Chapter VI: Diabolic Possession and Modern Spiritism (1)

The phenomenon of diabolic possession, the mere possibility of which materialists and modernists in recent years have for the most part stoutly denied, has, nevertheless, been believed by all peoples and at all periods of the earth’s history. In truth he who accepts the spiritual world is bound to realize all about him the age-long struggle for empery of discarnate evil ceaselessly contending with a thousand cunning sleights and a myriad vizardings against the eternal unconquerable powers of good. Nature herself bears witness to the contest; disease and death, cruelty and pain, ugliness and sin, are all evidences of the mighty warfare, and it would be surprising indeed if some were not wounded in the fray—for we cannot stand apart, each man, S. Ignatius says, must fight under one of the two standards—if some even did not fall.

The ancient Egyptians, whose religion of boundless antiquity is pre-eminent in the old world for its passionate earnestness, its purity, and lofty idealism certainly held that some diseases were due to the action of evil spirits or demons, who in exceptional circumstances had the power of entering human bodies and of vexing them in proportion to the opportunities consciously or unconsciously given to their malign natures and influences. Moreover, the Egyptians were regarded as being supremely gifted in the art of curing the diseases caused by demoniacal possession, and one noteworthy instance of this was inscribed upon a stele and set up in the temple of the god Khonsu at Thebes so that all men might learn his might and his glory.[1] When King Rameses II was in Mesopotamia the various princes made him many offerings of gold and gems, and amongst other came the Prince of Bekhten, who brought his daughter, the fairest maiden of that land. When the king saw he loved her and bestowed upon her the title of “Royal spouse, chief lady, Rā-neferu” (the beauties of Ra, the Sun-god), and taking her back to Egypt he married her with great pomp and hallowed solemnity. In the fifteenth year of the king’s reign there arrived at his court an ambassador from the Prince of Bekhten, bearing rich presents and beseeching him “on behalf of the lady Bent-ent-resht, the younger sister of the royal spouse Rā-neferu, for, behold, an evil disease hath laid hold upon her body,” “wherefore,” said the envoy, “I beseech thy Majesty to send a physician[2] to see her.” Rameses ordered the books of the “double house of life” to be brought and the wise men to choose from their number one who might be sent to Bekhten. They selected the sage Tehuti-em-heb, who in company with the ambassador forthwith departed on their journey, and when they had arrived the Egyptian priest soon found the lady Bent-ent-resht was possessed of a demon or spirit over which he was powerless. Wellnigh in despair the Prince of Bekhten sent again to the king begging him to dispatch even a god to his help.

When the ambassador arrived a second time Rameses was worshipping in the temple of Khonsu Nefer-hetep at Thebes, and he at once besought that deity to allow his counterpart Khonsu to go to Bekhten and to deliver the daughter of the prince of that country from the demon who possessed her. Khonsu Nefer-hetep granted the request, and a fourfold measure of magical power was imparted to the statue of the god which was to go to Bekhten. The god, seated in his boat, and five other boats with figures of gods in them, accompanied by a noble attendance of horses and chariots upon the right and the left, set out for Bekhten, where in due course they were received with great honour. The god Khonsu was brought to the place where the princess was, magical ceremonies were performed, and the demon incontinently departed. Khonsu remained in Bekhten three years, four months, and five days, being worshipped with the utmost veneration. One night, however, the Prince had a dream in which he saw a hawk of gold issue from the sacred shrine and wing its way towards Egypt. In the morning the Egyptian priests interpreted his dream as meaning that the god now wished to return, and accordingly he was escorted back in superb state, and with him were sent grateful gifts and thank offerings innumerable to be laid in the temple of Khonsu Nefer-hetep at Thebes.

The Greeks of the earlier civilization were inclined generally to attribute all sickness to the gods, who again often by this particular means took almost immediate revenge upon those who had insulted their images, profaned their sanctuaries, or derided their worship. Thus Pentheus who resists the introduction of the mysteries of Dionysus into Thebes is driven mad by the affronted deity.[3] The madness of Ajax, and that of the daughters of Proetus,[4] who imagined themselves changed into cows, shows us that this belief went back to heroic times. In later days Demaratus and his brother Alopecos were driven lunatic (παραφρονήσαν) after having found the statue of Artemis Orthosia, and this was considered to be the power of the goddess.[5] The frenzy which attacked Quintus Fulvius was regarded as a punishment, a possession by evil spirits on account of his sacrilege in having stolen the marble roof of the temple of Juno Lacinia at Locri.[6]

Pythagoras taught that the ailments both of men and of animals are due to demons who throng the regions of the air, and this doctrine does no more than state clearly what had been more or less vaguely believed from the dawn of human history. Wherefore Homer in the _Odyssey_, speaking of a man who is racked by a sore disease, says that a hateful demon is tormenting him: στυγερὸς δέ οἱ ἔχραε δαίμων, V, 396. (But a hateful demon griped him fast.) The word κακοδαιμονία, possession by an evil spirit, in Aristophanes signifies “raving madness,” and the verb κακοδαιμονάω, to be tormented by an evil spirit, is used by Xenophon, Demosthenes, Dinarchus, and Plutarch[7] amongst other authors.

