["The Annunciation to Mary- Lily and Violet", Holly Schapker]
Our exorcism session was well underway when one of the assisting priests arrived late. He walked into the room and exclaimed, "What is that horrible stench?" No one else smelled anything.
Similarly, a woman, apparently with some spiritual sensitivities, told me that when she is with people afflicted with demons they "smell" very bad. She finds this quite disconcerting and difficult to be around.
Many saints could smell the odor of sin and evil. St. Catherine of Siena was greatly repulsed by the odor of sin in others. St. Gemma of Galgani could smell people's sins of impurity; she would shudder and become physically ill in its presence.
St. Faustina, in her famous vision, described seven awful tortures of hell including:
The fifth torture is continual darkness and a terrible suffocating smell, and, despite the darkness, the devils and the souls of the damned see each other and all the evil, both of others and their own.
I don't know why the priest who arrived late had a unique experience of the demon's stench, but the stench of evil is very real. Fortunately, we exorcists and our teams do not normally experience it, otherwise our ministry would be intolerable. God spares us.
The beautiful odor of sanctity is very real as well. Padre Pio, St. Therese of Lisieux and many saints were said to emit an odor of flowers. An inexplicable scent of flowers can be a sign of a saint's presence, even when the saint is not seen such as in response to prayer. Those who have had graced experiences of heaven similarly report an indescribably beautiful scent of flowers.
As the years pass in this ministry, I regularly come in contact with the horror of demons and their hell. I feel increasingly sad and incredulous that more than a few people would invite such putrid presences into their lives and ultimately consign themselves to hell. But, as St. Faustina wrote: "I noticed one thing: that most of the souls there (in hell) are those who disbelieved that there is a hell.'"
I don't know what the answer is. I know that preaching about the reality of hell does not work in today's world. Maybe those who are expert in modern evangelization have a better way forward to get the Word out. In the meantime, our little exorcism team will cast out foul smelling demons in Jesus' name and we will share our real experiences.
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