Thursday, January 29, 2009

A summary of Demonic Activity

This is a summary of demonic activity as taught by Fr. Armoth, the exorcist of Rome. As Catholics we must be aware of this activity. However we must remain also aware, first and foremost, of the power to overcome evil through Christ, "I can do all things in Him who strengthens me" (Phil 4:13). The first type of demonic activity is called ordinary. This is "temptation", which is the most common activity of the demons, and it is directed against all men. Even Jesus allowed Satan to tempt him, he accepted our human condition.
The second kind of demonic activity is called "extraordinary", and can take place as the first one only if God so allows, but not all humans experience any of the forms of this extraordinary activity. It can take six different forms:
1. External physical pain caused by Satan. We know of this from many lives of the saints. We know that Saint Paul of the Cross, the Curé of Ars, Padre Pio, and many others were beaten, flogged, and pummeled by demons. This external form of persecution does riot affect the soul; therefore with this type there has never been the need for an exorcism, only for prayers.
2. Demonic possession. This occurs when Satan takes full possession of the body (not the soul); he speaks and acts without the knowledge or consent of the victim, who therefore is morally blameless. It is the gravest and most spectacular form of demonic afflictions, and it attracts the attention of producers of movies such as The Exorcist. According to the Ritual for exorcisms, some of the signs of possession include: speaking in tongues, extraordinary strength, and revealing the unknown. The man of Gerasa is a clear Gospel example of possession. To fix a set "model" for demonic possession would be a serious mistake; the affliction runs the gamut of symptoms and severity. For instance, Fr. Armoth has exorcised two totally possessed persons who remained perfectly still and silent during the exorcism.
3. Diabolical oppression. Symptoms vary from a very serious to a mild illness. There is no possession, loss of consciousness, or involuntary action and word. The Bible gives us many examples of oppression; one of them is job, He was not possessed, but he lost his children, his goods, and his health. The bent woman and the deaf and dumb man who were cured by Jesus were not subject to total possession, but there was a demonic presence that caused physical discomfort. Saint Paul was most certainly not possessed by a demon, but he had a demonic oppression that caused an evil affliction: "And to keep me from being too elated by the abundance of revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to harass me" (2 Cor 12:7). There is no doubting the evil origin of the affliction.While possessions are still relatively rare today, we exorcists run into a great number of people who have been struck by the devil in their health, jobs, or relationships. We must make it clear that to diagnose and heal an oppression-related illness is not any easier than to diagnose and cure a person afflicted by full possession. The degree of gravity may be different, but the difficulty of the diagnosis and the amount of time involved in healing are the same.
4. Diabolic obsession. Symptoms include sudden attacks, at times ongoing, of obsessive thoughts, sometimes even rationally absurd, but of such nature that the victim is unable to free himself Therefore the obsessed person lives in a perpetual state of prostration, desperation, and attempts at suicide. Almost always obsession influences dreams. Some people will say that this is evidence of mental illness, requiring the services of a psychiatrist or a psychologist. The same could be said of all other forms of demonic phenomena. Some symptoms, however, are so inconsistent with known illnesses that they point with certainty to their evil origins. Only an expert and well-trained eye can identify the crucial differences.
5. Diabolic infestation. Infestations affect houses, things, or animals. Fr. Armoth does not use this term in referring to persons.
6. Diabolical subjugation, or dependence. People fall into this form of evil when they voluntarily submit to Satan. The two most common forms of dependence are the blood pact with the devil and the consecration to Satan.

11 comments:

  1. This article wonderfully wrote and is accurate. I seen this article and said this is a must read because, I am very aware of demonic activity. I find it interesting because ever since my actual baptism I found myself standing face to face with demonic activity in other people. I either run into them or they ask for my help and I find myself defending them in some way like one time I ran into someone I met and I knew there will be something tragic that will happen and I had to be there to comfort this person. I find it something even more interesting in that situation was my prayer for that person by the grace of God this person no longer lives under control of Satan destruction in that way and lives at peace again. I give many praises to God ever time I think of that event.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I also forgot to acknowledge that I as a believer of Jesus Christ, I often am fighting the demonic activity in my own life and purging myself of my temptations that I have, so that I can serve others as Jesus Christ has deemed from scripture.

    I just thought of something as I was typing, and that thought would be what the word purge really means; To purify or to cleanse. Anyway, I am just rambling on, though the word made me go into a deep thought about Jesus Christ's Crucifixion and the sacrifice of what he did for us.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Very good Matthew, prayer is one of the most powerful weapons we have against demonic activity of any kind.

    ReplyDelete
  5. i do have a question Father ...

    I suffer from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder ... a medical diagnosis.

    Medical Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Demonic Obsession sound similar.

