Glory to Jesus Christ!
In my Young Adult Catholic Group I attend, we just had a discussion the other day about exorcism and went over that most famous case that occurred in the east in the mid-1900's. I imagine that there are rites of exorcism in the East, but I'm curious as to how is it different fro the Roman Rite of Exorcism? Also is the understanding different in any way? And lastly, has there been any famous case of exorcism in the last century or so?
Kyrie eleison,
Manuel
In the early 1900's a father cursed his daughter in Piraeus, Greece, and the daughter became possessed. Not one priest could exorcise her as all the sins of each priest were revealed by the evil one; no priest was worthy enough to exorcise this particular strong demon. Infact, he was so strong, that he boasted that he was one of three great demons--the other two being in Russia and China!! (Lest anyone think that those leaders of history who have exhibited great evil are not influenced or even possessed by the legions of the evil one)..
The demon would speak to the priests through the girl, and one day he said that the only one that could exorcise him would be "the one with the nails". Well this baffled everybody, and they couldn't figure out what it meant.
Around that time, as is the practice in Greece, the body of St. Nektarios, who had recently reposed and was buried on the island of Aegina, was being unearthed after the traditional three year period. When he was unearthed, a beautiful scent filled the air, and he was so intact still that his nails had continued growing!!
This apparently became big news, and it became obvious who 'the one with the nails' was. The girl was taken to the relics of the saint, and she was exorcised by the holiness of his relics. If I remember correctly, she then became a nun at the monastery he established.
May our Lord protect us all. As Father Amorth (Exorcist of Rome) said, the biggest boost we can give the evil one is to deny his existence...
Personally, I believe very strongly that psychopathic murderers and child kidnappers are often people who have opened their souls to evil entities (by not praying, not believing in God, etc.-- and as the news has uncovered about them time and time-- dabbling in demonic material such as satanism, occult, and perverse pornographic material)
Kyrie Eleison!
Alice
