I'm reading a very scary indeed book at the moment by a Catholic Professor of Psychiatry and World Authority on Exorcism a Catholic called Richard Gallagher MD. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Demonic-Foes-Psychiatrist-Investigates-Possessions/dp/0062876473
He tells a whole series of stories of people who were possessed or oppressed (attacked) by demons. They used to say such events were rare, but present day Exorcists tell us that they are becoming more and more common, especially cases were people are attacked by demons. Reading one of his stories last night had me up sprinkling my bedroom with Holy Water and Blessed Salt and becoming a little jumpy. It concerned a lady he calls, 'Julia', who was a Satanic, 'Queen', the leading lady in a Satanic Coven. She had been a , 'Breeder', giving birth to multiple babies which were then Sacrificed to Satan. She had advanced magical Powers and the night before calling to see two different Psychiatrists she cause their cats to fight like crazy. She could see events and people at a distance and describe them accurately. Could curse people and work spells and so. At one of her exorcisms she levitated into the air and it took six strong men to hold her down, otherwise she would have hit the ceiling. She gave up looking to be healed and went back to her Satanic Coven. I think priests and lay people who are involved in this work are very,very brave indeed . I can't understand Catholics who do not believe in this stuff. It occurs right through Scripture, the Church herself says it is true. Also I don;t think anyone who walks along the Spiritual Path and great distance will find themselves hitting up against True Evil. Getting their eyes open so to speak.
Dr Richard tells two tales of women who were, 'Vexed', very holy people who were attacked by the Devil just because they were Holy, something we find quite commonly in the lives of the saints. The first was an Hispanic lady, 'Maria', who came with her husband. It is touching how the Doctor comments on this ladies evident great goodness. It could be said of her that she everywhere she went it was to do good. But at nights , while her poor husband watched the devil attacked her beating her as though with a stick or a whip leaving large livid bruises on her body. The devil was driven away after some pray by the Exorcist. The second, 'Sonia', was also a very,very good woman, mother of a large family. Dr Richard comments on her humility and common sense. Her case is very interesting because it touches on false visions and messages from the devil. Claiming to be angels the devil started to send her message claiming they were from angels in heaven. But Sonia suspected a rat ,wise woman and told her priest. Then the messages changed and claimed to be from the dead. Sonia was now wise to what was going on with this change and suspected even more that it was from the devil. With prayers these, 'Messages' went away. I wish everyone was as wise and humble as this lady. So many messages are of the devil.
One of the great things about being a person of prayer is that we become bright eyed and bushy tailed about the what the devil is up to in our lives. In this he reminds me of one of those old Cowboy movies about Indians attacking a Wagon Train. Do you remember? The cowboys moved their wagons into a great circle and the poor old Indians rode round and round time firing arrows in and hollering like crazy. Prayer and a good Sacramental Life gives us great protection, our wagons are rolled in a circle,so to speak. But that doesn't stop the devils from doing what they can and one thing he loves to do is to make folks unhappy. One way he does this is by casting everyone and everything and every incident in our laves in a bad light. Along these lines, 'You're a failure', 'No one likes you', 'Your spiritual life is a sham', 'These problems will bury you', ' and on and on and on. A great cloud of negativity. But even so a good prayer life should indicate just the kinda Indians that are circling out little wagons.
In fact that's why I am awake at the moment, I am just having an old fashioned tussle with the devil at the moment and got out of bed to take a break from him. But in a funny, strange kind of way I am always glad to see him. We have become a little like old friends. I notice him when he is not about and worry a little about it in case he doesn't need to bother anymore as I might be doing what he wants anyway and he no longer has to bother.. The devil is God's slave. He is on a tight leash. Even he despite himself accomplishes God's purpose in our lives. That is why in a weird kind of way, he is almost a friend. A soldier is never ever a real soldier until he has been a war. The same can be said for the Christian soul. We never ever become fully mature Followers of Christ until we have had a few good slugging sessions with our hellish foe.
He is not your friend Padraig. He is just the old familiar adversary--as St Jean Vianney would say--but as you know--never ever let your guard down. The worst cultural trend i see is domestication the devil. The TV shows and movies have him styled almost a hero. Horrible.
I think if I had one word to describe the devil that word word by, RAGE. He is always in a total rage, rather as if he were angrier than the angriest person you have ever met and this anger never lessens even for a second. A second word would be despair. He is rather like someone who has entered a huge bog and cannot get out. Every step he takes leads him deeper and deeper into the bog. The worst thing about this is that he knows he will never get out of it. Just sinking lower and lwer to wrst defeats. He never ever wins. Just deeper and deeper.
