A few recent articles have gone too far and have revealed the identity of the possessed boy. There will be nothing of that here. Indeed, I wrote one so-called investigative journalist and pleaded with him to remove the name from his article reprinted to the World Wide Web. If this man wanted to be known, he himself would have told his story. Past journalists and authors had the information at hand, but they were true gentlemen and respected the rights of personal privacy. The Church has also kept the record secret. The Jesuits spoke and the journal kept has come to light. This rendition is based upon that journal and the recollections of the server involved with the Washington exorcism effort.
The News Breaks
The Washington Post article in 1949 proclaims, “Priest Frees 14-Year-Old Boy Reported Held in Devil’s Grip.” Almost immediately the story was picked up by the other news services and magazines. Who would think that such a thing could still happen, and in all places, modern-day America? The story has been told and retold.
Unable to get access to archdiocesan records, William Peter Blatty produced his fictionalized account that resulted in a blockbuster movie of 1974. One priest lamented at the time, “It is tragic that the devil should prove so popular with people when they seem so disinterested in God.” The conclusion of the film was most lamentable in that the young priest exchanges his body for that of the child as a host to the demon and then throws himself from the window. If the story had been true, one could logically contend that the devil was really after the priest the entire time. In other words, the devil actually won and the rituals and intercession of the Catholic Church were proven impotent. Fortunately, such portrayals are restricted to the movies and the real story shows that the power of Christ and of his Church can still vanquish the demonic.
How It Really Started
Unlike the movie, the story surrounded a young boy who was born June 1, 1935. He and his parents lived just outside Washington, D.C. in Cottage City, not far from Mount Rainier, Maryland. (Some sources claim a popular Mount Ranier location as the site of the boy’s home. The house at this location has been torn down and a dance studio is now on the site. The diary gives the Cottage City location, instead. I do not feel it appropriate to give the full address. However, since Catholics in the past identified themselves by their parishes, we might still regard this as the Mount Ranier Case. The boy converted to the Catholic faith and claimed St. James Parish as his own in Mount Ranier.) The first signs of trouble started on January 15, 1949. He was thirteen years old. While his parents were out that evening, he and his grandmother heard a dripping sound in the house. It only lasted for a brief period and then a picture of Jesus on the wall began to shake as if something had bumped into it. When his parents had returned home, a definite scratching noise could be heard under the floorboards next to his grandmother’s bed. This sound of scratching was repeated each night from about 7:00 PM until midnight. Logically, the family figured that there must be a rodent problem. An exterminator was called. However, despite taking up the floorboards and wall panels to spread poison, the sound did not cease. Indeed, the disturbing noises became worse.
Some ten days afterwards the noises ceased and all believed the rodent to be dead. Nevertheless, the boy was under the impression that he could still hear the scratching noises. Three days later the sound became audible to the rest of the family again.
The exorcist writes:
“When the sound became audible again, it was no longer in the upstairs bedroom but had moved downstairs to the boy’s bedroom. It was heard as the sound of squeaking shoes along the bed and was heard only at night when the boy went to bed. The squeaking sound continued for six nights, on the sixth night scratching again was audible.”
It appears that the invitation for this spiritual invasion was inadvertently initiated through a favorite aunt of the boy. She had died in St. Louis two weeks prior to the first registered phenomena.
“It developed that the aunt of the boy and his parents had used a Ouija board, and this probably gave the devil his first entrance.”
Many religious authorities are convinced that such a so-called toy actually offers an invitation to evil spirits. Aunt Tillie had been an enthusiast of spiritualism. Suspecting something supernatural in the sound of marching feet, the boy’s mother asked (according to the exorcist’s journal):
“‘Is that you Aunt Tillie?’ She obtained no verbal reply and continued: (evidently aware of the methods employed by spiritualists) ‘If this is you, knock three times.’ There were waves of air striking the grandmother, mother and boy, and three distinct knocks were heard on the floor. The mother asked again: ‘If you are Tillie, tell me positively by knocking four times.’ Four distinct knocks were heard.”
As time went by, it became evident that strange occurrences and sounds seemed to follow the boy.
“An orange and a pear flew across the entire room where he was standing.”
“The kitchen table was upset without any movement on the boy’s part.”
“Milk and food were thrown off the table and stove.”
“The breadboard was thrown onto the floor.”
“Outside the kitchen a coat on its hanger flew across the room.”
“A Bible was thrown directly at the foot of the boy but did not injure him in any way.”
“His desk at school moved about on the floor similar to the planchette on an Ouija board.” (This latter evidence of telekinesis forced the boy to quit school because of embarrassment.)
Things became increasingly worse at home.
“On one occasion the coverlet of the bed was pulled out from under the mattress and the edges stood up above the surface of the bed in a curled form as though held up with starch. When the bystanders touched the bedspread, the sides fell back to normal position.”
It was also stated that “At first everybody, including the boy, took it as a kind of joke, but it became more than a joke.” Soon thereafter, “the word LOUIS was written in deep red on the boy’s ribs,” seeming to indicate that some invisible force desired that the boy travel to St. Louis where his favorite aunt lived.
