CASE STORY: The Price of Treachery

In Dante's Inferno, the deepest recesses of hell is reserved to those who committed treachery. In that level, Lucifer dwells for he is the first of all traitors, who broke his fidelity to God and established his own rule. Hence, he was banished from the divine presence. And in the many cases we have handled at AMOE, it really seems that it is treachery against the innocents and the just or humble that is difficult to banish.

There was this case of a middle-aged married woman who requested help from AMOE because of frequent night terrors and manifestation of paranormal things like uncontrolled glossalalia or speaking in tongues, knowledge of hidden things, and extra-ordinary strength. AMOE diagnosed the case as that of possession and set up spiritual assignments for the afflicted.

As a brief background these are the entry ways of the unclean spirits in her life:

1. On the level of traumas and emotions

• when she was still in the womb, the mother had the intention of pre-terminating the pregnancy because of the father's infidelity
• the father had predilection of the daughter which the mother resented.
• the daughter is closer to the father than the mother which the latter also feel bitter about.
• the husband of the afflicted had an extra-marital affair with someone close to the family and therefore she felt strongly aggrieved by it.

2. On the spiritual level

• the afflicted is a member of a "catholic" prayer community whose way of praying is suspiciously unorthodox
• the group is encouraged to serve as a medium to the various "saintly" spirits that they call upon during their prayer sessions. The afflicted has in many instances served as a medium to a spirit that calls itself the Virgin Mary.
• the afflicted as part of the prayer group habitually speak in tongues but would do it non-stop and even in those moments that silence is needed. If she is corrected and asked to stop she would lambast the fellow member and scold them with sharp words for hampering the flow of the Holy Spirit
• because of this so-called gift of tongues and knowledge of hidden things which she equates with the gift of prophecy, as well as serving as a medium to the saints, the afflicted feels she is superior to the others in the group who do not have them.

During the pray-overs the reaction of the afflicted was typical of a possession we have encountered in other cases --screaming, using cuss words and cursing. While in trance state the afflicted knows what is being done to her even though her eyes were closed. She correctly predicted what Fr. Jocis was about to do. I was the one praying for her, but Fr. Jocis and the other lay-volunteers were applying sacramentals on some parts of the body. She accused her husband, who was with her during the pray-overs, with infidelity. She would speak in tongues while I was saying the prayers. The words were unintelligible to us and hence was simply distracting. She then would accuse herself with some sins. I commanded her to be silent. And she responded nonchalantly: "Okay." She would stick her tongue in-and-out and hiss like a snake. Although one of the lay-volunteers was restraining her, it was clear that although she was seated her body movement was slithering. At many instances she threw up foamy thick liquid but they were just minor ones, nothing major. The prayer lasted for more than two hours but nothing much was accomplished. Something was holding her up, or holding the demon in her life.

During the discernment period, the lay volunteers who were given the gift of discernment of spirits during the pray-over were all unanimous in describing that they saw a woman controlling her. We initially thought that perhaps it was the mother. And so we instructed her to pray for her mom and offer a prayer of forgiveness for her. We also instructed her to stop going to the prayer group she used to belong to as it was pretty clear to us that part of her spiritual opening to the demonic came from that group. She promised she would not longer join them.

A few weeks after another pray-over was done. But it was pretty much like the first one. All the reactions were similar. It took us two hours of continuous prayer to get her out of a trance-state. There was something holding the demon it was clear. But what would it be? After the pray-over the second time around, she said she feels very light and relieved. We were glad that she was feeling better. But we in the team knew that we would need a few more sessions to fully root out the unclean spirit.

We have not heard much from her for a few months. But when an update came, it did not come from her but from somebody else close to her, we at AMOE were truly disappointed and sad. Apparently, she went back to her old pseudo-catholic prayer group. She was now the star of the group teaching them what we were doing, how we cast out unclean spirits, how do we counsel and what we counsel. This was a clear betrayal for us. We wanted to help her but she wanted fame and approval or recognition from her leader. Indeed she was possessed but now we knew who the woman was that the lay-volunteers saw during the discernment. It was their leader who wanted to know what we do so that she could boast that she is a better "exorcist" that the exorcist of AMOE. The leader knew that we have weakened the evil spirit, so she thought that when she would pray over her a prayer of deliverance, she would be able to cast it out. Then she would take the credit of being the one who liberated her.

But the Lord disappoints the intentions of foul and treacherous people. Just as He frustrated the ambitions of Lucifer. Nothing came out of the treachery except that she is now again possessed and in a pitiful state. She is sending signals to AMOE to pray-over her again. But she had to set her heart straight first. Her treachery is her undoing. May the Lord be merciful to her and her group.