http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1842528/posts


DEVIL ESPECIALLY HATES PRAYERS IN LATIN, SAYS A PRIEST KNOWN AS
'ROME'S EXORCIST'

DEVIL ESPECIALLY HATES PRAYERS IN LATIN, SAYS A PRIEST KNOWN AS
'ROME'S EXORCIST'

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1842528/posts
DEVIL ESPECIALLY HATES PRAYERS IN LATIN

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1842528/posts
DEVIL ESPECIALLY HATES PRAYERS IN LATIN, SAYS A PRIEST KNOWN AS
'ROME'S EXORCIST'
SpiritDaily ^ | May 30, 2007
Posted on 05/31/2007 8:43:12 AM PDT by NYer
A secular book about exorcism says that one thing rankles demons.
"The devil doesn't like Latin," writes Tracy Wilkinson in The
Vatican's Exorcists. "That is one of the first things I learned from
Father Gabriele Amorth, long known as Rome's chief exorcist, even
though that has never been his formal title.
"Now past the age of eighty, Father Amorth has dedicated the last
decades of his life to regaining a measure of respectability for
exorcism. Despite his advancing age, he continues to perform the rite
several times a week at his office in Rome.
"Scores of people seek him out. He prefers to use Latin when he
conducts exorcisms, he says, because it is most effective in
challenging the devil."
<snips>

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1842528/posts

DEVIL ESPECIALLY HATES PRAYERS IN LATIN, SAYS A PRIEST KNOWN AS
'ROME'S EXORCIST'

SpiritDaily ^ | May 30, 2007

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1842528/posts

DEVIL ESPECIALLY HATES PRAYERS IN LATIN, SAYS A PRIEST KNOWN AS
'ROME'S EXORCIST'

SpiritDaily ^ | May 30, 2007

Posted on 05/31/2007 8:43:12 AM PDT by NYer

A secular book about exorcism says that one thing rankles demons.

"The devil doesn't like Latin," writes Tracy Wilkinson in The
Vatican's Exorcists. "That is one of the first things I learned from
Father Gabriele Amorth, long known as Rome's chief exorcist, even
though that has never been his formal title.

"Now past the age of eighty, Father Amorth has dedicated the last
decades of his life to regaining a measure of respectability for
exorcism. Despite his advancing age, he continues to perform the rite
several times a week at his office in Rome.

"Scores of people seek him out. He prefers to use Latin when he
conducts exorcisms, he says, because it is most effective in
challenging the devil."

That tidbit comes to us at a time when Benedict XVI is ready to loosen
restrictions on Latin Mass. It's in the new book -- a secular and
sometimes skeptical but fascinating glimpse into the world of Italian
priests who see their job as casting out demons.

While the numbers dwindle in countries like the Canada, France, and
the U.S., exorcists are on the rise on the Vatican's home turf --
thanks largely to priests such as Father Amorth.

In Italy the number of exorcists has grown tenfold in the past decade,
according to the priest (who is himself author of two bestsellers, An
Exorcist Tells His Story and An Exorcist: More Stories). Credit is
also due to the legacy of John Paul II -- who made the notion of
exorcism, which was founded by Jesus Himself, respectable again.

Father Amorth was born in Modena in northern Italy and has been a
priest since 1954. In 1986 he began performing exorcisms under the
tutelage of the vicar for Rome.

According to Wilkinson, Father Amorth accepted the task "after praying
to the Virgin Mary for her steadfast guidance and protection."

"On the walls of Amorth's exorcism chamber, eight Crucifixes and
pictures of the Madonna are hanging, plus a picture of Saint Michael
the Archangel," says the book. "A two-foot-high statue of the Virgin
Mary, the Madonna of Fatima, sits on a corner table.

"There are also pictures of the late Pope John Paul II; the popular
saint Padre Pio; Amorth's mentor, Father Candido; and Father Giacomo
Alberione, the founder of the Society of Saint Paul Congregation."

Father Amorth calls them "my protectors," adding that "the more recent
addition of John Paul's has been especially effective and helpful."