The Lutheran Minister
His mother called a minister of her faith, a local Lutheran pastor. He was dubious about the whole matter. Although suspicious of the chest message, written upside down as if self-inflicted, he requested that the family come to his home. What happened next struck him as defying any natural explanation. His offer to keep the boy over at his home was accepted. It was the 17th of February in 1949. At about 10:00 PM, they decided to go to bed. The room contained twin beds. After about ten minutes, the boy’s bed began to vibrate. The headboard was banging against the frame.
The minister reported:
“It made a lot of racket. I thought he was shaking it but he was making no visible movement.”
Seeking a practical remedy to the situation, he placed the boy in a large overstuffed chair and sat beside him. Slowly the chair began to tilt upon its side and the minister had to grab it before it fell over. The good pastor insisted that there was no way the boy could be pushing the chair over since his legs were thoroughly tucked beneath him. He then placed the boy on a scatter rug upon the floor. Certainly, this would resolve the matter for the night. But no, the rug “moved slowly until it got to the wall and then it stopped.” The poor clergyman was utterly befuddled.
“I remember thinking he must be doing it himself but I realized later that would have been impossible. There was no movement of his body.”
The boy was delivered home the next day. Because of his Protestant theology, the minister sought a natural explanation. Unable to come up with one, he categorized the whole incident under unknown forces.
From Shrink to Witchdoctor to Priest
A psychiatrist from Georgetown University was called in but refusing to believe in the phenomena he simply reported that the boy was normal but “somewhat high-strung.” The family complicated matters further by calling a spiritualist. However, his incantations for dispelling spirits failed. Indeed, the situation became graver.
Having a relative married to a Catholic, the boy’s mother described the situation to him. His response was “If what you say is true, then you should consult a priest.” The family called the nearby parish, St. James Catholic Church. The boy’s father made an appointment to talk to one of the priests. The clergyman gave him various sacramentals: holy water, blessed candles, and some recommended prayers.
“Once when the mother had sprinkled the holy water around the room, she placed the bottle on a dresser and it was picked up by the spirit and smashed. When one of the candles was lighted, the flame shot up to the ceiling, and the candle was extinguished for fear that the house might be set on fire.”
The suggested prayers seemed to make the phenomena worse. Deciding to call back the priest, the clergyman heard a great crashing sound. The mother of the boy told him that the telephone table she was using had broken into a hundred pieces.
This anxious situation refused to end and matters grew tenser. The priest, Fr. E. Albert Hughes, went to the chancellor of the archdiocese. He was warned to move slowly and not to leap to rash judgments. The young priest explained that he had done as much. After a meeting with the archbishop, Most Reverend Patrick A. O’Boyle, he was authorized to initiate the exorcisms. Fr. Hughes resisted, hoping that an older and more experienced man might be chosen instead.
He “understood that this should be done by a very holy man because the devil is wont to expose the sins of the priest; so the Father went to Baltimore and made a general confession. But the devil is the father of lies, and there is a theological opinion that he is unable to reveal sins that have been forgiven.”
The archbishop insisted, the young priest had to offer the ritual. It would prove a terrible miscalculation. Between February 27 and March 4, the boy was moved to Georgetown University Hospital. A young man and altar server (George Chapman) who was known for his abilities in high school football was drafted by the priest to assist him. This young man grew up and became a leader in the local Knights of Columbus. A good friend, he passed away on January 9, 2009. He told me that he had a terrible struggle to hold the possessed boy down. The boy could spit across the room with deadly accuracy. George said the saliva was like acid and he saw it literally dissolve the priest’s book. At one point George lost his patience and even lightly slugged the other boy to keep him under control. He saw himself as the popular priest’s body guard. The priest made him go to confession and pledged him not to tell his mother and friends the details of the encounters. They tied the hands and feet of the boy to the bedposts. He reacted violently to the ritual. Loose items in the room crashed to the floor. The bed shook uncontrollably. Strenuously the large server sought to hold the bed down. The victim was a small boy and yet he possessed incredible strength. The priest warned his young assistant not to enter into dialogue with the boy, only to give the required responses to the ritual words of the priest. Strange words came forth from the restrained boy, supposedly Aramaic, a form of ancient Hebrew. Previously the boy had taunted the priest in Latin. Objects were thrown around the room. The boy growled like an inhuman animal. Then it happened. Somehow the boy had gotten a hand free of the restraints. He secretly tore through the heavy mattress and ripped out a metal spring. The server responded to the words uttered by Fr. Hughes in the ritual. At the conclusion of the Lord’s Prayer, the boy attacked the priest and tore a gash into the cleric’s arm from his shoulder to his wrist. Blood exploded over everything! The ritual prayer book was caked in the priest’s blood! He screamed out! The exorcism had ended in failure. The priest’s life was saved by the doctors and his arm had a long track of a hundred plus stitches. He would have lingering problems with the arm and it would visibly drag at the consecration during Masses.
