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Dec 29th, 2019
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Joined: Nov 2001
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Dr. Alex: Maybe it is time to resurrect those St. Benedict Medals! I keep one with me all the time.
Blessings! Silouan, Mary's monk
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I have the St Benedict's Cross with the medal in the center.
I keep it on my office study desk and the office where I meet people. Flee you powers of darkness! Christ has conquered. Alleluia.
Stephanos I
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I have a small St. Benedict Medal above every bedroom door in my home and taped to the front door and our iMac. All "portals" are covered! Here is something definitely worth purchasing... http://www.ecampus.com/book/0912927380God bless and happy New Year! Gordo
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How are exorcisms handled in the Eastern Catholic Church?
In the Orthodox Church, there does not seem to be the rigid requirement that a suspected possession has to be studied by psychiatrists and psychologists before any prayers can be said.
Here in Los Angeles, there were three recent exorcisms that occurred in the Greek Orthodox Church, but only one had the permission of the Bishop. The other two were on the spot immediate exorcisms that were very effective once the prayers from the service book were said.
In one case, a woman lay dying of cancer in a hospital and was suffering from agitation thought to be from an apparent drug interaction. As the priest walked into the room, he noticed that the hospital orderly, a Catholic, was kneeling by her bedside praying the Rosary. He was trembling and said that there was a demon in her. When the priest asked questions of the lady, she said that she had been a patron of the Psychic Eye, a new age store in Los Angeles where she had purchased some magic herbs to heal her cancer. The demon in her then revealed to the priest personal secrets that only the priest knew. The priest said he could feel every hair on his body move as the shivers went down his spine. He immediately opened his service book to the Exorcism prayers and prayed them as devoutly as he could under the circumstance.
The next day, the priest was asked to return to the hospital by the pastor. He begged the pastor saying he was not feeling well. No luck. He was commanded to go to the hospital where he was met by the patient's friends and relatives who thanked him for freeing her from the demon who had tormented her for several years. He mentioned that it was the Lord who set her free by the prayers of the Church. She died later that week after confessing and receiving Holy Communion.
In the one case where permission was sought, the young man admitted that he was possessed, the priest notified the bishop, prayed for a week, and then scheduled an exorcism in the church narthex just prior to the Divine Liturgy. The other priest who was at the altar preparing the holy gifts heard the commotion and a few screams as the young man fell to the floor as if dead, but the little old ladies in the church were clueless and heard nothing. The man came to his senses, was given help to rise from the ground, was confessed and received the Eucharist. Thanks for sharing this, Elizabeth Maria. We are blessed to have you posting here. In Christ, Alice
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Joined: Nov 2001
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Bless, Father Silouan!
Yes, indeed, the Medal of St Benedict is amazingly powerful against the evil one!
There is a TV program up here on channel 27 called "Ghostly Encounters" and I am an episode . . . talking about the exorcism when I was growing up as a child and then the two hauntings we had in our current home following two renovations . . .
The Crucifix of St Benedict is truly wonderful and one can place the Medal anywhere. If there is ever a problem in one's home, one should anoint the doorposts and everything with holy water saying, "This home (or other thing) is blessed with the Sign of the Holy Cross in the Name of the Father + and the Son + and the Holy Spirit +, Amen."
St Benedict the Great was saved from certain death twice in his life as he blessed a poisoned chalice that burst in pieces and as he blessed a loaf of poisoned bread (sent to him by a priest, no less!) which was then gently lifted and taken away by his pet raven. On the front of the medal is St Benedict holding his hand in blessing with the chalice and the bread on either side of him with the words, in both places, "Crux Sancti Patris Benedicti." The full Cross of St Benedict is on the back with the letters "CSPB."
This medal, together with the miraculous Medal, are the only two officially recognized medals of the Catholic Church.
The medal can be used in place of the relic of the True Cross for the special blessing, that is how highly it is esteemed!
Crosses of St Benedict were used against evil influence for hundreds of years and sorcerers even admitted publicly in not being able to "work their magic" as a result of the Cross of St Benedict thwarting their designs. They really had a "devil" of a time . . .
They were literally "on the horns of a dilemma." Quite a "tail" all around . . .
C S
+
P B
Alex
Last edited by Orthodox Catholic; 01/02/08 04:38 PM.
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I like to ask something, perhaps it is not directly related.
I know that The Book of Blessings contains formulas for blessing of objects and sacramentals. But I see that priest rarely use them.
If I present an object, for instance a St. Benedict medal, the priest will simply make a sign of the cross over it.
Some people argue that the blessing was not enough for the medal to present its true power.
Is this true? Besides if a generic sign of the cross is enough for every sacramentals, why should be have complicated formulas anyway?
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Bill from Pgh Member
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Bill from Pgh Member
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Alfonsus,
I understand what you are saying, though remember the Sign of the Cross isn't just "generic". In however many words your sacramental is blessed by the Sign of the Cross.
