Conjuring and Consequence

Posted by HolySmack on June 13, 2021

Demons have limits. All created things are limited, and the demon in Conjuring 3: The Devil Made Me Do It is no different. Let’s look at those limitations, and those also of the humans involved.

—SPOILER ALERT—

Sin always has consequences. Sin is a cancer for the soul, and it weakens us because sin is whenever we reject God and choose someone/thing that is not God. Basic Christianity: God is love, power, goodness, wisdom, justice, joy, life, and existence. If we reject Him, then we reject the source of love, power, goodness, etc. So rejecting God necessarily leads to the absence of those things, which means we are weakened, and will end up in eternal death if we don’t return to Him. It’s just logic.

In cases of demonic possession, sin makes us vulnerable against it. Here are the main examples straight from the movie:

Ed’s possession at the very end: we’ve seen in the Conjuring series instances of Ed’s pride (pride is not only a sin, but the worst of sins, contrary to what many think today). Every time he thinks he can handle a demon, or performs an exorcism himself, or breaks a promise with Lorraine because he needs to be the hero, these instances are prideful. No man can ever handle a demon without the Church and her Lord backing him up, which means he needs to be ordained (or at least commissioned explicitly by a Catholic bishop), and to break good promises that should be kept, well we can all see that is wrong.
Arne’s possession at the very start: another example of pride, and very much like Ed’s prideful attitude, thinking he can take on the demon without the Church, ultimately without God’s backup. It may be heroic, perhaps even selfless to tell the demon to possess him instead of David, but good intentions don’t make evil actions okay. Demons can even play us into thinking we’re being sooooo sacrificial and generous, only to destroy us by making us play by their demonic rules instead of the rules of the Church that God made (tangent: the priest in the film wants to have the exorcism on David done at the Church–a sacred space–but Ed insists over the priest (perhaps in his pride) that it be done immediately at the boy’s home instead. Because of this, the protection of the Church over the family is lessened, and leads to a worse situation for everyone). Additionally, the film suggests that Arne and his girlfriend (Debbie) have been sleeping together without the blessings of marriage, which is the mortal sin fornication and lust.
David’s possession before the very start: since David is only a child, he (and all children) are especially vulnerable to spiritual attack. Just as the faith of the parents is required for a child to be baptized, the parents are also responsible for spiritually safeguarding their child. Largely missing from the film is the presence of David’s parents, which implies their negligence. In fact, the real-life interview with Ed and Lorraine regarding David’s case reveals that David’s own mother and sister dabbled in witchcraft, which in doing so gives hell an open invitation. Here’s the interview itself, and the moment of this fact comes up at 25 minutes in:

So the big lesson: if you want demons to stay away, then you must stay away from sin! Otherwise your very sins invite them in. Other notable insights I took from the film:

The hospital chaplain: this sounds controversial, but it’s been demonstrated by the experience of many Catholics, that in the past few decades, the Church has an extreme shortage of brave and bold priests. Many priests have been instead weak, limp, emasculated, and cowardly. The priest ministering in the hospital exemplified cowardice by not even knowing when to pray during demonic manifestation, and demonstrated stupidity by giving Arne a glass bottle of holy water when Arne was on suicide-watch. The overall impression we get of him is a man who is unsure, fumbling, and a pushover.
Furthermore, we see a fallen priest who delved too deep into demonology without the wisdom of Church Tradition. The ex-priest shared that he scoffed at the Church’s warnings, dismissing them as fear based on not understanding demons and the occult. Rather, the reality is the Church’s millennia-old experience with spiritual warfare has taught her how to fight smartly against the fallen angels! She is not afraid, but informed and has grown wise from battle. Outside of the Church’s protection, this ex-priest went on to have an affair, fathered and raised a child presumably without having her baptized, which left his daughter further defenseless against the demonic.
Which leads the ex-priest’s daughter becoming a witch, and occultist who makes deals with the devil, thinking foolishly that demons can be toys and that they honor bargains with humans. There’s a reason why Jesus Christ calls Satan the father of lies: he cannot be trusted and is always out to abuse and rape the children of our Father in Heaven. The witch learns this too late, and could’ve been spared the lesson had her earthly father trusted and served the Church a bit more.
When Lorraine locates and attempts to overturn the Satanic altar, notice that it is solid and immoveable. When I saw this, it shamed me to know of so many modernistic Catholic “altars” that are weak and limp, unable to even compete with the witch’s altar! Since discovering the Traditional Latin Mass, I’ve learned through the ancient worship that Catholic altars should be worthy of the Holy Sacrifice: bombproof, fireproof, tornado-proof, tsunami-proof, and glorious:

Lastly, if you’re interested in more insights for the first two Conjuring films, click this: The Conjuring is Conquering; and click here for more on exorcism.