Many philosophers believed that each man has a protecting daimon, who in some sense personifies his individuality. It followed that lunatics and the delirious were afflicted with madness by these spirits who guided them, and accordingly the Greek names for those distraught are highly significant: ἐνεργούμενοι (in later Greek, persons possessed of an evil spirit), δαιμονιόληπτοι (influenced by devils), θεόληπτοι, θεόβλαβες (stricken of God), θεόμανες (maddened by the gods); and so Euripides has λύσσα θεομανής, and again θεομανης πότμος.[8] The very name μανία given by the Greeks to madness was derived from the root-word _man, men_,[9] which occurs in the Latin _Manes_, and indeed the Romans thought that a madman was tormented by the goddess Mania, the mother of the Lares, the hallucinations of lunatics being taken to be spectres who pursued them.[10] And so a madman was _laruarum plenus_, _laruatus_,[11] one whom phantoms disturbed; as in Plautus, where the doctor says: “What kind of a disease is this? Explain. Unfold, old sire, I say. Art thou crazed (_laruatus_) or lunatic? Tell me now.”[12]

The frantic exaltation which thrilled the Galli, and the Corybantes when they celebrated the Dionysia, seems to have been epidemic, and was universally attributed to divine possession. There are many allusions to the connexion between the rites of Cybele and Dionysus. Apollodorus[13] says Dionysus was purified from madness by Rhea at the Phrygian Cybela, and was then initiated into her rites and took her dress; thence he passed into Thrace with a train of Bacchanals and Satyrs. Strabo,[14] on the other hand, thinks the rites were brought from Thrace by colonists from that country into Phrygia; he even quotes a fragment from the _Edoni_ of Æschylus[15] as proving the identity of the cultus of Dionysus and Cybele. So also we have in Euripides, _Bacchæ_, 58,

Up, and wake the sweet old sound,
The clang that I and mystic Rhea found,
The Timbrel of the Mountains.[16]

It is interesting to remark that Nicander of Claros,[17] who was a physician, in his _Alexipharmaca_ (Ἀλεξιφάρμακα), speaking of a particular form of lunacy, compares the shrieks uttered by patients with those of a priestess of Rhea, when on the ninth day she makes all whom she encounters in the streets tremble at the hideous howl of the Idæan Mother; κερνοφόρος ζάκορος βωμίστρια Ῥείης is the exact phrase.[18]

In the _Hippolytus_ (141 _sqq._) the Chorus speaking to Phædra says:

Is this some spirit, O child of man?
Doth Hecat hold thee perchance, or Pan?
Doth She of the Mountains work her ban,
Or the Dread Corybantes bind thee?[19]

And in the _Medea_ (1171-2) we have: “She seemed, I wot, to be one frenzied, inspired with madness by Pan or some other of the gods.”[20]

Here τινὸς θεῶν, says Paley, alludes to Dionysus or Cybele. Madness was sometimes thought to be sent by Pan for any neglect of his worship, so in the _Rhesus_ Hector cries (36-7): “Can it be that you are scared by the fear-causing stroke of Pan of old Kronos’s line?”[21]

Aretæus, the medical writer, who is especially celebrated for his accuracy of diagnosis, in his _De signis chronicorum morborum_, VI, describes Corybantic frenzy as a mental malady and says that patients may be soothed and even cured by the strains of soft music.[22] We have here then the same remedy as was applied in the case of Saul, whom, we are told, “an evil spirit from the Lord troubled,”[23] and to whose court David, the sweet harper, was summoned. This seems to be the only instance of demoniac possession in the Old Testament and although the Hebrew word _rûah_ need not absolutely imply a personal influence, if we may judge from Josephus[24] the Jews certainly gave the word that meaning in this very passage.

It may be well here clearly to explain the difference between possession and obsession, two technical terms sometimes confounded. By obsession is meant that the demon attacks a man’s body from without;[25] by possession is meant that he assumes control of it from within. Thus S. Jerome describes the obsessions which beset S. Hilarion: “Many were his temptations; day and night did the demons change and renew their snares.... As he lay down how often did not nude women encircle him? When he was an hungered how often a plenteous board was spread before him?”[26] S. Antony the Great, also was similarly attacked: “The devil did not let to attack him, at night assuming the form of some maiden and imitating a woman’s gestures to deceive Antony.”[27] These painful phenomena are not uncommon in the lives of the Saints. Very many examples might be cited, but one will suffice, that of S. Margaret of Cortona,[28] the Franciscan penitent,[29] who was long and terribly tormented: “Following her to and fro up and down her humble cell as she wept and prayed [the devil] sang the most filthy songs, and lewdly incited Christ’s dear handmaid, who with tears was commending herself to the Lord, to join him in trolling forth bawdy catches ... but her prayers and tears finally routed the foul spirit and drove him far away.”[30] The theologians, however, warn us to be very cautious in dealing with so difficult a matter, and the supreme authority of S. Alphonsus Liguori advises us that by far the greater part of these obsessions are distressing hallucinations, neurasthenia, imagination, hysteria, in a word, pathological: “It is advisable always to be very suspicious of such diabolic attacks, for it cannot be gainsaid that for the most part they are fancy, or the effect of imagination, or weakness, especially when women are concerned.”[31] Dom Dominic Schram presses home the same point with equal emphasis: “Very often what are supposed to be demoniacal obsessions are nothing else than natural ailments, or morbid imaginings, or even distractions or actual lunacy. Wherefore it is necessary to deal with these cases most carefully, until the peculiar symptoms clearly show that it is actual obsession.”[32]

Demoniac possession is frequently presented to us in the New Testament, and we have the authority of Christ Himself as to its reality. The infidel argument is to deny the possibility of possession in any circumstances, either on the hypothesis that there are no evil spirits in existence, or that they are powerless to influence the human body in the manner described. But whatever view Rationalists may adopt—and they are continually shifting their ground—no reader of the Scriptural narrative can deny that Christ by word and deed showed His entire belief in possession by evil spirits. And if Christ were divine how came He to foster and encourage a delusion? Why did He not correct it? Only two answers can be supposed. Either He was ignorant of a religious truth, or He deliberately gave instructions that He knew to be false, frequently acting in a way which was something more than misleading. To a Christian either of these explanations is, of course, unthinkable. The theory of accommodation formulated by Winer[33] may be accepted by Modernists, but will be instantly condemned by all others. Accommodation is understood as the toleration of harmless illusions of the day having little or no connexion with religion. Even if this fine piece of profanity were allowed, which, of course, must not be the case, the argument could not be applied here, indeed it seems wholly repugnant even in regard to a Saint, but entirely impossible in consideration of the divinity of Christ.