As an interesting aside, the young server in this episode was struck in the eye by the afflicted boy. He would develop a black eye and it was joked that maybe the priest had socked him. When the priest mysteriously left the parish, only he knew the true reason. The good priest would need to recuperate from his terrible encounter and injury. After this event, colleagues of the priest say that Fr. Hughes was never quite the same. He became quieter. He was intensely reserved about what had happened. One remarked that it was as if he was a haunted man. He died in 1980.
The sources are clear about this next point.
“Up to this time everything had been obsession, that is, exterior to the boy, but as soon as the exorcisms began, real possession began.”
They Go to Saint Louis
The boy expressed a desire to go to St. Louis, and since they had relatives they could visit there, the family left with the hope of leaving their troubles behind them. Unfortunately, the problem with the boy did not improve.
“Different displays were witnessed by two aunts of the boy, four uncles and four cousins. The printing ‘No School’ was seen by four people. The swaying of the mattress, the upsetting of bedroom furniture and the scratching on the mattress were observed by the entire group . . . Phenomena indicated that the spirit was not the devil but the soul of deceased Tillie. The spirit confirmed again to all present that she was Tillie by moving a heavy bed two or three feet with not one of the bystanders near the bed.”
Again a priest was consulted from the closest Catholic parish. Fr. Raymond J. Bishop, S.J., a teacher at the university came to the house on March 9.
He “blessed the entire house, and used a special blessing in the boy’s room and on his bed. A second-class relic of St. Margaret Mary was safety-pinned to the extreme border of the pillow. Shortly after the boy retired, the mattress on his bed began to move back and forth in the direction of the bed uprights. The boy lay perfectly still, and did not exert any physical effort. The movement in one direction did not exceed more than three inches; the action was intermittent and completely subsided after a period of approximately fifteen minutes.”
The next day, similar things happened. The relic was thrown to the floor.
“The safety pin was open but no human hand had touched the relic. The boy started up in fright when the relic was thrown down.”
Exorcism & Baptism
The next day, Friday, March 11, the priest who would perform the exorcisms visited the family. Fr. Bishop had in turn contacted Fr. William S. Bowdern, S.J. from St. Francis Xavier Church. He was shaken by what he observed. He brought additional relics and a crucifix.
“Shortly after the boy had retired at 11:00 PM, he called downstairs that he had been frightened by a strong force that had thrown some object against the mirror in his bedroom. With safety pin opened, the relic of St. Margaret Mary had been thrown against the mirror and the sound was like a pellet striking the glass. Another occurrence was a cross mark scratched on the boy’s left, outer forearm. The pain was similar to that produced by a scratch of a thorn. The cross remained evident for approximately forty-five minutes.”
The family telephoned the priest in Washington, and after a few days, the priest in St. Louis brought the case to his archbishop (Archbishop Ritter) and was authorized to continue with the exorcisms.
Artist’s Conception of Devil as the Beast
The symptoms of possession seemed to get worse and not better with the new exorcism attempts beginning on March 16.
“The seizures took place in the evening when the boy went to bed and would last from 8:00 to 12 Midnight or 1:00 AM, intermittently, and then the boy would go off into a perfectly normal sleep for nine or ten hours.”
It was decided a few days later to recite the prayers earlier so that everyone could get more sleep. Nevertheless, the seizures were unabated and started about 9:00 at night and lasted until 2:00 or 3:00 AM.
Sometimes as many as ten people were required to hold the boy during seizures. He would tear the sheets and pillows to shreds, as well as the shirts and undershirts of those who restrained him. He was utterly wild, hitting and kicking. He even broke the nose of one of the assisting Jesuit students. One incident had him scratching the exorcist’s arm so badly that he could not lift it for a number of days.
“Coming out of a seizure he would complain of feeling very hot and would ask for a glass of water. After one of the seizures in the beginning, he said that the evil spirit seems to carry him down into a pit about two hundred feet deep where there were intense heat and vile evil spirits. In the beginning also he seemed to be in a long, dark cave with a tiny bit of light at the far end; as the exorcism progressed, the lighted end seemed to grow larger and larger, in one of the exorcisms, the spirit, in the body of the boy, pointed to one of the priests who were assisting and said: ‘What is the use of you being here; you will be with me in hell in 1957.’”
A few days passed. The boy asked to be baptized. It should be noted that his father had been baptized a Catholic and that some of his cousins in St. Louis were Catholics. Once consulted, the parents were agreeable. The boy was instructed and preparations were made to baptize him in church.
“On the appointed morning he rose, took a shower, ate his usual breakfast and set out for the church in a car driven by his uncle. Just before reaching the church the boy grabbed his uncle by the neck and said: ‘You S.O.B., you think I am going to be baptized, but you are going to be fooled.’ The uncle was just able to seize the emergency brake and avert a collision by an inch. It was realized that to baptize the boy in the church would create a scene, so he was taken to the third floor of the rectory, which stands in back of the church but faces Lindell Boulevard. Every time he was asked: ‘Do you renounce Satan and all his works?’ he would go into a rage. Only after several hours of repetition was the boy able to reply: ‘I do renounce Satan and all his works.’ Then it required several more hours to get the water poured on the boy’s head.”