A case Dr Richard talks about reminds of the Catholic teaching on Reparation for sin. It involves, 'Clare', a Catholic mother and home maker in a kind of derelict town in North Virginia. Her home is described as comfortable and welcoming, a good wife and mother, a good cook and someone who devotes time to her local Parish. But she can't stand to go into her Church and any time anyone tries to give her spiritual advise or counsel or even talk to anyone about anything holy she simply goes deaf she can;t hear it. Multiple expocisms over a long period of time, still the devil is firmly lodged. What surprised me about this is how on Earth a Good Catholic lady like this could have wound up possessed and not only possessed but so very deeply and strongly possessed and that the devil had wound up with such very great power over her? It turned out that when young she and two other girls formed a witches circle in which they sold their souls to Satan and sacrificed aborted fetus's to Satan. Her great aunt in Poland was also a powerful witch. Horrible. But it reminds me of how how actions have consequences. The chickens coming home to roost. Reparation time. Reparation reminds me of a very famous French Star of the stage, Eve Lavalliere (1866-1929) who was famous right across Europe and who converted from a very immoral life indeed after reading a life of Saint Mary Magdalene. But with Eve, too the chickens came home to roost.
https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12775a.htm 'Reparation is a theological concept closely connected with those of atonement and satisfaction, and thus belonging to some of the deepest mysteries of the Christian Faith. It is the teaching of that Faith that man is a creature who has fallen from an original state of justice in which he was created, and that through the Incarnation, Passion, and Death of the Son of God, he has been redeemed and restored again in a certain degree to the original condition. Although God might have condoned men's offences gratuitously if He had chosen to do so, yet in His Providence He did not do this; He judged it better to demand satisfaction for the injuries which man had done Him. It is better for man's education that wrong doing on his part should entail the necessity of making satisfaction. This satisfaction was made adequately to God by the Sufferings, Passion, and Death of Jesus Christ, made Man for us. By voluntary submission to His Passion and Death on the Cross, Jesus Christ atoned for our disobedience and sin. He thus made reparation to the offended majesty of God for the outrages which the Creator so constantly suffers at the hands of His creatures. We are restored to grace through the merits of Christ's Death, and that grace enables us to add our prayers, labours, and trials to those of Our Lord "and fill up those things that are wanting of the sufferings of Christ" (Colossians 1:24). We can thus make some sort of reparation to the justice of God for our own offences against Him, and by virtue of the Communion of the Saints, the oneness and solidarity of the mystical Body of Christ, we can also make satisfaction and reparation for the sins of others. This theological doctrine, firmly rooted in the Christian Faith, is the foundation of the numerous confraternities and pious associations which have been founded, especially in modern times, to make reparation to God for the sins of men. Thus the Archconfraternity of Reparation for blasphemy and the neglect of Sunday was founded 28 June, 1847, in the Church of St. Martin de La Noue at St. Dizier in France by Mgr. Parisis, Bishop of Langres. With a similar object, the Archconfraternity of the Holy Face was established at Tours, about 1851, through the piety of M. Dupont, the "holy man of Tours". In 1883 an association was formed in Rome to offer reparation to God on behalf of all nations. The idea of reparation is an essential element in the devotion of the Sacred Heart (see Heart of Jesus, Devotion to the). The Mass, the representation of the sacrifice of Calvary, is specially suited to make reparation for sin. One of the ends for which it is offered is the propitiation of God's wrath. A pious widow of Paris conceived the idea of promoting this object in 1862. By the authority of Pope Leo XIII the erection of the Archconfraternity of the Mass of Reparation was sanctioned in 1886.'
I am enjoying this thread. There are some very rare cases of possession due to becoming a victim soul. Last night I started watching this video about the possession of Anneliese Michel. However, about half way through I had to stop. I began to look over my shoulder sensing someone looking at me. I felt very alone in the world. It was a frightening feeling. I will continue now that the daylight has returned. The Blessed Virgin Mary had asked the young Anneliese if she was willing to suffer for the salvation of many lost souls, and she duly acquiesced. This reminds me of Our Mother's request to Sts. Jacinta and Francisco. So it seems that the terrible suffering which fell to Anneliese was demonic possession and resulting death. In fact her parents sufferd greatly too and they were convicted of manslaughter in a German court because the autopsy concluded that Anneliese died from exhaustion and starvation. There is a prayer in Fr. Ripperger's book on Deliverance Prayers for use by the laiety, called: Prayer to Reverse Decisions. I wondered what this prayer was for? Then I watched a video where Fr. Ripperger went through the book explaining all the prayers. He said that this prayer can be used to reverse past unwise decisions by people to become 'victim souls'. He said that in general victim souls are very rare and that one needs exceptional disposition of the soul to undertake this difficult path. He advised people not to make such decisions at least on their own I think.
