Saturday, December 09, 2006

Mary, the Immaculate Conception, helps us to fight evil and to grow in purity

Friday, December 8, the Church celebrated the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. Mary's fiat and purity are our model. We ask her to intercede for us, so that we might also grow in purity of heart, for,

"Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God" (Matthew 5:8 [RSV]).

Thank you, Spirit Daily, for the following article:

Purity Of Mary And Holy Water Proven During Exorcisms To Drive Out Demons

At a time when we contemplate the purity of Mary we might also focus on how to bring purity to ourselves, and of course this begins internally: we must watch every thought we have in addition to every word we speak. We are called to step back from antagonism (particularly at Christmas). And we are called to purge evil from our situations.

To do so it greatly helps to invoke "Mary, the Immaculate Conception." According to Father Carl Vogl, author of Begone Satan! (the account of an extraordinary possession), when the Blessed Mother under that title was spoken, it caused the possessing devil "fearful agony."

"When he was addressed, 'I command you in the name of the Immaculate Conception, in the name of her who crushed the head of the serpent,' he wilted and languished," writes the priest.

And then there are the practical issues of purity, and here we can mention the importance of Holy Water in "cleaning up" our surroundings.

The Blessed Mother has actually advised using it every Saturday to cleanse our homes. The same is urged by exorcists -- who state that their experience in casting out impure spirits has taught them the value of this sacramental.

"Holy Water is also something hateful to Satan," wrote Father Vogl. "Whenever he was approached with Holy Water he screamed: 'Away, away with it, away with the abominable dirt! Oh, that burns, that scorches!'

"On one occasion a piece of paper bearing the inscription of a fake Latin prayer was placed on the woman's head. Even the good nuns [assisting in the exorcism of an Iowa woman] believed that the prayer was genuine. In reality, the prayer consisted of words taken out of a pagan classic. The nuns were very much surprised that Satan remained so quiet under the experiment. The exorcist, however, knew the cause of the devil's tranquility. Immediately afterwards, a second prepared paper was placed on the head of the woman, which had been blessed beforehand with the Sign of the Cross and Holy Water without anybody noticing it. In an instant the piece of paper was torn into a thousand pieces."

We see then the potency of Holy Water, the rage it causes demons, and how exorcisms prove the worth of Catholic sacramentals, not to mention sacraments.

They may rip at a piece of paper, but eventually they have to leave!
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