I went to our room to rest a little and he was there again and began beating me with a knotted rope, and he asked whether I would let him teach me to do evil. I answered, 'No,' then he struck me more violently and began beating my head on the ground. At a certain point I cried out, ‘Eternal Father, through the most precious Blood of Jesus deliver me.' I do not quite know what happened, but the Devil thrust me from the bed, so that my head struck the ground with great violence. I felt a great pain, lost my senses and remained there on the ground till I came to some time afterwards." On another occasion she writes to her spiritual father: "Come quickly, Father, or at least make the exorcism from a distance. The Devil has pursued me in every possible way. Ah, if you only knew how I have suffered. How pleased he was this night. He seized me by the hair and dragged me about exclaiming, 'Disobedience, disobedience, now there is no more time to begin again. Come, come with me,' and he tried to carry me off to Hell. He tormented me like this for more than four hours, and thus I passed the night." Father Germano adds a personal experience of his own which occurred one night when Gemma was dangerously ill: "On one occasion I was there to assist her as she was in danger of death. While I was sitting in the corner of the room saying my Breviary, suddenly a large dark-coloured ferocious looking cat rushed past me, and after tearing round the room sprang upon the end of the iron bedstead directly in front of the sick girl and fixed its savage eyes upon her. I felt my blood freeze in my veins, but Gemma remained perfectly calm. Trying to hide my agitation, I said, 'What is the matter? ' And she replied: 'My father do not be afraid, it is this hateful demon who wants to annoy me, but do not be afraid, he will not harm you.' Trembling, I approached with holy water and sprinkled it upon the bed and the vision vanished, leaving her as tranquil as if nothing had happened." Gemma mentions another experience thus: "Today I hoped I should be entirely free from that loathsome animal, but instead he has knocked me about a great deal. I went to bed with the full intention of sleeping, but that was not to be. He began with blows which made me fear I should die. He came in the shape of a big black dog, who put his paws on my shoulders and hurt me very much. I felt it in my bones, so that I thought some of them must be broken. Even when I was taking holy water he gave such a violent wrench to my arm that the pain caused me to fall. The bone was dislocated, but went back, for Jesus touched it and all was well again." Gemma was not afraid, the invocation of the Holy Name put him to flight, and she laughed at his discomfiture. "If you had only seen him, father, how he ran and how often he tripped as he fled and gave vent to his rage, you could have laughed too. How horrible the sight of him is. But Jesus has told me not to be afraid." But was Saint Gemma ever possessed? So, we can see that St Gemma was obviously oppressed and vexed by the demons. But was she ever possessed? During her last months the devil almost continually tormented her, hoping that through her physical weakness he might find a way to drive her to despair. On one occasion he made her food so as to appear as repulsive insects, and the demons in hideous forms would appear near or on her bed. On one occasion she felt a demon in the form of a serpent seeking to coil itself around her, which caused her to let out a frightened cry. She asked for an exorcism on several occasions, but Monsignor Volpi, her beloved confessor since childhood did not judge it necessary, and would recite only a short exorcism prayer along with a blessing. On the very morning of her death, the devil appeared once again, this time in the form of a black, ferocious dog. Gemma asked once again for an exorcism, so Cecilia then went to get her confessor, Monsignor Volpi. He replied: "Tell her if it if to hear her Confession, then I will come. If it is to assist her in her agony, then there is the Curates." [ie-parish priests] This reply seems harsh, but it must be remembered that Mons. Volpi was the auxiliary Bishop of Lucca, and Holy Saturday was an exceptionally full day for him. When Cecilia returned and told Gemma Mons. Volpi's reply, she took the crucifix in her hands and said: "You see Jesus, I really can do no more. If it is Your will, take me." Then turning to the picture of the Blessed Mother on the wall she said "My Mother, I commend my soul to you. Tell Jesus to be merciful to me." After the solemn midday ceremonies were over, Monsignor Volpi had enough time to pay Gemma a hasty visit. Her gave her a blessing and asked her if she was now satisfied. Gemma replied "no" and asked him once again for a real exorcism. "I must go to wish the Archbishop a happy Easter" he replied, "but I will come back and see you later on." Gemma had been suffering for four long months, so her beloved confessor did not realize that her death was imminent. It was in fact the last time he saw Gemma alive. As the Auxiliary Bishop of Lucca, Monsignor Volpi was very well educated, and was esteemed by many for his devotion to God and His Church. But why would he not give Gemma an exorcism since she repeatedly requested it? It is more than likely because as her confessor since childhood, he knew that Gemma had always sought God with all her heart, and was in a state of grace, so surely he felt that an exorcism was not necessary, as her will was most certainly turned towards God, and not the devil. And by that time the attacks of the devil upon Gemma where nothing new to Monsignor Volpi, and he knew from experience how Gemma always triumphed over the attacks through prayer, and her love and trust in Jesus and the blessed Virgin. By then he knew that Gemma was possessed by God, and not the demons, and the only thing the devil could really do against her was to oppress her make her suffer---and this was something that the devil never seemed to tire in doing. There is however, a belief among certain exorcists and theologians that God will allow certain victim souls such as Gemma to actually become possessed, so that the battle for the conversion of sinners actually takes place within them. Thus they [the victim souls] become the “stakes” in the battle. There is one old booklet in particular, published in the early 1900’s and written by a very experienced exorcist of 30 years that delves very deeply into this idea. The name of the booklet is “Mary Crushes the Serpent” and I have written an article about it (Click here). So, was Gemma ever possessed by the devil at one time or another? It think that in the end the answer is “maybe”, but without a doubt her will was always united to God, and as her spiritual director Venerable Father Germano C.P. insists in his book "The Life of St Gemma Galgani", she was always in a state of grace, as she was always careful to never commit willful sin and she went to Confession weekly. -St Gemma, pray for us!