The last I heard Annaliese was on the path to sainthood. However since the German Bishops and Cardinals, with one or two blessed exceptions, are now Apostate, Heretical and busy setting up a false Church, I doubt we will see her being declared a saint any time soon. When she was asked to place herself forward as a Victim Soul was to help save the Church from this very Apostacy. Her parents and herself were very devout, Traditional Catholics and I think they all refused medical intervention so stringently was they simply did not trust the secular professionals, she could for instance have wound up in a nut house for the rest of her life. So I sympathise with this. Annaliese and her parents remind me of my own parents. We had Traditional Mass in our house pretty well as soon as the Novus Ordo Mass started, so I grew up with the Traditional Mass, this goes way back to the '60's when everything began to fall apart. So when I read of Annalise and her family in Germany at that time I can understand so well what they were thinking and doing. We were doing the exact same thing in my own home in Ireland.
I love books that tell a lot of good interesting stories. Also I think the things I am learning from it helps with my ordinary spiritual life. But anyway I find it all fascinating, always have, always will. I just enjoy reading about it all. Exorcists are our Special Forces, our soldiers on the Front Line. We can learn so very much from them about all kinds of different things. They are kinda hard line, I think and are not prone to all the bad things that are circulating in the Church. They are kinda Catholics of Catholics, Priests of Priests. Hard core. Men you can count on in the fight.
I have always been way too afraid to ask to be a victim soul. I'm still trying to learn patience in suffering. In one moment of enthusiasm a couple years ago, I did offer my sickness to God, asking that if I could save a bishop, I'd willingly suffer the sickness worsening or dragging on for a bit until the bishop was saved. Well. That bishop must have been a tough case, because what had been a fairly ordinary sickness turned into days upon days of high fever, terrible body aches, an entire throat and neck so swollen I actually had many panicky times during which I couldn't swallow, so therefore couldn't eat, and when I finally seemed to be getting a little better, I took a violent turn for the worse and started feeling really disoriented. That was the scariest part, that I felt like the sickness was affecting my mind. At that point I became so frightened that I asked my husband to pray for me and he anointed me with some holy oil while praying. My fever broke the next day, and I was better a few days later. I told my mother about it, and she said her mother--my Grammy--once did that to save the soul of her best friend when she died, and her resulting sickness was so horrible she said she could never do it again. Me being the weakling that I am, I have to agree, I'm probably never going to do that again. God probably prefers that I get better at lovingly accepting what He chooses to send me!
I also notice, very often, that people who offer themselves as Victim Souls seem to very often die very quickly thereafter. The two children at Fatima for instance. I greatly admire folks who can so this; I would be too afraid. What I do do though is to turn to Our Lady and ask her to use me, but I also add go gently. I heard one priest giving a tip, if we ever want to know something about our faults we should ask Our Guardian Angel to point one of them out to us. He added that this can be very,very painful when they do so, but that our angels just LOVE a chance to point these things out when asked and rush to do so.. This is also a little scary. At least for me it is.
I am definitely too much of a chicken to offer myself as a victim soul. But, I do try to offer up sufferings for specific people and intentions. Interesting that I’ve been dealing with what PT thinks is arthritis in my shoulder. The pain is not fun…. But I’ve been offering it up for my son-in-law to recognize that he is lost and that this will be catalyst for healing in the marriage with our daughter. I pray thus everyday. But, I still struggle in my ability to love him as a Christian ought to. This, of course, is my sin. I confessed this (again) this week. And a marvelous and unexpected thing happened. After receiving my penance, this new and young priest looked me in the eye and said, I’m also going to perform an act of penance on your behalf this week. I was overcome with deep emotion and a sense of the Spirit filled me …. It was said with such conviction by this young priest. It perhaps is a good sign and reminder to keep up and do acts of penance for others. Peace.
If you offer yourself as a victim soul, would that include the devil appearing to you every other night?
