner, shaking like a leaf.

"So - it is good you didn't let him in . . ." the hermit said . . .

Alex

I believe that several years ago then-Cardinal Ratzinger instructed Catholics to never address a demon directly, but only pray for the intercession of Christ and the saints [especially St Michael the Archangel], unless a cleric and appointed and trained as an exorcist. Seems some Italian charismatics were getting in way over their heads....
-Daniel

Alex,

You never cease to amaze me with your stories and anecdotes. Have you ever thought about writing a book? You should rewrite the whole Encyclopedia of Ukraine!

All,

I feel I may be opening a can of worms on this one, so I apologize if this person is taboo, but, anyone know anything on Fr. Malachi Martin?

I heard something about him one night on this certain late late night radio talk show when I couldn't sleep.

-uc

Dear UC,

Yes, I think parts of the Encyclopedia of Ukraine SHOULD be rewritten!

Fr. Malachi was a former advisor to Pope John XXIII, I believe, and a Jesuit who left Rome because he disagreed with the way Vatican II was being interpreted by certain circles - at least so I understand.

His book on exorcism is a fascinating study on this subject, complete, as you know, with ten actual accounts, with reprinted dialogues, of exorcisms. If I heard something on the radio about Fr. Martin, I think I would have trouble sleeping too!

He also had a think or two to say about the Jesuits - but who doesn't?

And do you know some Eastern Catholics' definition of Basilians?

"Latinizers of the worst Order . . ."

As they say in Kyiv,

Ciao!

Alex

Hey...

About two weeks or so ago...I watched I think was about 2 hour documentary on excorcism on the History Channel...maybe it was 3 hours...it seemed very long...

It showed a lot about the Orthodox excorcism. It's very holy...wow. Powerful too.

And of course they show the Roman Catholic excorisms.

They also showed excorcisms of other faiths and traditions (including Hindu, Budda, other weird religions). But showed that the Catholic and Orthodox seems to be very effective...as well as certain Protestant circles...but mostly Catholic and Orthodox are just more effective because of tradition or etc.

It's very dangerous...yes. I have the excorcism prayer in my house...and I've used it once...it's just too dangerous. There was something lurking around my home...I also used Holy Water from the Greek Orthodox priest...

And also it's a coincidence..within a day or two from watching that program on History Channel...there was a talk about excorcism on EWTN...mostly about how Satanists attack the Eucharist taken from the Catholic and Orthodox churches...it's also mostly about demonic pocession...that the demons would compel the person to take the Eucharist and drop it off to a location for Satanists to use to curse against G-d.

Very interesting, indeed. Scary too!

It's funny how Satanists truly KNOW and believe the True presence of Christ in the Body and Blood of the Eucharist....in BOTH the Catholic and Orthodox Churches...but YET both Catholic and Orthodox take it very lightly...and many dismiss it as symbolic or just "a piece of bread and wine". Very intersting!

SPDundas
Deaf Byzantine

It's not funny it's sad. But I know what you mean.

The Satanists also use aborted babies in their rituals. One of King Louis XIVs mistresses was involved in these abominations. The head of the coven even had 50 Roman Catholic priests who would perform these abominations for her.

Lord have mercy!

Dear Dr. Eric,

I could say a few stories of my own, but the most interesting is what happened to a grand-aunt of mine.

This widowed aunt of mine, would hear rocks, if not boulders, being thrown on her roof at night. Yet, there was no damage whatsoever on the roof.

One day she begged my grandmother, who was fearless, to sleep with her so that she wouldn't be alone in the house. My grandaunt couldn't leave the house because another family was trying to claim it.

Well my grandmother did go and was frightened out of her wits. Not only were rocks being thrown on the roof, but there were whispers through the key hole saying 'I will take you'. Well that was it for my grandmother. She refused to stay another day.

What is interesting is that the noises stopped, and then started again during the Nazi occupation. An evil era!

Well, on reading about the Cure of Ars, Saint John Vianney, it seems he had the same encounters. Rocks thrown on his roof, and whispers in the key hole. I've never prayed to my grandaunt, but maybe I shoud. Who knows, she might be a saint.

Zenovia

Dear Zenovia,

I once read a book about one "Pere Lamy" who prayed the Rosary constantly i.e. always had the beads in his hands and prayed it throughout the day.

He had numerous visions - including visions of Christ where he actually "felt" the Wounds of Christ and related that "the nails pierced Him through His wrists and not through the palms of His Hands as depicted in our religious art!"

Once Pere Lamy was vesting for Mass in the sacristy when the devil appeared before him.

Pere Lamy was shocked that the devil should show himself in Church and began to heap abuse on him, "How dare you appear in God's Holy Place, you filthy etc."

At that point, an Angel appeared to tell Pere Lamy, "No, don't abuse him. If you want to hurt him and send him away, respect him - respect him for the Angelic family from which he has fallen. By doing so, you remind him what he once was and what he has now become . . . that will truly hurt him."