After the rite of initiation, things became calm and quiet for a couple days. However, then the demonic business started up again and worse than before. Some of the phenomenon was quite peculiar.
“One was the amount of spittle that the boy could discharge: there would be half-a-pint at one time. At times he would ask for a glass of water and it would be given to him, although it was known what would happen. It would be spat back on the bystanders. While the priest read the exorcisms, two others would hold a towel in front of his face to protect his glasses, but it was useless; the spittle would go under the towel, over the towel or around the towel and strike directly on the priest’s glasses, and the boy’s eyes would be closed the whole time. Another phenomenon was excessive urination. During the seizures the boy would utter the vilest obscenities, curses, blasphemies and ribald songs, all in a high falsetto voice that was off key.”
It is noted that at one stage, the exorcist had to protect himself with a pillow, for the boy’s head moved like a cobra, aiming non-stop with spittle for his face.
First Communion
The exorcist and the family returned to the Washington, D.C. area. The boy’s parents were at wits end and were suffering from sleep deprivation. Fr. Hughes tried to get the boy committed to a sanatorium or hospital in the Washington-Baltimore area, but none would take him. It was decided to take him to the Alexian Brothers Hospital in St. Louis. He was given instructions in preparation for his first communion. The hope was that receiving the Eucharist might bring the possession to an end.
“When the time came, it was impossible to get the Host near his tongue, but finally, after several hours, they succeeded in placing it on his tongue and three times he spat it out. Eventually success was achieved. This was on April 2, the first Saturday of the month, a day dedicated to Our Lady of Fatima. The title was explained to the boy and he showed great interest. But the seizures continued.”
“What is Your NAME?”
During the exorcism, the priest asked for the first time its name.
“What is your name and when will you depart?” The response was simply “Shut up, shut up.” Later, “in answer to the question of his name, the words, ‘Hell, Spirit,’ appeared in red letters on the boy’s chest. In reply to the question of departure, red numbers: 4, 8, 10, 16, some Roman numerals appeared on the boy’s body. He said: ‘I will not go until a certain word is pronounced and this boy will never say it.’ There also appeared a red arrow extending from the boy’s throat to the bottom of his abdomen, and it was thought that the spirit might go out by the way of urine, as has happened in some cases.”
An appendage to the diary tells us that “the boy would greet the priests with filthy, foul obscenities, fluently answer the exorcist’s questions in Latin, a language he had never studied.” One day the boy was sitting in bed reading about Our Lady of Fatima with the book on his knees when he was thrown into a seizure. He threw the book across the room. On another occasion, he was given a glass of milk and threw that across the room. On one of the final days, a Jesuit scholastic gave the boy a plate of chipped beef. He grabbed the plate, jumped to one side of the room, and threatened to brain anyone approaching him. While one assistant approached him from one side, the scholastic crawled under the bed to seize him. The boy threw and smashed the dish of food against the wall.
Liberation at Last
Despite hope that the possession would end during Holy Week, it continued through Easter Sunday with particularly violent seizures. The worst day of all was April 18, Easter Monday. The exorcist and his assistants were becoming completely discouraged.
“Suddenly, at 11:00 PM, a new voice was heard from the boy; a beautiful, rich, deep bass voice exclaimed: ‘Satan, Satan, go, now, now, now to the pit where you belong, in the name of DOMINUS (the Lord).’ That was the word and at that moment the boy felt a tearing sensation in his stomach, relaxed and lay perfectly quiet. He described what has happened. He saw a brilliant figure, visible from the waist up, clothed in a close-fitting white garment which had the appearance of scales; the hair was long and flowing in a wind; the right hand held something like a flaming sword or light pointing downward. It was St. Michael the Archangel. When he spoke, the evil spirit rebelled against going until the word ‘Dominus’ was spoken and at this moment the boy felt the tearing sensation in his stomach. Then at some distance down he saw some evil spirits standing at the mouth of a cave from which flames issued. Then the spirits reluctantly withdrew into the cave, the opening closed and across it appeared the word: ‘Spite.’ Thus the possession was ended.”
Closing Remarks
The diary tells us that the exorcist and his assistants “observed some severe fasting, mindful of the admonition of Christ that some devils can be driven out only by prayer and fasting.” There had been at least twenty exorcisms performed. One Jesuit involved remarked: “Only by examining the record after possession was ended, was it possible to see the meaning of the replies (the red marks on the boy’s body). The numbers may have been the days on which certain spirits departed from the boy, if there were actually more than one in his body.”
The Jesuit priest, Fr. Bowdern, passed away in 1983 and his assistant and then scholastic, Fr. Walter Halloran died from cancer March 1, 2005. The young server who tried to help Fr. Hughes desired to remain anonymous while he was alive. An interesting side note, George (the server) told me that when the boy returned to Washington, he could not remember the active possession episodes. The possessed man is still living and there has been no trouble since. He married and had a nice family. Life went on.