The victims of possession were sometimes deprived of speech and sight: “Then was offered to him one possessed of a devil, blind and dumb: and he healed him, so that he spoke and saw” (S. Matthew xii. 22). Sometimes they had lost speech alone: “Behold, they brought him a dumb man, possessed with a devil, and after the devil was cast out the dumb man spoke” (S. Matthew ix. 32, 33); also “And he was casting out a devil, and the same was dumb: and when he had cast out the devil the dumb spoke” (S. Luke xi. 14). In many cases the mere fact of possession is mentioned without further details: “they presented to him such as were possessed by devils, and lunatics ... and he cured them” (S. Matthew iv. 24); “and when evening was come, they brought to him many that were possessed with devils, and he cast out the spirits with his word” (S. Matthew viii. 16); “And, behold a woman of Canaan, who came out of those coasts, crying out, said to him: Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David: my daughter is grievously troubled by a devil ... Then Jesus answering, said to her: O woman, great is thy faith: be it done to thee as thou wilt: and her daughter was cured from that hour” (S. Matthew xv. 22-28); “And when it was evening after sunset they brought to him all that were ill and that were possessed with devils”; “And he cast out many devils, and he suffered them not to speak, because they knew him”; “And he was preaching in their synagogues, and in all Galilee, and casting out devils” (S. Mark i. 32, 34, 39); “And the unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him: and they cried, saying: Thou art the Son of God” (S. Mark iii. 11, 12); “And devils went out from many, crying out and saying: Thou art the Son of God” (S. Luke iv. 41); “And they that were troubled with unclean spirits were cured” (S. Luke vi. 18); “And in that same hour, he cured many of their diseases, and hurts, and evil spirits” (S. Luke vii. 21). The exorcism of the man “who had a devil now a very long time,” and who dwelt among the tombs in the country of the Gerasens (Gadarenes) is related by S. Luke (viii. 27-39). The possessed is tormented by so many unclean spirits that they proclaim their name as Legion: he is endowed with supernatural strength so that he breaks asunder bonds and fetters: the devils recognize Christ as God, and Our Lord converses with them, asking how they are called. Immediately the devils have been cast out the man is clothed, peaceable, reasonable, and quiet, “in his right mind.”

At the foot of Mount Tabor a young man is brought by his father to be healed. The youth is possessed of a dumb spirit, “who, wheresoever he taketh him dasheth him, and he foameth, and gnasheth with the teeth, and pineth away.” When Jesus approached, “immediately the spirit troubled him; and being thrown down upon the ground, he rolled about foaming.” The patient had been thus afflicted “from his infancy, and oftentimes hath he cast him into the fire and into waters to destroy him.” Our Lord threatened the spirit, and forthwith expelled it. (S. Mark ix. 14-28.) It should be noticed that it is the demons who are addressed on these occasions, not their victims. In the face of this catena of Biblical evidence and the various circumstances attending these exorcisms it is impossible to maintain that the possessed suffered merely from epilepsy, paralysis, acute mania, or any other such disease. In fact the Evangelists carefully separate natural maladies from diabolic possession: “He cast out the spirits with his word: and all that were sick he healed” (S. Matthew viii. 16); “They brought to him all that were ill and that were possessed with devils ... and he healed many that were troubled with divers diseases and he cast out many devils” (S. Mark i. 32, 34). In the original Greek the distinction is still more clearly and unmistakably shown: πάντας τοὺς κακῶς ἔχοντας καὶ τοὺς δαιμονιζομένους. Saint Matthew, again, differentiates: “they presented to him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases [ποικίλαις νόσοις] and torments [βασάνοις] and such as were possessed by devils [δαιμονιζομένους] and lunatics [σεληνιαζομένους] and those who had the palsy [παραλυτικούς] and he cured them,” iv. 24. Moreover, Our Lord expressly distinguishes between possession and natural disease; “Behold I cast out devils and do cures,” are the Divine Words; ἰδοὺ ἐκβάλλω δαιμόνια καὶ ἰάσεις ἀποτελῶ (S. Luke xiii. 32).

That the demoniacs were often afflicted with other diseases as well is highly probable. The demons may have attacked those who were already sick, whilst the very fact of obsession or possession would of itself produce disease as a natural consequence.

According to S. Matthew x. 1, Our Lord gave special powers to the Apostles to exorcize demons: “And having called his twelve disciples together, he gave them power over unclean spirits to cast them out, and to heal all manner of diseases, and all manner of infirmities.” And S. Peter, when describing the mission and miracles of Christ, stresses this very point: “Jesus of Nazareth: how God anointed him with the Holy Ghost, and with power, who went about doing good, and healing all that were possessed by the devil,” τοὺς καταδυναστευομένους ὑπὸ τοῦ διαβόλου (Acts x. 38). Our Lord Himself directly appeals to His power over evil spirits as a proof of His Messiahship: “If I by the finger of God cast out devils; doubtless the kingdom of God is come upon you”; εἰ δὲ ἐν δακτύλῳ Θεοῦ ἐκβάλλω τά δαιμόνια, ἄρα ἔφθασεν ἐφ’ ὑμᾶς ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ Θεοῦ (S. Luke xi. 20).

