It was a particularly ugly session. After months of exorcism sessions, I now had the demon leader's name. I moved in close, about two feet away, and stared the demons in the eye. They were fully manifested. Using the leader's name, I commanded the demons, in the name of Jesus, to leave.
They were not weak enough yet to cast out and had plenty of fight left in them. In a gravely voice, they mocked and taunted me. I could hear and feel the evil. They were disgusting and full of filth. I tried not to listen.
I try not to make this a personal fight. I hide behind Jesus and do everything in his name. It is he who is the exorcist. But it's a bit difficult being only 24 inches from the demons, who are in a full rage. The demons take it very personally and focus their seething violence on me.
Finally, it was time to end. The team members, and the afflicted person, were all tired. Together we said prayers of thanksgiving. At the beginning of the session, I had faithfully said prayers of protection. Now, at the closing, I said the full cleansing prayers.
But when it all ended, I wasn't feeling quite right. I tried relaxing, eating dinner, and moving on. It didn't seem to help. After an hour or so, I wasn't any better. In fact, I felt somewhat disabled.
Finally, I was able to identify the feeling. I felt like I had been stabbed by a poisoned blade. I was spiritually wounded. The poison was there and it would not go away. It was infecting my entire system.
Apparently, for some reason, the demons were able to break through the usual protection and "stab" me with their poison. Perhaps I was in too close. Regardless, I was wounded with an otherworldly poison.
There was only one solution for this. I went into the chapel and asked my Mother for help. It seemed to me that she looked at me with kindness and gently chided me for waiting for so long to come to her. She quickly expelled the poison. I was now fine although I needed to rest a bit.
I don't know how the demons were able to get through. It reminds me what one of my military instructors said who was training us in knife fighting. He opened the lesson with the following admonition: "In a knife fight, you are going to get cut."
In a close fight with demons, I have to expect occasionally getting "cut." But I learned my lesson. Next time, my first stop is the chapel and the healing touch of Our Lady.