A FEW ADDENDUM NEWSPAPER CITATIONS
An aunt of the boy said in a New York Times article from August 1972:
(Upon the boy’s visit to her home) “All of a sudden the mattress starts going, just raised up in the air, and down, up and down, and my sister hollered for me, . . . oh I tell you that mattress just raised both of us right up in the air . . . . I happened to have a table against the wall with a vase of flowers on it and I got out but as my nephew tried to leave, that table actually flew in front of the door and would not let him out . . . .” In the same article it quotes what a Jesuit priest confided to him, “I assure you, Gene — I saw this with my own eyes — the boy did not tear the Ritual book, he dissolved it! The book vaporized into confetti and fell in small pieces to the floor!”
The staff writer Jeremiah O’Leary reported in The Evening Star that the boy spoke an unknown language that sounded similar to Hebrew.
“A professor of Oriental languages from Catholic University was called in and he was shocked to discover the words coming from the boy’s mouth were in Aramaic, the language spoken in Palestine in Jesus’ day.”
RECOMMENDED READING:
Allen, Thomas B. POSSESSED. New York: Doubleday, 1993.
Exploitation & Where Do We Really Find Evil?
After reading the sensational article “Possessed,” by Thomas B. Allen in June 1993’s edition of Washingtonian Magazine, many people were eager to buy the book of the same title released in July of that year. Having read the book, it must be admitted that there are elements to the tale that seem to validate Christian faith in God and in his mercy; however, at the same time I fear that it’s telling will surrender true religion to mockery and to superstition. No suggestion is made in the article and none in the book until the very end, that there might still be more to the story than the supernatural. However, even if it should be the case, books and films tend to give more emphasis to the demonic than to the divine. Producers and writers work ever harder to shock their patrons, an audience made increasingly insensitive to violence and to “things that go bump in the night.” We want to be entertained and producers of horror films and writers know all too well how to excite the masses with fear and gross happenings. Even the 1973 film, The Exorcist, based on William Peter Blatty’s book, opted to highlight vulgar language, Eucharistic desecration, obscene gestures, fanciful special effects, and finally the death and failure of the two priests. I would suspect that the battle between good and evil is more frequently invisible to the movie camera and ignored by novelists seeking to sell books. Indeed, just as the case here began as one of demonic obsession and only later became possession when the exorcisms were attempted; might a heightened concentration upon this issue similarly endanger people? Such worries me in my own retelling, although I offer the corrective that Christ is really the one with all the power. Satan is pathetic by comparison to our Lord. The end of the story, the real story, is what makes a big difference. God’s grace is victorious over sin. Evil is repulsed. Having said this, while it is true that the devil should not become a scapegoat for all human ills, it is almost impossible to believe that he is not involved with the atrocities at home and abroad. In language, popular music, drug experiences, new cult religions, escalating crime, immoral lifestyles, terrorism, wars and genocide, abortion, euthanasia, etc., Satan is exerting an obsessive influence, numbing consciences and helping to distort values.
“Okay, maybe this story should not have been told?”
Sometimes the devil is incredibly subtle; at other times he shocks us by his audacity and malice. If people want to be frightened, then here is the real thing of which to be afraid; but, only if we separate ourselves by sin from Christ and the sacraments. Most of us, probably all of us after the age of reason, are no longer bystanders to the devil’s malevolence, but in every sin, large and small, accomplices. God’s grace can turn this around, if we really want Satan exorcised from our society and world.
Prayer to Saint Michael the Archangel
St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly hosts, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan, and all the evil spirits, who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.
Recommended Books
An Exorcist Tells His Story by Gabriele Amorth. (Ignatius Press, 1999).
An Exorcist: More Stories by Gabriele Amorth. (Ignatius Press, 2002).
Angels and Demons by Peter J. Kreeft. (Ignatius Press, 1995).
Ghosts and Poltergeists by Herbert Thurston, S.J. (H. Regnery Company, 1954).
Filed under: Catholic, Exorcism, Faith, Sacramentals |
Blogger Priest 
Dear Father Joe,
The photograph of a young man dressed in black (baseball cap, T-shirt and leather jacket) appears at the end of the story with the caption “Okay, maybe this story should not have been told?”
What is the significance of this photograph please? Forgive me if I have missed something.
The peace of the Lord be with you.
I live in maryland, and i want to do an exorcism, but unfortunately i dont know where i should go or who i should talk to. i came to this country a couple of years ago, and i never went to an ORTHDOX church. all the churches around me are CATHOILC churches so i got scared of going there and asking for an exorcism. i dont even know if i can do it with a catholic priest. The only thing i know is, i am being attacked by negative supernatural forces. i am starting to notice all the signs on me. so if you could help me, and get a way to get me an exorcism you will be saving a life.
Believing in God means believing in the existence of the devil.
Spanish exorcist Fr. Jose Antonio Fortea Cucurull stated in an interview recently that though Satan does indeed exist, he does not have “horns, wings or a tail.”
Watch this ABC News’ 20/20 documentary showing a real exorcism.
JS – many people have had an experience very similar to yours. You should look up the medical phenomenon called “sleep paralysis.” In my opinion, you did the right thing and should feel confident that you can handle this if it ever happens again!