Whilst yet on earth Christ empowered the Apostles to cast out demons in His Name, and in His last solemn charge He promised that the same delegated power should be perpetuated: “These signs shall follow them that believe: in my name they shall cast out devils”; σημεῖα δὲ τοῖς πιστεύσασι ταῦτα παρακολουθήσει· ἐν τῷ ὀνόματί μου δαιμόνια ἐκβαλοῦσι (S. Mark xvi. 17.) But the efficacy of exorcism was conditional, not absolute as in the case of Our Lord Himself, for He explained, upon an occasion when the Apostles seemed to fail, that certain spirits could only be expelled by prayer and fasting. Moreover, a perfect belief and complete command are necessary for the exorcizer. τότε προσέλθοντες οἱ μαθηταὶ τῷ Ἱησοῦ κατ ἰδίαν εἶπον, Διατί ἡμεῖς οὐκ ἠδυνήθημεν ἐκβαλεῖν αὐτό; ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς λέγει αὐτοῖς, Διὰ τὲν ὀλιγοπιστίαν ὑμῶν· ... τοῦτο δὲ τὸ γένος οὐκ ἑκπορεύεται εἰ μὴ ἐν προσευχῇ καὶ νηστείᾳ ... (S. Matthew xvii. 19-21). S. Paul, and no doubt the other Apostles and Disciples, regularly made use of this exorcizing power. Thus, at Philippi, where the girl “having a pythonical spirit ... who brought to her masters much gain by divining” (παιδίσκην τινὰ ἔχουσαν πεῦνμα πύθωνα ... ἥτις ἐργασίαν πολλὴν παρεῖχε τοῖς κυρίοις αὐτῆς μαντευπμένη)[34] met S. Paul and S. Luke and proclaimed them as servants of the most high God, S. Paul “being grieved, turned, and said to the spirit: I command thee, in the name of Jesus Christ, to go out from her. And he went out the same hour” (Acts xvi. 16-18). And at Ephesus, a hot-bed of magic and necromancy, “God wrought by the hand of Paul more than common miracles. So that even there were brought from his body to the sick, handkerchiefs and aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the wicked spirits went out of them” (Acts xix. 11, 12). Those who do not imagine that the powers Our Lord perpetually bestowed upon the Apostles and their followers abruptly ceased with the thirty-first verse of the twenty-eighth chapter of The Acts of the Apostles, realize that the charisma of exorcism has continued through the ages, and in truth the Church has uninterruptedly practised it until the present day.

The Exorcist is ordained by the Bishop for this office, ordination to which is the second of the four minor orders of the Western Church. Pope Cornelius (251-252) mentions in his letter to Fabius that there were then in the Roman Church forty-two acolytes, and fifty-two exorcists, readers, and door-keepers, and the institution of these orders together with the organization of their functions, seems to have been the work of the predecessor of Cornelius, Pope Saint Fabian the Martyr (236-251).

The rite of the Ordination of Exorcists, “De Ordinatione Exorcistarum,” is as follows: First, the Book of Exorcisms, or in its place the Pontifical or Missal must be ready at hand; _Pro Exorcistis ordinandis paretur liber exorcismorum, cuius loco dari potest Pontificale uel Missale_ (A Book of Exorcisms must be prepared for those who are to be ordained Exorcists. Howbeit in place thereof the Pontifical or the Missal may be handed to them) runs the rubric. When the Lectors have been ordained, the Bishop resuming his mitre takes his place upon his seat or faldstool at the Epistle side of the altar, and the Missal with the bugia being brought by his acolytes he proceeds to read the Gradual, or (if it be within the Octave of Pentecost) the _Alleluia_. Meantime the Gradual is sung by the choir. When it is finished, he rises, takes off his mitre, and turning to the altar intones the third collect. He next sits again, resumes his mitre, and the third Lection is read. Two chaplains assist him with bugia and book whence he reads the Lection. The Archdeacon now summons the ordinandi, who approach, holding lighted tapers in their hands, and kneel before the Bishop, who solemnly admonishes them with the prayer:

“Dearest children who are about to be ordained to the office of Exorcists, ye must duly know what ye are about to undertake. For an Exorcist must cast out devils; and announce to the people that those that may not be present at the sacrifice should retire; and at the altar minister water to the priest. Ye receive also the power of placing your hand upon energumens, and by the imposition of your hands and the grace of the Holy Spirit and the words of exorcism unclean spirits are driven out from the bodies of those who are obsessed. Be careful therefore that as ye drive out devils from the bodies of others, so ye banish all uncleanness and evil from your own bodies lest ye fall beneath the power of those spirits who by your ministry are conquered in others. Learn through your office to govern all imperfections lest the enemy may claim a share in you and some dominion over you. For truly will ye rightly control those devils who attack others, when first ye have overcome their many crafts against yourselves. And this may the Lord vouchsafe to grant you through His Holy Spirit.”[35] After which the Bishop hands to each severally the Book of Exorcisms (or Pontifical or Missal), saying: “Receive this and commit it to thy memory and have power to place thy hands upon energumens, whether they be baptized, or whether they be catechumens.”[36] All kneel, and the Bishop, wearing his mitre, stands and prays:

“Dearest brethren, let us humbly pray God the Father Almighty that He may vouchsafe to bless these his servants to the office of Exorcists that they may have the power to command spirits, to cast forth from the bodies of those who are obsessed demons with every kind of their wickedness and deceit. Through His only begotten Son Jesus Christ Our Lord who with Him liveth and reigneth in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. _R._ Amen.”[37] Then, his mitre having been removed, he turns to the altar with “Oremus” to which is given the reply “Flectamus genua” with “Leuate,” and the last prayer is said over the kneeling exorcists: “Holy Lord, Almighty Father, Eternal God vouchsafe to bless these thy servants to the office of Exorcists; that by the imposition of our hands and the words of our mouth they may have power and authority to govern and restrain all unclean spirits: that they may be skilful physicians for Thy Church, that they may heal many and be themselves strengthened with all Heavenly Grace. Through Our Lord Jesus Christ Thy Son who with Thee liveth and reigneth in the unity of the Holy Spirit one God world without end. _R._ Amen.” And then, at a sign from the Archdeacon, they return to their places.[38]

