I hear it's quite entertaining.
It's based on the following true story:
From her birth on the 21st of September, 1952, Anneliese Michel enjoyed the life of a normal, religiously nurtured young girl. Without warning, her life changed on a day in 1968 when she began shaking and found she was unable to control her body. She could not call out for her parents, Josef and Anna, or any of her 3 sisters. A neurologist at the Psychiatric Clinic Wurzburg diagnosed her with "Grand Mal" epilepsy. Because of the strength of the epileptic fits, and the severity of the depression that followed, Anneliese was admitted for treatment at the hospital.
Soon after the attacks began, Anneliese started seeing devilish grimaces during her daily praying. It was the fall of 1970, and while the young people of the world were enjoying the liberal freedoms of the time, Anneliese was battling with the belief that she was possessed. It seemed there was no other explanation for the appearance of devilish visions during her prayers. Voices also began following her, saying Anneliese will "stew in hell". She mentioned the "demons" to the doctors only once, explaining that they have started to give her orders. The doctors seem unable to help, and Anneliese lost hope that medicine was going to be able to cure her.
In the summer of 1973, her parents visited different pastors to request an exorcism. Their requests were rejected and they were given recommendations that the now 20 year old Anneliese should continue with medication and treatment. It was explained that the process by which the Church proves a possession (Infestatio) is strictly defined, and until all the criterium is met, a Bishop can not approve an exorcism. The requirements, to name a few, include an aversion to religious objects, speaking in a language the person has never learned, and supernatural powers.
In 1974, after supervising Anneliese for some time, Pastor Ernst Alt requested a permit to perform the exorcism from the Bishop of Wurzburg. The request was rejected, and a recommendation soon followed saying that Anneliese should live even more of a religious lifestyle in order to find peace. The attacks did not diminish, and her behavior become more irratic. At her parents house in Klingenberg, she insulted, beat, and began biting the other members of her family. She refused to eat because the demons would not allow it. Anneliese slept on the stone floor, ate spiders, flies, and coal, and even began drinking her own urine. She could be heard screaming throughout the house for hours while breaking crucifixes, destroying paintings of Jesus, and pulling apart rosaries. Anneliese began committing acts of self-mutilation at this time, and the act of tearing off her clothes and urinating on the floor became commonplace.
After making an exact verification of the possession in September 1975, the Bishop of Wurzburg, Josef Stangl, assigned Father Arnold Renz and Pastor Ernst Alt with the order to perform "The Great Exorcism" on Anneliese Michel. The basis for this ritual was the "Rituale Romanum", which was still, at the time, a valid Cannon Law from the 17th century. It was determined that Anneliese must be saved from the possession by several demons, including Lucifer, Judas Iscariot, Nero, Cain, Hitler, and Fleischmann, a disgraced Frankish Priest from the 16th century, and some other damned souls which had manifested through her. From September '75 until July '76, one or two exorcism sessions were held each week. Anneliese's attacks were sometimes so strong that she would have to be held down by 3 men, or even chained up. During this time, Anneliese found her life somewhat return to normal as she could again go to school, take final examinations at the Pedagogic Academy in Wurzburg, and go to church.
The attacks, however, did not stop. In fact, she would more often find herself paralyzed and falling unconscious than before. The exorcism continued over many months, always with the same prayers and incantations. Sometimes family members and visitors, like one married couple that claims to have "discovered" Anneliese, would be present during the rituals. For several weeks, Anneliese denied all food. Her knees ruptured due to the 600 genuflections she performed obsessively during the daily exorcism. Over 40 audio tapes record the process, in order to preserve the details.
The last day of the Exorcism Rite was on June 30th, 1976, and Anneliese was suffering at this point from Pneumonia. She was also totally emaciated, and running a high fever. Exhausted and unable to physically perform the genuflections herself, her parents stood in and helped carry her through the motions. "Beg for Absolution" is the last statement Anneliese made to the exorcists. To her mother, she said, "Mother, I'm afraid." Anna Michel recorded the death of her daughter on the following day, July 1st, 1976, and at noon, Pastor Ernst Alt informed the authorities in Aschaffenburg. The senior prosecutor began investigating immediately.
A short time before these final events unfolded, William Friedkin's "The Exorcist" (1974) came to the cinemas in Germany, bringing with it a wave of paranormal hysteria that flooded the nation. Psychiatrists all over Europe reported an increase of obsessive ideas among their patients. Prosecutors took more than 2 years to to take Annaliese's case to court, using that time to sort through the bizarre facts. Anneliese's parents and the two exorcists were accused of negligent homocide. The "Klingenberg Case" would be decided upon two questions: What caused the death of Anneliese Michel, and who was responsible?
