A Typical Prayer for Deliverance
“Holy Mary, Ever-Virgin, Mother of God, temple of the Lord, sanctuary of the Holy Spirit, and all the Angels & Archangels, Principalities & Powers, Virtues & Dominations, Thrones, Cherubim & Seraphim, and all the holy Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, Martyrs, Confessors, Doctors & Virgins, and also all the elect of God, may they deign to intercede for this afflicted N. to the Lord, that he may fully merit to be freed and protected from all unclean spirits, vexations of soul and body, disturbances of the senses, terrors and illusions of demons, and also to be preserved in health of mind and body. Through Him who is to come to judge the living and the dead, and the world by fire.”
INSTRUCTION # 1: On the requirements for the Exorcist, and on the necessary preparations before the exorcism.
Whoever wishes, having obtained permission from a Superior, to easily and without danger to their own and others’ salvation, perform the work of exorcism (of great merit and mercy), must consider that they have to deal with an ancient and cunning enemy, strong and most wicked: against princes and powers, against the rulers of this world of darkness, against the spiritual wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, he will acknowledge his own weakness, and take up the spiritual weapons, which St. Paul provides in Ephesians 6:10 and 1 Thessalonians 5, and St. Peter in 1 Peter chapter 5.
The first and foremost armor that an Exorcist must have is a living and unwavering faith with trust in God and our Savior Jesus Christ: for by the finger of God he will cast out demons and will trample the lion and the dragon.
And although the Exorcist operates in the person of the Church and so his prayers are pleasing to God and are heard; nevertheless, he must strive to have the purest conscience, cleansed through true contrition and Sacramental confession: then that he may be more pleasing to God and more easily obtain what he asks for; and also that the devil may not consume him or have any power over him, since it is known from the Scriptures how great and how powerful is the force of tormenting and harming against sinners.
It is also necessary to have true humility, certainly knowing oneself to be only an unworthy instrument by which God works for the salvation of the afflicted neighbor: and that one can do nothing without His singular assistance and help. Through this, he will exclude all vain glory, nor will he seek to be praised or seen by men; but he will rejoice in the increase of the glory of God and will heed the saying of the Savior speaking to the Apostles: However, (Luke 10) do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you; but rejoice because your names are written in heaven. This must be his principal intention, not some temporal gain, or similar sordid regard. Especially let him beware lest he become proud of his power over demons: for St. Gregory relates in book 1, chapter 9 of the Dialogues, that a certain priest was possessed by a demon because he arrogated to himself the power to cast out demons.
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INSTRUCTION # 2: Of the various signs and effects by which one recognizes a demoniac or one bewitched.
Since many signs of those possessed and bewitched are common with natural diseases and infirmities; because the demon, in order to lead God’s creatures into hatred, or to hide himself more easily, often mixes himself with natural diseases, the Exorcist will not immediately believe by his judgment, or by the words of those afflicted, or judge that someone is possessed or bewitched: but he will look around and weigh each thing prudently; he will have recourse to expert doctors and theologians. If he finds that the evil is caused by sinful humors and is entirely natural, he will show and persuade that the affliction is such and will refer him to the doctors.
In the examination and inquiry whether someone is possessed by a demon bodily, it will be helpful to investigate the reason why the devil is thought to have entered: which, although sometimes it is solely for the glory of God and the increase of the merit of the afflicted; ordinarily, however, the cause is sins, very often despair from the loss of goods or temporal things, or excessive familiarity with the demon, or with people who have commerce with the same; also being too addicted to superstitions; sometimes curses of parents, or ignorance of those things by which we are defended against the temptations of demons; sometimes excessive anxiety or scrupulosity through which miserable people are reduced to various disturbances, unless timely comfort is given by experienced Confessors; as also happens with others who are tried by various temptations.
Secondly, the Exorcist should inquire about the manner in which it is thought the demon has entered. Sometimes demons are accustomed, before entering bodies, to appear to people in some terrible form, and that by night, or in dark and solitary places; sometimes they send horrible dreams to those sleeping and terrify them; sometimes, by entering, they miserably tear the body apart. They sometimes enter in the manner of the wind, or in the form of mice or similar little animals: sometimes it seems as if a vessel of very cold water is poured onto the back, or something runs through the whole body from the head down to the feet.