"The demons become very agitated at his presence," Father Amorth says
of the late Pope -- who himself performed several exorcisms during his
pontificate and warned of the rise of dark forces both in 1977 and
then in 2005 just days before he lapsed in his final bout with
illness.

How is exorcism done? There is the Crucifix. There is the Holy Water.
There are the ritual prayers. Many times, those afflicted have to come
back on a regular basis -- the process a gradual one.

In Father Amorth's appointment book, women outnumber men by three to
one. That is perhaps because they are more in tune with the spiritual,
says the exorcist, or because they are special targets as the
descendants of Eve.

The very word "hysteria" -- so often seen in the possessed -- comes
from the Greek word hyster for womb. Greeks believed it was caused by
abnormalities in the uterus.

"I maintain that in part, the reason is because women are the ones who
do the most praying," says the priest. "Another reason is women are
more inclined to approach a priest than are men, in case of need."

In some cases, say other exorcists, the devil attempts to mask
possession as insanity. This sets up conflict with the far newer
practice of psychology -- which looks down on exorcism as the
psychiatrist's couch has replaced the confessional.

"An exorcism is the residue of a medieval practice completely devoid
of any foundation in reason," the book quotes Sergio Moravia, a
philosopher at the University of Florence, as saying. "I don't think
it's crazy. It's worse."

Exorcists counter that psychological diagnoses such as "multiple
personality" and "schizophrenia" are clinical covers for an
infestation.

That opinion is shared by the many who have sought the services of
Father Amorth -- finding relief when the devil was cast away after
years of frustration at the hands of psychiatrists who saw their
problems so differently.

Blessed salt and Holy Water are often used not just by the exorcists
themselves, but by those who have been exorcised -- to stave off
further disturbances.

Extraordinary strength, preternatural knowledge, speaking in foreign
tongues unknown to the victim, vomiting of strange objects, and
violent aversion to holy objects make pure psychological explanations
suspect in strong cases.

Prayer, of course, also chases the devil and his manifestations away
-- apparently, Latin in particular.

Bishop Andrea Gemma of Isernia -- who himself performs exorcisms --
ascribes the Church's move from Latin as part of a global plot to
undermine Christianity.

"The devil is happy with the near-disappearance of Latin," said the
bishop.

Does exorcism mask psychological illness with the supernatural, or is
psychology itself a ruse, at least in certain instances, to prevent
deliverance?

We have only to study the ministry of Jesus to know the answer.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1842528/posts

DEVIL ESPECIALLY HATES PRAYERS IN LATIN, SAYS A PRIEST KNOWN AS
'ROME'S EXORCIST'

SpiritDaily ^ | May 30, 2007

Posted on 05/31/2007 8:43:12 AM PDT by NYer

A secular book about exorcism says that one thing rankles demons.

"The devil doesn't like Latin," writes Tracy Wilkinson in The
Vatican's Exorcists. "That is one of the first things I learned from
Father Gabriele Amorth, long known as Rome's chief exorcist, even
though that has never been his formal title.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1842528/posts

DEVIL ESPECIALLY HATES PRAYERS IN LATIN, SAYS A PRIEST KNOWN AS
'ROME'S EXORCIST'

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1842528/posts

DEVIL ESPECIALLY HATES PRAYERS IN LATIN, SAYS A PRIEST KNOWN AS
'ROME'S EXORCIST'

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1842528/posts

DEVIL ESPECIALLY HATES PRAYERS IN LATIN, SAYS A PRIEST KNOWN AS
'ROME'S EXORCIST'

SpiritDaily ^ | May 30, 2007

Posted on 05/31/2007 8:43:12 AM PDT by NYer

A secular book about exorcism says that one thing rankles demons.

"The devil doesn't like Latin," writes Tracy Wilkinson in The
Vatican's Exorcists. "That is one of the first things I learned from
Father Gabriele Amorth, long known as Rome's chief exorcist, even
though that has never been his formal title.

"Now past the age of eighty, Father Amorth has dedicated the last
decades of his life to regaining a measure of respectability for
exorcism. Despite his advancing age, he continues to perform the rite
several times a week at his office in Rome.

