A Blog for Dallas Area Catholics

A harrowing exorcism story January 26, 2011

Since the topic of exorcisms has come up on this blog a few times recently, mostly over the issue of Fr. Euteneuer and his now nearly unobtainable book, Exorcism and the Church Militant, I found this story, via Creative Minority Report, very timely, and a bit frightening.  It describes a possession and exorcism that took place in Iowa in 1928:

Emma Schmidt was 40 years old in 1928. An Iowa native, from childhood she was a practicing Catholic, but for twenty-six years she had experienced almost continual psychological and spiritual unrest. She heard voices sexually tempting her. Obsessive thoughts nearly drove her to suicide. Over time she developed an indefinable anger toward religious objects. When a priest blessed her, she flew into a rage and attacked him. She also found herself able to understand languages she never studied, like Latin and German.

Doctors could find nothing physically wrong with her, so Emma looked to religion for help. But Church authorities are slow to acknowledge possession before extensive investigation. After carefully examining her case, Bishop Thomas Drumm of Des Moines gave the approval for Emma’s exorcism. He then called Father Theophilus Riesinger (1868-1941), one of the few American priests known to have any experience in this controversial area…………

As Emma stepped off the train, she felt an overwhelming urge to attack the Sisters waiting there. At the convent, she was offered food that had been secretly blessed, but she refused, purring like a cat for hours. The next morning, Father Theophilus began the exorcism. Emma was placed on a bed, with a group of Sisters nearby. As the prayers began, Vogl writes, “a hair-raising scene occurred”:

With lightning speed the possessed dislodged herself from her bed and from the hands of her guards; and her body, carried through the air, landed high above the door of the room and clung to the wall with a tenacious grip. All present were struck with a trembling fear. Father Theophilus alone kept his peace.

Later “a loud shrill voice rent the air . . . as though it were far off, somewhere in a desert.” Everyone, Vogl records, was “struck with a terrible fear that penetrated the very marrow of their bones.”

At times the work was unendurable. An unnatural stench filled the room, and though Emma ate little, she vomited dozens of times daily. She screamed and moaned for hours in unearthly voices “that no human could reproduce.” Witnesses noticed that her “face became so distorted that no one could recognize her.”

Riesinger identified four main spirits operating in Emma. One called itself Beelzebub, another Judas Iscariot. Two were spirits of deceased relatives. One was Emma’s father Jacob, an alcoholic who sexually abused her and placed a curse on her. The other was her aunt Mina, Jacob’s mistress, a child murderer who practiced witchcraft. When Emma was 14, Mina put a spell on her food. Father Theophilus asked the demon’s intent. It answered: “To bring her to despair so that she will . . . hang herself! She must get the rope, she must go to hell!”

Chilling stuff.  A few important notes: 1) the woman did successfully complete the exorcism process, and all four demons were excised from her spirit.  2) this is a very rare case, actual cases of demonic obsession or possession are very rare, but they do happen. 3) Even though rare, due to the extreme horror such cases involve, it is best to do what we can to insulate ourselves from these sources of evil, through prayer, sacrifice, remaining in a state of Grace, and receiving the Sacraments (Eucharist, Confession) as frequently as possible.  4) We should also be supportive of those who work in the Church in this important field, so subject to sensationalism and derision.  I pray that the current situation, with only 6 (or is it 5, now, with Fr. Euteneuer out of public life?) exorcists for the entire country will change, and Bishop Paprocki’s efforts to train new exorcists will yield much fruit.  There is not a demon hiding under every rock, but this is an important field of the Church’s ministry that must not be neglected, no matter what the head of the NationalFederation of Priest’s Councils says.