It should be remarked that the Exorcist is specifically ordained “to cast out demons,” and he receives “power to place his (your) hands upon the possessed, so that by the imposition of his (your) hands,[39] the grace of the Holy Ghost, and the words of exorcism, evil spirits are driven out from the bodies of the possessed.” The very striking term _spiritualis imperator_ is strictly applied to him, and God the Father is earnestly entreated to grant him the grace “to cast out demons from the bodies of the possessed with all their many sleights of wickedness.” Nothing could be plainer, nothing could be more solemn, nothing could be more pregnant with meaning and intention. The Order and delegated power of Exorcists cannot be minimized; at least, so to do is clean contrary to the mind of the Church as emphatically expressed in her most authoritative rites. In actual practice the office of Exorcist has almost wholly been taken over by clerics in major orders, but this, of course, in no way affects the status and authority of the second of the four minor orders.

Every priest, more especially perhaps if he be a parish priest, is liable to be called upon to perform his duty as Exorcist. In doing so he must carefully bear in mind and adhere to the prescriptions of the _Rituale Romanum_, and he will do well to have due regard to the laws of provincial or diocesan synods, which for the most part require that the Bishop should be consulted and his authorization obtained before exorcism be essayed.

The chief points of importance in the detailed instructions under twenty-one heads prefixed to the rite in the _Rituale_ may thus be briefly summarized: (1) The priest or exorcist should be of mature age, humble, of blameless life, courageous, of experience, and well-attested prudence. It is fitting he should prepare himself for his task by special acts of devotion and mortification, by fervent prayer and by fasting (S. Matthew xvii. 20). (2) He must be a man of scholarship and learning, a systematic student and well versed in the latest trends and developments of psychological science. (3) Possession is not lightly to be taken for granted. Each case is to be carefully examined and great caution to be used in distinguishing genuine possession from certain forms of disease. (4) He should admonish the possessed in so far as the latter is capable, to dispose himself for the exorcism by prayer, fasting, by confession, and Holy Communion, and while the rite is in progress he must excite in his heart a most lively faith in the goodness of God, and perfect resignation to the divine will. (5) The exorcism should take place in the Church, or some other sacred place, if convenient, but no crowd of gazers must be suffered to assemble out of mere curiosity. There should, however, be a number of witnesses, grave and devout persons of standing, eminent respectability, and acknowledged probity, not prone to idle gossip, but discreet and silent. If on account of sickness or for some legitimate reason the exorcism takes place in a private house it is well that members of the family should be present; especially is this enjoined, as a measure of precaution, if the subject be a woman. (6) If the patient seems to fall asleep, or endeavours to hinder the exorcist in any way during the rite he is to continue, if possible with greater insistence, for such actions are probably a ruse to trick him. (7) The exorcist, although humble and having no reliance upon himself alone, is to speak with command and authority, and should the patient be convulsed or tremble, let him be more fervent and more insistent; the prayers and adjurations are to be recited with great faith, a full and assured consciousness of power. (8) Let the exorcist remember that he uses the words of Holy Scripture and Holy Church, not his own words and phrases. (9) All idle and impertinent questioning of the demon is to be avoided, nor should the evil spirit be allowed to speak at length unchecked and unrebuked. (10) The Blessed Sacrament is not to be brought near the body of the obsessed during exorcism for fear of possible irreverence; Relics of the Saints may be employed, but in this case every care must be most scrupulously observed that all due veneration be paid to them; the Crucifix and Holy Water are to be used. (11) If expulsion of the evil spirit, who will often prove obstinate, is not secured at once, the rite should be repeated as often as need be.

It will be seen that the Church has safeguarded exorcism with extraordinary precautions, and that everything which is humanly possible to prevent superstition, indecorum, or abuse is provided for and recommended. Again and again the warning is repeated that so solemn, and indeed terrible, an office must not lightly be undertaken. The actual form in present use is as follows:[40]

THE FORM OF EXORCISING THE POSSESSED

[TRANSLATED FROM THE “ROMAN RITUAL.”]

_The Priest, having confessed, or at least hating sin in his
heart, and having said Mass, if it possibly and conveniently
can be done, and humbly implored the Divine help, vested in
surplice and violet stole, the end of which he shall place
round the neck of the one possessed, and having the possessed
person before him, and bound if there be danger of violence,
shall sign himself, the person, and those standing by, with
the sign of the Cross, and sprinkle them with holy water, and
kneeling down, the others making the responses, shall say the
Litany as far as the prayers._

_At the end the Antiphon._ Remember not, Lord, our offences,
nor the offences of our forefathers, neither take Thou
vengeance of our sins.

Our Father. _Secretly._

℣ And lead us not into temptation.
℟ But deliver us from evil.

_Psalm_ liii.

_Deus, in Nomine._

_The whole shall be said with_ Glory be to the Father.

℣. Save Thy servant,
℟. O my God, that putteth his trust in Thee.

℣. Be unto him, O Lord, a strong tower,
℟. From the face of his enemy.

℣. Let the enemy have no advantage of him,
℟. Nor the son of wickedness approach to hurt him.

℣. Send him help, O Lord, from the sanctuary,
℟. And strengthen him out of Sion.

℣. Lord, hear my prayer,
℟. And let my cry come unto Thee.

℣. The Lord be with you,
℟. And with thy spirit.

Let us pray.

O God, Whose property is ever to have mercy and to forgive:
receive our supplications and prayers, that of Thy mercy
and loving-kindness Thou wilt set free this Thy servant (or
handmaid) who is fast bound by the chain of his sins.

