1. V.R.S.N.S.M.V.S.M.Q.L.L.I.V.B.
These are the first letters of a prayer which goes; ‘Begone, Satan! Suggest not to me thy vain things. The cup thou profferest me is evil; drink thou thy poison.’
This is an exorcism prayer found on one side of the medal of St. Benedict. The entire medal has an exorcism formula on both sides. And exorcists had been using this medal, usually incorporated in the middle of a crucifix commonly referred to as the crucifix of St. Benedict. It is a sacramental more than sufficient to drive the devil from people who are possessed. ‘Vade retro Satana’ (V R S)……are the first three initials.
Driving away the devil from oneself and from one’s surroundings had been a Christian preoccupation since the time of Christ. Christ drove away devils. And St. Benedict was one who was preoccupied with driving away the devil as his medal shows.
2. At the beginning of the Catholic Church, Satan the head, was chained and thrown in the bottomless pit. This was to prevent him from attacking and tempting the newly born Church and give the Church time to grow in grace and strength for the more serious battles. The ‘smaller’ devils were, however, allowed to test the Church.
The Church must grow in grace and wisdom and this is accomplished by passing the tests God sends her. The test gradually becomes more difficult. So the Church really expects that one day this leader, Satan, will be released by God for the final test that the Church must undergo.
Since Satan is what he is, the epitome of evil, and possessed with an angelic nature, the awaited final battle is not going to be bloodless. The Apocalypse gives us a hint when the grand release will occur but did not declare a very specific time table. It says ‘on the fifth trumpet’ or after ‘one thousand years.’
Numerous signs show the whole hell had been released from the bottomless pit.
Like in the 13th century when William of Ockam introduced nominalism, conceptualism and terminism within the Church, heresies from which the Church never recovered. The 15th century when Pierre Cauchon, bishop of Beauvais betrayed the 19 year old St. Joan of Arc in a most despicable way. The treason of the bishop surpassed the treason of Judas. This would be a type on how Satan would attack the Church this day. And there is the human sacrifices of the Aztecs stopped by Our Lady of Guadalupe. These events show that the whole hell had already been released.
To give us a type for our instruction, God gave an example on what Satan can do when he is released in the treason of Judas, an apostle.
Like all things in the Catholic Church, Faith is needed to discern when Satan is released because it coincides with the approach of the end of the world. Unbelievers wouldn’t have any idea when this is because they do not even believe in Satan nor in Angels, for that matter. Satan’s release is part of God’s punishment for the world for its unbelief. The strong hint is that when Satan is released the time for repentance will soon be over.
The Catholic Church had not announced whether Satan had been released but then, we cannot even find where the Catholic Church is today, because all so-called Catholic Churches do not have the four visible signs of the true Church as described in the Nicene Creed. Almost all priest and bishops do not know the visible signs of the true Catholic Church because they recite the shortened Apostles Creed during Mass which does not enumerate the four visible signs as the Nicene Creed does.
So for most of us without Faith, we have to guess when Satan might have been released for the destruction of our souls. Though most of us don’t really care.
When were the devils in the bottomless pit released is now immaterial. The fact is that, now, they are all out and are roaming the earth.
3. Physical and Spiritual possession.
There are two popular kinds of possessions. The first is physical possession, like the one living in the tombs exorcised by Christ; the other is spiritual possession as what occurred to Judas who was not exorcised by Christ. The former can be exorcised; the latter cannot be exorcised.
Priest and even laymen can exorcise those physically possessed. As long as anyone has Faith, Hope and Charity, they can drive away the devil. Sometimes, the mere presence of someone with Faith can drive the devil away. The living of a true monastic life can exorcise.
There are two kinds of spiritual possessions. The first is exemplified by the Aztecs of Mexico. The second is the mystery of iniquity.
4. Spiritual possession……
Lets look at the first kind exemplified by the Aztecs of Mexico at the time of the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
The sign of this first and lesser spiritual possession by the devil is the murdering of the innocent.
The Aztecs were spiritually possessed by the devil due to ignorance and their pagan background. The sign of Satanic possession of the mind and free will is the murder of another human being.
