In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.
My dearly beloved in Our Lord,
Today Our Lord teaches the Apostles about the devil and Exorcism.
Lent was the immediate preparation of the Catechumens for Baptism which they were to receive at the end of the Easter Vigil before receiving Confirmation, and the Holy Eucharist during the following Mass. Therefore it is normal that there be prayers and readings during Lent which refer to the devil and to the manner of driving him out and keeping him out of our lives because Exorcisms are an important part of the Baptismal ceremonies.
The order of Exorcist is the third minor order.
The Exorcism is a Sacramental of the Church. Sacramentals are established by the Church. They are somewhat similar to the Sacraments. They work “ex opere operantis Ecclesiae – by the operation of the Church” and thus normally give us grace from God, through the doing of the Church.
Exorcisms are used in many blessings. When Holy Water is blessed, the salt and the water are each first exorcised. Oil is also exorcised before being blessed.
Most noticeably Exorcisms are performed during the Baptismal ceremonies. The salt which the catechumen receives on his tongue is exorcised, and then two Exorcisms are done over the infant, one outside and one inside the church. When an adult is baptized, the Exorcism outside the church is threefold, and different for male and female catechumens!
Finally there is also the rite of exorcising those who are obsessed by the devil.
Through the sin of our first parents Adam and Eve, because they allowed themselves to be seduced by the devil, the hellish spirits have obtained a certain power and dominion over mankind. Our Lord calls the devil “the prince of the world” (Jn 12:31; 14:30; 16:11). This is why the devil was not acting outrageously in proposing to give to Our Lord “all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them” (Mt 4:8-9). They belong to him in a certain way, namely in as much as God concedes the devil some power of seduction with regards to us human beings. Power over society, political power is very prone to fall to the devil’s seduction because it is difficult to command with humility.
It is important, especially in today’s circumstances where all hell is obviously loose, to note that this power of seduction is not total. And seduction does not mean sin! Only if we formally, by the consent of our will, accept the seduction and give in to whatever evil is suggested to us, then we commit a sin. The devil tempts us, he wants to seduce us so that we fall into sin – but never ever can he make us commit a sin without our consent.
Our Lord teaches that “when the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through places without water, seeking rest”. Water equals life – you don’t need to be a Buddhist to know and believe that! Even our human body consists of more than ¾ of water, it seems! The true life is found in Our Lord God only, and this is why Christ promises to the Samaritan woman “living water” (Jn 4:10). The devil does not possess the true life. He is certainly living, but he is dead with regards to the divine life which he has forfeited. Thus Hell is called the second death (Apc 20:6.14; 21:8). Similarly a human being in the state of mortal sin is alive according to his body, but dead according to the life of the soul, the life of grace.
The unclean spirit finds a certain consolation or relief, some kind of distraction from his perpetual pain, when he is allowed to obsess or possess a human body or soul. Thus it aspires to this relative peace and rest and tries to get back to where he has been cast out from.
In my experience with the doings of the devil, mainly in Africa, I could see first-hand how prudent and important the Church’s prescriptions regarding Exorcism are. First, all natural causes that could explain the person’s bad condition need to be excluded. Then the person needs to receive the Sacraments because they are much more potent than an Exorcism. I never needed to perform the great Exorcism in Africa because in none of the more serious cases presented to me, the person persevered, or could be brought to put order into their life so they could receive the Sacraments. It is very important also that there be no curiosity when dealing with demons. An experienced exorcist in Altötting, a great Marian shrine in Bavaria, asked the devil during an Exorcism about the theft of church silver that had occurred there some time earlier. As a consequence of his curiosity he fell sick soon afterwards and became unfit for his priestly functions!
If a person has been delivered from demonic possession or obsession, that person needs to take great care, as Our Lord teaches, not to become the prey of demons again. It is similar to sin: A person who has fallen into a certain kind of sin, is more prone or inclined to fall back into that particular sin again. This applies most particularly to the sins of impurity which leave a profound trace in the flesh and in the memory. It is similar also to physical health: When a particular organ is prone to fail, or is frail, then the person concerned needs to take the appropriate measures to keep out of trouble in this regard, more than in other areas.
Let us contemplate the profound truth contained in Our Lord’s words: “seeking rest”. Is this not our most profound aspiration also? The great Doctor of the Church St Augustine writes, in the very beginning of his “Confessions”: “our heart is restless until it rests in Thee” (I,1). “Eternal rest give to them, O Lord; and let perpetual light shine upon them”, Holy Church prays for the faithful deceased.
How intensely should we not aspire to rest in Our Lord! But rest is only good and sweet after intense labor. If we truly aspire to eternal rest, then we must combat courageously and according to the rules, as St Paul has made clear on Septuagesima in the Epistle. This outlook regarding the battle which our life is, is so much more important in the circumstances which make our life more difficult than usual. Where the fight is strongest, the glory of victory will be the greatest! But of course it is tiring and extenuating when the fight is just dragging on and on… Even if we feel worn out, let us not get worn down by the duration and by the intensity of the fight. It will be over in “a little while”, as Our Lord tells the Apostles (Jn 16:16).
Most importantly, let us never forget that it is not so much us who fight, but Our Lord in and with us, and we with Our Lord. St Catherine of Siena was subject to fierce and long-lasting temptations against purity. When they had stopped, she complained to Our Lord: Where have you been all this while, during this big battle? I have been in the middle of your soul, Our Lord replied, keeping you from falling!
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.
P. Arnold Trauner (paterarnold@hotmail.com), njemački i engleski.
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