"Scores of people seek him out. He prefers to use Latin when he
conducts exorcisms, he says, because it is most effective in
challenging the devil."

That tidbit comes to us at a time when Benedict XVI is ready to loosen
restrictions on Latin Mass. It's in the new book -- a secular and
sometimes skeptical but fascinating glimpse into the world of Italian
priests who see their job as casting out demons.

While the numbers dwindle in countries like the Canada, France, and
the U.S., exorcists are on the rise on the Vatican's home turf --
thanks largely to priests such as Father Amorth.

In Italy the number of exorcists has grown tenfold in the past decade,
according to the priest (who is himself author of two bestsellers, An
Exorcist Tells His Story and An Exorcist: More Stories). Credit is
also due to the legacy of John Paul II -- who made the notion of
exorcism, which was founded by Jesus Himself, respectable again.

Father Amorth was born in Modena in northern Italy and has been a
priest since 1954. In 1986 he began performing exorcisms under the
tutelage of the vicar for Rome.

According to Wilkinson, Father Amorth accepted the task "after praying
to the Virgin Mary for her steadfast guidance and protection."

"On the walls of Amorth's exorcism chamber, eight Crucifixes and
pictures of the Madonna are hanging, plus a picture of Saint Michael
the Archangel," says the book. "A two-foot-high statue of the Virgin
Mary, the Madonna of Fatima, sits on a corner table.

"There are also pictures of the late Pope John Paul II; the popular
saint Padre Pio; Amorth's mentor, Father Candido; and Father Giacomo
Alberione, the founder of the Society of Saint Paul Congregation."

Father Amorth calls them "my protectors," adding that "the more recent
addition of John Paul's has been especially effective and helpful."

"The demons become very agitated at his presence," Father Amorth says
of the late Pope -- who himself performed several exorcisms during his
pontificate and warned of the rise of dark forces both in 1977 and
then in 2005 just days before he lapsed in his final bout with
illness.

How is exorcism done? There is the Crucifix. There is the Holy Water.
There are the ritual prayers. Many times, those afflicted have to come
back on a regular basis -- the process a gradual one.

In Father Amorth's appointment book, women outnumber men by three to
one. That is perhaps because they are more in tune with the spiritual,
says the exorcist, or because they are special targets as the
descendants of Eve.

The very word "hysteria" -- so often seen in the possessed -- comes
from the Greek word hyster for womb. Greeks believed it was caused by
abnormalities in the uterus.

"I maintain that in part, the reason is because women are the ones who
do the most praying," says the priest. "Another reason is women are
more inclined to approach a priest than are men, in case of need."

In some cases, say other exorcists, the devil attempts to mask
possession as insanity. This sets up conflict with the far newer
practice of psychology -- which looks down on exorcism as the
psychiatrist's couch has replaced the confessional.

"An exorcism is the residue of a medieval practice completely devoid
of any foundation in reason," the book quotes Sergio Moravia, a
philosopher at the University of Florence, as saying. "I don't think
it's crazy. It's worse."

Exorcists counter that psychological diagnoses such as "multiple
personality" and "schizophrenia" are clinical covers for an
infestation.

That opinion is shared by the many who have sought the services of
Father Amorth -- finding relief when the devil was cast away after
years of frustration at the hands of psychiatrists who saw their
problems so differently.

Blessed salt and Holy Water are often used not just by the exorcists
themselves, but by those who have been exorcised -- to stave off
further disturbances.

Extraordinary strength, preternatural knowledge, speaking in foreign
tongues unknown to the victim, vomiting of strange objects, and
violent aversion to holy objects make pure psychological explanations
suspect in strong cases.

Prayer, of course, also chases the devil and his manifestations away
-- apparently, Latin in particular.

Bishop Andrea Gemma of Isernia -- who himself performs exorcisms --
ascribes the Church's move from Latin as part of a global plot to
undermine Christianity.

"The devil is happy with the near-disappearance of Latin," said the
bishop.

Does exorcism mask psychological illness with the supernatural, or is
psychology itself a ruse, at least in certain instances, to prevent
deliverance?

We have only to study the ministry of Jesus to know the answer.