There is a school in Rome to train exorcist. They enroll 60-80 at a time. It takes four months. And it is the only school known as such. Isn’t that a very small force to train to exorcise the myriads of people possessed by the devil? And you have to go Rome to train. Did something go wrong in God’s planning that this problem of possession had not been adequately addressed? A weekly news magazine scoffs at the Vatican’s preservation of the rite of Exorcism, just recently revised by Pope Benedict.
Germany and some of its bishops do not believe in the after life. They have only a handful of trained exorcist. Italy have a growing population of Satanic worshippers.
I live in a country, though predominantly Catholic, is replete with superstitious practices. The devil loves superstition. And whenever I go and give retreat to nuns, they line up some townsfolks for exorcism after the lectures. The threatening looks of these persons, supposedly possessed, is reason enough for me to make a hasty retreat into my ride and rush back home. I don’t know how to exorcise. They look ready to bite. I don’t want to get bitten. Rabies, tetanus, ….you know.
A desire to go to Rome and study in the Exorcist school rose in me. Why didn’t God make better provision to counter this threat than just opening a small school in Rome? Didn’t He see that this problem would be world wide? God knew all of this. And in His wisdom and Providence He had made provisions.
The ordinary means to prevent possession and/or to exorcise is the Sacrament of Baptism. The putting into practice of the theology of Baptism, which consists in the initial rite of exorcism and growth in the perfection of the Sacrament by becoming perfect children of God…this is called monasticism. So the ordinary way of exorcism without the need of an exorcist from Rome is to live the fullness of monastic life…with emphasis on “fullness” because many monasteries today do not live the fullness of the life of Baptism. Since monastic life is nothing else than living the Gospel, the Evangelical Life is the ordinary means of exorcising a soul. I have mentioned this in the past posts.
In the life of St. Romuald, founder of the Benedictine Camaldolese, it is narrated that every time the devil would disturb the saint, an angel would club the daylight out of the devil. How is that for a body guard? Or soul guard?
Let us recall the knowledge of the desert Fathers in handling devils, a knowledge they had perfected.
The FIRST principle to keep in mind is this: neither devil nor any wicked man can harm anybody who does not want to be harmed. The devil can only harm him who wants to be harmed. People harm themselves; the devil cannot harm them who are zealous for their salvation.
St. John Chrysostom, on “The power of the Demons” posed this question. “Why are there persons in the monastery right now living lives of penance, while others are in the city indulging themselves in the pleasures of the flesh? Why are there those feeding on spiritual unguents while others eating of the devil’s garbage? Why are there people singing psalms in praise of God while others taking part in lascivious songs of the devil?
Who decoyed them? Who deceived them? We are all men alike bearing the same human nature. We have the same soul, the same desires. How come these two are not in the same place? THE “PURPOSE!” They do not have the same purpose. One is beyond deception; the other is under deception. One refused to be deceived, the other loved to be deceived. The devil has nothing to do with the choices. We, alone, are the author of our choices.
The devil is wicked but he is wicked for himself, not towards us if we are careful. For the nature of wickedness is that it is destructive to those alone who hold on to it. Virtue is the contrary: it is not only able to profit those who hold to it, but those nearest at hand too. Evil is evil in itself, but good is also good to others. “My son, if thou art become evil, thou shall bear thine evils alone, but if wise, for thyself and thy neighbor.”
The “purpose” is the master. When a man lives in wickedness and shows all kind of evil, he cannot blame God’s providence and blame fortune and fate and the tyranny of Demons… transferring all blame to others.
The reasoning is simple. He in the monastery is a servant and, likewise you in the world. He is a man and you are a man. Both of you live in the same world and are nourished by the same food and are under the same heaven. How come one lives in virtue and the other in wickedness? And they live together in this world. This is the greatest proof that the Catholic Church is the true Church, stated Ronald Knox. Because, as Christ, Himself, described His Church, she will have both the cockle and the wheat. What for?
For the good to appear more thoroughly approved when they are in the midst of those who try to hinder them from living rightly, and who entice them to evil, and yet keep hold to virtue. “For there must be also heresies among you that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.” The good bishops appear resplendent when side by side with the bad ones.
In the previous posts, we showed how the devil entered into Judas and possessed him to the point of being able to command him what to do. Judas, by his avarice, left himself open to possession. The devil did not have to force himself in. The second evil that leaves a soul open to possession as early as childhood is the dictatorship of relativism, as mentioned in all monastic writings (St. Benedict writes that this dictatorship is the first evil that must be removed from one’s soul). The third, mentioned by John Chrysostom propagator of monasticism, is sloth.
Idleness is the workshop of the devil – we have often heard it said. But I have often interpreted idleness as those doing nothing. Well, no. The Slothful are very busy in almost everything, climbing mountains, crossing the seas, feeding the hungry, organizing pilgrimages, appearing on T.V. preaching BUT are lazy when it comes to their personal spiritual life….like finding out their sins and living a life of self-denial.
So, there you are….living your Baptism is the best home remedy for possession by the devil. It is both a curative and preventive medicine. I hope I didn’t get all those new Exorcist graduates unemployed. (Painting by Guercino, 17th century, St. Romuald with angel clubbing the devil.)