Hostage to the Devil

by Malachi Martin

  A:

  In the face of the Enemy.

  E:

  Let the Enemy have no victory over him (her).

  A:

  And let the Son of Iniquity not succeed in injuring him (her).

  E:

  Send him (her) help from the Holy Place, Lord.

  A:

  And give him (her) Heavenly protection.

  E:

  Lord, hear my prayer.

  A:

  And let my cry reach you.

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  May the Lord be with you.

  A:

  And with your spirit.

  E:

  Let us pray.

  God, it is an attribute of yours to have mercy and to forgive. Hear our prayer, so that this servant of yours who is bound with the chain of sins, be mercifully freed by the compassion of your goodness.

  Holy Lord! All-powerful Father! Eternal God! Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ! You who destined that recalcitrant and apostate Tyrant to the fires of Hell; you who sent your only son into this world in order that he might crush this Roaring Lion: Look speedily and snatch from damnation and from this Devil of our times this man (this woman) who was created in your image and likeness. Throw your terror. Lord, over the Beast who is destroying what belongs to you. Give faith to your servants against this most Evil Serpent, to fight most bravely. So that the Serpent not hold in contempt those who hope in you, and say—as It said through the Pharaoh: I do not know God, and I will not let Israel go. Let your powerful strength force the Serpent to let go of your servant, so that it no longer possess him (her) whom you deigned to make in your image and to redeem by your son. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, as God, for ever and ever.

  A:

  Amen.

  3: SUMMONING OF EVIL SPIRIT

  E:

  Unclean Spirit! Whoever you are, and all your companions who possess this servant of God. By the mysteries of the Incarnation, the Sufferings and Death, the Resurrection, and the Ascension of Our Lord Jesus Christ; by the sending of the Holy Spirit; and by the Coming of Our Lord into Last Judgment, I command you:

  Tell me, with some sign, your name, the day and the hour of your damnation.

  Obey me in everything, although I am an unworthy servant of God.

  Do no damage to this creature (the possessed), or to my assistants, or to any of their goods.

  4: GOSPEL READINGS

  John 1: 1-12; Mark 16: 15-18; Luke 10: 17-20; Luke 11: 14-22

  E:

  Lord, Hear my prayer.

  A:

  And let my cry reach you.

  E:

  May the Lord be with you.

  A:

  And with your spirit.

  E:

  Let us pray.

  All-powerful God! Word of God, the Father! Christ Jesus! God and Lord of all creation! You gave power to your Apostles to pass through dangers unharmed. Among your commands to do wondrous things, you said: Drive out Evil Spirit. By your strength, Satan fell like lightning from Heaven. With fear and trembling, I pray and supplicate your Holy Name. Pardon all the sins of your unworthy servant. Give me constant faith and power; so that, armed with the power of your holy strength, I can attack this cruel Evil Spirit in confidence and security. Through you, Jesus Christ, Our Lord God, Who will come to judge the living and the dead and the world by fire.

  A:

  Amen.

  5: LAYING OF HANDS ON POSSESSED

  The exorcist then invokes divine protection on himself and on the possessed by making the Sign of the Cross. Then he places the tip of the stole on the neck of the possessed and his right hand on the head of the possessed. He intones the following with great conviction and faith:

  E:

  Behold the Cross of the Lord. Depart, Enemies!

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  Jesus, with ancient strength, with noble power, is conqueror.

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  Lord, Hear my prayer.

  A:

  And let my cry reach you.

  E:

  May the Lord be with you.

  A:

  And with your spirit.

  E:

  Let us pray:

  God, Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ, I invoke your Holy Name and suppliantly request you: Deign to give me strength against this and every other unclean spirit which is tormenting this creature of yours. Through the same Lord Jesus.

  A:

  Amen.

  6: EXORCISM ADDRESSES TO EVIL SPIRIT

  (1) Serving notice on Evil Spirit:-

  E:

  I exorcise you, Most Unclean Spirit! Invading Enemy! All Spirits! Every one of you! In the name of Our Lord Jesus + Christ: Be uprooted and expelled from this Creature of God. + He who commands you is he who ordered you to be thrown down from the highest Heaven into the depths of Hell. He who commands you is he who dominated the sea, the wind, and the storms. Hear, therefore, and fear, Satan! Enemy of the Faith! Enemy of the human race! Source of death! Robber of life! Twister of justice! Root of evil! Warp of vices! Seducer of men! Traitor of nations! Inciter of jealousy! Originator of greed! Cause of discord! Creator of agony! Why do you stay and resist, when you know that Christ our Lord has destroyed your plan? Fear him who was prefigured in Isaac, in Joseph, and in the Paschal Lamb; who was crucified as a man, and who rose from death.

  (Then making the Signs of the Cross on the forehead of the possessed): Retire, therefore, in the name of + Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy + Spirit. Give way to the Holy Spirit, because of this sign of the Holy + Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who lives and reigns as God with the Father and the same Holy Spirit, for ever and ever.

  A:

  Amen.

  E:

  Lord, hear my prayer.

