Editor’s note: Spiritualdirection.com is grateful to have received permission to share posts from the blog of the St. Michael Center for Spiritual Renewal. We believe that the experiences and reflections of Msgr. Stephen J. Rossetti will enlighten and equip readers in our current spiritual storms. Watch for more Exorcist Diary posts here.
In the middle of our exorcism session, out of the mouth of the possessed person came the cry, “Stop saying that name!” We had been saying the holy name of Jesus and it was really getting to the demons. They hated to hear it. So, realizing they hated it, we said it all the more, again and again. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.
The name of Jesus is holy. It should never be used in vain or as a cuss word. This would be like throwing something holy in the mud. “At the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth” (Phil 2:10). I often quote this passage in the midst of a session, and emphasize the phrase, “under the earth.” Even in hell, the name of Jesus is all-powerful and every knee must bend.
On earth, the name of Jesus has power to cast out demons. As the Rite of Exorcism says, “In nomine Domini nostri Iesu Christi eradicare et effugare ab hoc plasmate Dei” which is, “In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ: be uprooted and be put to flight from this creature of God.”
How many saints have died with the name of Jesus on their lips! But to the demons, his name is torture or, truly, pure hell.
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