According the forensic evidence, "Anneliese starved to death". Specialists claimed that if the accused would have begun with forced feeding one week before her death, Anneliese's life would have been saved. One sister told the court that Anneliese did not want to go to a mental home where she would be sedated and forced to eat. The exorcists tried to prove the presence of the demons, playing taped recordings of strange dialogues like that of two demons arguing about which one of them would have to leave Anneliese's body first. One of the demons called himself Hitler, and spoke with a Frankish accent (Hitler was born in Austria). Not one of those present during the exorcism ever had a doubt about the authenticity of the presence of these demons.
The psychiatrists, whom had been ordered to testify by the court, spoke about the "Doctrinaire Induction". They said that the priests had provided Anneliese with the contents of her psychotic behavior. Consequentially, they claimed, she later accepted her behavior as a form of demonic possession. They also offered that Anneliese's unsettled sexual development, along with her diagnosed Temporal Lobe Epilepsy, had influenced the psychosis.
The verdict was considered by many as not as harsh as they expected. Anneliese's parents, as well as the exorcists, were found guilty of manslaughter resulting from negligence and omitting first aid. They were sentenced to 6 months in jail and probation. The verdict included the opinion of the court that the accused should have helped by taking care of the medical treatment that the girl needed, but instead, their use of naive practices aggrivated Anneliese's already poor constitution.
A commission of the German Bishop-Conference later declared that Anneliese Michel was not possessed, however, this did not keep believers from supporting her struggles, and it was because so many believed in her that Anneliese's body did not find peace with death. Her corpse was exhumed eleven and a half years after her burial, only to confirm that it had decayed as would have been expected under normal circumstances. Today, her grave remains a place of pilgrimage for rosary-praying and for those who believe that Anneliese Michel bravely fought the devil.
In 1999, Cardinal Medina Estevez presented journalists in Vatican-City the new version of the "Rituale Romanum" that has been used by the Catholic Church since 1614. The updates came after more than 10 years of editing and is called "De exorcismis et supplicationibus quibusdam" otherwise known as "The exorcism for the upcoming millennium". The Pope approbated the new Exorcism Rite, which is now allowed for worldwide use. This new form of exorcism came after the German Bishop-Conference demanded to ultimately abolish the "Rituale Romun". It also came more than 20 years after Anneliese Michel had died.
http://www.moviesonline.ca/movienews_1253.html
Here's a pretty freaky audio recording of an actual exorcism ritual performed in Russia on 1 May, 2004.
http://paranormal.about.com/library/med ... orcism.wma
And the story behind it:
A sixteen-year-old girl sits in a chair in a Russian Orthodox Church. She is being held down by her mother. Light filters in from high windows and the air is thick with tension and the smell of holy incense. A priest stands over her reading the rite of exorcism. The girl squirms in her mother’s arms, groaning and growling as if the priest’s words were a torment to her mind and soul. The girl struggles violently, her groans becoming inhuman howls and deep, guttural moans of psychological pain. Then she lashes out at the priest, and in a voice that seems not to be her own, spits words of defiance.
This is not a scene from a Hollywood production. This is a partial description of an actual exorcism that took place in a Russian parish on May 1, 2004.
* You can hear an actual recorded excerpt from this exorcism here (Windows MediaPlayer required)<see above linky>.
(WARNING: Do not listen if you are easily upset or disturbed by such things. Although there is no foul language, in English anyway, the sounds may be disturbing to some.)
This recording was made by Eugene Safronov, who is an assistant to one of the exorcists in the Russian Orthodox Church. Although he did not assist in this particular case, he was a witness, and has assisted another priest in many other instances.
Exorcisms on the Rise
The ideas of demonic possession and exorcism seem archaic and a peculiar anachronism in the high-tech, scientifically enlightened world of the 21st century. Most rational people regard the notion of demons as superstition. People who in the Middle Ages were thought to be possessed by demons and other evil spirits are now usually considered to be suffering from such brain disorders as Tourette Syndrome, schizophrenia, epilepsy or any number of psychiatric problems. At best, they are people with overactive imaginations under the negative influence of the occult and related media.
Yet the battle between the possessed and the exorcists continues today, with a growing number of people believing that it is all too real:
* In February, 2005, about 100 Catholic priests signed up for a Vatican-sanctioned course on exorcism. According to the LA Times, “In Italy, the number of official exorcists has soared during the last 20 years to between 300 and 400, church officials say. But they aren't enough to handle the avalanche of requests for help from hundreds of tormented people who believe they are possessed. In the United States, the shortage is even more acute.”
