For many Catholics, exorcism is exciting. While odd at first blush, fighting Satan is, after all, the saintly glory we all must undertake—but exorcisms deal with a rare and extreme species of demonic attack, and are certainly not a common spiritual experience.
Thankfully, most don’t have to endure possession to face off against the devil—but Catholics are human, and (with fallen natures like ours) who doesn’t find intrigue in a wild tale of incomprehensible evil? You don’t have to be a psycho to find serial killers engaging, and you don’t have to have to be a fiend to find demons engaging.
When it comes to the latter, interest in exorcism is, presumably, grounded in a desire for sanctity—for good to overcome evil—but it latches on to an extreme, as people often do. Exorcism is an amplified analogy of the spiritual struggle and so has resonance. This summer, Catholics who find these accounts intriguing will have a book and a movie to consider: The Most Powerful Saints in Exorcisms and The Ritual.
Of course, books about exorcism are one thing and exorcist movies are quite another. The former can be spiritually steeling—even if chilling—while the latter can be mildly inspiring—even if horrifying. Given the deadly serious subject matter, both should be approached with caution by Catholics who guard against spiritual sensationalism as well as spiritual depravity. Any foray into the topic, whether in books or films, runs the risk of evil fascination rather than holy motivation.
The Ritual, though it isn’t unorthodox, doesn’t offer much argument for the existence of such horror movies. Unlike some of its predecessors—like The Exorcism of Emily Rose, that sought to present something spiritually wholesome in contrast to the ugliness of the devil and his minions—this newest film seems bent on little more than shaky-cam, jump-scare cinema.
With a phoned-in performance from Al Pacino, Hollywood great though he is, The Ritual leaves its audience with little more than a revisiting of what The Exorcist did far better in 1973; and if anything, a glimpse of a potent warning that Satan can find his way in through unexpected cracks in our spiritual state.
The young girl being exorcised in the film, based on the documented 1928 case of Emma Schmidt in Iowa, was exposed to black magic and other forms of hexing evil through her family members years before her possession. Having a soul of exceptional sensitivity, she became subject to attack in ways that others would not. She never asked for it, but was simply vulnerable and succumbed to powers that she could not understand or withstand.
There is an interesting and important message there regarding the susceptibility to spiritual assault that secular times or an untended spirituality can create. When people are borne away by learning, discovery, science, technology, and those inventions of human ingenuity that tend to make the world a smaller place, they often leave the invisible world behind.
Those who are not sensible of their souls through religion will not be strong defenders of their souls—and the devils know that very well and delight in corrupting invisibly. Such is the relentless sleeplessness of ancient evil and its power over a society that has grown disconnected from the spiritual realm and do not sense or know what is lurking in the shadows.
That lurking in the shadows is central to the demonic plan. To quote from another film, The Usual Suspects, quoting in turn the French poet, Charles Baudelaire, “The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.” That is an indispensable premise to the assaults of Satan. C. S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters repeatedly corroborates this devilish device, and given that insidious strategy, there is something like an argument for movies like The Ritual.
At least movies like this make Satan out as a clear and present evil, which is totally against his strategy. Whether it is worth it to do so with all the hideous extravagance of a horror movie is doubtful, but at least such films project something true which the devil tries to keep hidden away. But it is dangerous to descend into hell.
Speaking of C. S. Lewis, his friend J.R.R. Tolkien once cautioned him concerning his skill in depicting evil. Anyone familiar with Uncle Screwtape or Perelandra’s Un-man will know what Mr. Tolkien meant. There is an uncanny comprehension of evil in these works suggestive of an immediacy quite different to the distance of Sauron.
It can be dangerous to depict evil or to engage the depiction of evil, true evil. Accuracy might require getting too close to things best kept at bay. A nodding acquaintance with the foe may be sufficient. On the other hand, the enemy must be studied if he is to be subdued. Victory will go to the demon without the courage to deny his works, pomps, and empty promises in the life-giving faith of Jesus Christ.
Whether near or far, it is that faith which should be the backbone of any spiritual foray or study. It is to the saints we should look for that backbone and not give the devil more than his due by looking to narratives about his pathetic perversities with the sanction of spiritual strengthening. St. John Marie Vianney was famous for his bouts with the devil, where Satan tried to terrify him from saving souls, or at least to keep him from getting any rest. He would rush through his room like a coach-and-six or fling the priest out of bed and into corners. But the Curé of Ars just called him le grappin, his wrestling partner, and chastised the devil for his foolishness.
“One gets used to everything,” the saint would say, grinning. “Le grappin and I are almost comrades.” When the assaults were particularly fiendish, he would say, “The villainous grappin! He could not catch the bird, so he burns the cage.” The Curé came to learn that the onslaughts of le grappin were precursors to what he called a “big fish,” a fallen-away Catholic in the confessional. This realization steeled him to these terrifying bouts all the more. These are the stories Catholics should hear and hold concerning the devil—perhaps far more than any number of horrifying exorcism accounts—namely, to hear of the treading down of Satan by the saints.
Every exorcism begins with the Litany of the Saints, and for good reason. It is the saints who have found the way to overthrow the wiles of the devil, who have won what the devils would snatch from each of us, and who do battle against the gates of hell with St. Michael. Those with that not-uncommon interest in tales of exorcism (while they might take in The Ritual this June) should await the August release of The Most Powerful Saints in Exorcisms by Charles Fraune and Patrick O’Hearn.
This meticulously researched book presents the incredible power of the saints over the wickedness and snares of the devil and instances of their faith and strength before the devil’s desperate and futile struggles beneath the power of the Cross of Christ.
Films like The Ritual present the quandary, and more often than not the peril, of the occult. What is noteworthy, is that such stories—ugly and unnerving as they often are—sound the incontestable solution even as they controversially engage with the problem. The film illustrates the danger of psychic or spiritual interaction with black spirits, going so far as to make Emma Schmidt a victim of an evil she didn’t even understand. The devil, after all, is a threat to all because of the vulnerability and curiosity of one in a garden.
As Dostoevsky wrote in Demons, “there is no isolated sin,” and the shadow’s invited presence brings out the worst in and for people, whether through hubris, ignorance, or sickness. The Ritual may not be as solid or edifying as The Most Powerful Saints in Exorcisms, which shows the correct approach in dealing with the devil, a thing we must all do in our own way if we are to win our eternal crown and join in the harrowing of hell by the saints. From the book:
The glorious work of the Redemption of Our Lord Jesus Christ has incorporated Christians into the Kingdom of Heaven and has given us a Divine King, an immaculate Queen, mighty princes, and countless royal citizens whose glory is a mirror of the Son of God, our Savior. Thus, in a time when man feels as though he is alone and in his darkest hour, we must become acutely aware that these royal citizens of glory, the saints, are present with us, powerful, and yearning to intercede for us.
Amen. Let us look primarily to the stories of salvation as opposed to the stories of possession to learn how best to make war against the devil—which is, to do so with the fearlessness of a saint and not the fearfulness of a horror flick.
Editor’s Note: The Most Powerful Saints in Exorcisms is available for pre-order from Sophia Institute Press.
Image from Wikimedia Commons