O holy Lord, Father Almighty, Eternal God, the Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ: Who hast assigned that tyrant and apostate
to the fires of hell; and hast sent Thine Only Begotten Son
into the world, that He might bruise him as he roars after
his prey: make haste, tarry not, to deliver this man, created
in Thine Own image and likeness, from ruin, and from the
noon-day devil. Send Thy fear, O Lord, upon the wild beast,
which devoureth Thy vine. Grant Thy servants boldness to fight
bravely against that wicked dragon, lest he despise them that
put their trust in Thee, and say, as once he spake in Pharaoh:
I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go. Let Thy
right hand in power compel him to depart from Thy servant N.
(or Thy handmaid N.) ✠, that he dare no longer to hold him
captive, whom Thou hast vouchsafed to make in Thine image, and
hast redeemed in Thy Son; Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in
the Unity of the Holy Spirit, ever One God, world without end.
Amen.

_Then he shall command the spirit in this manner._

I command thee, whosoever thou art, thou unclean spirit, and
all thy companions possessing this servant of God, that by
the Mysteries of the Incarnation, Passion, Resurrection and
Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ, by the sending of the Holy
Ghost, and by the Coming of the same our Lord to judgment,
thou tell me thy name, the day, and the hour of thy going out,
by some sign: and, that to me, a minister of God, although
unworthy, thou be wholly obedient in all things: nor hurt this
creature of God, or those that stand by, or their goods in any
way.

_Then shall these Gospels, or one or the other, be read over
the possessed._

The Lesson of the Holy Gospel according to S. John i. 1. _As he
says these words he shall sign himself and the possessed on the
forehead, mouth, and breast._ In the beginning was the Word ...
full of grace and truth.

The Lesson of the Holy Gospel according to S. Mark xvi. 15. At
that time: Jesus spake unto His disciples: Go ye into all the
world ... shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

The Lesson of the Holy Gospel according to S. Luke x. 17. At
that time: The seventy returned again with joy ... because your
names are written in heaven.

The Lesson of the Holy Gospel according to S. Luke xi. 14. At
that time: Jesus was casting out a devil, and it was dumb ...
wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils.

℣. Lord, hear my prayer,
℟. And let my cry come unto Thee.

℣. The Lord be with you,
℟. And with thy Spirit.

Let us pray.

Almighty Lord, Word of God the Father, Jesus Christ, God and
Lord of every creature: Who didst give to Thy Holy Apostles
power to tread upon serpents and scorpions: Who amongst other
of Thy wonderful commands didst vouchsafe to say—Put the
devils to flight: by Whose power Satan fell from heaven like
lightning: with supplication I beseech Thy Holy Name in fear
and trembling, that to me Thy most unworthy servant, granting
me pardon of all my faults, Thou wilt vouchsafe to give
constancy of faith and power, that shielded by the might of Thy
holy arm, in trust and safety I may approach to attack this
cruel devil, through Thee, O Jesus Christ, the Lord our God,
Who shalt come to judge the quick and the dead, and the world
by fire. Amen.

_Then defending himself and the possessed with the sign of the
Cross, putting part of his stole round the neck, and his right
hand upon the head of the possessed, firmly and with great
faith he shall say what follows._

℣. Behold the Cross of the Lord, flee ye of the contrary part,
℟. The Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed.

℣. Lord, hear my prayer,
℟. And let my cry come unto Thee.

℣. The Lord be with you,
℟. And with thy spirit.

Let us pray.

O God, and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, I call upon Thy
Holy Name, and humbly implore Thy mercy, that Thou wouldest
vouchsafe to grant me help against this, and every unclean
spirit, that vexes this Thy creature. Through the same Lord
Jesus Christ.

THE EXORCISM.

I exorcise thee, most foul spirit, every coming in of the
enemy, every apparition, every legion; in the Name of our
Lord Jesus ✠ Christ be rooted out, and be put to flight from
this creature of God ✠. He commands thee, Who has bid thee be
cast down from the highest heaven into the lower parts of the
earth. He commands thee, Who has commanded the sea, the winds,
and the storms. Hear therefore, and fear, Satan, thou injurer
of the faith, thou enemy of the human race, thou procurer
of death, thou destroyer of life, kindler of vices, seducer
of men, betrayer of the nations, inciter of envy, origin of
avarice, cause of discord, stirrer-up of troubles: why standest
thou, and resistest, when thou knowest that Christ the Lord
destroyest thy ways? Fear Him, Who was sacrificed in Isaac, Who
was sold in Joseph, was slain in the Lamb, was crucified in
man, thence was the triumpher over hell. _The following signs
of the Cross shall be made upon the forehead of the possessed._
Depart therefore in the Name of the Father ✠, and of the Son ✠,
and of the Holy ✠ Ghost: give place to the Holy Ghost, by this
sign of the holy ✠ Cross of Jesus Christ our Lord: Who with
the Father, and the same Holy Ghost, liveth and reigneth ever
one God, world without end. Amen.

℣. Lord, hear my prayer.
℟. And let my cry come unto Thee.

℣. The Lord be with you.
℟. And with thy spirit.

Let us pray.

O God, the Creator and Protector of the human race, Who hast
formed man in Thine own Image: look upon this Thy servant N.
(_or_ this Thy handmaid N.), who is grievously vexed with
the wiles of an unclean spirit, whom the old adversary, the
ancient enemy of the earth, encompasses with a horrible dread,
and blinds the senses of his human understanding with stupor,
confounds him with terror, and harasses him with trembling
and fear. Drive away, O Lord, the power of the devil, take
away his deceitful snares: let the impious tempter fly far
hence: let Thy servant be defended by the sign ✠ (_on his
forehead_) of Thy Name, and be safe both in body, and soul.
(_The three following crosses shall be made on the breast of
the demoniac._) Do Thou guard his inmost ✠ soul, Thou rule his
inward ✠ parts, Thou strengthen his ✠ heart. Let the attempts
of the opposing power in his soul vanish away. Grant, O Lord,
grace to this invocation of Thy most Holy Name, that he who up
to this present was causing terror, may flee away affrighted,
and depart conquered; and that this Thy servant, strengthened
in heart, and sincere in mind, may render Thee his due service.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

THE EXORCISM.