* In January, 2005, psychiatrist M. Scott Peck published a book, Glimpses of the Devil: A True Story of Evil, Possession, Exorcism and Redemption, which he says is an account of some of his patients that he believes were possessed by the demonic. Although most of his colleagues say that “possession” is just mental illness, Peck told The Dallas Morning News in an interview, “Possession is a mental illness, with a demonic involvement.”
* Even the book and subsequent movie, The Exorcist, was loosely based on a real exorcism that took place in St. Louis in 1949. The last priest involved in the case, Rev. Walter H. Halloran, died on March 1, 2005. Although the book and film took liberties with the actual events of the case, Halloran said he observed streaks and arrows and words like “hell” that would rise on the child’s skin.
Eugene did not know the girl in this case personally, but as an assistant to an exorcist in the diocese he attends many of the “deliverance services” that take place in various parishes across Russia. This is how he came to record this exorcism, which was conducted by Father Basil.
The deliverance ministry in Russia, Eugene explains, is relatively new, but growing. It is similar to such ministries in the Anglican Church in England, which has a long tradition. In Russia, these ministries are becoming more organized, working with open-minded psychiatrists and other medical professionals for people who come to them (or are brought to them) with significant problems.
How the girl came to be possessed is not known. Eugene did not have an opportunity to speak with the girl or her mother, but as he understood it, she had some involvement with the occult, either in practice or she consulted with an occult practitioner.
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The people who go to such practitioners go for personal advice, much as people go to storefront “psychic readers” in the U.S. They claim to be able to rid their customers of curses and such. “The problem is,” Eugene says, “things go wrong and can make a problem much worse” for someone who might have a psychological problem. It may be an entry point for the diabolic.
After this exposure to the occult, the girl’s mother noticed a radical change in her daughter’s behavior and brought her to the deliverance service. (It is not known what kind of medical or psychiatric treatment, if any, was sought first.)
Besides individual exorcisms, Russian parishes offer open deliverance services to which any number of people can come. A less formal rite is conducted at these services.
There are similar ministries in the U.S., such as Bob Larson Ministries among others, whose exorcising services are even televised. During the ceremony, audience members who supposedly have demons in them spontaneously jump up, begin shouting, babble in incoherent language or go into spasms until the minister casts the demons out (and then asks for donations, of course).
In Russia, Eugene has witnessed unusual things at these open deliverance services. He says he has seen demons speaking [through people] to one another in the church. "The demons use the people's voices and speak to one another in the church and also discuss things that the people in which they live could not possibly know," Eugene says.
In the case of the sixteen-year-old girl, she was in a one-on-one session with Father Basil. Watching from just several feet away, Eugene could see that the girl possessed extraordinary strength as her mother struggled to keep her seated. As can be heard on the recording, her voice changed radically. Her face contorted and displayed “total hate” for the priest as she cursed at him.
Toward the end of the recording, the girl, with an unearthly voice, shouts something in Russian at the priest. The translation, Eugene says, is, “I am not leaving her! I am not!”
The demonic voice sounds like something right off the soundtrack of The Exorcist. Was the girl imitating the Linda Blair character in the movie? Eugene, who has been assisting in these exorcisms for several years, does not think so. Those movies are not well known in Russia, he says.
Although the exorcism lasted about a half hour, Eugene says that it was not a success, and he didn’t know if the girl and her mother would seek further treatment.
But hey, we want video, right?
Hehehe...here ya go:
http://paranormal.about.com/od/demonsan ... 051605.htm
(WARNING: May be disturbing to some viewers.)
And the article that goes along with it:
U.S. EXCLUSIVE! Watch an actual exorcism
We recently presented an article on the exorcisms being conducted in Russian Orthodox Churches across Russia. Our contact, Eugene Safronov, who is an assistant to an exorcist at many of these services, provided us with a harrowing audio recording he made at one exorcism.
And now Eugene has provided us with video that includes excerpts of actual exorcisms conducted by Russian priests. Eugene has acquired video from a Russian television news magazine segment about the church’s “battle with the demonic.” Eugene assisted in the production of the video segment, which appeared on the program Postscriptum with Alexey Pushkov, one of Russia's top weekly news programs.
What you’ll see (or if you are unable to view the video):
Although some scenes of the exorcisms may be disturbing to some viewers, they are not as intense or incredible as other exorcisms that have taken place in the churches.