Shoutout to a former student who encouraged me to share my thoughts!

BLM and Beelzebub

Posted by HolySmack on October 16, 2020

Years of discussing tough topics with others has taught me to try and wait before publicly jumping to conclusions. Back in the summer of 2020, many people immediately leapt to fund and support the organization Black Lives Matter (BLM). Without adequately knowing BLM’s origins, foundations, agenda, and founders, many leapt to its defense.

With enough information now, I can say today that BLM belongs with Beelzebub, and definitely does not deserve any support. Instead, BLM needs major prayers, fasting, and an exorcism. Let me explain:

Our Lord says some demons can only be exorcised by prayer and fasting. Without a doubt, racism is morally evil, and demons sustain evil things, keeping them from resolving and dissolving. Because of this reality, Christians especially must pray and fast this evil away. Without prayer and fasting (give up food and fun), no amount of fundraising, protesting, rioting–whatever you call it–will ever be enough against a diabolic depravity. Jesus says it Himself in Mt 17:21.
As for exorcism, BLM’s leaders are flirting with the occult, and that is one of the quickest ways demons can snare a soul. Satan promises to help like a poacher promises an easy snack atop a bear trap. In the end, it’s all a hustle. If you cannot believe this claim, about BLM in bed with Beelzebub, then read and reread this article by Dan Burke (someone who knows about spiritual warfare against the satanic): The Occult Spirituality of Black Lives Matter, and don’t skip the video embedded there (I’m posting it here, too, so you can’t miss it).
Finally, any Catholic of goodwill should heed Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers’ warning about BLM. The fact that black lives always matter does not mean that BLM (the organization) treats black lives like they actually mattered. In fact, Burke-Sivers critiques that BLM is doing nothing to help stop the genocide of black babies, the destruction of black families, black businesses, and school-choice for black students. His full critique is posted here for your convenience (so you can’t miss it either):
Lastly, because of all the pushback against BLM’s beliefs, the organization has removed their controversial page. The original page can be found archived here (because nothing on the internet really disappears). Moreover, the removal of this content seems to mean a few things: a) that BLM is unwilling to stand up for their original beliefs, and so anyone who supports their original beliefs should disavow them, or b) that BLM is unwilling to show their original beliefs and is trying to deceive those wary of their original beliefs into supporting them. I do not think BLM has learned the error of their ways, because if they did, they would publicly rebuke their past beliefs and explain why they were wrong.

So now that you have enough information, too, you can also say today that BLM belongs with Beelzebub.

Exploring Exorcism

Posted by HolySmack on November 1, 2019

SatanFears Over the years of reading and viewing the testimonies of several exorcists, I have realized that the more I was aware of the Evil One, the more I knew his limitations, weaknesses, and powerlessness against our Lord Jesus. Rather than increase my fear, knowledge of Satan’s abilities and tricks actually increased my confidence in the Catholic Church and her King. Because of this, I am sharing these best-of-the-best resources of exorcism experiences, hoping they help you as much as they have helped me grow in faith.

Many exorcists have a police officer present during the diagnosis process, or even during the ritual. Jesse Romero is one such [former] officer, and his experiences are riveting:
Demonology is not a common specialization for laypersons, but Adam Blai is not a common layman. His work as a demonologist has been a great aid to many exorcists, and his interview by Patrick Coffin (of prior Catholic Answers fame) is deeply informative:
Father Gary Thomas is perhaps the most well known American exorcist (because of Matt Baglio’s journalistic investigation and the subsequent movie starring Sir Anthony Hopkins: The Rite). Here is an uncut extended interview with Fr. Gary:
Father Cliff Ermatinger’s presentations through the 2015 Miles Christi Conference are exceptional and should be listened to carefully at full length (available here for purchase, set #23). Here is a brief sample:
Exorcism Movies:
1. As for The Conjuring, arguably the most popular recent exorcism movie series, please see my review here.
2. See here for my review about Deliver Us from Evil.
3. For what I think is the best exorcism film to date, please see The Exorcism of Emily Rose, based on the exorcism of Anneliese Michel. An insightful commentary about the Anneliese case can be viewed here:
And for the experience of a dear friend of mine, through the intercession of the St. Benedict Medal, please see here.
Lastly, remember that as flies are drawn to rotten bodies, so too are demons drawn to rotten souls. Get pure, stay pure.

