The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1893-09-22
CASTING OUT DEVILS.
TESTIMONY THAT ExORClSM HAS
REASONS FOR EXISTENCE.

Sigma Through Which One Who Is Pos
.scssed Is Necognized-The ConJuration
and Other Strange Formulas Employed
by the Good Monks.
The possessed woman Of Gif is cured
now not by tho doctors, who were un-
able to do anything for her, but by the
theological science of the cure Of the
parish and the frmness of Mgr. Goux,
bishop of Versailles, which shows that
exorcism has its reasons for existence
and that possession" is as real as hys-
terra. AS "a matter of fact, the church
! has never laid down her arms in the
presence of the devils.
There are four principal signs through
which the possessed one is recognized:
|. No known remedy relieves him. 2.
He speaks Of Incidents and facts beyond
his natural reach and which nobody has
revealed to him. 8. He foretells events
and speaks several languages unknown
to him before his affliction. 4. In the
presence Of a priest and at sacred cere-
monies he trembles, suffers pain, writhes
and blasphemes.
The Catholic priests, and especially
the Dominicans, have from away back
practiced exorcism. According to the
canons, the exorcist belongs to one of tho
minor orders which precede the priest
hood. He must be humble of heart in
his ministry, and if he operates with
| any thought Of display he risks for him
self the contagion Of the evil spirits that
| still remain to be cast out.
Ordinarily the ceremony takes place
in the church in the presence of the
faithful assembled at prayer, particular
ly at the feasts of the Nativity, of the
Resurrection, of the Ascension, of Pen
tecost, of the Virgin Mary and of the
| Apostles. After the morning mass, to
which the possessed one assists, the ex-
orcist puts on the surplice and assists
the priest who puts on the violet colored
cope, the symbol of the pains of purga-
tory. The patient who has confessed
then approaches. A stole is passed
around his neck to tie the devils that
have become the masters of his body.
Then the sign of the cross is made upon
him. and he is sprinkled with holy wa
ter. In Latin the devil is commended
to tell his name, to say whether or not
he is alone and why he is there. Finally
he is ordered to depart. The conjura-
tion in any other language and espe-
cially in Hebrew is useless. Hebrew is
reserved for satan himself.
The Flagellum dRmonum contains
the most complete formula of exorcism
consisting of well known prayers min
| gled with the most ancient and strangest
appellations of God, such as "Oh. Ado
mai Tetragrammaton" and others, which
come in part from Chaldea, from Phe-
necia and from Greece. The words are
supposed to possess in themselves a cer-
| tain power of evocation of celestial vir-
tues which terrify tho internal legions.
Certain words of Christ, according to
st. Matthew. are used to drive out evil
spirits.
| If the demon does not retire imme-
diately, the exorcist takes q painted i'm
age representing him and throws it into
the consecrated fire along with incense
rue and sulphur, with strong mystic
Odors, intending to prove by this act
that he will send the evil spirit back into
his natural eleIuent--hell. This done,
he places upon the head of the possessed
one the book, the relics, the crucifx and
sometimes even the host-the last and
invincible remedy. According to the
authority of certain demonographs, the
devil then comes out through the nose
of the patient.
| In the ancient monasteries they made
the exorcist carry upon his person GER
tain amulets containing protective
formulas. Sometimes these formulas,
written upon pieces of parchment, were
swallowed. In the process of digestion
the exorcism was accomplished without
fatigue.
In our days exorcism has taken ref
uge in La Trappe. The clergy are
somewhat averse to it, while at the
same time they DO not refuse to admit
it. The man who breaks the spells is
very old. But the devils cast out by
the good monks are reduced to the tor
menting of animals Pigs are their
favorites. Then the old spell smasher
whips them with beads and sprinkles
them with holy water, and the pigs re-
,over and become happy, because the
devils go away.
Mr.. ]. X, Huysmans has been able to
speak de visu of the power of demons
and the efficacity of exorcisms. More
over, the eminent writer was well ac-
quainted with one of the most learned
demonographers of his time, the Able
Boullan, who ran through hell in his
bare feet, holding the host in his hands
Either at the church of Sanetot or the
, church of Senneville, received this GU
rious document from M. Gilbert Angus
tin Thierry, the author of ''Une Anne en-
Peine." Thee of Petites- Dalles in cur.
ing the possessed says special mass
called the "red mass" or ''mass of the
martyrs" Red flowers are placed upon
the altar, and the priest wears red
, stole. The church is draped in purple.
But, stranger still, a few years ago the
wife of the editor of leading Catholic
journal in Paris, being troubled by evil
spirits, witnessed the death of the Do
minican priest who was c!deavoring te
exercise her, and who WAS unable tx
guard himself against the forces with
which he was cdntcn irg. Paris Figaro