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"On a scale of phenomena from 1 to 12," Eugene says, "the scenes in this video rank about a 6½ or 7." They do not show the full extent of what has happened in some cases, including physical changes in the victim and other more dramatic phenomena. In at least one case, Eugene says, the possessed person actually bent in two, head to toe – backwards!
Here's what you'll see in this video presentation:
* After an introduction by Alexey Pushkov, correspondent Julia Grabovskayatakes takes us to a church where a group exorcism – or deliverance, as it is called – is taking place.
* A young woman struggles violently and howls as the priest holds a crucifix on her head.
* Then an older parishioner tells us of the “inhuman” sounds she’s heard coming from the possessed, and how some of them even run screaming from the church.
* The reporter tells us that videotaping of the deliverances is usually not allowed, but the priest sanctioned it in hopes of convincing viewers of its reality. Besides the animalistic growls and screams, the reporter has been told of even more fantastic manifestations – including levitation.
* The elderly exorcist speaks of his struggle with what he considers the demonic and his dedication to the deliverance rituals, despite criticism, for the sake of his parishioners’ souls.
* Another parishioner tells how he was cured by the exorcism. He was not able to walk, he says, but after he began to attend services, he regained use of his legs.
* An older parishioner, restrained by two others, curses at and threatens the priest, resisting his blessing.
* The reporter tells how this woman was dying of cancer that an operation did not help. She then says that she does not feel anything during the exorcism, but that the crucifix burns the demon inside her.
* A younger exorcist warns that these demonic entities are intelligent beings that should not be underestimated. They know people’s personal secrets.
* In the interest of journalistic balance, the reporter next quotes a psychiatrist, who believes the exorcisms may be doing more harm than good.
* Another “possessed” person fights and curses. ("Panteleimon," which the woman refers to, is the name for an Orthodox priest.)
* The younger exorcist counters the psychiatrist, saying that they can usually tell the difference between someone who is mentally ill and someone who is “oppressed by an evil spirit.” Those in need of a psychiatrist are referred to doctors.
* On the other hand, the exorcist says, he has seen patients in mental clinics that really need exorcisms. He claims to have cured one such patient of schizophrenia.
Are these people truly possessed by evil spirits? Does the video provide evidence? Or are they afflicted with more common mental or emotional disorders, or even just reacting to the expectations of the exorcist and the rite? Although the exorcists are convinced of its reality, you’ll have to judge that for yourself.
Thank you to Eugene Safronov for providing the video as well as the English translation of the soundtrack. Eugene can be contacted at:
safronow@yahoo.com or mailto:uloma@yandex.ru
And of course there is the CLASSIC exorcism story that the Exorcist was based on, which happened to a 13yo boy both in Washington, DC, as well as later in St. Louis.
Here's a pretty cool detailed account of that one:
Haunted St. Louis
History & Hauntings Along the Mississippi
THE ST. LOUIS EXORCISM CASE!
The Story that Became the Exorcist!
In 1949, the Devil came to St. Louis.... Or at least, if you believe the stories that have been told for the last fifty-odd years, a reasonable facsimile of him did. This is the story that has been told for three generations and it is the story that has inspired books, films and documentaries. It is, without question, the greatest unsolved mystery of St. Louis.
The story began not in St. Louis, but in the small Washington, D.C. suburb of Cottage City, Maryland (not Mount Rainier as has been erroneously reported in so many books and articles). As most readers already know, what has come to be known as the "St. Louis Exorcism Case" would go on to inspire William Peter Blatty’s 1971 best-selling book and the movie based on it, The Exorcist. In the novel, a young girl is possessed by a demon and is subjected to an exorcism by Catholic priests. In the true story though, the subject of the alleged possession was not a girl but a boy who has been identified in various accounts as "Roland" or "Robbie Doe". Robbie (as we will call him here) was born in 1935 and grew up in Cottage City. He was the only child of a dysfunctional family and had a troubled childhood.
In January 1949, the family of 13-year-old Robbie began to be disturbed by scratching sounds that came from inside of the walls and ceilings of the house. Believing that the house was infested with mice, the parents called an exterminator but he could find no sign of mice. To make matters worse, his efforts seemed to add to the problem. Noises that sounded like someone walking in the hallway could be heard and dishes and objects were often found to be moved without explanation.
And while the noises were disturbing, they weren’t nearly as frightening as when Robbie began to be attacked. His bed shook so hard that he couldn’t sleep at night. His blankets and sheets were torn from the bed. When he tried to hold onto them, he was reportedly pulled off the bed and onto the floor with the sheets still gripped in his hands.
