OCR Text |
Show DEMONSACALPOSSESSION i Narrative of Facts Vouched for by High j Authority Bishop Delalle at First In- ? credulous Personal Observation j Possessed Speaks in a Dead Language ; Tells What Occurs at Distant Places Solemn Exorcisms Performed Possessed Had to Be Tied During Ceremony Cer-emony Marvelous Strength. ''Home." Jan. 2-j, No. 4, Vol. V, publishes the :-: following interesting communication written by the , I lit Rev. Mgr. Delalle, Vic Apostolic of Natal f (British' Colony), Africa. The facts related aid rf ' witnessed by so many persons cannot be doubted. ' I '-'he conclusion is plain, namely, an authentic case V ! s of demoniacal possession. We give th-2 entire com- V ' $ . muni cat ion in two installments: Two months ago I promised the editor of Home a ichiion of certain facts which happened in my i Vicariate last year (May, li07). concerning two I native girls whom 1 believe to have been possessed V by lbe Devil. U 1 find! simply relate the facts, without a word ,r !' comment, and shall content myself with vouch- s ing for their absolute truth. If any one thinks differently from me on the subject, he is quite free in do so: I mean, provided he admits the facts, r he may draw his own conclusions, j There is in the Vicariate of Natal a Mission iiw in charge of the Trappist Fathers, where a 1 great deal of good is done, although it was a long i time before any results could be seen. This Mis sion is dedicated to St. Michael, and about twenty miles from the nearest village, the magistracy of , I'minto. ' - " For several months, I was constantly receiving loiters from the Priest in charge of St. Michael's, in which he declared that two girls of the Mission Native School were possessed by the devil, and akod for permission to practice the solemn Exorcisms. Exor-cisms. After some lime I allowed him to do so, and things were quieter for a little while, but soon the distressing phenomena reappeared worse than before. J was very much annoyed, and hardly believed be-lieved it was a case of possession, but rather put it .down to hysterics. Unable to go at the time, I gave permission to the Abbot of Marianhill either to po himself or delegate a priest-who would enquire en-quire into the facts, and if necessary, exorcise the girls. But a few days after. I- found I could go myself, and wrote to St. Michael's, telling the. priest to expect me on the Tuesday following: I should be accompanied by Father Garrigan of Umzinto. At the last moment, I changed my mind as to t my traveling companion, and took Father Dela- I J gues, 0. M. I., then in charge of the Native Mis- 1 1 sion 'n Durban. We set out on the Monday, and arrived at St. ! jf Michael's on Tuesday at noon. ' I really did not believe it was a ease of pos- I se? si on, and Father Delaguos laughed at the very idea of it. ri You may imagine therefore my annoyance, when f on arriving at the Mission. I foimd the Natives in eager expectation; the priest had told them that the Bishop was coming to cast out the devils, and ' prayers had been said every day for that inten- r linn. T had. therefore, unless I wanted to lose all ' j prestige and authority in the Natives' mind, to I f j-ettlo the case one v.-.iy or the other. So I turned ' J ' lo Our ord, and told Him the whole thing was :io,v his affair, and He had to help me. We then went to see the two girls Germana I r.nd Monica, who were kept in separate rooms, and a way from the other children. As soon as Germana ; I faw me, she began to tremble and shake all over, j I I shrinking from me. 1 told her to kneel down, j I which- she did, gnashing hc-r teeth. Father Dela- gucs threatened to punish her, if she did not behave I properly; he had no sooner said this, than she . j jumped up, in a perfect fury: "Because you are I from Durban," she said, "you think you can do j everything, even strike a spirit!" jPlease note, that V she did not know the Priest, neither did she know 1 1 whence he came). She then began to tear her I dress, and we went away to see Monica. The lat- I ter seemd to suffer terribly, but said nothing. I was very uncertain yet, and called the Priest? (three Trappists) and also the Sisters, and asked I them some particulars about the ways of the two I pirs. Here are some of the things they told me: They carry enormous weights, which two men could hardly lift (the girls are about 16 years I old). 5v They understand Latin whilst in their fits, and even speak it sometimes. They reveal the secret sins of the School p Children, etc. . . Sometimes they are lifted off the ground in " spite of the Sisters holding them. A few days before, whilst the Sisters were "holding Germana, she shouted: "I am on fire!" The Sisters withdrew, and saw the girl's dress ablaze. Another time, her bed began to burn also, iJt hough there was no fire near by. And so on. ' It was getting very serious, and the poor Sis ters, weary of this terrible life, begged of me to J ' help them. After all this, I thought it was my duty to begin the solemn Exorcisms. I ordered therefore the four Priests and three Sisters to be ready to begin at 2 p. m., in the Sisters' Choir, and ! . . excluded every one else from the Church, Just before be-fore that time, I had the Holy Water Font emptied and tilled with plain water, whilst I took a small bottle of Holy Water in my pocket. Then I put on the rochet and mozetta, and waited for Germana. Ger-mana. The Sisters brought her into the Chapel, and T sprinkled her at once with water from the fout. At first, she looked up with a slight shudder, but as I continued, she laughed mockingly and cried: "Von may go on, this is not Holy Water!" I then took the bottle out of my pocket and sprinkled her anew, but this time she shrieked and cried, and asked me to stop. , Now. I must remark that all the time which the ordeal lasted, I spoke Latin only, the girl obeying all my orders and answering me, usually in Zulu, but sometimes in Latin. (To be Continued.) |