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Text Box: feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace: in all things taking the shield of faith, wherewith you may be able to extinguish all the fiery darts of the most wicked one.” (Eph. 6:12-16) Against unclean spirits the Church uses prayers, blessings, holy water, and other sacramentals as weapons to combat the ordinary influence which the former wield over humankind. But apart from the general power over men that Providence allows to the tempter, there is also a special and terrible Satanic influence. It is called possession -- the domination by the demon over man’s bodily organs and his lower spiritual faculties; or in latter times a distinction is made between possession and obsession, the latter connoting a lesser grade of demonic disturbance. (Thalhofer and Eisenhofer, Handbuch der Katholischen Liturgik, p. 506 ff.) It is certain from the New Testament that Christ understood the same as the Church has understood them throughout her centuries. “And when it was evening, after sunset, they brought to Him all that were ill and that were possessed with devils,. And all the city was gathered together at the door. And He healed many that were troubled with divers diseases; and He cast out many devils, and He suffered them not to speak, because they knew Him.” (Mark 1:32-34) The Jews likewise acknowledged possession by the evil one, along with the possibility of exorcizing him.” “And when they were gone out, behold they brought Him a dumb man, possessed with a devil. And after the devil was cast out, the dumb man spoke, and the multitudes wondered, saying: Never was the like seen in Israel. But the Pharisees said: By the prince of devils He casteth out devils. . . . [And Jesus said:] And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out?” (Matt. 9:32-34; 12:27) To be possessed can mean that Satan has gained mastery over the will so devastatingly that sinfulness passes beyond ordinary depravity of the world, and its cause must be sought in a power above the order of nature. Possibly this

Text Box: was true in the case of “Mary who is called Magdalen, out of whom seven devils were gone forth.” (Luke 8:2) Or more certainly in Judas whom Jesus called a devil (John 6:71), into whose heart Satan put the thought to betray the Master. (John 13:2) Or as St. Paul testifies: “And they may recover themselves from the snares of the devil, by whom they are held captive at his will.” (2 Tim. 2:26) To be possessed can mean, at least in a broad sense, that Satan has beclouded the intellect, so that the light of faith cannot illuminate: “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of unbelievers, that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, Who is the image of God, should not shine unto them.” (2 Cor. 4:4) To be possessed can mean that Satan has befuddled a person’s reason, in fact, simple and superstitious folk have wrongly made lunacy synonymous with diabolical infestation. We have the account in St. Mark of a man coming to Jesus one day and saying: “Master, I have brought my son to thee, having a dumb spirit, who, wheresoever he taketh him, dasheth him, and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away. . . . [And Jesus said:] Bring him unto me. And they brought him. And when He has seen him, immediately the spirit troubled him; and being thrown down upon the ground, he rolled about foaming. And He asked his father: How long a time is it since this hath happened unto him? But he said: From his infancy: And oftentimes hath he cast him into the fire and into waters to destroy him. But if thou canst do anything, help us, having compassion on us. And Jesus saith to him: If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. . . . And Jesus threatened the unclean spirit, saying to him: Deaf and dumb spirit, I command thee, go out of him; and enter not any more into him. And crying out, and greatly tearing him, he went out of him.” Mark 9:13 ff) There are many other instances of possession recounted in the New Testament to the effect that molestation by the enemy is manifest in various disturbances of the human body itself, the devil having gained control over sight, hearing, speech, or the physical organism in general. “And they came over the straight of the sea

Text Box: into the country of the Gerasens. And as He went out of the ship, immediately there met Him out of the monuments a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling in the tombs; and no man now could bind him, not even with chains. For having been often bound with fetters and chains, he had burst the chains and broken the fetters in pieces, and no one could tame him. And he was always day and night in the monuments and in the mountains, crying and cutting himself with stones. And seeing Jesus afar off, he ran and adored Him. And crying with a loud voice, he said: What have I to do with thee, Jesus the Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God that thou torment me not. For He said unto him: Go out of the man, thou unclean spirit. And He asked him: What is thy name? And he saith to Him: My name is Legion, for we are many. And he besought Him much, that He would not drive him away out of the country. And there was there near the mountains a great herd of swine, feeding. And the spirits besought Him, saying: Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them. And Jesus immediately gave them leave. And the unclean spirits going out entered into the swine. And the heard with great violence was carried headlong into the sea, being about two thousand, and were stifled in the sea. . . . And they see him that was troubled with the devil, sitting, clothed, and well in his wits.” (Mark 5:1 ff) The power which Christ exercised over demons He passed on to the Church. “And having called His twelve disciples together, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of diseases, and all manner of infirmities.” (Mark 10:1) The early Christians were deeply influenced by what they had learned of their Master’s dealings with evil spirits, and there was on their part great activity in the use of charismatic gifts -- healing the sick and driving out devils. (Cf. Adolph Franz, Die Kirchlichen Benediktionem im Mittelalter, Band II, De Besessenheit) They had a lively realization that a follower of Christ must needs wage war against the powers of darkness. In fact, the Master

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