Many of the early events in the case were chronicled by the Jesuit priests who later performed the exorcism. Apparently, a diary was kept and it was the same diary that was heard about by author William Peter Blatty when he was a student at Georgetown University in 1949. He first became interested in the story after reading about in newspaper articles and discussed it with his instructor, who had also heard about a diary that had been kept by the Jesuits involved in the exorcism. It was apparently a 16-page document that was titled "Case Study by Jesuit Priests". It had apparently been intended to be used a guide for future exorcisms.
Blatty asked to see a copy of the diary, but he was refused. He later turned back to newspapers for information about the case and discovered that one of them actually listed the name of the priest involved. His name was Rev. William S. Bowdern, S.J. of St. Louis. Bowdern refused to comment on the case for the newspaper reports, as priests who perform exorcisms are said to be sworn to secrecy. Blatty tried contacting him anyway but the priest refused to cooperate. Out of respect, Blatty changed the identity of the possession victim in his book to a young girl, but the exorcist of the novel remains an apparently thinly veiled portrait of Bowdern.
Father Bowdern passed away in 1983, never publicly acknowledging the fact that he was involved in the St. Louis case. He had talked with other Jesuits though and eventually these stories reached a man named Thomas Allen, an author and contributing editor to National Geographic. He managed to find one of the participants in the case, Walter Halloran, S.J., who was then living in a small town in Minnesota. Halloran was suspicious at first but he did admit that there had been a diary.
According to legend, the diary that Halloran had access to later turned up as a 26-page document of the case that was literally snatched out of the old Alexian Brothers hospital just before it was demolished. This longer document was found in the Alexian Brothers Hospital on South Broadway in St. Louis. The old psychiatric wing of the hospital was being torn down in 1978 and workmen were sent in to remove furniture from that part of the building. One of these men found the document in a desk drawer of a locked room and he gave it to his supervisors, who in turn passed it on to hospital administrators. It was eventually identified as the work of Rev. Raymond Bishop, S.J., a priest who had participated in the exorcism. The manuscript was locked away but Father Halloran had access to it. He made a copy of the diary and sent it to Allen, who published a book about it in 1993.
As it has turned out, the only details that we have about the case have come through the "diary" and from witnesses who were present at the time. The Catholic Church has never released details of the story. The diary does reveal details though, many of which have been overlooked and forgotten over the years.
As mentioned already, the strange noises and scratching in the house progressed into actual witnessed attacks on Robbie himself. By this time, the family was becoming desperate. Rev. Luther Schulze, a Lutheran minister and the pastor from the family’s own church, tried praying with Robbie and his parents in their home and then with Robbie alone. He took the boy to the church to pray with him and he begged whatever was bothering him to leave. It didn’t help though and the strange afflictions continued. The weird noises continued to be heard in the house and Robbie’s bed went on shaking and rocking so that he was unable to get any sleep at night. Finally, in February, Schulze decided to question whether the house was haunted, or the boy was. He offered to let Robbie spend the night in his home and his parents quickly agreed. They were anxious to try anything that might help by this time.
That night, Mrs. Schulze went to the guest room and Robbie and the minister retired to the twin beds located in the master bedroom. About ten minutes later, Schulze reported that he heard the sound of Roland’s bed creaking and shaking. He also heard strange scratching noises inside of the walls, just like the ones that had been heard at Robbie’s own house. Schulze quickly switched on the lights and clearly saw the vibrating bed. When he prayed for it to stop, the vibration grew even more violent. He stated that Robbie was wide awake but he was completely still and was not moving in a way that would cause the bed to shake.
Schulze then suggested that Robbie try and sleep in a heavy armchair that was located across the room. While Schulze watched him closely, the chair began to move. First, it scooted backward several inches and its legs jolted forward and back. The minister told Robbie to raise his legs and to add his full weight to the chair but that wasn’t enough to stop the chair from moving. Moments later, it literally slammed against the wall and then it tipped over and deposited the boy unhurt onto the floor.
Trying not to be frightened or discouraged, Rev. Schulze made a pallet of blankets on the floor for Robbie to sleep on. As soon as the boy fell asleep though, the pallet began to slide across the floor and under one of the beds! When Robbie was startled awake by the movement, he raised up and struck his head on one of the bedposts. Again, the minister made up the pallet, only to this time have it whip across the floor and slide under the other bed. Robbie’s hands were visible the entire time and his body was taut with tension. The blankets didn’t even wrinkle at all!
