Demonic possession

All are invited to SAA Church tonight for:

Stations of the Cross – 7 pm
Adoration – 7:30 – 8:30 pm
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One anonymous blogger asked, “Is the presence of a demon the same thing as possession? Does presence of a demon mean the person is a worse sinner than those not plagued by demons?” Another one inquired, “How does demon possession occur?” I refer to the book that I’ve mentioned before – “Evidence of Satan in the Modern World” by Leon Cristiani – for help in answering your questions. He lays out three main ways that demonic activity occurs – 1) temptation, 2) infestation, and 3) possession. Temptation happens to all, to a rare amount of people it leads to infestation, and to a even more rare amount, possession. Please keep in mind that demons cannot possess us unless we ask for it, in some way.

Temptation
“‘ The Devil acts on man by tempting him…No one escapes from his attacks. This is his normal way of working’…The great temptation for the Christians of our time, and no petty temptation at that, but the most widespread, general, and dangerous of temptations, is that of preferring things to God” (p. 22, 169).

Infestation
“’In other, much rare, cases, the devils betray their presence by vexing or distressing manifestations, which are more alarming than dangerous; they make noises, shake or move certain objects, upset and sometimes break them: this is called infestation’” (p.22).

Possession
“Natural good sense would tend to suggest that the first responsibility for a case of possession lies in the faults of the possessed person. This is not so. Cases of possession are, in fact, very varied and relatively few in number… If the Devil was allowed to attack us as and when he wished, mankind would be thrown totally off balance, we should no longer be masters of our destiny, and God’s work amongst us would be diverted from its purpose. This is inconceivable, and however powerful the spirits of evil may be, it is still true that ‘the dogs are chained’. Whether it be a case of infestation, as with the Cure d’Ars (St. John Vianney), or cases of obsessions or possession, nothing happens except by God’s permission. The evil spirits can only act on us to the extent, as is said in the Book of Job, that they obtain the permission of God, the Lord of all. The case of Job himself, afflicted by satanic infestations, is a proof that the faults of the victim have nothing to do with his ordeal” (p. 64).

“In many of the cases we shall mention it seems that the original cause of the possession was a malefice, or what the general public usually calls a ‘spell’…’these malefices are the Devil’s sacraments’…The Devil acts through ‘sortileges’, the secret of which he has entrusted to his adherents. Amongst pagan people it is still normal for the sorcerer to enjoy some form of authority and pre-eminence…The sorcerer has not entirely disappeared even from countries with a long Christian tradition… In country districts you can still find persons credited with considerable and mysterious powers. These powers operate through what are called ‘charms’ or ‘spells’…From time immemorial – and even to-day – there have been forms of sortilege which were deliberately sacrilegious, such as the profanation of the Host, or the impious celebration of the Black Mass” (p. 65-66).