  A:

  And let my cry reach you.

  E:

  May the Lord be with you.

  A:

  And with your spirit.

  E:

  Let us pray:

  God, Creator and Defender of the human race; you who made man in your own image: Look on this, your servant (the exorcist names the possessed) who is assaulted by the cunning of the unclean spirit. The primeval adversary, the ancient enemy of Earth, surrounds him with the horror of fear, paralyzes his mind with darkness, strikes him with terror, agitates him with shaking and trembling. Repel, O Lord, the power of Evil Spirit! Dissolve the fallacies of its plots! May the unholy temptor take flight. May your servant be protected in soul and body by the sign + of your name (on the forehead of possessed).

  (Then he makes three signs of the Cross on the chest of the possessed, while pronouncing the following words):

  + Preserve what is within this person.

  + Rule his (her) feelings.

  + Strengthen his (her) heart.

  Let the efforts of the Enemy power be dispelled from his (her) soul, Lord, because of this invocation of your holy name. Grant the grace that he who has inspired terror up to this, now be put to flight and retire defeated; so that this man (woman), your servant, be able to worship you with a firm heart and a sincere mind. Through Christ Our Lord.

  A:

  Amen.

  (2) Enjoining of Evil Spirit:-

  E:

  I enjoin you under penalty, Ancient Serpent! In the name of the Judge of the Living and the Dead! In the name of Our Creator! In the name of the creator of the world! In the name of him who has power to send you into Hell! Depart from this servant of God (the exorcist names the possessed) who has had recourse to the Church. Cease to inspire your terror in him (her) I again enjoin you solemnly + (on forehead of possessed), not because of myself who am weak, but because of the strength of the Holy Spirit: that you go out from this servant of God (name of the possessed) whom the all-powerful God made in his own image.

  Surrender, not to me, but to the minister of Christ. His power forces you. He defeated you by His Cross. Fear the strength of him who led the souls of the dead to the light of salvation from the darkness of w
aiting. May the body of this man + (on the chest of possessed) be a source of terror for you. May the image of God + (on forehead of possessed) be a source of fear for you. + God the Father commands you. + God the Son commands you. + God the Holy Spirit commands you. + The faith of the Holy Apostles, Peter and Paul, and the other saints commands you. + The blood of Martyrs commands you. + The purity of the Confessors commands you. + The pious and holy intercession of all the Saints commands you. + The strength of the mysteries of the Christian faith commands you. + Get out! Offender! Get out! Seducer! Full of guile and falseness! Enemy of virtue! Persecutor of the Innocents! Give way, most despicable being! Give way, most impious! Give way to Christ in whom you did not find any of your own doing! He destroyed your kingdom. He bound you up in defeat. He broke your strength. He threw you out into the exterior darkness where destruction was prepared for you and your followers.

  But why are you resisting truculently? Why do you dare refuse? You are condemned by the all-powerful God whose law you broke. You are condemned by his son, Jesus Christ, Our Lord. You dared tempt him and you dared to have him crucified. You are condemned by the human race to whom you offered the deathly poison of your suggestions.

  I, therefore, charge you solemnly under penalty, Most Evil Serpent, in the name of the Lamb + most immaculate who walked unharmed among dangers; who was immune to all Evil Spirit: Depart from this person + (on forehead of possessed). Depart from the Church of God + (over the assistants). Fear and take flight at the name of Our Lord whom the powers of Hell fear, to whom the Powers and Virtues and Dominations of Heaven are subject, whom the Cherubim and Seraphim praise with unceasing voices, saying: Holy! Holy! Holy! Lord God of Hosts!

  The Word made Flesh + commands you. He who was born of a Virgin + commands you. Jesus + of Nazareth commands you. When you ignored contemptuously his disciples, he ordered you broken and humiliated to get out of that man. And when he tore you from that man, you did not dare in his presence even to enter the swine. Now that you are enjoined in his name +, depart therefore from this person whom he created. It is impossible for you to will to resist. + It is impossible for you to refuse to obey. + Because the more you delay, the more punishment you will get. It is not men you are disobeying. It is he who rules the living and the dead. It is he who will come to judge the living and the dead and the world by fire.

  A:

  Amen.

  E:

  Lord, hear my prayer.

  A:

  And let my cry reach you.

  E:

  May the Lord be with you.

  A:

  And with your spirit.

  E:

  Let us pray:

  God of Heaven! God of Earth! God of Angels! God of Archangels! God of Prophets! God of Apostles! God of Martyrs! God of Virgins! God who has the power to give life after death and repose after labor: There is no god but you. Nor could there be a true god but you. Creator of Heaven and Earth. You are a true king. Your kingdom is without end. Humbly, I supplicate your majesty and your glory: that you deign to free this your servant from unclean spirits. Through Christ Our Lord.

  A:

  Amen.