But because in many people, especially of the seed (lineage), imagination and various phantastic apprehensions have great force, which often produce strange effects in bodies; the Exorcist will not insist on or always believe these aforementioned and similar things so much; rather he requires other plausible signs that concur with the aforesaid, such as certain ones from Holy Scripture and other approved Authors that are appended here.
From Holy Scripture it is clear that some possessed persons become more obstinate every day against God, and in things pertaining to the service of God even more disobedient, as in the example of Saul, 1 Kings 18. Sometimes they are suddenly afflicted with various diseases, Matt. 8 and 17, Mark 9, Luke 11; they gnash their teeth; they are thrown to the ground extraordinarily, are rolled about and afflicted in various ways; they foam at the mouth, attempt to bring about their own death; sometimes they are thrown into fire and water, as is evident from various passages of Scripture. At times they are driven into madness for a season, Acts 19. Moreover, the Exorcist will observe whether the afflicted is truly and not feignedly disturbed in the presence of sacred things, such as a Crucifix, relics, etc., indeed, even in the presence of the Exorcist himself. It may be more readily presumed that the disturbance is real if he is ignorant of the presence of relics or other sacred things. They also are accustomed to hate all spiritual things. They will not enter the church; or if they do enter, they immediately flee from it. They refuse to use holy water. They will not look upon or kiss images of the saints, especially a Crucifix. They cannot utter sacred words, nor do they wish to hear them. If they are compelled to perform some ceremony of the Church, or to participate in the divine offices, they are most violently tormented especially by the most holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and when they are in control of their senses, they wish and confess that they want to do these things, and to take part in the sacred rites, and desire the help of sacred things; but there is something in them which hinders them.
One may also take a sign from the eyes and countenance, which are usually more dreadful than customary. From speech: if they blaspheme against God and the Saints; if they abuse their neighbors with insults without cause, and utter other absurdities beyond their usual manner; especially if they speak in foreign idioms which they never learned or knew, or understand others speaking thus; if they know how to speak and treat most subtly the deepest mysteries of our Faith, to interpret the Holy Scriptures, etc. If they recount hidden things, or things long forgotten, future matters, secrets or hidden things of conscience such as secret sins and the imaginations of those present; if they know arts which they never learned nor practiced. Sometimes, on the contrary, they are made plainly stupid and senseless.
Not infrequently the demon in some part of the body is felt to palpitate like a fish or an ant or some other shape. Sometimes the afflicted themselves feel through the whole body, between the flesh and the skin, beings running as if ants. In some the whole body is pricked as if with continuous needles; or a sensation runs down from head to feet and again up. Sometimes a blister arises on the tongue, which immediately disappears, or several similar ones appear like tiny grains. In some the devil ascends to the throat and extraordinarily swells it, raising a dry little swelling or twisting the tongue in wondrous ways, or stretches it out with a huge gaping of the mouth. In others he imitates the voices of various animals: and he produces very many other signs in obsessed bodies, which the prudent Exorcist will easily notice; and these will make him morally certain of the truth of the matter, especially if many signs occur together.
There is a greater difficulty in certain afflicted persons in whom demons, under the guise of various illnesses, are accustomed to hide so that it is hard to discern whether one is truly possessed or not. In such perplexity and doubt the Exorcist will turn to God through prayers; fortified by fasts and other pious works, he will try by exorcisms to deprive the lurking unclean spirits of their power to resist. To this will contribute, if the afflicted also with all his heart turns to God, frequently confesses, devoutly receives Holy Communion, and by giving alms and applying himself to other pious works seeks to further the Exorcist’s effort.
THE RITE OF EXORCISM
I exorcize you, most unclean spirit, every incursion of the adversary, every phantom, every legion, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to uproot and to drive out from this creature of God. He commands you who ordered you to be plunged down from the heights of heaven into the lower parts of the earth. He commands you who commanded the sea, the winds, and the storms. Hear then, and be afraid, Satan, enemy of the faith, foe of the human race, bringer to death, snatcher of life, defector from justice, root of evils, tinder of vices, seducer of men, betrayer of nations, instigator of envy, source of avarice, cause of discord, exciter of pains. Why do you stand and resist, when you know that Christ the Lord destroys your vines? Fear Him, who was offered up in Isaac, sold in Joseph, slain as a lamb, crucified as a man, and thereafter became the conqueror of hell. Let crosses be made on the forehead of the possessed.