"Do Not Lose Courage!" An Iowa Exorcism, 1928

January 25, 2011 by Pat McNamara

Continued from Page 1

Soon after, all the Sisters requested transfers. Emma lived a relatively peaceful, devout existence. Father Theophilus continued preaching and exorcising until his death. After the story was serialized in a Catholic newspaper, terrified readers besieged the editor, who assured them that "possession is not at all common."

In his autobiography, St. Anthony Mary Claret (1807-1870) contended that "only one in a thousand" cases were genuine, and Satan was more active in daily deeds of malice that pass unnoticed. In William Peter Blatty's novel The Exorcist, Father Lankester Merrin says:

I see it most often in the little things . . . in the senseless, petty spites; the misunderstandings; the cruel and cutting word that leaps unbidden to the tongue between friends. Between lovers. Enough of these, we have no need of Satan to manage our wars; these we manage for ourselves.

While evil may indeed assume terrifying expressions, Father Gary Thomas, whose exorcist training is the subject of The Rite, a recent book and upcoming movie, sees no need to fear "as long as people have a relationship with God and stay close to God." In the end, Merrin says, believing in God means "accepting the possibility that God could love us."

Developing a closer relationship with God; accepting God's love; striving to love one another more fully—these are the things to focus on, not Hollywood's spinning heads, spider walks, or vomit projectiles. Ultimately we are called to be Children of the Light and not the darkness.

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About Pat McNamara

Dr. Pat McNamara is a published historian. He blogs about American Catholic History at McNamara's Blog.

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