According to some sources, Robbie’s family then turned to the Catholic Church for help and his father went to the nearby St. James Church in Mount Rainier, Maryland. Here, he met with a young priest named Edward Albert Hughes. He was the assistant pastor of the church at the time. He was skeptical and reluctant to get involved in the matter, but he did agree to go and see Robbie. During the visit, Robbie allegedly addressed the priest in Latin, a language that he did not know. Shaken, Hughes was said to have applied to his archbishop for permission to conduct an exorcism. The sources go on to say that the ritual was performed at Georgetown Hospital in in February. Robbie seemed to go into a trance and he thrashed about and spoke in tongues. Hughes ordered the boy to be put into restraints but he somehow managed to work a piece of metal spring loose from the bed and he slashed the priest with it. The stories say that Hughes subsequently left St. James, suffered a nervous breakdown and during masses that he held later in life, he could only hold the consecrated host aloft in in one hand.
That was the story anyway ... but it wasn’t accurate.
Church records do not indicate that Father Hughes ever suffered a breakdown, nor that he ever even made an attempt to exorcize Robbie at Georgetown University Hospital. However, Robbie was checked into the hospital under his real name for several days during the period when the alleged exorcism attempt took place, but that is all. Records say that he underwent extensive medical and psychological evaluations.
There is nothing to suggest that Robbie spoke to the priest in Latin and no evidence to say that Father Hughes was ever slashed with a bedspring. Those who knew Hughes personally remember him suffering no injuries during this period and the fact is, the church social calendar showed him quite busy during the weeks after Robbie’s release from the hospital.
At about this same time, Robbie’s mother began to suggest that perhaps a trip away from Maryland might free the boy from the strange happenings. She thought that perhaps they could leave their troubles behind by visiting St. Louis. Robbie’s mother was a native of the city and still had many relatives there. The more she considered this, the better the idea seemed. And apparently, the haunting entity agreed because the word "LOUIS" inexplicably appeared on Robbie’s rib cage. When this "skin branding" occurred, Robbie’s hands were always visible and his mother specifically notes that he could not have scratched the words himself. He had been under observation at the time and the words, according to witnesses, had simply appeared.
The priest’s diary even noted that the writing also appeared on Robbie’s back. Later on, while in St. Louis, there was some question raised about sending Robbie to school while in the city but the message "NO" appeared on his wrists. A large letter "N" also appeared on each of his legs and his mother feared disobeying what she saw as a supernatural order. It has been suggested that perhaps Robbie created the writing himself with his mind, either consciously or unconsciously. With that in question, it should be noted that before his parents consulted a priest, they also had him examined by a psychiatrist. He reported that the boy was quite normal, as did a medical doctor who gave him a complete physical.
In early March, after being released from the hospital and found normal, Robbie boarded a train to St. Louis with his parents. The family was graciously taken in by relatives in Normandy, Missouri and here, the boy’s mother hoped that he might be freed from the strange and horrifying events.
Unfortunately, Robbie did not improve in St. Louis. His aunt and uncle in Normandy, as well as various other relatives, witnessed more of the "skin brandings", as well as saw his bed and mattress shaking on many occasions. On March 8, 1949, the shaking of the mattress and scratching continued. A stool that was sitting near the bed was seen flying across the room by Robbie’s cousin. The boy was so concerned about Robbie that he even tried lying down on the bed beside him to stop the mattress from shaking. To his dismay, it didn’t work.
Finally, one of the relatives, who had attended St. Louis University, went to see her old teacher there, Rev. Raymond J. Bishop, S.J. She asked him if he might be able to assist Robbie and while we have no idea what his initial reply may have been, he did agree to look into the case. It was Bishop who brought William Bowdern into the case.
Bowdern was not on the faculty of St. Louis University. In 1949, he was the pastor of St. Francis Xavier Church, located at the corner of Grand and Lindell. He was a native of St. Louis and had served as a chaplain during World War II. He had many years experience dealing with people and their problems and he listened carefully to the story that Bishop told him. Then, he and Bishop went to Paul Reinert, S.J., the president of the university. All of them were skeptical about the case and concerned with bringing embarrassment to the church and the college but decided that it might be well to have the boy say some prayers and to give him the priestly blessing.
Apparently, Father Bishop first went to the house alone. He came to bless the house and the room in which Robbie slept. But even after the blessing the bed still shook and swayed and the scratches still appeared all over the boy’s body. Bishop then sprinkled holy water on the bed in the form of a cross and the movement suddenly ceased. Moments later, it started up again after Bishop stepped out of the room. Then, a sharp pain allegedly struck Robbie in the stomach and he cried out. His mother pulled back the bed covers and lifted the boy’s pajama top to reveal red lines that zigzagged across the boy’s abdomen. During this entire time, Robbie was in clear view of at least six witnesses. At that point, it was decided to perform an exorcism and surprisingly, the archdiocese agreed to the request.