Bill
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Orthodox Christian Member
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Orthodox Christian Member
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One thing that absolutely amazes me is the care in which the Orthodox Priests bless objects. When the Priest came into the hall after the Divine Liturgy, I asked him to bless some prayer beads (St. Seraphim style). He took them into the Church and went up to the altar and blessed it with holy water.
Icons are blessed for 40 days by leaving them on the altar before being given to the faithful to take home. At every Divine Liturgy they are censed and thus become part of the Church life. In this way, when the blessed Icons are given to the faithful, they make the home a domestic Church.
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Dear Friends,
Certainly, the Greek Orthodox Church has a different tradition of blessing sacramentals than, say, the Kyivan Church as outlined in the Trebnyk/Euchologion of St Peter Mohyla.
St Peter allowed for blessing objects with Holy Water as sufficient (also leaving crosses and icons on the tetrapod during one Divine Liturgy). The Greeks consecrate their "Aghia" with the 40 days and icons are often anointed with Holy Oil and not just Holy Water.
When blessing St Benedict Medals, it is good to have them so blessed with Holy Water and even with the formula provided, if one is Latin Catholic.
Alex
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Dear Bill,
I understand and agree with you. The object is blessed.
However the church provides some specific blessing prayers for specific objects, which rarely used by average Latin priests I know and met.
Can the opinion of those that said that it is not enough can be validated?
Is the prayer formulas only serve to add some solemnity in the ritual but not more than that?
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Dear Alfonsus, The blessing of St Benedict medals comes with a specific formula, but the stipulation is now added that it "may" be used when blessing the medals. When I became an "oblate postulant" last year, my Ukrainian Catholic priest who "postulated" me blessed the medal and the Cross with Holy Water without reference to the formula of blessing. The fact is that the medals were blessed validly with Holy Water and traditionally, Holy Water should be used. One could bless with relics as well. (There is a story about a certain monk who stood by the relics of St Seraphim of Sarov blessing religious objects that pilgrims brought with them as they came to venerate the Saint's body. The monk would simply bless the objects with his hand and place them on the relics of the Saint. One individual, who wrote the story, thought to himself, "What kind of blessing is that? You need holy water to bless devotionals!" When he approached the monk, the monk looked at him a bit sternly and then pulled out a small bottle of holy water with which he blessed that man's religious objects. Clearly, the man later reflected, the monk was a clairvoyant and he was ashamed that he even thought about his method of blessing objects!) In the Greek and Slavonic Euchologion or Book of Needs/Blessings, there are all kinds of blessings for various categories of things. Separate blessings for icons of the Holy Trinity (of which there are four different types in the Byzantine tradition - the Old Testament Trinity, the Epiphany, Pentecost and the Transfiguration icons), icons of Christ, the Mother of God etc. Again, Eastern Orthodox priests would not question the need to follow the rubrics exactly as specified in that book (which in the Slavonic edition is composed of four volumes!). When I was in Greece (Holy Hellas) I visited the place where St Andrew the Apostle was crucified. Having purchased an icon of the Saint, I dipped it in the holy water that comes out of the spot where his Cross stood. A priest later told me there was no need to bless it as it was already blessed by my action. Somehow, I didn't think so!  Alex
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All the traditional Catholic priests (i.e. ones that celebrate the traditional Mass) I've ever seen bless objects or people take it very seriously. Focused, prayerful movements and words. Not the sloppiness I would imagine would most often be found out of the average Latin priest.
Alexis
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Bill from Pgh Member
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Bill from Pgh Member
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Dear Bill,
I understand and agree with you. The object is blessed.
However the church provides some specific blessing prayers for specific objects, which rarely used by average Latin priests I know and met.
Can the opinion of those that said that it is not enough can be validated?
Is the prayer formulas only serve to add some solemnity in the ritual but not more than that? Dear Alfonsus, I will say that if you want a priest to bless with a certain and/or specific prayer blessing ask before you present the item to be blessed and you will most likely be accommodated at the appropriate time and place. At the wake following my grandmother's funeral my sister asked the priest, who was good friend of my grandmother and served the funeral, if he would bless a set of rosary beads for her. My sister knew she would have this opportunity and had holy water on hand. The priest obliged and placed his hand over the rosary beads in my sister's hand, inaudibly mumbled a short prayer and made the Sign of the Cross over the rosary beads. Afterwards my sister, looking rather puzzled, asked me "Are they really blessed?". I answered "Yes, and by the good Father, too." She replied, "But he didn't use holy water". So I asked her for the holy water and sprinkled them and said, "Now they are twice blessed!". Bill
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On a side note, has anyone ever seen this apostolate? [ Linked Image] Opus Sanctorum Angelorum [ opusangelorum.org] I first ran across this group while on pilgrimage to Fatima to discern my vocation. God bless, Gordo
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Yes I know of them they appear to be extreme. And I believe Rome banned some of the devotions they were promoting if my memory serves me correctly.
Stephanos I
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