I adjure thee, thou old serpent, by the Judge of the quick
and the dead, by thy Maker, and the Maker of the world: by
Him, Who hath power to put thee into hell, that thou depart
in haste from this servant of God N., who returns to the
bosom of the Church, with thy fear and with the torment of
thy terror. I adjure Thee again ✠ (_on his forehead_), not in
my infirmity, but by the power of the Holy Ghost, that thou
go out of this servant of God N., whom the Almighty God hath
made in His Own Image. Yield, therefore, not to me, but to the
minister of Christ. For His power presses upon thee Who subdued
thee beneath His Cross. Tremble at His arm, which, after the
groanings of hell were subdued, led forth the souls into light.
Let the body ✠ (_on his breast_) of man be a terror to thee,
let the image of God ✠ (_on his forehead_) be an alarm to thee.
Resist not, nor delay to depart from this person, for it has
pleased Christ to dwell in man. And think not that I am to be
despised, since thou knowest that I too am so great a sinner.
God ✠ commands thee. The majesty of Christ ✠ commands thee. God
the Father ✠ commands thee. God the Son ✠ commands thee. God
the Holy ✠ Ghost commands thee. The Sacrament of the Cross ✠
commands thee. The faith of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul,
and of all the other Saints ✠, commands thee. The blood of
the Martyrs ✠ commands thee. The stedfastness (_continentia_)
of the Confessors ✠ commands thee. The devout intercession of
all the Saints ✠ commands thee. The virtue of the Mysteries of
the Christian Faith ✠ commands thee. Go out, therefore, thou
transgressor. Go out, thou seducer, full of all deceit and
wile, thou enemy of virtue, thou persecutor of innocence. Give
place, thou most dire one: give place, thou most impious one:
give place to Christ in Whom thou hast found nothing of thy
works: Who hath overcome thee, Who hath destroyed thy kingdom,
Who hath led thee captive and bound thee, and hath spoiled thy
goods: Who hath cast thee into outer darkness, where for thee
and thy servants everlasting destruction is prepared. But why,
O fierce one, dost thou withstand? why, rashly bold, dost thou
refuse? thou art the accused of Almighty God, whose laws thou
hast broken. Thou art the accused of Jesus Christ our Lord,
whom thou hast dared to tempt, and presumed to crucify. Thou
art the accused of the human race, to whom by thy persuasion
thou hast given to drink thy poison. Therefore, I adjure thee,
most wicked dragon, in the Name of the immaculate ✠ Lamb, Who
treads upon the lion and adder, Who tramples under foot the
young lion and the dragon, that thou depart from this man ✠
(_let the sign be made upon his forehead_), that thou depart
from the Church of God ✠ (_let the sign be made over those
who are standing by_): tremble, and flee away at the calling
upon the Name of that Lord, of Whom hell is afraid; to Whom
the Virtues, the Powers, and the Dominions of the heavens are
subject; Whom Cherubim and Seraphim with unwearied voices
praise, saying: Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Sabaoth. The
Word ✠ made Flesh commands thee. He Who was born ✠ of the
Virgin commands thee. Jesus ✠ of Nazareth commands thee; Who,
although thou didst despise His disciples, bade thee go bruised
and overthrown out of the man: and in his presence, having
separated thee from him, thou didst not presume to enter into
the herd of swine. Therefore, thus now adjured in His Name ✠,
depart from the man, whom He has formed. It is hard for thee
to wish to resist ✠. It is hard for thee to kick against the
pricks ✠. Because the more slowly goest thou out, does the
greater punishment increase against thee, for thou despisest
not men, but Him, Who is Lord both of the quick and the dead,
Who shall come to judge the quick and the dead, and the World
by fire. ℟. Amen.

℣. Lord, hear my prayer.
℟. And let my cry come unto thee.

℣. The Lord be with you.
℟. And with thy spirit.

Let us pray.

O God of heaven, God of earth, God of the Angels, God of the
Archangels, God of the Prophets, God of the Apostles, God of
the Martyrs, God of the Virgins, God, Who hast the power to
give life after death, rest after labour; because there is none
other God beside Thee, nor could be true, but Thou, the Creator
of heaven and earth, Who art the true King, and of Whose
kingdom there shall be no end: humbly I beseech Thy glorious
majesty, that Thou wouldest vouchsafe to deliver this Thy
servant from unclean spirits, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

THE EXORCISM.

