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Did anyone read Fr. David Petras's column? Why was the office of exorcist of less important in the East? I know that in the past mental illness was mistaken for possession, but with people in general being more intellegent and less superstitious wouldn't make sense to have an exorcist now?There is a tremendous amount of evil in the world even though millions of people proclaim to be Christians? If anything the devil wants Fr. to believe this order shouldn't be revived. I say every diocese should have an exorcist just to keep the little bugar on his toes. I don't think of possession like it is in the movies.I think its more subtle like if you put the frog in the cold pot of water then turn on the heat he gets used to it then boils to death.

Nicky's Baba

Where can I read this artical? I talked to my priest about this issue and he told me he was ordained an exorcist. However, he never has preformed one.

The exorcist as a minor order was a formality, for most of its history. Today only a specially trained and appointed priest may perform the rite with the bishops permission. Since it is a bleesing of sorts and only priests may give formal blessings in our tradtion it makes sense this order was never part of the Byzantine Church.

In Christ,
Lance, deacon candidate

Broric,

Go to www.parma.org [parma.org] click on the Horizon News.
Lance,
Are there any specially trained Priests in the BC Church to perform exorcisms? What about the OC?

Nicky's Baba

[ 02-14-2002: Message edited by: Nicky's Baba ]

Dear Lance,

Yes, when our family home was beset by phenomena that I've mentioned before, we had a priest come in to bless it and exorcize. He wasn't designated as an exorcist, but this is what happened. Perhaps you could let me know what this is all about.

My brother was asked to kneel beside his bed, since that is where the problems started.

He drank Holy Water three times, had blessings said over him, his bed and the entire third floor was (very well) blessed with Holy Water.

The Priest recited prayers that basically "kicked" the devil out and any and all unclean spirits lurking there.

The whole time, the Priest stood over him during this service as my brother weeped uncontrollably.

Afterwards, we were never again bothered by those phenomena.

Alex

Alex,

The regulations I spoke of are in place for the Latin Church, how they affect the Eastern Churches I am not sure. I would suspect that we would follow the same rules, which I think are a good idea. As Fr. David mentioned in his article, in the past demonic possession was ascribed to many people who were simply mentally ill. The Church requires that mental illness be ruled out before the rite of exorcism be performed and only by priests renowned for personal holiness and who have received the appropriate training and blessing of the bishop.

I believe for instances of demonic oppression, as the situation you describe, the rules are less formal and the parish priest may use his discretion and perform a general exorcism, which is a little different than the rite of exorcism for a person.

In Christ,
Lance, deacon candidate

Nicky's Baba,

I am not aware of any of our priests being designated exorcists. I am also unsure of how the Orthodox Churches handle this. The Roman Archdioceses of New York, Chicago , and Los Angeles all do have official designated exorcists. I believe all diocese may appoint one, but as exorcisms are rare most will simply call one in when needed.

In Christ,
Lance, deacon candidate

In reading the Byzantine Baptismal ritual, exorcism is clearly an integral part of being initiated into the Christian fold. I would suppose in the Eastern rite all priests who baptize are deemed exorcists, and all who have been baptized can say they have be exorcized, no?

[ 02-14-2002: Message edited by: durak ]

[ 02-14-2002: Message edited by: durak ]

Durak,

Fr. David addresses exactly what you are speaking about.
I guess my concern is if things such as exorcism
are minimized does that help in the proliferation of evil.
For instance tonight on the "O'Rielly Factor" Mr. O' Reilly squared off with a woman in the Chicago area. She was upset because a local Hotel was hosting a S& M convention.She stated it was becoming acceptable & main stream. You had to pay to get in."Things" were acually happening there.A drug company & clinic were offering hepatitis shots in case anyone was exposed to it there. Mr. O'Reilly thought it was weird but they had the right to do what they wanted behind closed doors and not in public view. Now if demonic possession & oppression aren't present there I'll eat your hat. Mr. O'Reilly's soul is in as much peril as the folks who are attending it. Oh, get this off-duty CPD are their security! 20 yrs ago they would have been fired for something like that. To call this sin is an understatement. Maybe exorcist's should take on a new role in our Church. They should teach how to discern the present of evil in our lives, communities & society in general. Evil doesn't always manifest itself as strange phenomenon in a house.