BeFearless2

Mary Points the Way

Posted by HolySmack on September 8, 2018

the-nun-movie-poster Today, for the Feast of Mother Mary’s birthday (every September 8th!), I decided to take a break and celebrate with a show: The Nun (a prequel to the excellent Conjuring movies). Though I had high expectations for the film, and was disappointed, it did leave me with enough surprises to merit a review! Here’s what’s worth sharing:

—

—SPOILER ALERT—

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The Nun is Marian… very Mary focused! Throughout the film, we hear the Ave Maria (Hail Mary) prayer in LATIN, almost constantly! And not only are the characters praying Rosaries to fight off evil, a statue of our Blessed Mother actually (and literally) points the way to Jesus. So, I was very happily surprised to see the Divine timing here (today is Mary’s birthday, after all).
And the Divine timing continues: during the last month, the scandal in the Catholic Church has been rising to terrible heights. We see in our present time that hell has hijacked our priests, bishops, and perhaps even our Pope. We see Satan has taken on the look of our ordained servants of Christ and His Church, and have corrupted the image of the holy priesthood. We see in this movie the same: a demon has disguised itself as a deformed nun, using the distortion to terrorize us. May we not let this deception of Satan continue!
Lastly, the film started drawing some tears from me when the lead character–Sister Irene–decides to profess her final vows amidst terrible evil attacking her. You would think that any sane woman would flee if she knew that the closer she drew to Christ, the more Satan would attack her. But not so for Sister Irene: she knows the truth that Satan would keep attacking anyway, and that her love for Christ was worth the onslaught.
Which leads to Sister Irene being a bride of Christ “worthy of carrying something so sacred” as the Precious Blood of Jesus. Here, the priest in the film surrenders the care of the holy relic of Christ’s Blood to Sister Irene. And of course, she knows how to use this relic, and isn’t afraid to! But even how exactly she uses Christ’s Blood to defeat the demon is insightful:
She puts the Precious Blood into her mouth (as in receiving Holy Communion). By doing so, this allows her to ambush the demon with the secret weapon. The symbolism shouldn’t escape us: when we receive the Eucharist worthily, we all become bearers of the secret weapon against hell.

So, the Nun was an overall surprise for me, especially during the current crisis in our Church. The movie could have easily taken advantage of the evil events plaguing us today, but decides to show us a Church with good nuns and priests who are doing their job following Jesus: caring for souls and fending off the true wolves in wool. e2842e035b9195c11199d2-31682311_

Note: see here for another positive review.

The Conjuring is Conquering

Posted by HolySmack on June 17, 2016

conjuring-poster When I first saw The Conjuring (2013) by director James Wan, I knew the film was special in its class. The sequel, The Conjuring 2 (2016), affirms the series’ uniqueness. At the end of my review, I’ll mention the standout point from the first film, but for now, let me share how The Conjuring is conquering its genre (see here for my thoughts on The Nun).

—

—SPOILER ALERT—

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—–1) In this earlier review here, we learn that the writers for the movie series are devout Christians, and not only that, but are also devout Catholic Christians. Now although all Christians are similar in that we love and follow Jesus Christ, other Christians differ in that they broke away from the Church Jesus originally founded on St. Peter, our Lord’s first pope. Perhaps in a later post I can share more about this schism (to break away), but for now, we see in the film a few examples of why the Catholic Church stands apart from the Christian denominations that broke off from her to start their own churches. The first example is when we see Ed and Lorraine Warren discuss that any work they do must be cleared by “the Church.” And we all know that “the Church” refers to: the Catholic Church. Not the neighborhood community church, or the city central church, etc., but the Catholic Church. This reminds me of a quote from renowned movie critic Roger Ebert: ExorcismMeme

