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The victim of one of the most detailed instances of demonic possession in 20th-century America was a mid western woman whose real name was never made public. As a child she had been notably pious, but when she was 14, blasphemous inner voices interfered with her religious practice, frightened her, and caused her much shame. In the years that followed she was examined by several doctors. Finding no physical illness or abnormality, they unanimously concluded that her personality was neither nervous nor hysterical — she was “normal in the fullest sense.”
Despite this diagnosis, Mary (a pseudonym) began to manifest the recognized signs of demonic possession. She would become furiously enraged and would foam at the mouth when a priest blessed her, and could infallibly tell when an object had been secretly blessed or sprinkled with holy water. She also understood languages she had never been taught.
In 1928, when she was 40 years old, Mary agreed to undergo exorcism. Her exorcist was to be Father Theophilus Riesinger, a 60-year-old Capuchin monk in the community of St. Anthony, at Marathon, Wisconsin, a man with considerable experience in the application of the ancient rite. For the place of exorcism, Father Theophilus chose a Franciscan convent in Earling, Iowa, where the pastor, Father Joseph Steiger, was an old friend of his.
On her first night in the convent, Mary became furious when she realized that holy water had been sprinkled on her food. She purred like a cat and refused to eat until unblessed food was put before her.
The next morning Father Theophilus and Father Steiger began the exorcism, for which a large room had been made ready. A number of nuns who were physically strong stood by to help, and Mary was laid on a mattress on an iron bed. The exorcism had scarcely begun when she became unconscious, with her eyes closed so tightly that they could not be forced open. They remained in this state throughout the service. A shrill cry filled the room, loud but seemingly far-off at the same time. And then a din of howling, like wild animals, came from Mary’s lips. “Silence, Satan!” Father Theophilus shouted, but the unearthly tortured clamor continued unabated.
Neither Father Steiger nor the nuns could long endure the howling or the sight of the woman’s body and face, hideously twisted and distorted by the onslaught. From time to time they had to leave the room, but Father Theophilus, accustomed to the screaming of devils at the pain of exorcism, remained constant and attentive throughout.
Day after day the exorcism continued, and with it the howling, the twisted limbs, and excrement and vomit in vast quantities. Although the victim had taken only a spoonful of milk or water during the entire day to sustain her, she sometimes disgorged bowlfuls of what seemed to be shredded tobacco leaves or other unsavory materials.
At last Father Theophilus learned the names of the devils infesting his patient. One, calling himself Beelzebub, told him that Mary had been possessed since she was14andthatshehadbeencursedbyherownfather, who had joined the company of possessing demons after his own death and damnation. This demon — Mary’s father, Jacob — spoke with Father Theophilus, revealing that he had frequently tried to force his daughter into an incestuous relationship but that she had always resisted him and that he had uttered a curse that she be entered by devils to destroy her chastity. A female demon, who gave her name as Mina, in life Jacob's mistress, joined the colloquy. She was damned, she said, because she had murdered four of her own children. A fourth demon, Judas, confessed that he had intended to drive Mary to suicide.
Whatever was expressing itself in these voice sat times demonstrated an uncanny knowledge of things that could not have been known to Mary. On one occasion, as a test, a piece of paper with a Latin inscription was placed on Mary’s head. The nuns, thinking the words were a prayer, were surprised to see that the demons tolerated its presence. In fact, the words had no religious content at all; but when a second piece of paper, which had been secretly blessed, was placed on the woman’s head, it was immediately torn to pieces.
As the painful weeks of exorcism continued, relations between the two priests deteriorated and Father Steiger began to wish he had never allowed the exorcism to take place in his parish. But Father Theophilus viewed this development as the work of the Devil, who seemed to regard Father Steiger with special malice.
“Just wait,” a demonic voice said to Father Steiger one day,“until the end of the week! When Friday comes, then ...”
On his way back from visiting a sick parishioner on Friday, Father Steiger, remembering the demon’s threat, drove with special care. Suddenly, just as he was about to cross a bridge over a deep ravine, a black cloud seemed to descend on his car. He could see nothing, but he felt the car smash violently into the railing of the bridge and then teeter on the edge. A farmer plowing a nearby field heard the crash and came running. Slowly, the pastor crawled out of the debris. He had no serious injuries despite the fact that even the cars steering wheel had been crushed.
When he reached the convent, a chorus of malicious laughter greeted him in the exorcism room.
“Today,” the demon screeched, “he pulled in his proud neck and was outpointed! I certainly showed him up today. What about your new auto, that dandy car that was smashed to smithereens? It served you right!” Was it true, the nuns and Father Theophilus asked? “Yes, what he says is true. My auto is a complete wreck. But he was not able to harm me personally.”
“Our aim was to get you,” the demon said, “but somehow our plans were thwarted. It was your powerful patron saint (Saint Joseph) who prevented us from harming you.”
(During these and all other conversations, the lips of the possessed woman did not move at all she - was unconscious, and her lips almost never parted. The voices seemed to come from within her.)
For two weeks the solemn exorcism was repeated without any sign of success. Father Theophilus decided to continue the exorcisms throughout the night, giving Satan (and himself) no respite. For three days and nights he prayed, but the demons held their ground; by the 23rd day Father Theophilus was near collapse. But now a change began to occur in the demons’ behavior. They were less aggressive and more apt to moan about the tortures the exorcism inflicted on them. Then, after Father Theophilus had demanded in the name of the Trinity that the demons depart, they agreed.
On December 23 at about 9 p.m., the possessed woman broke free from the grip of her attendants and stood before them. “Pull her down! Pull her down!” Father Steiger cried, while Father Theophilus blessed her and declaimed, “Depart ye fiends of hell! Begone, Satan! The Lion of Juda reigns!”
Then the stiffness left Mary's body, and she fell onto the bed. A sound arose, so piercing that the room vibrated, and then a babble of voices, repeating the names “Beelzebub, Judas, Jacob, Mina,” again and again, more and more faintly until, with the final words “Hell—hell—hell!” they disappeared.
Then, Mary sat up, opened her eyes and quietly smiled. “My Jesus, Mercy!” she said. “Praised be Jesus Christ!”
SOURCES:
I - Exorcism: Fact Not Fiction, Martin Ebon, ed., pp.212-45
II - Rev. John J. Nicola, Diabolical Possession and Exorcism, pp.126-31)
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