    I know of OCD sufferers(including myself) that have an extremely healthy connection with god, angels and archangels - but do experience blasphemous uncomfortable thoughts as a result of medical OCD.

    There is such a sharp contrast and parallel between the two ... what is your take?

    If you look at Medical OCD - its almost exactly what demonic obsession describes.

    Is there a core different with demonic obsession? ie: External evidence (poltergeist activity?)

    I feel such warmth from Archangel Michael and the personal angels in my life - i always request they're love light and energy - as well as from god.

    I do not think I am afflicted by demons, but instead medical OCD ....

    Could you comment? Thanks so much.

    - AJ

    Much love to you father,

    ReplyDelete
  6. Father I have a question--- is a person who loves halloween and scary movies influenced by the devil? Is there any other explanation? Also if that person does not want to seek help for themselves or to save their marriage??? What advice can you give me to give to that person??

    ReplyDelete
  7. Father, I am a Catholic who has been told my life is a modern day example of the troubled life of Job . I am tormentent with aches and pains , fatigue , depression and sleepless nights . I am affraid to seek help from my parish priest , out of guilt from poor attendence at mass . My troubles began shortly after purchasing a home for my family . One month later my wife of 14 years died at home on st.Patrick's day . I fell into deep depression and found peace with myself . I remarried (civil service) a devorced woman whom I love dearly and we each had two kids a piece coming into the relationship . We are a beautiful famiy and I am blessed , with alot of love . Lately things have gotten very bad emotionaly for me . I feel preyed upon and heavy hearted . I am awaked nightly @3:00am and feel a profund fear . I hear noises and terrible dreams of dark images and thoughts . My business is failing and I have lost a close connection with Christ . How should I approach fixing this . I feel a need of help for this is affecting my whole family . Any help or suggestions would be appreciated . Thanks Father for having this blog I was helped just knowing I am not the only one who has problems . Jason from SC

    ReplyDelete
  8. My 16 year old daughter went to see the movie Paranormal Activity last night. She was so afraid she called me before even getting home to make sure I was awake to meet her at the door. From your description of demonic activity this movie is about demonic infestation. The movie director's goal was to make people afraid to be at home and sleep at night. Much like Jaws made people fear swimming in the ocean and Psycho making people afraid to take showers.
    This movie is apparently realistic and profound. What should our response be to negate the effects of this movie on my daughter? Angela from CA

    ReplyDelete
  9. hey! this his really hard 4 me 2 talk about this! but its been a while me and the kind have been earing lound footsteps over hour head or the sound of something heavy falling,but the thing is we live on the top floor! my little guy last night woke up in fear! told me his stuff amimals had red eyesat the same time my 16yr old son felt a burning heat in the room to the point he got affraid to stay in the room by himself! i know this is weird butmaybe someone can help me!this is not the 1st time that my little guy experience something like this!about a year ago he kept waking up in fear telling me that the red one wanted to get him and bring him down to hell!he also told me that the red one discized himself has his daddy but he knew it was not his daddy cause he had red eyes!i tried praying,sage and the little guy told me that he was laughing saying i was not going to leave that easy!! now my little man was only 3yrs old when that happended!how can a small child make up a story like that?! i see the fear,screaming,tears,shaking i know its not fake!! now someone tell me what i can for this bastard evil shit to go away!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Rare? I don’t think so I see demons in people everywhere blinding them of the truth causing them to self inflict pain. The worst part I speak from a point of affliction, but I am overcoming the demons (and there were a lot of them) slowly after I realized that the Devil had tricked me and was torturing me, then I decided to give myself to God and shortly after thrown into a mental hospital. The Devil also revealed himself to me. Before I gave myself to God I could hear God and the Devil speaking to me, mostly through music, you can hear their messages if you listen closely, it is very strange. My symptoms that I am aware of: blindness to reality, deafness to reality, deceptive thoughts, physical pain (twisted spine), unfelt pain, people attack me in one way or another, poverty, loneliness, and who knows what else. The sure thing is that you are deceived and do not know what you are doing, it is like being crazy but you are not driving the bus only to realize later what was happening. I recently ran into the demon over gluttony and since it left my left jaw bone at the joint has been hurting me. I also recently ran into lust and something that was blocking me from love, not sure what it was, but when it left I saw the one blocking me from love and it was dark and it kind of scared me and the physical pain from the twisted spine released some. The most resent one, which I think is lust, confused my mind and it became very foggy once again releasing some of the pain in my spine. Now here’s one for you, when I go get drunk the pain in my spine increases no matter what I do, so I’m working on getting rid of drinking from my life, it needs to be done. The pain that I have been overcoming as been going on for a year and a half now and it is real, you should all be very afraid for demons may have a hold of you. If you want to contact me I can be reached at rosewc@hotmail.com ~ Wyatt.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hi, well be sensible, well-all described

    ReplyDelete