Read Online The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist by Matt Baglio - Free Book Online
Authors: Matt Baglio
Tags: Religión, General, Biography & Autobiography, Biography, Religious, Christian Theology, Christianity, Angelology & Demonology, Clergy, exorcism, Catholic, Matt, Baglio
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victim will not remember what transpired (rare individuals will be conscious during the ordeal and will remember). As a result of this “loss of control” the individual is considered blameless for whatever happens. However, having a free will, they are responsible for their actions when they are not in the trance state, and so, say theologians, demonic possession in no way exculpates them from guilt.
In between their crisis moments, it is also possible for victims to carry on as if nothing is wrong. This does not mean, however, that they are not affected by the demon. “People who are possessed can keep undergoing influence of the demon in their mind,” says another Italian exorcist. “As the Holy Spirit acquaints one with divine things such as good feelings, pleasant sensations, a state of physical well-being, a state of calm, inner peace and also an intuition of things, an evil spirit through his ugliness can do the same thing though in the opposite way, like agitation, anxiety, desperation, hate, or thoughts of suicide.”
During moments of crisis, the Devil can manifest in various ways: bodily contortions that defy rational explanation; unnatural strength; knowledge of hidden things; or abilities to speak or understand foreign languages. In stronger cases, the demon will speak through the person, usually in an odd or unnatural voice that is full of rage and hatred.
It is also possible for strange occurrences to happen at the homes of possessed individuals, such as weird animals appearing or disappearing. For instance, one eighteen-year-old girl was suddenly awakened one night by a slap across her face. Looking around, she saw that she was alone. However, as she searched the room, she noticed that misshapen bugs (with antennae or wings missing, for example) began appearing on the walls. Frightened, she called out to her mother, who also saw the bugs. The two then tried to kill them with a shoe, but they kept appearing on the walls as if out of thin air.
It is important to note that, in the case of a demonic possession, say exorcists, the soul of the individual is not possessed, just the body. A great debate has raged among Christians about whether a person in a state of grace could also be possessed. According to the Catholic Church, the answer is yes (the lives of the saints bear witness to this) because the soul remains in a state of grace while the body is taken over. The only exception would be when a person “invites” a possession to take place, such as during a satanic ritual. “In this case,” says an Italian exorcist, “the presence in the soul is completed, which means that the will of the person completely identifies with the demon, having given himself completely to him. In that case the person becomes constantly possessed, and is like a demon walking on the earth.”
CHAPTER FIVE
OPENING THE DOOR
My dear Wormwood,
Everything is clearly going very well. I am specially glad to hear that the two new friends have now made him acquainted with their whole set. All these, as I find from the record office, are thoroughly reliable people; steady, consistent scoffers and worldings who without any spectacular crimes are progressing quietly and comfortably towards Our Father's house.
— C. S. Lewis , The Screwtape Letters
Confound the race
Of mankind in one root, and Earth with Hell
To mingle and involve, done all to spite The Great Creator
—John Milton , Paradise Lost
T he image of a desecrated church with satanic graffiti— “666” and upside-down crosses—spray painted on the walls filled the large white screen behind the dais.
“These photos were taken in the chapel of an abandoned hospital just outside Rome,” asserted the deep baritone voice of Dr. Marco Strano, a criminologist and psychologist with the state police. A brooding, bald man with an intense gaze made more pronounced by a set of thick black eyebrows, Dr. Strano appeared right at home next to the gruesome images—elaborate
In between their crisis moments, it is also possible for victims to carry on as if nothing is wrong. This does not mean, however, that they are not affected by the demon. “People who are possessed can keep undergoing influence of the demon in their mind,” says another Italian exorcist. “As the Holy Spirit acquaints one with divine things such as good feelings, pleasant sensations, a state of physical well-being, a state of calm, inner peace and also an intuition of things, an evil spirit through his ugliness can do the same thing though in the opposite way, like agitation, anxiety, desperation, hate, or thoughts of suicide.”
During moments of crisis, the Devil can manifest in various ways: bodily contortions that defy rational explanation; unnatural strength; knowledge of hidden things; or abilities to speak or understand foreign languages. In stronger cases, the demon will speak through the person, usually in an odd or unnatural voice that is full of rage and hatred.
It is also possible for strange occurrences to happen at the homes of possessed individuals, such as weird animals appearing or disappearing. For instance, one eighteen-year-old girl was suddenly awakened one night by a slap across her face. Looking around, she saw that she was alone. However, as she searched the room, she noticed that misshapen bugs (with antennae or wings missing, for example) began appearing on the walls. Frightened, she called out to her mother, who also saw the bugs. The two then tried to kill them with a shoe, but they kept appearing on the walls as if out of thin air.
It is important to note that, in the case of a demonic possession, say exorcists, the soul of the individual is not possessed, just the body. A great debate has raged among Christians about whether a person in a state of grace could also be possessed. According to the Catholic Church, the answer is yes (the lives of the saints bear witness to this) because the soul remains in a state of grace while the body is taken over. The only exception would be when a person “invites” a possession to take place, such as during a satanic ritual. “In this case,” says an Italian exorcist, “the presence in the soul is completed, which means that the will of the person completely identifies with the demon, having given himself completely to him. In that case the person becomes constantly possessed, and is like a demon walking on the earth.”
CHAPTER FIVE
OPENING THE DOOR
My dear Wormwood,
Everything is clearly going very well. I am specially glad to hear that the two new friends have now made him acquainted with their whole set. All these, as I find from the record office, are thoroughly reliable people; steady, consistent scoffers and worldings who without any spectacular crimes are progressing quietly and comfortably towards Our Father's house.
— C. S. Lewis , The Screwtape Letters
Confound the race
Of mankind in one root, and Earth with Hell
To mingle and involve, done all to spite The Great Creator
—John Milton , Paradise Lost
T he image of a desecrated church with satanic graffiti— “666” and upside-down crosses—spray painted on the walls filled the large white screen behind the dais.
“These photos were taken in the chapel of an abandoned hospital just outside Rome,” asserted the deep baritone voice of Dr. Marco Strano, a criminologist and psychologist with the state police. A brooding, bald man with an intense gaze made more pronounced by a set of thick black eyebrows, Dr. Strano appeared right at home next to the gruesome images—elaborate
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