No, father, none in my family including myself ever had any hallucination history. I had never experienced hallucination before these events. I did not receive any medical treatment. I was treated spritually and after the treatment, I never experienced any hallucination. Answering your other questions- none broke into my house. All the doors and windows were locked all the time. The old very ugly woman used to appear from nowhere and it seemed like she was not walking but floating in air. I am just curious to know the true identity of that thing.
Father Joe,
I have had experience of possession. Some 4 years ago, I peed by the side of a very old abondoned boat. It was very dark there. Nothing happened at that time but the same night I woke up at some time between 3 to 4 am. I saw an old woman who came to my bed and started choking me. I could not shout, or say a single word, or even move my finger. I am a muslim by faith. I tried to recall some passages from the Koran but I felt like I had forgotten everything. Eventually, I was able to recall some Koranic verses and I started to feel much better. I kept on repeating them and the old woman releases my neck and went away. I was then able to speak and move my body.
It began to happen every thursday night. My family consulted two different religious parties and they both came to the conclusion that I was possessed. They advised me to keep myself clean from all sins, pray alot and read some verses from the Koran several times a week. By the grace of God, the possession was over and now I am spending a normal happy life.
However, I still think about it sometimes and I just want to know what was that thing that used to come with me. One individual who treated me told me that it was some creature who was appearing in the form of a human being. He didnt give me any further details like he did not want to reveal anything further. I am just curious and want to know your opinion on my case from catholic point of view.
Thank you,
JS
All this “renouncing Satan” stuff reminds me of a story:
As he lay dying, the writer Voltaire got a visitor who urged him to renounce the devil before it was too late.
Voltaire looked up from his deathbed and said, “This is no time to start making enemies!”
F.JOE,i am from bangladesh and my religion is islam.i believe in ALLAH and after reading the story i believe that the satan was driven back to the place where it belongs.but i have some questions.
#1.are we safe from the evil?
#2.in islam the origins of devil is described.my question is what are the signs of a satan when it is near to us?i mean how i will understand that the evil is here?is there any influences on the environment?
I need your advice.plz ans….
KHUDA HAFEZ.
Jhalak.
In response to John, I assure you the house at [Deleted] Road was finally removed in April 1967 after the Mount Rainier, Fire Department burned it to the ground and removed all debris. So the home was not there in the 1970’s. Also, I just learned a chilling detail about the case from good source who has worked in the DC Archdiocese for over 30 years. This actually makes sense and it explains why many residents in 1949 vaguely remember someone living in the home at [Deleted] Road in the Spring of 1949 as well as confirms what Father Hughes told Father Boper back in 1981. Yes, the boy did live in Cottage City. When the Archdiocese was convinced that the boy was demonically possessed, they wanted to perform the exorcism away from the boy’s Cottage City home. Through whatever influence the Archdiocese had, they were aware of a the vacant home at [Deleted] Road and were able to land temporary rental of that property. So this means that people who claim nobody had lived there since about 1947 and people who claim they remember someone living there in early 1949 were both correct. The boy was of course moved to St Louis when it was clear that the the exorcism would be long and grueling and would go beyond the 1-2 months the Archdiocese had rented the property and they also knew they needed a more experienced priest o conduct it who was of course in St Louis.
To answer to Mick and Father Joe, I grew up in Mt Rainier but never knew the true storey until just recently. My sister and I grew up with the mayor of Mt. Rainier, Mrs. Nalls, children, Gloria and Calvin. It was my understanding the house was burned down in the 70’s or 80’s as she was not the Mayor until then. It was burned as a training exercise. Now here is the kicker…My friend and I went to this address in 2000 and it was part of the park system. He was quite skeptical until I showd him where there 3 concrete steps leading from the side walk. They were burried partially in the dirt but I dug around and found part of a fence attached to a TREE.
What is the real story? Father I have read “The Posessed” and they really dance around the whole issue with Father Hughs and the original priest from St. James. The Catholic church sure likes to hide details on these touchy subjects. Do they really feel that these old beliefs are even in existent today? I think Im going to need a little more proof then just a few concrete steps. Maybe a visit by the Holy Ghost..oops Holy Spirit will do. I think that exorcism has gone by the wayside along with no meat on Friday, Saturday confessions, and Pagan Babies. I have given up my milk money and my belief in the Devil. There is God and he lets us choose between what we believe is right and wrong.
why did the boy get possesed by a demand, Why can’t it leave the child alone, and when the boy saw the demands at the mouth of cave were inside his mind, where were he?
I was born in Mount Rainier in 1958 and lived there until 1968. I think I can add some interesting facts that maybe Father Joe can confirmed as well as incorporate:
1) The boy attended Gonzaga Catholic HS in DC after he was saved. What is fascinating is that he graduated in [deleted]. To this day, Gonzaga does not keep a copy of the [deleted] year book because there was only one boy from Cottage City who graduated that year and it would reveal the boys name.
2) I say Cottage City because the DC Archdiocese used the vacant home at 3210 Bunker Hill Road as a diversion to protect the boy and family’s identity.
