The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-09-27
CASTING OUT DEVILS.
The Ceremony Generally Takes Place
in the Church With Much Pomp.

From the Paris Fifaro.
The possessed woman of Gif is cured
now; not by the doctors, who were una
BILE to do anything for her, but by the
theological science of the cure of the
parish and the firmness 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 pres
ence 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 re-
vealed to him. g. He foretells events
and speaks several languages unknown to
him before his affection. 4. In the pres
ence Of priest and at sacred ceremonies
he trembles, suffers pain, writhes and
blasphemes.
The Catholic priests, and especially the
Dominicans, have from away back prac-
tiCed eXorcism. According to the can
Ons the eXOrcist belongs to one of the
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 himself
Vic COZ ldHlOu Oh JI6 evil SDlflbS bQdJ Sblll
remain to be cast out
Ordinarily the ceremony takes place in
the church in the presence of the faithful
assembled at prayer, particularly at the
feasts OF the Nativity, of the Resurrec-
ton, of the Ascension, of PentecOst, of
the Virgin Mary and Of the Apostles. Az
ter the morning mass, to which the pos
sessed one assists. the eXorcist puts on
the violet-colored cope, the sym Dol of the
pains Of purgatory.
The patient who has confessed then ap-
proaches. A stole is placed 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 water. In Latin the
devili is commanded to tell his name, to
say whether or not he is alone. and why
he is there. Finally he is ordered to de-
part. The conjuratiOn in any other Ian
guage, and especially in Hebrew, is use
less. Hebrew is reserved for Satan him
self
The F'lagellum doemonum contains the
most complete formulas of exorcism, con-
sisting of well-known prayers mingled
with the most ancient and the strangest
appellations of God, such as Oh AdOnai
TetragrammatOn, and others, which
come in part from Chaldea, from Phone
cia, and from Greece. The words are
supposed to possess in themselves a Ger
tain power of evocation of celestial vir-
tues which terrify the Internal legions.
The words of Christ, according to St.
Matthew, l, 2 3, are the most used to
drive out evil spirits.
If the demon does not retire imme-
diately, the eXorcist takes a painted
image representing him and throws it
into 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 its
natural element-hell This done, he
places upon the head of the possessed one
the Book, the relics, the crucifix and
sometimes even the Host, the last and in
vincible remedy. According to the au-
thority of certain monographs, the
devil then comes out through the nose of
the patient.
In the ancient monasteries they made
the exOrcist carry upon his person certain
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 day eXorcism has taken refuge
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 re-
duced TO the tormenting of animals. Pigs
are their favorites. Then the old spell
smasher whips them with beads and
sprinkles them with holy water, and the
pigs recover and become happy, because
the devils go away
Mr.. j. X. Huysmans has been able to
speak de visu of the power of demons
and the efficacy of exorcisms. More
over, the eminent writer was well ac-
quainted with one of the most learned
demonOgrapher Of his time, the Able
Boullan, who ran through hell in his
bare feet, and holding the Host in his
hands.
Either at the Church of Sanetot or the
Church of Senneville [ received this
curious document from M. Gilbert Au-
gustin Thierry, the author of "Une Anne
en- Peiue," the cure of Petites- Dallas, in
curing the possessed says a special mass,
called the "red mass" or mass of the
martyrs Red flowers are placed upon
the altar and the priest wears a red stole.
The church is draped in purple
But, stranger still, few years ago the
wife Of the editor Of leading Catholic
journal in Paris, being troubled by evil
spirits, witnessed the death of the Domi-
nican priest who was endeavoring to ex-
orcise her, and who was unable to guard
himself against the forces with which he
was contending.