Priests seek to exorcise pandemic

By Modesto P. Sa-onoy

A report of March 21 (Philippine Star) said that “Catholic exorcists are storming the heavens with prayers to end the global scourge of the coronavirus disease 2019.”

The news cited Fr. Jose Francisco Syquia, chief exorcist of the Archdiocese of Manila calling on members of the Philippine Association of Catholic Exorcists and priests to recite the “Prayers to Stem the Scourge of the Pandemic,” which was adapted from the Libera Nox Prayers of the Church. The prayer was prepared by Fr. Winston Cabading, an exorcist of the Archdiocese of Manila.

Cabading said the prayer, which has nine sections, is to be prayed at 8 p.m. every day “until the scourge of the pandemic is lifted by the Lord.”

“Let us pray for our protection and of the whole world from this evil and from the father of this evil. The devil will surely use this present suffering and vulnerability in the world to launch a spiritual attack. Spiritual warfare is our ministry. This is the side of the battlefield that the Lord has called us to bolster, defend and fight in. May we fight the good fight,” Syquia said.

He recommended the ringing of the “sanctus bells” from the Act of Contrition until the end of the Pope Leo XIII prayer during the 8 p.m. prayer and exorcism.

Why exorcism which is to drive the devil away? Recent reports indicate that there are “satanic rosaries” being peddled by a satanic group.

Radio Veritas, a station owned by the Vatican but based in the Philippines said that “an exorcist warned the public about the circulation of satanic rosaries and religious items in the country.” This warning was issued on August 7 last year but did not get public attention.

Father Ambrosio Nonato Legaspi, host of the Veritas program, Kapanalig, warned that the faithful might be using “rosaries” that are “infested or cursed.” He is a Libera Nox chief exorcist in the Novaliches diocese.

The rosaries are those being given away by satanists, he explained, particularly by the group called Iluminati and that these rosaries have been “prayed over” by its makers, consecrating them to evil so that whoever uses it will be followed by evil spirits.

“These were made not only to be simply given away but to deceive Catholics…so that evil spirits will haunt them,” he added.

According to the Novaliches Office of Exorcism (Libera Nox) assistant case officer Philippe De Guzman, Satanic rosaries have odd symbols on them that are not readily noticeable to the untrained eye. Often made of plastic, the symbols could either be a snake wrapped around the cross, a pentagram, and/or a sun with rays, an insignia of the Illuminati.

De Guzman said they again confiscated such a rosary from a recent infestation case handled by Libera Nox. Similar rosaries have been confiscated from prior infestation cases, but the last rosary turned out to be the reason that an evil spirit resided in the room of the client, causing disturbances in the house.

“Sometimes, there are no symbols,” said Legaspi referring to what De Guzman described, “but a ritual was done on it like the one we mentioned previously about Botanica, the occult store in many places abroad like in the US where religious items are brought so they could inflict harm on others.”

He divulged how witches come to Botanica to buy gadgets and paraphernalia used in the occult or to simply buy items like religious images so that a curse or evil spirit can be attached to it before it is given away as a gift. Thus, he reminded Catholics especially at this time when there is a universal call for praying of the Rosary, to be extra careful in receiving religious items.

Fr. Legaspi also urged priests to bless religious items according to Catholic rituals and to exorcise them, especially if its owners have experienced paranormal occurrences.

“Not just a blessing, these items should be exorcised. Not just an ordinary blessing where water is just sprinkled–as most priests commonly do–but to use the Catholic ritual…that would frighten the demon away,” he emphasized, and that “simply sprinkling holy water on the cursed or infested item will not make the evil spirit go away, especially if the ritual carried out by the satanists lasted for 30 minutes, making it a major curse.”

Continued tomorrow.