—–2) The second example of the Catholic Church’s primacy is the use and display of crucifixes in the film. Catholics and Orthodox Christians use and prefer crucifixes, and a crucifix is different from a mere cross: crosses do not have the little statue or image of Jesus affixed, but crucifixes do. In the film, we see a room covered in crosses, but the crosses are playthings to the demon. Evil does not fear two sticks glued together. However, when a crucifix comes out, especially when it comes out in the hands of a faithful and prayerful Christian, the demons freak. The key is that the crucifixion of Jesus Christ changes the mere cross into a weapon against sin and Satan. Without Jesus, a cross is merely an instrument of terrorism and torture, but with Jesus’ sacrifice, the cross becomes the beams that crush Hell. Here’s a little meme to summarize: CrossWithChrist

—–3) An extra sign of the Church’s power is in Ed’s use of Latin in his prayer to St. Michael the Archangel. We saw this in the first Conjuring (and in many other exorcism films), and it is reinforced here. To keep this short and sweet: Latin is the language of the Catholic Church, it’s the mother language of Catholics, and whether we know it or not, Latin remains our inheritance. In fact, real exorcists have claimed that Latin prayers have a extra punch to them than prayers in usual languages. Demons seem to despise Latin prayers, perhaps because the only culture that uses Latin in conversation today is the Church. In Latin prayers, the Church converses with her Lord Jesus Christ, and it’s a conversation most worthy of being had. Latin, because no other society uses it conversationally and daily, has become set aside (reserved) for the Church’s prayers. Latin, in a sense, has become holy (set apart, and in this case for serving God).

—–4) Next, it is true demons use fear to destroy us. When we fear, we tend to forget we are actually loved, actually guarded and prized by God and all Heaven. Many of us would do things exactly as the characters in the film: run, hide, scream, cry… and we should! But we should run to Christ! Hide in God’s light! Scream for the Lord’s mercy! Cry to the saints to pray with us, for us, to the Holy Spirit! Demons want us to be so afraid that we forget God, that we doubt He can help, that we dismiss His presence and focus on the demons and the crisis. Instead, we must turn to God immediately. As soon as trouble starts, and even before it starts, whip out your faith and call on Our Father who art in Heaven. In the film, we see Lorraine bust out her rosary when things get crazy. Don’t pay the demon any attention, but shower your gaze on Jesus, invite the Holy Spirit to nuke the sins and the demons. Get into the habit of using troubles as reminders to pray. Be Fearless

—–5) And at last, Janet, the star of the film, says something subtly profound at the end. After the literal Hell she has been dragged through by the demon, she believes she is so lucky! She actually says, “I’m so lucky!” and is not being sarcastic! She sees that all the terrors have been a way for God to lead her to love, to lead her to know two amazing and faithful friends in Lorraine and Ed. The evil was wicked and deadly, but God somehow knows how to work the horrors for Janet and her family’s benefit in the end. This is also true for the Warrens, when we see them realize that God has given Lorraine her gifts, and has allowed her to see the terrifying visions in order to help her save Ed and Janet from death. Most importantly, it must be said that we believe God never causes any evil, but He does permit evil to happen when we humans or when spirits (angelic or demonic) choose to commit evil out of our own free will. He might limit some of the consequences of our sins, out of His mercy, but He does permit us to use our free will, and only He knows how to set things up for our benefit. We must trust Him and do our best to do His will. To find out why God would take such a risk to let us have free will, please see this post. the_conjuring_-_uk_1757631a

—–And about the first Conjuring film: there was one line that jumped out at me. The mother in the film, after learning that the demon harassing her is the damned spirit of a woman who murdered her own child, says: “What kind of mother would kill her own children?” As soon as I heard this, I thought immediately of the millions of children aborted because their parents did not want them, did not love them enough to share life with them. The numbers are sobering: over 55 million children in America have been aborted since 1973, over 336 million Chinese babies have been aborted since the 1980s. And if you don’t really know what an abortion is and how traumatizing and violent it is for the mother and child, please see the abortion procedures here. So the question from the first film is actually pointing a finger at us as a nation, as a culture: what kind of society kills its own children?

