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According to the information in the New Testament, the devil used to take possession of a victim and caused madness in some cases, in others blindness or dumbness. This does not mean that all those who were mad, blind or dumb were possessed by the devil, but in some cases, the devil caused these diseases.
Many mental illnesses have nothing to do with diabolical
influence, this is why we must look to other symptoms that are very common in
those influenced or possessed by the devil.
Many diabolical possessions occur in innocent persons that are victims of the
evil of other people, relatives inclusive. In other cases of influence and
diabolic possession, the victim has contributed to his or her state because of
disobedience to the laws of God and curiosity for the occult.
Possession. It is common in cases of those who are possessed to have
certain supernatural signs such as to produce a very hoarse voice of such a
low tone impossible to be imitated by human beings, they may show strength
superior to any other human being, they know the sins of people present if
they have not been confessed, they know the future, read minds and show a lot
of pride when they speak, they can master other languages.
Those who are possessed by the devil are filled with
hatred, blasphemy for holy things, they emit furious sounds, they move and act
with weird behavior, they tend to hurt or to mutilate themselves, they enter
into periods of trance, they may vomit and do biological functions as if they
were animals, they become a threat to their families and those around them,
they lose contact with society. In other words, they are described as mad and
most likely end up in a mental hospital, where they are doped for life without
any spiritual help.
Diabolical influence or possession may occur for different reasons:
Damnations from the parents, many times from the mother's womb.
Cases of incest or sexual abuse of children.
Victims of witchcraft, hatred, evil eye, voodoo, etc.
Participation in satanic cults, witchcraft, séances, magic, yoga, ouija
board, clairvoyance, divinations, superstitions, amulets,
enchantments, crystals, new age; literatures, movies and impure, violent or
satanic shows.
Demonic influence. This is a more subtle level of demonic or diabolical possession. He who suffers the influence of the evil one, ends up doing evil things without any explanation, he may blaspheme against God without knowing why, he may listen to voices that lead him to do undesirable things, he may become obsessed with suicide, he may kill himself or others.
These persons can specialize themselves in committing
any of the capital sins: pride, greed, envy, anger, lust, gluttony and sloth.
They do it being influenced by the evil one, as an escape to their frustration
and for the lack of fear of God. In other words, they still acknowledge their
behavior, they know that something is wrong and that they may do something
about it. In some cases they lose courage when they try to be delivered
because they feel that the enemy mistreat them and does not let them have
peace. Some may go to confession, but don't have enough repentance to pray for
themselves and be delivered. Others are people of the world who don't know
God.
The demonic influence may begin by interest in the occult, consultations of
horoscopes, reading of the hands, predictions of the future, ouija board,
witchcraft, enchantments, evil eye, damnations from other people, hatred, séances, magic, yoga, pendulum, communication with spirits through mediums,
clairvoyance, tarot cards, divinations, superstitions, amulets, crystals, new
age, literatures, movies and impure, violent or satanic shows.
He who is possessed loses control of his mental faculties, in so far as to come
to a spirituality that allows him to pray for himself, because the devil has
received total dominion over him. Only through a profound prayer of
deliverance done by believers in Christ or an official exorcism of the Church,
can he be delivered.
He who is being influenced by the devil still has the
opportunity to pray for himself or to ask others to pray for him, but first he has
to repent of his sin, go to confession with a humble and contrite heart and to
beg the divine mercy through the Precious Blood of Christ and the Power of the
Holy name of Jesus who has guaranteed deliverance in his name.
A lot of preparation, prayer and struggle is required to overcome the devil,
but it is not impossible.
Blessed be the Lord who has given us the means to be
saved from the evil one.
In this treatise on exorcism, deliverance and healing, we find the solution
to these spiritual problems.
Jesus was tempted three times in the desert. In all these temptations, he
overcame the devil with the sanctity of the Word of God in the Holy
Scriptures. The same authority has been given to all of us human beings when
we reject sin and choose the grace of God. This divine gift continues in every
one of us, it is the right to use our free will to decide between good or
evil.
During the three years of the ministry of Jesus, he demonstrated his power
over evil spirits as we can see in some Bible passages:
Matthew 8:16 And when evening was come, they brought to him many that were
possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word: and all that
were sick he healed:
Matthew 8:28-32
28 And when came to the other side of the water, into the
country of the Gerasens, there met him two that were possessed with devils,
coming out of the sepulchres, exceeding fierce, so that none could pass by
that way.
29 And behold they cried out, saying: What have we to do with thee, Jesus Son
of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?
30 And there was, not far from them, an herd of many swine feeding.
31 And the devils besought him, saying: If thou cast us out hence, send us
into the herd of swine.
32 And he said to them: Go. But they going out went into the swine, and behold
the whole herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea: and they
perished in the waters.
Matthew 12:22 Then was offered to him one
possessed with a devil, blind and dumb: and he healed him, so that he spoke
and saw.
Matthew 17:14-20
14 And when he was come to the multitude, there came
to him a man falling down on his knees before him, saying: Lord, have pity on
my son, for he is a lunatic, and suffers much: for he falls often into the
fire, and often into the water.
15 And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.
16 Then Jesus answered and said: O unbelieving and perverse generation, how
long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me.
17 And Jesus rebuked him, and the devil went out of him, and the child was
cured from that hour.
18 Then came the disciples to Jesus secretly, and said: Why could not we cast
him out?
19 Jesus said to them: Because of your unbelief. For, amen I say to you, if
you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain,
Remove from hence hither, and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible
to you.
20 But this kind is not cast out but by prayer and fasting.
Mark 1:23-27
23 And there was in their synagogue a man with an
unclean spirit; and he cried out,
24 Saying: What have we to do with thee, Jesus of
Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know who thou art, the Holy One of
God.
25 And Jesus threatened him, saying: Speak no more, and go out of the man.
26 And the unclean spirit tearing him, and crying out with a loud voice, went
out of him.
27 And they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among themselves,
saying: What thing is this? what is this new doctrine? for with power he
commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.
Jesus gave authority to the apostles, disciples and believers as we see in the New Testament. This authority was received first by the apostles and disciples directly from Christ. After the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles in the form of tongues of fire, the authority was passed to the new believers through the word and the imposition of the hands by those who had the Holy Spirit.
Apostles. Matthew 10:8 Jesus sent the twelve
apostles to preach the Good News that the Kingdom of Heaven was close at hand,
he commissioned them to heal the sick, to cleanse the lepers, to resurrect the
dead and to expulse evil spirits.
Disciples. Luke 10:17 The seventy two disciples returned to the Lord
telling him how they had expulsed evil spirits in his name.
Believers. Mark 16:17 These are the signs that accompany believers, in my
name they will cast out devils, they will speak in strange tongues, they will
pick up serpents and won't be harmed if they drink their poison, they will lay
their hands on the sick who will recover.
The believers mentioned in Mark 16:17, who fall in the
category of faithful, disciples and apostles of Christ, shared something in
common in the primitive Church, the fire of the Holy Spirit was upon them and
the signs that accompanied them were prophecy, healing of the sick, speaking
in strange tongues, discernment, faith in the name of Jesus, the gift of
casting out evil spirits, the gift of preaching the Word of God, etc.
These signs are still present in our own time, their manifestation is visible
in the charismatic movement. However, the Church has forbidden the use of
exorcisms or to give orders to the enemy in the name of God except by
qualified priests.
Because of this restriction imposed by the hierarchy of the Church to the
believers who desire to be liberated or to do prayers against Satan, the
only solution that allows us to act, remaining faithful to the Catholic Faith,
is the prayer of deliverance that all the faithful can do, we will explain
more about it further on.
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