["The Seven Dead Sins and the Four Last Things," detail- Gluttony, Hieronymus Bosch, 16th Century, Museo del Prado]
I was a bit surprised when “Sean” told me that he was starting to eat compulsively. He said, “I can’t stop eating. This has never happened before.” The family is locking up the refrigerator at night or else he will eat everything inside. Oddly, Sean has never had a compulsive eating problem in the past or any other compulsive behaviors. But he does have a demonic affliction and this compulsive behavior may be a symptom of the demons’ presence.
I started to take even more notice of the possible reality of “demons of obesity” when another unrelated client told me of a similar problem. She, too, has compulsively started to eat, which has greatly surprised her. Like Sean, she said, “I can’t stop eating.” She, too, has a demonic affliction, in this case the result of a curse from a bitter relative.
Then a third case of unexplained compulsive eating coupled with a demonic affliction recently surfaced. The details were similar: an unexplained compulsive eating problem which suddenly surfaced in the midst of a demonic affliction.
Can demons induce someone, in a case of their extraordinary activity, to behave compulsively? Can they induce a compulsive eating disorder? As a licensed psychologist, I am loathe to blame demons for people’s addictive behaviors. I have spent 30 years therapeutically assisting such people in overcoming their addictions.
But these three cases are different. The behavioral cases I treated in the past as a psychologist all had a normal etiology, symptomatology, and typically responded well to standard treatments. The three cases cited above were unusual and surfaced only in the light of the extraordinary presence of demons. In these unusual cases, we are “treating” them with assiduous deliverance prayers in addition to the normal therapeutic interventions as needed.
There is much we do not know about the preternatural world. We are rediscovering the ministry of exorcism after many, many years of neglect. We ought to remain open to and learn from what we experience, especially when other exorcists report similar experiences. It is likewise important that we exorcists share our experiences with each other and thus advance our knowledge in the service of the afflicted.
If you believe that you are suffering from the presence of "Demons of Obesity," I suggest the following prayer:
In the Holy Name of +Jesus, I rebuke, I reject and I renounce the demons of
obesity. In +Jesus' name, I cast them out. In his holy name, I cast them all out.
(3 times)*
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*Note that this prayer of command should only be used over one's own body since an individual has the natural law right of authority over one's self. When praying for people over whom we do not have such authority, we use deprecatory prayers, asking God to intervene, rather than prayers of command.
**Register for tonight's free online deliverance session Monday March 6th at 7-8pm Eastern USA time (the same as New York City). Register here or: https://www.catholicexorcism.org/event-details/march-6th-online-deliverance-prayer-session
***Register for our Lenten deliverance retreat on Saturday April 1st at 11am-2pm Eastern USA time (the same as New York City). Register here or: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/7701698950683745116