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Slaying Dragons: What Exorcists See &
What We Should Know
by Charles D. Fraune, M. A. The following promotion is taken from-:
These exorcists extract their teachings from the sacred traditions of the Catholic Faith, the teachings of the Fathers and Doctors of the Church, the wisdom of exorcists under whom they were trained, and their own extensive experience in the realm of spiritual warfare, deliverance, and exorcisms. The purpose of this book is to help enlighten Catholics to the spiritual war in which we all find ourselves. Not only is this battle real, but the Church knows it well, and has provided both wisdom and weapons, teachings and sacramentals, to enable Catholics to fight in this battle into which they have all been drafted, and be victorious. “The devil prowls like a roaring lion, seeking to devour,” as St. Peter says. These exorcists face this devil, and the many demons who fell with him, as a central part of their spiritual ministry. Let them teach you what they know and impart to you those things that will aid you most in your spiritual life. Allow yourself to be instructed by spiritual masters that you may learn the manner in which the devil attacks you, the weapons you have at your disposal, and the means to find healing for the wounds you have suffered in your life. Know your enemy. Know his tactics. Know his motives. Know his nature. Know his origin. Know his goal. Know his language. Know his network. Know his strengths. Know his weaknesses. Charles D. Fraune has a Master of Arts in Theology from the Christendom College Graduate School and an Advanced Apostolic Catechetical Diploma. His other books include “Come Away By Yourselves” and “Swords and Shadows: Navigating Youth Amidst the Wiles of Satan.” He spent three semesters in seminary with the Diocese of Raleigh at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Pennsylvania. This completed a nine-year discernment of the priesthood and religious life after which he discerned that Our Lord was not calling him to the priesthood. He is a married father of three children and teaches theology at a Catholic High School in the Diocese of Charlotte, North Carolina.
Interview of the author of Slaying Dragons by Dr Pravin Thevathasan 1.
What led you to an
interest in
the diabolical? It is difficult
to really say where it all
began. As a child, I dabbled mildly in
occultic interests, but, thanks be to God, never delved much into that. As a child, I was an introvert, teased a lot,
and was thus on the path toward a major depression and anxiety
disorder, which
manifested in college. I had a powerful
conversion in the middle of that ordeal and soon began to understand
that the
diabolical played a significant role in the life of ever Christian.
Later, as a
seminarian, this understanding made me curious about becoming an
exorcist,
though I was still so ignorant of the subject that it was disturbing to
consider. It was only three years ago,
when Divine Providence led me, with the help of some priest friends,
toward a focused
spiritual purification, that I began to study the teachings of
exorcists and
apply their wisdom to my life. As a
result, I wrote Slaying Dragons, because the impact of those
teachings
was so powerful in my own life, and I wanted others to know what I had
learned. 2.
It could be argued that
for
most of us Catholic laity, what matters is our sanctification in our
daily
family and work lives.We need prayer and the sacraments. Might it not
be best
to avoid a certain curiosity in the realm of diabolical influences? You are
absolutely correct. What matters for
Catholics is our sanctification
and allowing this to spill over into our family lives and our daily
lives. What is often lost on the current
generation
is the role that the diabolical plays in the spiritual life of every
Catholic. This awareness, though, as you
said, must not turn us toward curiosity.
It is fitting that we desire to understand what the
diabolical is up to,
but this should stop at a prudent limit, lest a destructive curiosity
lead us
to desire to know things that could pull us into a diabolical
fascination. The role the diabolical plays
in our lives is
highlighted in the sacraments and sacramentals of the Church. We see this in the traditional Rite of
Baptism, which, with multiple exorcisms, identifies Satan as the enemy
of
mankind. The blessing which the Church
places
on holy water, salt, oil, and candles, among others, clearly has the
intention
of driving away demons and thwarting their persistent work against us. So, while we must avoid curiosity, we must
also understand that demons are real, and they continuously pursue us
along
certain courses – courses which the Church has identified and has the
power to thwart. 3.
Those of us in health
care are
aware that some of our patients with mental illness develop delusions
that they
are possessed by the devil, for example. My understanding is that the
Church
would require all suspected cases of possession to be screened by
psychiatrists. Would you know if Catholic exorcists refer cases to
fully
believing Catholics or might they consider anyone, Catholic or not, who
is
competent in the field of mental illness? As one exorcist
confirmed to me, yes,
exorcists do desire to have practicing Catholics to carry out the
psychological
evaluation of the person. If they cannot
find a practicing Catholic, they would only utilize someone who
operated with a
Christian anthropology. Those who, while
competent in the field of mental illness, do not have a proper
anthropology,
regarding who man is and what God has intended for man to become, will
not be
able to properly discern the presence of psychological or diabolical
disturbances, should either of those be present in the person. 4.
We are living in a
post-Christian world. Nevertheless, fascination with the occult appears
to be
growing. Do exorcists believe that there is a corresponding increase in
cases
of diabolical possession? Exorcists
agree, and the IAE (International Association of Exorcists) has referred
to the lack of exorcists to handle this rise in the occult as a “pastoral
emergency.” This rising fascination
with
the occult has indeed led to an increase in cases of diabolical
possession. This is due to the fact that
dabbling in the occult, which is a particularly dangerous mortal sin,
has a
high chance of placing the person in the presence of a demon. God permitting, this can easily lead to a
number of diabolical influences, including possession.
It won’t always be immediate, and doesn’t
always happen, but the risk is always there.
Every mortal sin opens us to diabolical influences, but
some mortal sins
are more serious than others, thus, as with the occult, increasing the
chances
of possession. 5.
I think your book is
excellent.
I have learned a great deal from it. My one reservation was on seeing
the
sentence: "demons
can appear to cause all sorts of ailments, ranging from
depression to physical illnesses."
Is it not best to assume there is an
organic basis to such presentations? This is one of
those teachings that was
very intriguing to me as I did the research.
While it sounds unbelievable, exorcists see it happen. Further, Scripture and Tradition demonstrate
that angels and demons can influence our bodies and minds in ways that
allow
them to make it appear that we have a certain illness.
The angels also have the ability to remove
illnesses. However, as you state, a
person’s first thought must never be that a demon caused their
depression or
illness. This sort of diabolical
activity is labeled as “extraordinary,”
while daily temptations are labeled
“ordinary,”
and the cases, while they do happen, are still considered rare. So, yes, it is best to always assume there is
a natural cause to the illness. 6.
I hear that owing to a
shortage
of Catholic exorcists in some parts of the world, people are turning to
non-Catholic ministers, Pentecostals for example, or Catholics perhaps
influenced by this tradition, for example. How ought fully
believing
Catholics respond to such ministries? I ask this because I was invited
to give
a talk on mental illness to some clergy who had expressed an interest
in the ministry
of exorcism and who had been reading Protestant books on the subject. Catholics must
never forget that Christ
entrusted real authority to His Church, and that outside of His Church
there is
error which can lead to confusion and suffering. Protestant
efforts in liberation are
well-meaning and very often driven by sincere faith.
As a result, their prayers can often have a
positive effect. However, as exorcists
attest, these efforts often backfire and simply increase the suffering
of those
involved. Exorcism is a ministry of
authority, which does not reside outside of the Church.
Some non-ordained Saints have had the gift of
driving out demons, but an individual, especially outside of the
Church, must
not presume to possess that gift. Lay
Catholics can always pray for those suffering from diabolical
influence,
invoking the assistance of Our Lord, Our Lady, and the Saints, but they
must
never command demons directly. Catholics,
therefore, should be very cautious about going outside of the divinely
established authority structures in order to find liberation.
Copyright ©; Dr Pravin Thevathasan 2020 |