["Mankind Beset by Devils" (reverse of Noah Panel), Hieronymus Bosch, 1500-1504]
I received a slightly panicked text from one of our lay exorcism team members.
She texted: "Just got a call from home and our toilets randomly began
overflowing and the house has flooded. My daughter turned off the water to
the house. They can find no explanation...My husband wants to know if
there is liability insurance against demonic affliction. 😊"
I responded:
"I am serious: throw some holy water on them."
Her daughter doused the toilets with holy water. Sure enough, it stopped. The plumber arrived shortly thereafter and found nothing wrong.
This is interesting on several levels. First: demons only do such harassment during big cases. The priest-exorcist and the lay member were indeed right in the middle of a high value case for the demonic world. So Satan would invest additional resources include harassing the team.
Second: it is important to note that the dark work was harassing a lay team member. Demons do not do random- the dark world always has a motive and a goal for their actions. In exorcisms, they usually target those key folks present whom they believe are directly affecting the process in a significant way.
This particular lay woman not only organizes the sessions, she also is a spiritual director to several of the afflicted, is a prayer presence during the sessions, and is a spiritual sensitive as well. Her presence is a threat. They want to get rid of her. Clogging up her toilets is the best they can do at this point. (Demons are chained and limited by God in what they can do.)
It immediately occurred to me to douse the toilets with holy water because this is not the first time this has happened. Several years ago, during another very high value case, one of the priests complained that his rectory toilets were inexplicably clogged and the plumbers, after two weeks of work, could not fix the problem. I suggested holy water and, after being doused, the toilets were immediately functional again. Demons tend to gravitate to that which is dirty, smelly and ugly.
While the ministry of exorcism is led by a designated priest, the presence of the laity is not incidental. Rather, they are a key part of the process. This harassment by the Evil One is a witness to their importance.
For her and all of our dedicated laity and prayer warriors who fight so valiantly against the Dark World, thank you! And as I noted during the previous incident, "Sometimes in life you need a plumber, but other times, you need a bit of holy water."*
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*See: Stephen J. Rossetti, "Diary of an American Exorcist," Sophia Institute Press, 2021, p.33, Order here: https://sophiainstitute.com/product/diary-of-an-american-exorcist/&_rt_nonce=44e14cc3ea
**Register for our Dec 9th (11am-2pm Eastern USA time) online workshop on "Protecting Self and Family from Evil" with Msgr. Rossetti and Gina, followed by a deliverance session. Partial and full scholarships available at: stmichaelcenter77@gmail.com. Register here: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/8382139423552810076