Alex

St. Martin of Tours was in a Church (it might have been the Cathedral) and he had a vision of "Our Lord." He immediately spat upon it. The demon appeared as it was and questioned St. Martin as to how he know that it was a demon. St. Martin told the demon that it didn't have the Holy Wounds on the hands feet and side, therefore he knew it was a demonic deception.

If I ever get a vision that I can talk to the first thing I'll do is to ask it to say the "Our Father," no demon could say the right words to the Lord's Prayer.

Dear Dr. Eric you said:

"If I ever get a vision that I can talk to the first thing I'll do is to ask it to say the "Our Father," no demon could say the right words to the Lord's Prayer."

I say:

So that's why the witches were asked to say the Lord's prayer before being burned at the stake.

Zenovia

I would think that a witch could falsely say the Lord's Prayer because she is a changeable human. A demon wouldn't be able to because it has already made up its mind in the past and can't change it. Therefore, it couldn't say the Our Father because it would never utter the words "Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy Name."

Dear Dr. Eric you said:

"The Satanists also use aborted babies in their rituals. One of King Louis XIVs mistresses was involved in these abominations. The head of the coven even had 50 Roman Catholic priests who would perform these abominations for her."

I say:

I recall that Rousseau was originally a Protestant and converted to the RCC. He was so shocked when hearing the priests talking about their mistresses etc., that he became Protestant once more. Because of this, it didn't shock me when I heard that one out of every two people guillotined during the terror were priests.

Also there is book with stories about Father Arseny, a Russian priest that sufferred in the Gulag for about 30 years. He is undoubtably a saint, and he said that the reason communism was able to take hold in Russia was because of the sins of the priests; for the people follow the priests.

Zenovia

That's a scary scenario. It makes me wonder what'll happen to America. This statement does not reflect on the holy priests and deacons I have read here on the Forum of course. Sincerely.

Dr Eric and Zenovia,

This thread is beginning to wander way off track. I believe the question has to deal with Exorcisms and the Church. It seems to be degenerating into "Ghost Stories".

Can we get back on track?

In IC XC,
Father Anthony+
Moderator

Bless, Father Anthony!

Excuse me, but I think when one hears from one too many ghosts in one's home - that is precisely when sort sort of exorcism ought to be done!

My home has had THREE such rituals performed in the last two years.

Alex

I've read somewhere that the daemons are blocked from seeing our properly confessed sins.

I have told this tale before but will repeat it for the benefit of our newer members.
Fr Benedict Groeschel is one of the exorcists for the Archdiocese of New York.
When the younger friars learned that he was scheduled to perform an exorcism in a church they decided it would be interesting to witness. So they hid in the choir loft.
When Father began the ritual the organ began playing loudly, by itself, right behind them!
Needless to say, they didn't witness an exorcism that day but fled in terror.
[I heard the tale firsthand from one of the friars who was present, by the way.]

Hope this isn't too far off topic...
-Daniel

Alex,

Regarding this...


My home has had THREE such rituals performed in the last two years.

Alex

Maybe the series "Ghost Whisper" needs to be filmed there...

But I think it has more to do with that previous "Home Improvement" segment...

james

Dear James,

You don't know how right you are!!

It has really "converted" my wife too. We have some Holy Water together in the morning before breakfast.

My wife noticed that our supply of Holy Water is going down and she recently remarked to me, "Just let's not be without any Holy Water in the house. Save some for the 'you-know-what'!"

I definitely will!

Alex

OK...stock up on those 5 gallon(or liter equal)bottles...

james, resident enigma, with Benedictine,Carmelite and Franciscan tendencies, and a wee minor in Byzantine leanings ...

Dr. Eric,

This may soothe your fear.

Several years ago, I read about an exorcism involving a non-Catholic family. When the family's minister entered the room, the devil began to publicly announce the minister's sins. This happened to other minsters who came to attempt an exorcism.
The family decided to contact a Catholic exorcist. Before he arrived, he went to confession. When the priest entered the room where the possessed family member was, the demon shouted, "Not another Christ!" The demon was unable to announce any sins!

Also, when St. Margaret Mary Alacoque was uncertain whether the apparitions of the Sacred Heart that she was receiving were authentic, her confessor told her to ask Jesus to repeat the sins she confessed. When she asked Jesus to announce her sins, he answered, "I don't remember!"

I think this is definately a job for just anyone among the clergy to just go and do. Probably why there are so I am told short lists of certain priests who deal with such matters.

ICXC
NIKA

It seems that much holiness is needed to effectively be an exorcist.

Dear Alice,

I have two books by Gabriele Amorth, the exorcist of Rome. He said that in one exorcism he was not able to complete it, and the person was finally exorcized by some Evangelicals. So it probably has to do with one's personal holiness. Of course this was a time when most of the priests discounted the idea of 'possession'.

Also if I recall correctly, at one of the exorcisms of Saint Nektarios, a 'sinful' bishop, (who didn't believe in such nonsense), had his sins revealed by you know who, to all that were present. The bishop left in shame.

People though, that have confessed their sins, can observe an exorcism and not have their past history making 'them' the spectacle.

What I find worse though, is not those that are possessed unwillingly, but those that have willingly subjecated themselves. They are the one's that control our lives and destiny.

Zenovia