ST. MICHAEL CENTER

MSGR. ROSSETTI'S BLOG

[" Grace Before Meals ," Franz Defregger, 1875] After doing exorcisms for over 18 years and facing demons of all sizes and stripes, there is one thing you will NEVER hear from them. That is gratitude for anything. They are angry, bitter, and will spend their eternity railing against God and blaspheming Him because of what "He did to us!" They cast themselves as the eternal victim. One of our excellent exorcists just mentioned to me that his client, while not yet visibl

[ Passionary of Weissenau ; Coligny, Switzerland; Cod. Bodmer 127, fol. 146; 1500] All sin is an opening to Satan which should be repented and confessed. But there are some actions which are huge openings to Evil and eventually yield disastrous spiritual results. Here are six: Worshipping pagan "gods" and gurus . Some people are binding themselves to pagan "gods" (who are actually demons) and give themselves to their gurus. Thus, in their lives they replace the true God

[" Resurrection ," Annibale Carracci, 1593] I spent much of the last hour lying down. This is unusual for me since it was the middle of the afternoon. But I felt so drained, as if all the energy had been sucked out of me. An hour earlier I had been casting out demons and lifting curses from an afflicted man. Then I remembered something I keep forgetting-- a true exorcism is very draining. The presence of demons drains the energy out of anyone with whom they come in cont

[Photo by Msgr. Rossetti; holy water font handmade in Colombia] I recently received the email below and with permission I cite it anonymously: After a medium at a temple put a spell on me on the pretext of “healing”, I tried to expel that something in my body by burning sage (that was before I found Catholicism). It agitated it greatly, and it retaliated. Same with consuming spoonfuls of cinnamon. My learning is that these things had agitation effects but no pow

[ The Gates of Hell , Cornelis Saftleven (1607-1681)] In the midst of the exorcism I commanded the demons, in Jesus' name, to tell me the truth: "Who is Lord, Jesus or Satan?" They were very loathe to say it but finally snarled and said, "Jesus." I responded, "That's right! And in Jesus' name, I cast you out!" We have just passed All Hallows Eve. It is typically a bit of a spiritual fight, especially for those who are targets of the occult and witchcraft. It was indee

[" The Last Judgment ," Michelangelo]           Some time ago, one of our exorcists was traveling on a plane.  Conversing with the young woman seated next to him, she asked him his occupation.  He responded that he was a Catholic priest.  “Oh,” she said, “You and I are the same.  I practice witchcraft.”  The priest retorted, “If you practice witchcraft, we are not the same.”               Similarly, a young woman died who self-identified as a practicing Catholic. During the f

[ St. Bartolo Longo ] Today, Sunday Oct 19th, the Pope canonized former Satanist priest Bartolo Longo at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. At Bartolo's Satanic "ordination," the "walls of the room shook and disembodied screams terrified those in attendance." As a satanic priest, he was involved with seances, drugs and orgies. He eventually became paranoid and miserable, contemplating suicide. His conversion was credited to the fervent prayers of family and friends, hearing

[" The Exorcist ," the movie, wikicommons] We receive a lot of emails, feedback and comments. We are grateful for all of you! In...

[" The Reconciliation of Marcus Emilius Lepidus and Fulvius Flaccus ", Domenico Beccafumi, 1529-1535] Perhaps one of the most difficult...

[" St. Michael and the Angels at War with the Devil ," Domenico Ghirlandaio, 1448] This life has often been described as a spiritual...

[" Pope Saint Gregory I Frees the Souls from Purgatory with His Prayers ", Francesco Fontebasso, 1731] Two weeks ago I shared stories...

[" Jesus Casts Out Satan ," Carl Bloch, 1865-1879] In this post, it is my intention simply to share my experience. These ideas are not...

[" The Virgin Mary intercedes for Purgatory's souls ," Sebastiano Ricci, 1687-1688] Last week I spoke about the fact that there are no...

[" Christ on the Sea of Galilee ," Peter Paul Rubens, c. 1611] These days I increasingly hear about people, including some priests, who...

[" Annunciation ," Leonard da Vinci, 1472-1476] The Exorcist is exhorted in the Praenotanda , or Introduction, to the Rite of Exorcism...

[" Christ Carrying the Cross ," probably Titian or Giorgione, 1505-1507] Theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer in his book, " Cost of...

[" The Fall of Rebel Angels ," Pieter Bruegel, 1562] One thing you notice as an exorcist is that different demons have different...

[" The Garden of Earthly Delights ," Hieronymus Bosch, c. 1490-1510; This triptych painting by Bosch is interpreted as a moralistic...

[" Sermon and Deeds of the Antichrist " detail, Luca Signorelli, 1501] As human beings after the Fall of Adam and Eve, we all experience...

[" The Immaculate Conception ," [Mary stomps on Satan], Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, 1767-1769] I just received the following note: " For...