I therefore adjure thee, thou most foul spirit, every
appearance, every inroad of Satan, in the Name of Jesus Christ
✠ of Nazareth, Who, after His baptism in Jordan, was led into
the wilderness, and overcame thee in thine own stronghold: that
thou cease to assault him whom He hath formed from the dust
of the earth for His own honour and glory: and that thou in
miserable man tremble not at human weakness, but at the image
of Almighty God. Yield, therefore, to God ✠ Who by His servant
Moses drowned thee and thy malice in Pharaoh and his army in
the depths of the sea. Yield to God ✠ Who put thee to flight
when driven out of King Saul with spiritual song, by his most
faithful servant David. Yield thyself to God ✠ Who condemned
thee in the traitor Judas Iscariot. For He touches thee with
Divine ✠ stripes, when in His sight, trembling and crying out
with thy legions, thou saidst: What have I to do with Thee,
Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Art Thou come hither to
torment us before the time? He presses upon thee with perpetual
flames, Who shall say to the wicked at the end of time—Depart
from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the
devil and his angels. For thee, O impious one, and for thy
angels, is the worm that dieth not; for thee and thy angels
is the fire unquenchable prepared: for thou art the chief of
accursed murder, thou the author of incest, thou the head of
sacrileges, thou the master of the worst actions, thou the
teacher of heretics, thou the instigator of all uncleanness.
Therefore go out ✠ thou wicked one, go out ✠, thou infamous
one, go out with all thy deceits; for God hath willed that man
shall be His temple. But why dost thou delay longer here? Give
honour to God the Father ✠ Almighty, before Whom every knee is
bent. Give place to Jesus Christ ✠ the Lord, Who shed for man
His most precious Blood. Give place to the Holy ✠ Ghost, Who by
His blessed Apostle Peter struck thee to the ground in Simon
Magus; Who condemned thy deceit in Ananias and Sapphira; Who
smote thee in Herod, because he gave not God the glory; Who by
his Apostle Paul smote thee in Elymas the sorcerer with a mist
and darkness, and by the same Apostle by his word of command
bade thee come out of the damsel possessed with the spirit
of divination. Now therefore depart ✠, depart, thou seducer.
The wilderness is thy abode. The serpent is the place of thy
habitation: be humbled, and be overthrown. There is no time now
for delay. For behold the Lord the Ruler approaches closely
upon thee, and His fire shall glow before Him, and shall go
before Him; and shall burn up His enemies on every side. If
thou hast deceived man, at God thou canst not scoff: One
expels thee, from Whose Sight nothing is hidden. He casts thee
out, to Whose power all things are subject. He shuts thee out,
Who hast prepared for thee and for thine angels everlasting
hell; out of Whose mouth the sharp sword shall go out, when He
shall come to judge the quick and the dead, and the World by
fire. Amen.

_All the aforesaid things being said and done, so far as there
shall be need, they shall be repeated, until the possessed
person be entirely set free._

_The following which are noted down will be of great
assistance, said devoutly over the possessed, and also
frequently to repeat the_ Our Father, Hail Mary, _and_ Creed.

_The Canticle._ Magnificat.

_The Canticle._ Benedictus.

_The Creed of S. Athanasius._

_Quicunque uult._

Psalm xc. _Qui habitat._

Psalm lxvii. _Exurgat Deus._

Psalm lxix. _Deus in adiutorium._

Psalm liii. _Deus, In Nomine Tuo._

Psalm cxvii. _Confitemini Domino._

Psalm xxxiv. _Iudica, Domine._

Psalm xxx. _In Te, Domine, speraui._

Psalm xxi. _Deus, Deus meus._

Psalm iii. _Domine, quid multiplicasti?_

Psalm x. _In Domino confido._

Psalm xii. _Usquequo, Domine?_

_Each Psalm shall be said with_ Glory be to the Father, &c.

_Prayer after being set free._

We pray Thee, O Almighty God, that the spirit of wickedness may
have no more power over this Thy servant N. (_or_ Thy handmaid
N.), but that he may flee away, and never come back again: at
Thy bidding, O Lord, let there come into him (_or_ her) the
goodness and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ, by Whom we have
been redeemed, and let us fear no evil, for the Lord is with
us, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee, in the Unity of the Holy
Ghost, ever one God, world without end. ℟. Amen.

A shorter form of exorcism, which, being general, differs in aim and use, was published by order of Pope Leo XIII and may be found in the later editions of the _Rituale Romanum_, “Exorcismus in Satanam et Angelos apostalicos.”[41] After the customary invocation _In nomine_ ... the rite begins with a prayer to S. Michael, the solemn adjuration of some length follows with versicles and responses, a second prayer is next recited, and the whole concludes by three aspirations from the Litany: “From the deceits and crafts of the Devil; O Lord, deliver us. That it may please Thee to rule Thy Church so it shall alway serve Thee in lasting peace and true liberty; We beseech Thee, hear us. That Thou wouldst vouchsafe to beat down and subdue all the enemies of Thy Holy Church; We beseech Thee, hear us.” _And the place is sprinkled with Holy Water_,[42] is the final rubric.

The Baptismal Exorcism and exorcisms such as those of water, salt,[43] and oil, it were perhaps impertinent to treat of here. It may, however, be noticed that in the ceremony of the Blessing of the Waters[44] (approved by the Sacred Congregation of Rites, 6 December, 1890), performed on the Vigil of the Epiphany, there occurs a solemn “Exorcismus contra Satanam et Angelos apostalicos,” followed by “Exorcismus salis” and “Exorcismus aquæ.”

There are recorded throughout history innumerable examples of obsession and demoniacal possession, as also of potent and successful exorcism. It is, of course, quite possible, and indeed probable, that many of these cases were due to natural causes, epilepsy, acute hysteria, incipient lunacy, and the like. But, none the less, when every allowance has been made for incorrect diagnosis, for ill-informed ascriptions of rare and obscure forms of both physical and mental maladies, for credulity, honest mistakes, and exaggerations of every kind, there will yet remain a very considerable quota which it seems impossible to account for and explain save on the score of possession by some evil and hostile intelligence. But nobody is asked to accept all the instances of diabolic possession recorded in the history of the Church, nor even to form any definite opinion upon the historical evidence in favour of any particular case. That is primarily a matter for historical and medical science. And, perhaps, even at the present day and among civilized races this phenomenon is not so rare as is popularly supposed.

The annals of Bedlam, of many a private madhouse, and many an asylum could tell strange and hideous histories. And if we may judge from the accounts furnished by the pioneers of the Faith in missionary countries the evidences of diabolical agency there are as clearly defined and unmistakable as they were in Galilee in the time of Christ.[45]