—–The Conjuring 2 was a treat. It’s rare in film to see faith presented, the Church respected, and at the same time not in a cheesy lame way. I am grateful I got to see the film, and to share my thoughts. May God bless you and all those involved in the film in any way. Amen!

—–For a thoughtful and much more thorough review, please see Dcn. Steven Greydanus’ here. patrickwilsonconjuring2

An Exorcism Experience

Posted by HolySmack on October 16, 2014

By now, most of America is in Halloween mode.

And I’ve been saving a special something for Halloween mode.

A few months ago, a dear friend shared with me about her exorcism experience. Now, just to be clear, she did not undergo the Ritual of Exorcism. What is meant is that she experienced the power of the exorcism prayers in the Medal of Saint Benedict (do yourself a favor and click the link!). And when I heard her story, I felt she should share it with others also, and so I offered her the chance (and SO glad she responded generously! Thanks, Sarah!). In many ways, it reminded me of the Exorcism of Emily Rose, and ultimately because both Emily and Sarah became witnesses not to the devil’s tricks, but witnesses to Christ’s power and love.

But that’s enough from me. Have a look and a listen yourself:

Sed Libera Nos a Malo

Posted by HolySmack on July 11, 2014

“But Deliver Us from Evil…”

And does Deliver Us from Evil deliver?

I love a good exorcism story. But over the last few decades, they’ve been less and less original. My favorite is still Scott Derrickson’s The Exorcism of Emily Rose (yes, I prefer it over the original Exorcist).

This latest film from Derrickson wasn’t bad at all, but it did leave me feeling disappointed. No one in the film industry seems to know what to do next with the genre (which is why I wrote Little Miss Lucifer); the same story runs over and over. Hey Hollywood! It’s getting a bit redundant!

But let’s focus for now on the positives from Deliver Us:

1) It’s Catholic. The director himself, in a lengthy interview, admits that he “has nothing but love for Catholicism” and would convert if it weren’t for one reason: he doesn’t know how to raise his kids Catholic. So, here’s to praying he finds out how!

2) It boldly features the Medal of Saint Benedict! Today is the Memorial of Saint Benedict! I have more and more friends who sport the Medal of St. Benedict. If you want to know more, check out this page (note: the medal bears exorcising properties.)

3) It calls out anti-Catholic stereotypes, especially about priests. No priest is perfect, just like no police officer is perfect, just like no person is perfect: “Every saint has a past — every sinner has a future.”

4) It takes the Sacrament of Confession dead seriously: meaning that if you’re going to battle the devil’s tricks and temptations, you must be free from your tainted history, and the only one who can liberate you from your guilt and lies is Jesus Christ. Confession is not only for healing, but also for shielding!

5) And of course, the Latin!

The Romance Tongue

Posted by HolySmack on July 8, 2014

Vatican And when I say Romance, I mean as in relating to Rome, as in the Roman tongue, aka: Latin.

The Roman Catholic Church [aka: the Latin Church] still uses Latin today. Sure, it causes some to wonder why, and causes others to be suspicious. After all, isn’t Latin a dead language? Does anyone even understand it anymore? Why keep up with it when it’s irrelevant?

Well, I’ve heard many of those thoughts throughout the years, and I’ve had many of those years to reflect and pray about it. Here’s what I think:

1) Latin is Mother Church’s language. I mean, wouldn’t you wanna know the language your own momma speaks? Don’t you love her? It’s a part of your heritage, your legacy! (Which explains why I love learning Chinese, academically and for fun.) If you don’t know a lot of Latin, at least know how to goo-goo-gah-gah in Latin, and lip-sync some of her favorite love songs!

2) Latin isn’t so much a dead language as it is a language that has been left alive for one thing, and one thing only: worshiping God. Think about it: we use common languages (like English, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Afrikaans, etc.) for common things. We use those languages to work, to curse, to joke, to love, to hurt, to heal, etc. When we use any language well, then it’s all good. But we can also easily use those languages to harm… except we can’t really use Latin to harm! Not enough of us know it well enough to use it for evil. And so Latin’s limited use has left it off limits to common use/abuse, and has dedicated it now as a custom-made language for praying and serving God.