3) The house at 3210 Bunker Hill Road had been vacant since about 1946, when the rumors persisted in 1949 and 1950 that the boy had lived there, both corner homes, one at Bunker Hill Rd and the other on 33rd Street became vacant until the 1990’s. As a small child in Mount Rainier, I had heard about the case and always feared that house when walking by it.
4) The author that confirmed the Cottage City residence [deleted] as the actual address for the boy did get something wrong that has to be corrected. He claims that the home at 3210 Bunker Hill Road was burnt to the ground in 1962 by the Mount Rainier Fire Dept. This is so wrong, because that house stood until 1967 until the Fire Dept burned it down as part of training exercise.
5) One item that is rarely mentioned involves the old DC Infirmary. In 1949 there was a Swine Flu epidemic and many young children between the ages of 10-18 were placed in the infirmary for evaluation. My friend’s father who was 12 years old at the time tells a chilling story about the possessed boy: He says one evening he along with about a dozen other boys his age was in a room in the infirmary when a boy about their age was escorted in with two doctors. All of a sudden, my friends Father states that he became scared to death by looking into the eyes of the boy. In fact, he swears two things to this day, one that the eyes of the boy were the most frightening thing he ever saw and two and most important, a few of the boys dropped to their knees and began saying the Lord’s Prayer and Hail Mary. After about two minutes, the doctors removed the boy from the room, and my friend’s Father says that they all felt relieved that the boy was not staying over night in the same room with them. It was not until a number of years later that they all learned that the boy was the Cottage City boy waiting to be moved down to St Louis, MO for exorcism.
Dear Rev Fr. Joe,
Hello from Mumbai – India.
Your article and your comments were interesting and also served as an eye opener to many issues.
I am in agreement that one should be circumpsect in handling such paranormal issues.
Keep up the good work Rev Fr. Joe.
Ashley Ivor – Roman Cath
Dear Father Joe, a few years ago, I worked as a Fire Fighter on a military airforce base. When I started working their, my collegues said distubingly, ‘watch out for the man while you sleep and don’t struggle’. weeks went by and I soon forgot about the warning, and as I lay trying to go to sleep, I felt a spititual presence. I suddenly felt something holding me down. The more I stuggled to get away, the harder it held me. I remembered my work mates words not to struggle, and the spirit went away. It happened dozens of times over the years, as well as other things to me and my workmates such as fire trucks starting up on their own, radio stations tuning from one to another and finger marks around fellow work mates knecks appeared in front of our eyes as if an invisible person was trying to strangle them. There was also sightings a ghostly person. Over the years we became accustomed to these happenings. After I left the sevice I always wonder if the spirit was demonic. Should there be something done about it as I heard it still happens? Thank you father.
Father Joe, Greetings, I live in Ellicott City, Maryland and am a former environmental science professor. For the past 3 1/2 years, I’ve been in the worst kind of torment and have come to believe that I’m under some kind of demonic oppression. Do you know of anyone in the Maryland area that may be able to help? Thank you.
Father Joe,
Just a few months ago my grandfather passed away, may he rest in peace, and his house was being sold and everything had to be taken out. I stumble upon a book hidden in the attic, called “The Key of Solomon” it had wierd symbols, and some phrase the I presumed to be Latin, or some other dead language. Me and my friends were reading, almost like a game, and now I feel like something is following or watching me. I also keep having strange dreams with deformed figures, and these horrible looking dogs who just keep growling. Could these be related to the book?
Sincerly, Atton 17
Father Joe,
I have always been interested in spiritual happenings and cases of possessions, but scared of it as well.
It all started when i visited a church of a different donimination than my own.
A woman started swearing vile profanity and cutting her arms in the shape of upside down crosses. Everyone of “weak or no faith” was asked to leave the room.
It was the closest I have come to a real life encounter so i started researching possessions. This led me to having weird feelings, ever since that night I feel watched and sometimes scared to the point of not being able to move.
My mother has also experienced this, she came out of surgery and the next day was overcome by a strong fear she was home alone and said aloud ” I rebuke you Satan in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord ” and from the far end of the house she heard loud and clear with me on the phone to hear it as well ” I rebuke you too” do you think I need to get help??? I am worried that I might have had weak faith and since I didn’t leave the room as asked I have damned myself to have demons in my life…
thanks
Brittney 19
father joe,
me and my friend are very interested in this kind of stuff talking to spirts and watching ghost things on tv. we wanted to know how could you become a medium. both our parents dont believe in this kind of stuff but we are big time believers and really need opioions. also we heard its not good to use a qujia board. but my uncles gf uses dividing rodes are they good or no. please help us with a questions. thanks
Dear Fr. Joe,
I am a catholic, and very recently I had a dream where I was able to exhort a possessed person. I was so disturbed that I prayed and was led to do a little research about exorcism. I hit upon your website too. I firmly believe in JESUS CHRIST and want everyone to know that HE is LORD. satan is constantly attempting to trouble GOD by posessing mankind (made in the likeness of GOD) and thus proving to all that he will never be successful in the end. GLORY BE TO GOD!
Pray for my family, Fr. Joe, that we will never be troubled by the evil one. I pray for all of those who are troubled and all those who need prayers.
