Ask a Question - or - Return to the Spiritual Warfare Forum Index

Question Title Posted By Question Date
exorcisms and cleansing of places Omar Saturday, April 6, 2013

Question:

Hello, Brother:

You have said that it is possible for some exorcisms to fail. Fr. Amorth, in his book, 'An Exorcist tells his story,' has also said this, and has also said that it is impossible to cleanse some places of infestation, (i believe his reasoning was that the negativity in those places was just too much?) Why do some exorcisms fail? And God is infinitely more powerful than Satan, so why would the negativity in some places be too much to exorcise? Of course, I might be remembering this wrong from his book; so please correct me if I am. Also, there is a new movie coming out called 'The Conjuring,' which tells the real life events of the Perron family, who dealt with supernatural terror for 10 years. One of the daughters actually wrote a memoir entitled, 'House of Darkness, House of Light.' Are you familiar at all with this case?Thank you, and God bless you and your ministry.



Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OMSM(r), CCL, LTh, DD, LNDC

Dear Omar:

Satan has not power at all compared to God. God never fails. God, however, in his infinite wisdom may choose to not heal someone or cleanse some place for reasons that only He knows. We can be assured that He has good reasons and those reasons will be in the best interest of the person. But, it is not for us to know His reasons unless He reveals them to us.

Other ways in which an exorcism or cleansing of place may fail is when the people involved choose to not cooperate with God. God will never force anyone to do anything. If a person does not wish to do the things that must be done to secure deliverance, then they will not be delivered.

If a person does not wish to change a sinful lifestyle, or does not admit to "hooks" in their lives, then deliverance will be impeded. Hooks are things in a person life, either current or in the past, that demons use as an excuse to hang-on to the person's life. If a person is not forthright and admit those hooks, so they are be renounced, this can keep him in bondage. These hooks are not the sins. The sins are removed by the Sacrament of Confession. The hooks are the residue of sin, the consequences of sin. When we sin, the devil pitches a tent in our front yard. While confession removed the sin, the consequences of our sin remain. In this case the consequences are that the devil is living in our front yard. In addition to confession we also need to renounce the consequences of that sin and to take back the ground that the devil stole from us when we sinned. This is why we have the prayer in our Spiritual Warfare Prayer Catalog about renouncing and taking back ground that everyone should pray after they go to confession and do their penance.

Anyway, if a person does not want to renounce these things, or is not truthful about all the hooks he may have, then deliverance will be impeded. If there is anything improper to which the person is holding an attachment, then deliverance can be impeded.

In other words, it is the person themselves who usually impedes a deliverance due to their own behavior and choices.

We also know that God will say no to a prayer for deliverance when it is in the best interest of the person. He did this with St. Paul who had a "thorn in his side", which was a demon. St. Paul asked God three times to remove this demon from him. God said no three times. We know why because the Scriptures tell us. St. Paul was a very proud man. God allowed him to remain harassed in order to keep him humble (2 Cor 12: 7-10).

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary


For information on how to receive help see our Help page. We suggest that before contacting us directly for help you try the Seven Steps to Self-Deliverance. These self-help steps will often resolve the problem. Also our Spiritual Warfare Prayer Catalog contains many prayers that may be helpful. If needed you can ask for a Personal Consultation.