Posted on 05/24/2007 2:38:14 PM PDT by Pyro7480
The Advocate vs. The Accuser
In a few months I will publish a book on exorcism and deliverance by which I hope to educate the Church Militant on the reality of spiritual evil and the truth of the Church’s power against it. On this weekend where our Church celebrates Pentecost, the great Feast of the Holy Spirit, I offer an excerpt from this upcoming book to highlight the influence of the Holy Spirit in defending our cause against the accusing spirit of the devil. If we are to fight for the salvation of souls, we must know our enemy and experience God's love as the protective shield against all his evil.
The following excerpt is taken from the chapter entitled, "The Devil, His Minions, and His Activities."
What do we call the principle of all evil and why?
There are three common names by which most people describe the font of all evil: the Devil, Satan and Lucifer; each of these names comes to English from a different language. The name "Devil" comes from the Greek word διαβολοξ (diábolos), which literally means "one who throws things around" in the sense of creating the chaos for which he is so famous. The name "Satan" comes from the Hebrew verb "to accuse" and is variously translated as "the accuser," "the tempter," "the persecutor," "the calumniator," and "the adversary." Not ironically, the Church, taking her cue from the Gospel of John, calls the Holy Spirit, "The Advocate," (i.e., defense lawyer) in order to remind us that the depredations and accusations of our principle enemy are always met with one more powerful than he who takes our side in a fight.
"Lucifer" is a name that derives from the Latin meaning "light-bearer," commonly understood as his God-given name before he fell from grace. This name is cited in St. Jerome's Vulgate translation of the Bible in the Book of Isaiah 14:12-16. This potent creature has always been considered by the tradition of the Church as one of the most powerful angels that God created. It is speculated that his name was "Light-Bearer" because he was a Seraphim angel, the highest order of the angelic hierarchy, and the order of angels whose Hebrew name describes something that burns with the ardor of love. Lucifer's fall from grace did not deprive him of his natural powers but rather corrupted those powers for the perverse work of undermining God’s plan of salvation for men.
Among all the many references to this wretched being in the Bible, the Book of Revelation is one of the best sources of knowledge about him and his plan to destroy God’s children. He is described in Rev 12:9 as "a huge dragon, the ancient serpent, known as the devil or Satan, the seducer of the whole world." The devil's most serious indictment came from our Blessed Lord who called him, "a liar and the father of lies," and "a murderer from the beginning" (Jn 8:44). The New Testament refers to this origin of all wickedness nearly three hundred times to warn us of his presence and work.
As we celebrate the feast of Pentecost with our Church, let us make a profound act of faith in the Holy Spirit, that, no matter how evil our times may be, God will never abandon to the power of evil those who call upon Him. Let us call upon the Holy Spirit to protect us and our loved ones and to renew the face of the earth!
Catholic ping!
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Holy Spirit bump!
There has been much discussion over the years regarding the Rite of Baptism in the RC Church and the toned down prayers post VCII. Last year, I was invited to attend the Baptism and Chrismation in the Maronite Catholic Church. When the Baptismal service approached the Rite of Exorcism, Father instructed ALL present to turn around and face the doors of the Church, thus acting as a human shield. It was very powerful.
The world belongs to Satan and his minions. He tries to masquerade himself as the invention of Middle Age thinking. Surely those who live in today's society are far more sophisticated. The intelligentia must know better, right? He is quite real and the saints who have been granted the extraordinary grace of seeing Hell, testify to his existence. I look forward to reading Fr. Euteneur's book.
This topic freaks me out too much to read a book on it, which is a bad thing, I know.
That’s the way we do the exorcism too, and it is done in the narthex before the catechumen is brought into the nave.
“If we are to fight for the salvation of souls, we must know our enemy....”
Sound advice and far too seldom heard in the West.
Take the Holy Spirit with you. You need to know your enemy. Fear is a tool of the devil, anyway.
Fr. E ping.....he has written a book.
books on exorcism make me feel like I’m being followed.
Get a Miraculous Medal if you don’t have one, have it blessed by a priest, and wear it, and you may no longer be afraid. Just a suggestion, I’m not saying it’s a magical talisman, but your faith in it and the reminder to say the prayer is what’s effective. The famous exorcist Fr. Amorth says he has heard the devil utter a thousand blasphemies against God, but he cowers at the mention of Mary!
“O, Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.”
Very interesting! I recently was astonished to see a priest perform the old “mini-exorcism” part of an infant baptism, where he imitates Christ by stopping the ears and banishing the devil. This is not part of the ‘contemporary’ rites, but the priest said who is he to not do it and offer maximum protection to the child?
One the one hand, seems sort of medieval and superstitious, but on the other hand, how can we go wrong imitating Christ when it comes to dealing with evil?
bfl
When we see evil in the world that was undreamt of when we were children, how can we NOT believe in the existence of the enemy?
That is an interesting way to put it, and so true. I think I better get this book when it comes out so I can understand better.
“At the Old Latin Mass (Tridentine) I attend, Father once gave a talk about the Sacraments as “implemented” in the Old Rite. When discussing Baptism, he mentioned that the priest meets the child to be baptised at the door of the church, and says various prayers, one of which is an Exorcism. Sounds similar to what you mention.”
I think that at that the exorcism prologue to the Baptismal Rite, the old Latin Church practice is pretty much the same as that of Orthodoxy.
This cleansing of demons appears at other places in the Orthodox Mystery of Baptism. Near the beginning of the Baptism itself, the priest blesses the water in the Baptismal “font” and among other things says this:
And he signs the water thrice, dipping his fingers in it; and breathing upon it, he says:
“LET ALL ADVERSE POWERS BE CRUSHED BENEATH THE SIGNING OF YOUR MOST PRECIOUS CROSS (3). We pray You, O Lord, let every airy and invisible specter withdraw itself from us, and let not a demon of darkness conceal himself in this water; neither let an evil spirit, bringing obscurity of purpose and rebellious thoughts, descend into it with him (her) that is about to be baptized....”
“It is odd that in the post-Vatican II Rite, they removed the Exorcism prayers from the Rite of Baptism.”
You know, I never noticed that and I have been to a number of Roman Catholic baptisms since the 60s. I wonder what prompted that change?
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