The chronology throughout the remainder of the case is extremely confusing. It is not clear how long Robbie stayed at his relative’s house but it is known that he was taken to the Alexian Brothers Hospital in south St. Louis, possibly for as long as a month, and that portions of the exorcism were also carried out in the rectory of the St. Francis Xavier Church. The rectory has since been demolished and replaced. It also isn’t clear how many people were actually actively involved in the exorcism. The names of the exorcists given out in St. Louis were Father Bowdern, Father Bishop and Father Lawrence Kenny. Father Charles O’Hara of Marquette University in Milwaukee was also present as a witness (he later passed on information about what he saw there to Father Eugene Gallagher at Georgetown) and there were undoubtedly a several hospital staff members and seminary students who were also in attendance.
One of these students was Walter Halloran, the priest who passed along diary to Thomas Allen. At that time, he was a strapping young former football player who had been asked along to hold Robbie down. Exorcisms were known for being often violent rituals and the Jesuits must have felt that the young man would prove to be very useful. For reason though, Halloran was removed from the exorcism about one week before it came to end, leaving his accounts of it rather incomplete. And while Halloran would go on to have his own uncertain recollections of the case, hospital staff members would remember the events with fear. One of the nurses involved. He stated that the priests had a "terrible time" during Robbie’s hospital stay. He had many conversations with the priests and believed that what he saw was supernatural in origin. He said that he cleaned vomit out of the boy’s room on several different occasions.
The exorcism apparently started at the home of Robbie’s relatives. The priests came late in the evening and after Robbie went to bed, the ritual began. The boy was said to go into a trance, his bed shook and welts and scratches appeared on his body. Bishop was said to have wiped away blood that welled up in the scratches while Halloran attempted to hold the boy down.
Father Bowdern had prepared himself for the exhausting events through a religious fast of prayer, bread and water. It is said that from the time he first learned of Robbie’s plight until the exorcism had run its course, Bowdern lost nearly 40 pounds.
As the prayers commanding the departure of the evil spirit began, Robbie winced and rolled in a sudden seizure of pain. Over the next two hours, the boy was branded and scratched 30 times on his stomach, chest, throat, thighs, calves and back. When Bowdern demanded that the demon reveal itself, the words "WELL" and "SPITE" appeared on the boy’s chest. Another time, the word "HELL" appeared in red welts as the boy rocked back and forth, apparently in pain. All the while, he reportedly cursed and screamed obscenities in a voice that "ranged from deep bass to falsetto". The ritual came to an end that night near dawn but little progress had been made.
The ordeal continued for many weeks and through many readings of the exorcism ritual. According to the witnesses, the boy’s responses became more violent and repulsive as time went on. He was said to speak in Latin, in a variety of voices, in between bouts of screams and curses. He spat in the faces of the priests who knelt and stood by his bed and his spittle and vomit struck them with uncanny accuracy and over great distances. He punched and slapped the priests and the witnesses. He constantly urinated and he belched and passed gas that was said to have an unbelievable stench. He was even said to have taunted the priests and to have confronted them with information about themselves that he could not possibly have known. His body thrashed and contorted into seemingly impossible shapes and would continue during the nighttime hours. Each morning though, he would appear to be quite normal and would profess to have no memory of the events that took place after dark. He usually spent the day reading comics or playing board games with the student assistants.
The ritual continued with the prayers being recited every day, despite Robbie’s rabid reaction to them. The exorcism seemed virtually useless and so the priests requested permission to instruct Robbie in the Catholic faith. They felt that his conversion would help to strengthen their fight against the entity controlling the boy. His parents consented and he was prepared for his first communion. During this time of instruction, Robbie seemed to quiet somewhat and he was moved to the rectory. He seemed to be enjoying his lessons in the Catholic faith but this time of peace would not last. As Robbie prepared to receive communion, the priests literally had to drag him into the church. He broke out in a rage that was worse than anything the exorcists could remember.
The exorcism was now at an impasse. Seeking a solution, Bowdern again plunged into the literature regarding possession. He learned of an 1870 case that took place in Wisconsin that seemed similar to Robbie’s plight and he devised a new strategy. On the night of April 18, the ritual resumed. Bowdern forced Robbie to wear a chain of religious medals and to hold a crucifix in his hands. Suddenly, Robbie became strangely contrite and he began to ask questions about the meaning of certain Latin prayers. Bowdern ignored him though, refusing to engage the entity in conversation, and he instead demanded to know the name of the demon and when he would depart.