  (3) Second Enjoining of Evil Spirit:-

  I, therefore, enjoin every unclean spirit, each devil, each part of Satan: In the name of Jesus Christ + of Nazareth. After his baptism by John, he was led into the desert and he conquered you on your own ground. Desist from attacking this man (woman) whom Jesus formed from matter for his honor and his glory. Shake with fear, not at the human fragility of a miserable man, but at the image of the all-powerful God. Surrender to God, therefore, +, who put you to flight from King Saul by the spiritual songs of his faithful servant David. Give in + to God who damned you in Judas Iscariot, the traitor. For he touched you with divine punishment and, shouting, you exclaimed: “What is there between us and you, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Have you come here before the proper time to torture us?” He who drives you now into perpetual flames will say at the end of time to Satan and his angels: “Leave me, Cursed Ones! And go into eternal flames which have been prepared for the Devil and his angels.” Death is your lot, Impious One! And for your angels there is an endless death. For you and for your angels the unquenchable flame is prepared, because you are the Prince of cursed homicides, the author of incest, the head of all the sacrilegious, master of the most evil actions, the teacher of heretics, the inventor of all obscenity.

  Go out, therefore, + Impious one. Go out + Criminal! Go out with all your falsehoods! God has willed man to be his temple. Why linger any longer here? Give honor to God the Father + the all-powerful, to whom every knee will bend. Give place to Our Lord Jesus + Christ, who poured out his blood for man. Give place to the Holy + Spirit who through the Blessed Apostle Peter defeated you manifestly in Simon the Magician, condemned your falsehood in Ananias and Saphira, frustrated you in the magician Elymas by afflicting him with blindness. By the same apostle, he ordered you to depart from the Prophetess of Python. Leave therefore now +, Go away + Seducer! The desert is your home. The serpent is your dwelling. Be humiliated and cast down. The time cannot be put off. Behold the victorious Lord is near and quick. The fire is burning before him and devours all his enemies. For, even though you have deceived men, you cannot make a mockery of God. From his eyes nothing is hidden: he has ejected you. All things are subject to his power: He has expelled you. The living and the dead and the world will be judged by him with complete discernment: He has prepared Hell for you and your angels.

  7: FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS AND PRAYERS

  When all has been recited, it can be repeated as often as is necessary, until the possessed is completely free.

  It will help, besides, to repeat with devotion the Pater Noster, Ave Maria, and the Credo over the possessed, as well as the Magnificat and the Benedictus Canticle (ending the last two with a Gloria).

  8: PROFESSION OF FAITH (ST. ATHANASIUS)

  Whoever wishes to be saved, must above all other things, hold firmly to the universal belief. If anyone does not preserve this in its integrity and purity, he shall without doubt perish forever. This universal faith is as follows.

  We adore one God in the Trinity and the Trinity in one God, without confusing the Persons or dividing the substance of God. For the Person of the Father is different from the Person of the Son. And both are different from the Person of the Holy Spirit. But the divinity of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit is one and the same in equal glory and coeternal majesty.

  What the Father is, that the Son is, and the Holy Spirit is. The Father is uncreated, the Son uncreated, the Holy Spirit uncreated. The Father is immeasurable, the Son is immeasurable, the Holy Spirit immeasurable. The Father is eternal, the Son eternal, the Holy Spirit eternal. Nevertheless, there are not three eternal beings, but one eternal Being. There are not three uncreated beings, nor three immeasurable beings, but one uncreated and immeasurable Being.

  Similarly, the Father is omnipotent, the Son omnipotent, the Holy Spirit omnipotent. But, still, there are not three omnipotent beings, but one omnipotent Being.

  Thus, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. And, nevertheless, not three gods, but one God. Thus, the Father is lord, the Son is lord, the Holy Spirit is lord. But, nevertheless, not three lords, but one Lord. Just as we are compelled by our Christian truth to confess that each Person is God and Lord, so we are prohibited by the universal faith from speaking of three gods and lords.

  The Father was made by no one: neither created nor generated. The Son is from the Father: not created, but generated. The Holy Spirit is from the Father and the Son: not made, not created, not generated, but proceeding. There is one Father, therefore, not three fathers. And there is one Son, not three sons. And there is one Holy Spirit, not three spirits.

  And in this Trinity, there is no prior or posterior element, no greater or lesser. But all three Persons are coeternal with Each Other and coequal. And, thus, in all things, as said above, we adore unity in the Trinity and the T
rinity is unity. Whoever therefore wishes to be saved, must believe this about the Trinity.

  But it is necessary for eternal life that you also faithfully believe in the Incarnation of Our Lord Jesus Christ. The correct belief, then, which we profess and believe, is that Jesus Christ, Our Lord, is the Son of God and is man. He is God from the substance of the Father, and generated before all time. And he is man from the substance of his mother, having been born from his mother in time.

  Perfect God. Perfect man subsisting with a rational soul and human flesh. Equal to the Father in divinity. Less than the Father according to his humanity. Although he is God and man, he is not two but one. He is one, however, not because his divinity is changed into humanity, but because his humanity is assumed by his divinity. He is integrally one, not because his divine and human substances are fused and made one, but because of the oneness of his person. For, just as the rational soul and body make up one man, so God and man make up Christ.