Thank you Fr. Joe, for this blog which proves that JESUS IS LORD and mankind MUST have FAITH IN JESUS.
God bless.
jovial
Fr. Joe,
Thank you for taking the time to answer these questions. I have a new family, it is my first marriage and my wives second. I have a 7 year old step son, who I have heard talking about the Othersiders (a TV show about Ghost hunting) He lives with his dad for a week and with us for a week. I will not allow him to watch such shows at my house, but I worry about his influence elsewhere. I’m ultra conservative when it comes to him and what he is influenced by. Do you think I’m being too cautious? My wife thinks I’m being to “over the top”.
Father Joe I kind of stumbled upon this web site…so..since I’m here maybe I can tell you a story that is 27 years old.
When I was growing up their was lot’s of tension and martial problems in our home.
One day my mother went for a walk with me and cried while she laid her burdens upon my 12 year old ears.
We were not a church going family but I had a little bit of experience with prayers that I kept to myself.
My mother told me that she had always wished that her and my father could have a loving relationship and a happy family.
I told her that wishing was good for Walt Disney but useless for improving the HUGE heap of family problems we had.
I told her to call on god and pray from her heart and soul and things could get better.
Sooo anyway about 2 days later I’m in the washroom and I decide to pray for my mother that still seemed troubled.
SUDDENLY ?? my mouth began to say these words that were in another language that was unknown to me.Unfortunately I cannot find words to describe the feeling of your body being taken over in such a strong confident manner.
I found out years latter that I was speaking Latin but that seemed inposible because I couldn’t even learn French in school and ended up failing :0)
Anyway that day my mother comes home from a village of Lively, Ontario and says “YOU WERE PRAYING FOR ME TODAY WERE’N’T YOU”?
“Yes” I answered “but how do you know that” ?
She said that she went for a walk of 2 miles while upset and ran into a cousin that invited her for a coffee at a shop.THis cousin was very religious and said Marge your son is praying today so why don’t you open your heart to Jesus.
So my question is ? How often do people pray and start speaking Latin ? AND ..What were the few words that I said ?
My mother was never the same after that day.
She walks with god and went for counselling that I further reconmended after that.
She is 75 and when my father was dying in 2003 at Western hospital in Toronto she helped sick people that were frightened or in pain.For that 14 months these sick people said she had the presence of an angel and they became calm and joyful.
Story of a Possessed Boy #3
Story of a Possessed Boy #2
Story of a Possessed Boy #1
Father Joe,
I know it might seem crazy, but the ability to see/sense spirits (both positive and negative) seems to run on my mother’s side of the family. I have two sisters and all three of us have been cursed (in my opinion) with this “gift.”
One of my sisters, the one with the strongest ability, came upon a motorcycle accident on the side of a freeway. She held the man in her arms until he passed because she didn’t want him to die alone. After that he would periodically visit her while she was driving and alert her that someone else was in trouble and lead her to the scene of a crash before the police or ambulance could even get there. She was training to be a police officer so she was able to call for help and administer first aide. She welcomed his visits because he was a benevolent spirit and she wanted to help those in need as much as he did. One day she told this to a friend and the friend offered to say a special prayer for her to keep the spirit away. She begged her friend not to but she did anyway and the spirit has not visited her since. Should she use her ability to help others or try to shun it?
My other sister was visited by a random male spirit that would come into her room at night and sit on her bed and she felt comforted by his presence. Her priest warned her never to talk to the spirit but to pray for him to cross over to Heaven. She did and eventually he stopped visiting her. Should she not communicate with the spirit, even if it’s a good one? I am aware that demons can lie but she could feel this was not a demon, but a lost soul. Should she have asked him what was keeping him from crossing over?
People seem to think that particular places are haunted, but they forget that people can be conduits, weather they want to be or not. My mom confided that she and my sisters could feel an evil presence in the front yard of their home. Perhaps it couldn’t enter the house because of the St. Benedict medals above the doors, I don’t know. But they knew it was there while my father remained blissfully ignorant.
I have repressed this “gift” as much as possible. I want nothing to do with the supernatural. I don’t even want to see beloved deceased family members. I’m terrified of spirits, even good ones. Any advice on keeping myself safe from their presence? My grandmother was very spiritual when she was alive and studdied the Catholic faith with the zeal of a nun. She always told us not to touch a oiji board (and I have always complied) and if we fear a spirit to say “All evil leave this place, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.” Is that enough? Is there something else I can do to ward them away?
I was mildly content with that prayer until my husband revealed a terrible haunting that occurred while he was in college. He doesn’t like to talk about it because it was very traumatic. He also knows that this stuff upsets me so he doesn’t say much. But he had me terrified when he told me that the crucifix and holy water and Catholic prayers don’t work on all spirits. He told me that they work on ones that have Judeo-Christian beliefs. But he says that there are a lot of other spirits that won’t be stopped by such means, spirits such as angry Native Americans, ancient Mayans and Aztecs, etc. Now I’m terrified. How can I protect myself, knowing that my family and I are natural conduits?
Blessings,
Kate