Robbie exploded in a rage. Five witnesses held him down while he screamed that he was a "fallen angel" but Bowdern continued on with the ritual. He recited it incessantly for hours until Robbie suddenly interrupted in a loud, masculine voice, identifying himself as "St. Michael the Archangel". The voice ordered the demon to depart. Robbie’s body then went into violent contortions and spasms. Then, he fell quiet. A moment later, he sat up, smiled and then spoke in a normal voice. "He’s gone", Robbie said and then told the priests of a vision that he had of St. Michael holding a flaming sword.
The exorcism was finally over.
Robbie left St. Louis with his parents 12 days later and returned to Maryland. He wrote to Father Bowdern in May 1949 and told him that he was happy and had a new dog. He was, by last report, still living in Maryland and is a devout Catholic with three children. He has only dim recollections of what happened in 1949.
Father Bowdern believed until the end of his life that he and his fellow priests had been battling a demonic entity. His supporters in this maintain that there were many witnesses to the alleged supernatural events that took place and that no other explanations existed for what was seen. A full report that was filed by the Catholic Church stated that the case of Robbie Doe was a "genuine demonic possession." According to Father John Nicola, who had the opportunity to review the report, he noted that 41 persons had signed a document attesting to the fact that they had witnessed paranormal phenomena in the case. Many feel that Robbie suffered from a mental illness and not demonic possession. He may have been hallucinating or suffering from some weird psychosomatic illness that caused him to behave so strangely, to curse and scream and to thrash about so violently.
It should be noted though that people who have suggested that all of this was nothing more than a hoax or a mental illness are all people who were in no way involved in the case.
In spite of the skeptics though, there were (and are) many who believe the events were real. They have no explanation for what took place in 1949 and while none of the buildings directly involved in the exorcism remain today.... memories of them still linger today.
For years after the exorcism, people who were involved in the case, or who worked at the hospital, shared stories of things they heard and saw during the several week ordeal. Orderlies spoke of cleaning up pools of vomit and urine in the boy’s rooms. Staff members and nurses claimed to hear the sounds of someone screaming and the echoes of demonic laughter coming from Robbie’s room. Most especially though, they spoke of the cold waves of air that seemed to emanate from the room. No matter how warm the rest of the hospital was, the area around the door to the boy’s room was always ice cold!
And even after the exorcism ended, something apparently remained behind. Whatever it was, it was enough to keep staff members from ever using the room again. It was locked and sealed off after the exorcism ended and was never re-opened. According to witnesses, the lights refused to stay on in the room and the heat would not work. It was always cold and on occasion, foul odors would drift from beneath the door. The entire section of the hospital was eventually closed but whether or not this was because of the "exorcism room" is unknown. What is known is that the wing was eventually razed in 1978, but not without difficulty. Workers on the demolition crew claimed to be unable to control the wrecking ball when that floor was taken off. The ball swung around and hit a portion of a new building but luckily did not damage. This incident seemed to further enhance the legend of the room!
And the legend grew... When the wrecking crew came in to remove furniture and any other items that could be re-sold from the wing, they broke into the "exorcism room" to find that it had been untouched since 1949. Inside of a desk in the room was a copy of the exorcist’s diary from the case, which was given to hospital administrators and later became the basis for the public’s fascination with the story.
But that was not the strangest thing to happen when the room was opened!
According to crew members who worked for the Department of Transportation, "something" was seen emerging from the room just moments before the wrecking ball claimed it. Whatever it was, the men likened it to a "cat or a big rat or something". I wouldn’t begin to suggest what this creature might have been, natural or supernatural, but I will say that it has continued to add to the legend of the "St. Louis Exorcism Case" over the years!
The case, whether you believe in possession, demons and exorcisms or not, remains unsolved. There is simply no way to adequately dismiss every unusual thing that was reported in this case without just saying that everyone involved was a liar, drunk or insane. For myself, I can’t say that young Robbie Doe was possessed, or not possessed, but what I can say is that this is one of the few cases of alleged "possession" that has left me with many lingering questions.
Copyright 2002 by Troy Taylor. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.prairieghosts.com/exorcist.html
Heh, no idea if any of this stuff is 'real', but it sure is interesting.
<img src=newicons/saevil.gif border=0 align=middle>
<b>There are two kinds of soldiers.
Snipers...and targets.</b>
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