3) Common languages (aka: vernacular languages) are changing constantly. Words in English have changed since Shakespeare. Styles of Chinese have evolved since the Oracle Bones. They change because people use them, and people change. But God does not change. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. Latin today symbolizes our unchanging God superbly, because Latin does not change! It hasn’t changed since the Roman Empire went to ruin. And now it’s not going to change anymore because it’s a “dead” language: what a Latin prayer meant 1,000 years ago means the same today, and always. Whereas maybe 100 years from now English will be too different to even read an English dictionary!

4) I cherish being able to pray in Latin. I pride myself in learning new Latin hymns and prayers by heart because it humbles me. I love it because it’s like the trust-game: even though I don’t understand every word and nuance of the Latin prayer, I do know that Mother Church has been praying this way and teaching us these prayers for centuries, and countless saints have said the same prayers, and it worked for them! It teaches me to trust my Church, my Faith, and pray the way she has prayed to her Lord and Savior for ages and ages.

5) Lastly, if some exorcists claim that the demon corrects them when they stumble through Latin in the Ritual, then who am I to think Latin is inferior?! Hell don’t care if English prayers are mispronounced, but mutter a Latin error and the devils go out of their way to correct you while you’re thrashing them??? I don’t know exactly why, but that just means there’s something about Latin you just don’t mess with or brush off. After all, some exorcists even claim that the prayers in Latin are just more effective.

This recording of an exorcist’s testimony reinforces the claims behind the power of prayers in Latin during his exorcism sessions:

So there you have it: five little reasons why I like to have some Latin in my pocket and in my prayers.

P.s. Did I mention that dinosaur names are in Latin?

[Tyrannosaurus Rex!]

When Demons Ask For Prayers (again)

Posted by HolySmack on May 8, 2014

SO! Here we are again with another Satanic group trying to hold a black Mass in the Oklahoma City Civic Center on September 21, 2014. What do I have to say about this? Same thing I said back in May:

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Just heard news of the supposed Satanic Black Mass coming up on May 12, 2014 (it was eventually cancelled) on the campus of America’s ”finest” university: Harvard. You can read more about it here and here, but for the most part, some student group wants to reenact the Satanic ritual for curiosity and ”educational purposes” as if it was nothing serious, but…

A black mass is a sacrilegious ceremony that invokes Satan and mocks the Catholic Mass. Connected to witchcraft and demonic worship, it involves the desecration of the Eucharist, often by stealing a consecrated host from a Catholic Church and using it in a profane sexual ritual.

[It sees you, but you don’t see it.]

So even if this student club doesn’t use an actual consecrated host, and even if none of them believe in what they’re doing, the danger remains that the devil doesn’t care if you believe or not. In fact, he would much rather go undetected while he ravages lives, like the alien man-hunter called PREDATOR. And even if everyone in the club is atheist, that doesn’t change a thing. In fact, that helps the devil hide even more! But ironically, what might end up happening is that Harvard becomes infested with demons, and then must resort to having a Catholic priest exorcising the place. But would the school do such a thing as to endorse the Church and ask her aid? That would be the bigger surprise, actually.

Anyway, don’t merely read about this and shake your head in defeat! That’s exactly what Satan wants us to do!

[O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.]

Instead, learn to turn evil on its head! Whenever something like this comes up, I interpret it as a call for prayers… much much prayer! Whenever I see a Satanic symbol, a demonic act, a temptation to sin, etc., I go right to praying for the persons involved (and all their beloveds, too). That’s right, I see these provocations of spiritual warfare as promptings to launch a barrage of blessings and prayers. I ask my priests, my brother seminarians, my siblings in Christ, and all the angels and saints to join me.

Usually, I turn to my favorite prayer from the Miraculous Medal:

And then I add on a prayer to Saint Michael the Archangel:

Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou O prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God, cast into Hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

— Pope Leo XIII

[Samurai Saint Michael the Archangel, by Daniel Mitsui]

So! Turn that worm’s schemes into the its worst nightmare — pray for mercy, forgiveness, love and conversion! It’s the absolute last thing the devil wants you to do, so make it the first thing you do! Because doing what the devil doesn’t want you to do is actually the best thing to do!

And feel free to use your own favorite prayers! But remember…