My Nana used to read me stories of many great saints when I was between 6 - 15 years of age... I was horrified at the evil ones ability to do his damage! Nan must have realised this and she said to me ....[do not worry for God understands us all! and He will not allow more evil into a person's life than he /she can handle !] I have lived my life under these edictics! But The Lord has shown me other things that Nan never spoke of! I know He gave me Nan so that I would be able to understand many of the things in my life and I am greatful for her!
I have a copy of Fr. Ripperger's book and I have found the prayers in it to be very powerful. Only priests can carry out exorcisms, but we can all pray for deliverance. This book for the laity is important in these times, to call on protection and deliverance from the enemy. We are not called on to confront the enemy, that is not our place, nor our authority, but we can and must pray for protection and freedom from oppression within our homes and families. Wheter we like it or not we are in a spiritual battle and we must be armed and ready to do battle and advance the kingdom of God, through the sacraments, praying the rosary, praying prayers of protection and deliverance, using sacramentals like holy water, blessed salt, scapulars. We must be on the offensive rather than the defensive. This book, and the prayers it contains, is but another weapon we can use. Not all people are comfortable with this, and thats fine. Yet I can only speak for myself and what I have experienced in that there is powerful breakthroughs in using these sorts of prayers.
A Great read and another also linked at the end of this article. Thanks padraig! http://www.mysticsofthechurch.com/2010/09/mary-crushes-serpent-virgin-marys-role.html
Good common sense approach We are not called to confront the enemy I do s spiritual Home protection prayer as well Sacramentals Blessed salt Etcetc Rosaries And it is Jesus who fights the evil one for me
You are a very wise and prudent woman Dolours. Marino Restreppo advised in one of his videos for lay people never to attempt dealing with the evil one directly. This must be left to a Priest, who should take responsibility whether he likes it or not. He can always contact his Bishop if he the Priest feels out of his depth. I had heard of generational spirits in more recent years, and it is in scripture. I notice Padraig has mentioned it in his post about the sins of the fathers being visited upon the sons. This is certainly one way generational spirits affect us. And if you study close relatives and friends you know in more than one or two generations, you will find that family sins repeat themselves in later generations. I think it happens by temptations not resisted say by a father, mother or grandparent; then a later generation gets the same temptation, and should resist so as not to pass it on to later generations. That is one I have noticed in my extended family and in laws. We are well protected when we keep the Ten Commandments, and should we fail, there is the Confessional where we can get released from our sins. Confession is the most common form of exorcism there is, and I don't think many people are aware of it. We can be cleansed frequently if we choose to, by going to Confession. Jesus and Mary advise us to Forgive and Love, and the more humbling the process is, the more powerful against the satan. So start fighting the satan right away by forgiving, and loving. Or Keep Watch and Pray. Praised be Jesus and Mary.
I am reminded of this expression that one of my friends used to say: "When the devil knocks, say, 'Jesus, answer the door' " I have done this on several occasions, too
I purchased this book a few months ago. It is a thin book, but packed with prayers. I have read it from time to time (Not often enough), but another resource from Fr. Ripperger I use daily are prayers from the Auxilium Christianorum. Principal Aims of the Association 1. To provide prayer for priests associated with Auxilium Christianorum so that their apostolate in driving out demons is efficacious. 2. To provide prayers for the members - priests, laity, family and friends - so that they are not adversely affected by the demonic. It seems like it has been really effective for me and my life. To be a member you only have to pray the prayers daily (10 minutes max).
The prayers in his book are incredible most church approved as well. I find it to be the most concise book on deliverance prayer I have read. What are other peoples thoughts?