Nicky's Baba

durak,

You are entirely right. I remember as a schoolboy during the time of the release of the famous movie, telling all my chums to their amazement that I had an exorcism.

The things kids will do to get attention!

K.

As I recall, any Eastern Christian Priest can perform an exocism without being officially ordained as one per se. I thought it had to do with the way in which we view the presence of evil. In other words, since the devil and his minions are all around us, any occastion of sin is a type of possession. Therefor, we must always be on guard. I think that is why I have never heard of an "Exorcist" in the Eastern Church (or maybe I am just behind the times or wrong or something...)

Dmitri

Dear Friends,

Yes, the presence of evil is very real and very powerful.

It can only be defeated by the power of the Name of Jesus and by the prayer of the Church, whatever and however it is designated.

I believe every time we pray, we are performing an exorcism or a re-washing of our souls.

It is also very true, as Babtsia said, that exposure to occult and other things does leave one wide open to serious spiritual problems in this department.

The area of the world today where there are the highest number of specially designated exorcists is in Turin, Italy.

Ouija boards and the like, so popular among the young (that I taught, anyway) are also invitations to problems.

No one can foretell the future except God. The devil only gives intelligent guesses.

My mother came from Romania where, in Timisoara, it was popular to attend fortune-tellers.

At the age of 12, a fortune-teller told my mother that she would live with a man for 35 years and then he would die.

October 15th was my parents' wedding anniversary. On their 35th anniversary, I called them to wish them well and make plans to celebrate with them over the weekend.

At 2:00 am of the morning of October 16th, I received a call that my father had died of a heart attack in hospital.

My mother later told me the story about the fortune-teller and how she carried this with her all that time.

Coincidence? Perhaps. But I, for one, would rather not know the future and live in the protection of God's loving Arms from day to day.

Alex

Alex,

Thanks for your posts. What burden your mom had as she approached her 35th.anniversary. I will pray for her.

Here another example of minimizing evil somewhat related to the topic.

My child went to Catholic High school freshman year.One day came home & announced Mr. C___ my religion teacher said there is no hell. Hell is just being away from God. Now we know many teens are just dying to be naughty and not be punished for it. So this would tell them when your done being naughty you can just go back & be with God. In my teen days the scary thought of hell kept me from doing things I shouldn't.Fast foward to next year.I enrolled my child in public school needless to say. In english class they read Dante's Inferno.My child comes home and says mom there is a hell.Its awful. Now whats wrong with that picture. Maybe religion teachers should exorcised just in case.

Oh and I ommitted something yesterday in my post about Hotel Hell & the S &M convention.The hotel asked the "participants to bring plastic tarps incase of spilling body fluids & bleeding. Just to put it in perspective.
Maybe Fr.s right we shouldn't revive the order of Exorcists because we wouldn't have enough Clergy for the number of Exorcists we actually need.Shouldn't the few Exorcists in the U.S.Church be extremely over worked?


Nicky's Baba

[ 02-15-2002: Message edited by: Nicky's Baba ]

[ 02-15-2002: Message edited by: Nicky's Baba ]

Nicky's Baba,

I agree with you.

Dan Lauffer

Dear Nicky's Babtsiu!

Our RC Archdiocese doesn't send an exorcist out right away in response to a "complaint."

Instead, they try and get the people to deal with it through a kind of "Layman's exorcism" involving prayers, Holy Water and the practice of daily prayer and devotions.

When that fails, then they would consider sending in a specially-designated Priest.

It is probably best to ask a Priest to bless one's home, especially when it is troubled.

Last year, a priest I know was asked to bless a house where what looked like blood appeared on the wall above the baby's crib!

He blessed the house and then offered a Divine Liturgy there, with the blessing of the Bishop, of course.

He said that during the Liturgy he could hear quite audible groans in the room, and afterwards they disappeared.

He decided to do a historical search on the home.

What did he come up with? Decades ago, a murder was committed in that same house, and in that same room where a person was slashed to death with a knife.

Who knows these things? But they do occur and rather than question them, it is best to take ourselves to the Lord immediately to ask for His protection.

Alex