EXORCISM, EXORCIST
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EXORCISM, EXORCIST
given nntler Baptism (vol. i, p. 650, col. 2). Children are regarded as belonging to tlie devil until baptized, and the priest or assisting exorcist blows out the evil spirit by the Ijreath {exsujjlaiioii), and also breathes on the child again {iimijflalion), as a symbol of the gift of the Spirit. So the Jiiluak : " Sacerdos exsufllat ter in fixciem catechumcni, seniel dicens : Exi ab co (ea), spiritus iuinunulc, et da locum Spiritui Saucto Para- clito. Hie in niodum crucis halet in faciem ipsius di- cat ; Accipe S])iritum bonum per istam insufflationeni, et Dei bencdictionem. f Pax tibi." In cases where the priest is to practise exorcism on a person supposed to be " possessed of the devil," he is to prepare himself specially by prayer, fasting, confession, and mass. The ceremonj' maj' be performed in the church, or, if the sufferer be ill, at his house ; but there must always he witnesses present. "Here, an-ayed in robe, cope, and a blue stole, he first sprinkles the subject with hoh' water, and, kneeling down, prays the All Saints' litany, the Lord's prayer, and Psalm liii, Deus in nom- ine iuo (in our version Psalm liv) ; then two prayers in which, making the sign of the cross over the patient, he commands the evil spirit to depart, by the myste- ries of the incarnation, the suffering and death, the resurrection and ascension of Christ, the sending of the Spirit, and the coming again to judgment. There- upon follows the lesson from John i. In principio erat Vcrbmn, with Mark xvi, 15-18, and Luke x, 17-19. Then he lays both hands upon the head of the energu- men, saying, ^ Ecce crucem JJomini : Jiigite partes ad- versce : ricit leo de trihu Juda^ and the prayer follows, with the proper formula of exorcism {Exorc'izo te, im- mu7ide spiritus, etc.) : ' I exorcise thee, unclean spirit, in the name of Jesus Christ ; tremble, O Satan ! thou enemy of the faith, thou foe of mankind, who hast brought death into the world, who hast deprived men of life, and hast rebelled against justice; thou seducer of mankind, thou root of all evil, thou source of ava- rice, discord, and envy'), the priest meanwhile making three crosses, in the name of the Trinity, on the brow and breast of the possessed person. If the evil spirit does not depart, all these ceremonies must be repeat- ed. In regard to the exoi'cism oft/iinf/s, the view of St. Paul, that every creature of God, used with thanks- giving, is good, stands true at all times. But in con- sequence of the curse, which the first sin brought upon all nature, the Church of Rome exorcises beforehand things designed for sacred use, such as the water and salt required for holy water. Beasts also, horses, fields, and fruits, are so treated, more frequently in tlie Greek Church than in the Roman" (Herzog, Encyclo- pirdia, Bombarger's trans]., i, 255). When a house is infested with evil spirits the priest is sent for, who, on his arrival, sprinkles the place plentifully with holj' water, repeats some prayers, and then pronounces the form of exorcism, whereupon, it is su])posed, the dev- ils depart. Should they again return the ceremony of exorcism is repeated, and again if necessary, until at length the Church proves itself victorious over the powers of iiell (^Encycl. Metrnpniitana; see also Jeremy Taylor, TJi$suasire from Poperji, § 9, for an account of the forms of exorcism ; and the copious collection enti- tled Thesaunis exorcisinorum atqne covjurationum ter- Hbi/ium, potentissimorum, efficacissimorum cum practica probatissima : r/nibus spiritus malifjni, dainones malefi- ciafpie omnia de corporibns humanis obstssis^ tanquam Jiaf/e/lis fustibusque fugantur, crpdlitntur, doctrinis re- Jcrtissimus atque uberrimus, Colonite, 1G28, 8vo).
V. The Greek Church also continues the order of exorcists and the practice of exorcism. The exorcism of catccliumens is designated cupopKin^ioQ, and it is thrice administered in making a catechumen (sec Eu- chologion, cap. il'X>) ti'c to Tronirrcn Karijxovpii'oi'). Exorcism is also practised upon the baptism of infants. The priest, having received the child at .the churcli door, marks him with the sign of the cross on the fore- head, then carries him to the font, where, before his
immersion, he is exorcised. The ancient forms are preserved with very little change in modern use. Three forms are emploj-ed, which may be found in Schmitt, Morfjenldnd.-grkch-rxissiiiche Kirche (Tilainz, 1820, p. 141). In Assemanni, Codex Liturg. ii, 318 sq,, may be found twenty-one forms f»r exorcising the devil and all evil spirits. In Metrophanis Critopuli Confessio (1G61), cap. vii, de Ecclesia, is the statement that baptism nmst be performed with prayers and ex- orcisms (fitra. ivx^^v Kai t^opiciafiwi'); also {t'xojitv £k i^opKiffnovc TTrtot't rwv dpxaiojv TrciTspojv Oav/iaciujg (jvi'TtOtifiivovi:) " we have forms of exorcism admira- bl}' prepared by the ancient fathers ;" and in cap. xi, de Sacerdotio, he states the duty of the exorcists to be "to exorcise the catechumens and catechize them" (seo Kimmel, Monum. Fid. Eccles. Orient. (Jena, 1840, 8vo).
VI. In Protestant Churches. — Luther approved of exorcism. In his Tanfbuchlein he preserved the spirit of the Roman Catholic form of renunciation of the devil. He did not consider it as essential, but as very useful to " remind the people earnestly of the power of sin and the devil." The immediate successors of Luther adopted his views, and they were generally diffused in Saxonj',Wiirtemberg, and the other strong- ly Lutheran parts of Germany (Siegel, Alterthumer, ii, 64; Wiedenfeld, De Exorcismi Origine, etc., Marburg, 1824). In 1583 Heshusius wrote in favor of abolishing its use. Justus Menius, in a treatise Vom. Exorcismo, 1590, advocated its retention. Calvin (Insfif. iv, 12, 19), speaking of the "wax taper" and "exorcism'' as used by the Romanists in baptism, says, " I am not ignorant of the ancient origin of this adventitious med- \ey, jet it is lawful for me, and for all the faithful, to reject everything that men have presumed to add to the institution of Christ." In the Swedish Cliurch, when the Augsburg Confession was proclaimed anew at the Council of Upsala, 1593, exorcism was retained, in its milder expressions, "as a free ceremonj', on ac- count of its utility as an admonition to the audience looking on at the baptism" (Ranke, History of the Pa- pacy, i, 11, Austin's transl., Edinl). 1851, 2 vols. 8vo). Zuinglius agreed with Calvin in rejecting exorcism, and from the beginning the Reformed Church was disinclined to it. The question became a sort of test between Lutherans and Calvinists. In the Crypto- Calvinistic struggles the question of exorcism played a part, and one of the accusations against Nicolas Crell (q. V.) was that he " sought to extirpate exorcism from the Church, to its great injury (see Boehmer, Jus. EccL Protest, iii, 843). Among later Luthei'an theologians, Gerhardt, Quenstedt, and Hollaz place it among things indifferent; Baur, Baumgarten, and Reinhard urge its abolition. From Reinhard's time it has graduallj' be- come obsolete in the Lutheran Clmrch. Since 1822 the " High" Lutherans have attempted to revive its use.