Questo articolo è disponibile anche in: Italian English German

Dear Father Angelo,

My question arises from reading several books by priest Gabriele Amorth and by others about this topic. Prior to that, I was sure that Satan could only attack somebody in two ways, i.e. through temptation or possession. I would have never thought that someone could endure sufferings and still be unaware of being victim of a curse or jinx.

What makes me think the most is that, many times, it is not enough to live life in a state of grace, which involves going to Mass, praying, going to confession, taking communion, etc. There are evils that are rooted so deep that not even the victims are aware of them.

And once they gain consciousness about them, they somehow need prayers for deliverance.

Amorth’s books opened new worlds to me and now I wonder why such serious situations, which have real-life evidence, are never covered by priests’ sermons. I mean, if it’s true that demons put different kinds of curse through their servants and actually have the power to make one’s life hell on earth, then why is it not talked about that much?

I think that it should definitely be done in order to spread awareness about this topic. I know of some people who are going through situations similar to those described in priest Gabriele’s books: marriages pained by fights since the beginning, people who can’t succeed in their work, unimaginable bumps and hardships. In such cases, who can help dispel any doubts?

Dear friend,

1. Some diseases are preternatural.

Preternatural means that their origin is out of our nature.

The talented and canonized doctor, Giuseppe Moscati, knew something about it so much that sometimes he would tell his patients: “You don’t actually need me, you need a confessor”.

According to Moscati, for some people the best remedy is the sacramental confession that, by bringing them back to a state of grace, neutralizes the attacks of our enemy.

2. The great Dominican priest and theologian Antonio Royo Marín wrote in his text that has later become a classic in spiritual theology: “Demons exert, by divine permission, a malignant influence on men, pushing them towards evil and sometimes violating and torturing their bodies” (Theology pf Christian Perfection).

3. In support of his statement he gives some biblical references.

On the incitement to evils: “Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil. For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens” (Eph 6:11-12).

The Christian, with the armor of God on, i.e. the sanctifying grace and the virtues, has the strength to resist their influence and to free himself from them.

He also quotes Saint Peter, who states: “Your opponent the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for (someone) to devour. Resist him, steadfast in faith, knowing that your fellow believers throughout the world undergo the same sufferings” (1 Pt 5:8-9).

4. Concerning the evils that the enemy can inflict to our body, Antonio Royo Marín quotes, first and foremost, the Gospel of Matthew: “His fame spread to all of Syria, and they brought to him all who were sick with various diseases and racked with pain, those who were possessed, lunatics, and paralytics, and he cured them” (Mt 4:24).

He then quotes another passage, again from Matthew’s Gospel, where it is said that Jesus: “summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out and to cure every disease and every illness” (Mt 10:1).

He also quotes Luke’s Gospel: “Accompanying him were the Twelve and some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out” (Lk 8:1-2).

5. The Bible of Jerusalem says that “awaiting the day of judgement, demons benefit from a certain degree of freedom in their action on earth (Rev 9:5), and they take possession of men (12:43-45).

Possession is usually accompanied by a disease, because the latter, as a consequence of sin (9:2), is another expression of the activity of Satan (Lk 13:16).

The exorcisms in the Gospel, which sometimes appear at their purest (cf 15:21-28; Mk 1:23-28; Lk 8:2), often happen as a form of healing (9:32-34; 12:22-24; 17:14-18; Lk 13:10-17).

Thanks to His power over the demons, Jesus destroys the empire of Satan and inaugurates the Messianic Kingdom, where the Holy Spirit is the promise.

If men refuse to understand it, demons, on the other hand, do so perfectly.

The power of exorcism is communicated by God to his disciples together with the power of miraculous healing that is connected to it” (annotation to Mt 8:29).

6. If men live in the grace of God and observe his commandments, they do not have to be scared of Satan.

On the contrary, it is Satan who is scared of them and therefore he flees from them, as the Holy Spirit tells us by the mouth of James: “So submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (Jm 4:7).

7. Those who have to be scared are the people that try to hurt the servants of God by means of the power of Satan.

The Holy Spirit, by the mouth of David, says: “A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.

You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked” (Ps 91:7-8).

And: “He who is pregnant with evil and conceives trouble gives birth to disillusionment.

He who digs a hole and scoops it out falls into the pit he has made; the trouble he causes recoils on himself; his violence comes down on his own head” (Ps 7:15-17).

I wish you to always be with the Lord.

Nothing and nobody can hurt you.

I bless you and I remember you to the Lord.

Father Angelo