Everybody believes that their good god is the creator of life. If so, he would not want anyone to kill the life that He had created. So the killing of that life can only come from the enemy of the good god and that is the evil spirits or the devils; in short Satan.
All acts that contradict God’s act of having created life by snuffing that life is committing a very grievous sin whose consequent punishment is eternal hell. Its devilish origin can be seen in the human sacrifices of the Aztecs where they had to capture thousands of prisoners just for the purpose of sacrificing them to their snake god, the symbol of Satan. All the trouble of going to war just to capture prisoners and wrench their hearts still throbbing while offering it to their idols, is impossible to explain until we look at their temple of sacrifice and see that giant snake from the foot to the top of their altar of sacrifice.
It was indeed an act of worship and sacrifice. But to Satan. Fortunately, our Lady of Guadalupe freed them from that bondage. But now Mexico is again in bondage by the evil of communism.
Abortion, euthanasia, genocide, terrorism and all kinds of killings show most men are spiritually possessed by Satan. There is no other explanation for this. Insanity? Of well, that is, also, the work of Satan, that is why exorcism is the more effective cure for insanity than psychotherapy.
Drug addicts fall under the same category. They are spiritually possessed, They, also, have the tendency to take human lives for no reason. Drug addicts are never rehabilitated. They only change their symptoms but the illness remains the same, spiritual possession.
5. The more grievous spiritual possession is that of Judas whom neither Christ nor the apostles tried to exorcise.
The former possession tends to kill their neighbour. This latter spiritual possession tries to kill the soul of one’s neighbour,
They can succeed if their neighbour has a weak Faith; but not if they have Faith enlightened with Charity.
Thus on Good Friday those spiritually possessed were able to kill the weak Faith of the Jewish people but could not kill the Faith of the apostles.
When Satan entered into Judas Christ and the eleven apostles were around him and the devil did not leave Judas. Because in Judas’s case the devil had taken control of his mind and free will by his own invitation, i.e. with full knowledge and full consent.
In physical possession, God allows the devil to control the physical body of a person but not his mind and free will. In Spiritual possession, the person himself allows the devil to possess his mind and his free will.
6. Today, the second spiritual possession is more common. It can be found in most priests, bishops and cardinals…..and even in Pope Francis. This second spiritual possession by Satan which we first found in Judas is referred to as the mystery of iniquity.
The most grievous sin can be mixed with what is apparently good. The worse heresy is proposed using Scriptural text or Apostolic exhortation. Doubtful doctrines are preached by people in red and purple. True doctrines are omitted in interviews. And laws and directives are promulgated to dismantle the theological structures of the Catholic Church.
This is done with suavity that even those with some theological training cannot detect it. It is the distortion, the modifying of doctrines. An example is when Pope Francis during a Eucharistic Congress in Poland highly praised the Holy Eucharist with all the compliments that can be found in the dictionary but never said that It is the Body of Christ. He used so many words to praise It but did not describe the very essence of the Sacrament. So it was a totally empty statement of flattery.
Heresies coming from the very seat of St. Peter is disastrous to all, even to those with weak Faith. And we see those with weak Faith falling like leaves. Those with Faith enlivened with Charity are untouchable.
Betrayals of orders in the right direction of orthodoxy like the institute of the Good Shepherd, betrayals of good bishops and priests like Sarah and Finn, betrayals of underground churches like that of China for the sake of what?…….is getting to be too common.
Since the Catholic Church is experiencing a crisis of Faith as Ratzinger wrote, and those with Faith have weak Faith……..the external decline of the Church is getting more pronounced.
7. Good Friday once again.
The pre-figure is Good Friday. It is happening again today. Those who welcomed Christ with their Hosannas are the ones shouting ‘crucify Him.’ The Civil authorities are being used to persecute the Mystical Body of Christ. Most of the priests, bishops, cardinals and, even the High Priests, Caiaphas, are the one’s planning the demise of the Church. With a newly installed bishop, Judas, conniving with them. All of these orchestrated by Satan who have spiritually possessed them. What are the chances of the Catholic Church?
Very good! It is the prelude for the Resurrection and the glory of the Church as small as it was on Good Friday. With Peter in hiding.