Posted on 10/28/2004 12:21:10 PM PDT by NYer
I've gotta admit, I'm skeptical.
Oh, exorcisms are real, no doubt, and there are people that do them. (I've seen one, actually.)
But *never* in the Scriptures was any demon cast out in the name of Mary. The only name that is above all names, in heaven, under heaven, and under the earth is Jesus.
Thus when this guy says he tells demons "the Madonna is on my side" I've gotta raise an eyebrow. The Madonna did not defeat them, Jesus did, so that's the name they have to submit to.
Is Mary on our side? Sure. But evil spirits don't care because she is not in authority over them.
I think I may have read online some place else instead of on FR. Sometimes you spend so much time on FR, when you see something on another website, you think you saw it on here first. ;-)
Thanks for the ping!
About a two months ago, one of our priests told us during the sermon to watch Harry Potter and to read the books. I almost fell off the pew. Then a couple of weeks later, while doing the final blessing, he rubbed his hands together until warm, gave the blessing, then said, "ah magic". Nothing surprises me anymore.
Get away from that priest! I am serious. Flee!
Well said. Bump.
How would you know? Ever talk to an evil spirit before?
Fr. Amorth admits himself that "we can be saved only in His Name" (An Exorist Speaks Out, 22). However, in his conclusion to the book, he describes Mary's role as "an instrument of the divine plan," in the war against evil. Also, in a chpater where he describes the behavior of demons, he talks about how demons react to certain holy names. Obviously, demons are going to hate the Holy Name of Jesus. But most of them also cannot say the name of Mary, saying "she" or "your Lady" to indicate Mary. If the demon posessing a person is high-ranking, they can say these names, but "always followed by horrible blasphemies."
If you want to turn from a skeptic to a believe, I suggest you read his book.
I've been a believer for almost 20 years. I'm just not putting my faith in both Jesus *and* Mary.
I'm sure evil spirits hate Mary, but it wasn't her blood that was shed to defeat them. Is she cool? Yes. Does she deserve respect? Of course. She was the baddest woman of the Bible. But at the end of the day there's still only one Name.
And yeah, Pyro, I'm with everyone else on this one. You need to find yourself another church if your priest is telling the congregation to read books that glorify witchcraft.
Run, run, run.
Crud ... not Pyro.
I meant Coleus.
I wish this thing had an edit function ...
Yeah, I'm with y'all. My only exposure to "Harry Potter" was seeing the first movie with some friends of mine when I was in college. I never got into them. Lord of the Rings, on the other hand.... ;-)
That's ok, just ping Coleus to your original post or retype it. No worries.
Fr. Amorth was in studio with Raymond Arroyo? Are you sure? I thought it was the exorcist from the Archdiocese of New York.
Catholics don't "put their faith in Mary," in the sense that she is a goddess. She is still a creature, but due to her maternity of Jesus, who is true God and true Man, and through the generosity of God - Father, Son, and Holy Ghost - she was set "higher than the cherubim," as a hymn from the Byzantine rite of the Church states it.
Father Amorth reappears with his book and smiles. "Remember, when we jeer at the Devil and tell ourselves that he does not exist, that is when he is happiest."
He's correct. How many forms has evil come before us and most people shrug and ignore. If you believe in good then you must believe in evil that lurks around every corner. Don't be afraid, have faith.
Now ya got me guessing! I'm going to look.......
I could not find Fr. Amorth in the EWTN search, but I did find Exorcism: Fact and Fiction, Raymond Arroyo with Fr. James LeBar 10/27/2000
http://www.ewtn.com/vondemand/audio/intro.asp
Scroll to bottom to : Select from a list of EWTN Programs. type in "Exorcism" then scroll to #3
Why?
Is this weird or what?
The day after I first read this thread, I just "happened" to work with a Catholic lady at HQ and we hit it off. And she just "happens" to have Fr. Gabriel's book and is going to let me borrow it.
I'm looking forward to reading it.
I'll want to know what you thought of it.
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