him cause him to ratifie it by putting his paw to it if he can When he hath so done and that he finds the Devil ready to march Iet the Priest be sure not to give him leave till he hath got an absolute promise from him to take all his ragged Regiment with him and never to return again Above all things let the Priest be careful never to let the Devil rest a quiet minute but be sure to worry him with continual importunity reading and imperious Commands and let him never enter into disputes with him or fall to talk of stories with him especially amorous for by that means the Priest wastes his Spirits and the Devil recovers his strength The ninth Document IN the ninth place let the Priest beware of exorcising the Devil in private Houses but in the Church or some other place dedicated to God or some Saint For such are the Houses of Prayer But in private Houses the Priest will meet with Women whose company is to be avoided with all care imaginable by all Exorcisers lest they fall into the snare of the Devil As for the time the work of Exorcising may be performed upon any day but the better day the better deed therefore Our Lady-day Christmas-day Easter-day Whitsunday the several Holy days dedicated to the Apostles and their Eves are most proper And for the time of the day betimes in the morning after early Mattins Thus you see as cunning as the Devil is he may meet with his match Set a Knave to catch a Knave is a Proverb will never be out of date Were it not better then for the Devil to turn Lutheran than thus to lye at the lash of these merciless Exorcisers who command him with such petty Formalities If it may not rather be thought that he gives way now and then to these little pieces of Superstition that they may the more easily delude greater numbers The Conjurers Rubrick The First Exorcism AND now the Exorciser being thus instructed has no more to do but to prepare himself by Confession of his sins three days fasting and humbling himself before God Which done he shall go to the Church with the party possessed and there being clad in all the Formalities of his Order and Degree and kneeling before the Holy Altar he shall make the sign of the Cross upon his Forehead his Mouth and his Breast and then say as follows Let the sign of the Cross be upon my Forehead the Word of Christ in my Mouth the Arms of Christ in my Breast By the sign of the Cross defend us O Lord from our enemies Let the power of the Father strengthen me the wisdom of the Son teach me and the love of the Holy Spirit enlighten me Blessed be the day and hour wherein our Lord Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin MARY In the Name of the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost Amen May the Virgin MARY with her holy Off-spring bless us Then shall the Priest sign the party possessed with the sign of the Cross upon the Forehead Breast and Mouth saying The power of the Father comfort thee the wisdom of the Son teach thee the love of the Holy Ghost enlighten thee Blessed be the day and hour wherein our Lord Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary In the Name of the Father the Son and Holy Ghost Amen After this say the whole Consiteor quite thorow and give Confession to the possessed party and the standers by saying Be merciful c. Indulgence and Absolution c. These you are to understand are parts of the Mass. Then pronounce the following Commands I command you O Devils who came to the assistance of those Devils that vex this Creature of God in the Name of the Sacred Trinity the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost and under the penalty of Excommunication and under the penalty of being plunged into the Lake of Fire and Sulphur and of being condemned to the Lake of Fire and Sulphur for a thousand years that you give no farther aid or assistance to those Devils that vex the body of this Creature of God but that you depart immediately to the places appointed for you by God Behold the Cross of the Lord fly Mankind's enemies hence the Lion of the Tribe of Juda the Root of David has overcome I also command you O Devils who vex this Creature of God that departing from his body you leave him free without any harm or detriment either to his body or Soul Also I command all your Enemies in the Name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost that they compel you to yield obedience to my Orders and Commands And under the same penalties I command you that you neither say or do any thing which may displease either those who are present or absent but what shall be demanded by me In the Name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost Amen Then the Priest binding his Stole to the neck of the possessed party shall say O all you most abominable Spirits and Rebels to God I conjure adjure call to call forth compel constrain defy and duel ye in the Name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost and by the most powerful Name of God Eloi in whatever part of this man ye are I exorcise Thee and adjure You O unclean Spirits and command Ye by the authority which belongs to me by the power of God and the most wise Creator who created all things and keeps you under his Power from which you are not able to fly that ye take immediate notice of the words and power of my Conjuration and that you confess your selves vanquished by the command laid upon ye that ye do not now presume to depart from this Creature of God and Image of Christ without absolute leave given by my command and that you be thereby bound and chained seeing that as the Saints of God bound the Devils in chains so I bind you with that same Stole of gladsomness In the Name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost Amen Before he bid him be gone now he commands him to stay What must he neither stay nor go No marry must he there 's something more to be done that will make him remember possessing of Mankind as long as he lives as thus Then the Priest putting his hands upon the Head of the Demoniac shall say Let the power of the Devil be extinguished in Thee by the imposition of our hands yea by the Invocation of all the Saints Archangels Angels Patriarchs Prophets Apostles Martyrs Confessors Virgins and all the Saints together Amen Behold the Conjurers Posse Comitatus And must the Devil stay till it be raised upon him There 's no remedy He is bound with three knots and all the Devils in Hell can't help him Well go on then Then shall the Priest say the following words signing the Demoniac with the sign of the Cross upon the Forehead which he shall always observe
Let this blessing be upon this place and upon all that dwell therein Or thus HEar us O holy Father Omnipotent and Eternal god that whatever Evil Spirits or mischievous Devils be in this house they may be expelled through the Authority of thy Name Then rehearse the several Psalms In my affliction I cryed c. I lifted up my eyes to the mountains To thee I lifted up my eyes Concluding with a Gloria Patri then water the House and sprinkle the People with Holy Water Then say Kyrie Eleyson c. Pater noster And lead us not into temptation Resp. But deliver us from evil Vers. Lord hear our prayer Resp. And let our cry come unto thee Vers. The Lord be with us Resp. And with thy Spirit Then pray MErcifully O Lord enter into this thy House that no malice or wickedness of the Devil may reign therein Then throwing Holy Water about the House as before repeat the following Psalms They who trust in the Lord. Unless the Lord build the house Blessed are they that fear the Lord. Then Kyrse Eleyson c. and what follows as before Then cast the Holy Water as before and read the following Psalms Out of the deep c. Remember David Lord c. Behold how good and joyful c. Then Kyrie Eleyson c. and what follows as above This profusion of Holy Water is done out of a belief that Devils are Cats as Cats are supposed to be Devils and that neither can endure to wet their feet I will not trouble my self whether Cats be Devils or Devils Cats but sure it can never be that the Devil should be so terribly afraid of Holy Water when he stands in so much need of a Cooler Men that are not half so hot as he nor come out of half so hot a place drink Snow in their Wine and shall the Devil be afraid of a little cold water Afterwards read the following Gospels in the principal parts of the House When Christ was born in Bethlehem of Juda the Wise-men came from c. And this other At that time the Angel gabriel c. And In that time Jesus went to Jericho and behold a man whose name was Zacheus c. Afterwards bless the Incense after this manner By the Intercession of the blessed Archangel St. Michael who stands at the Altar of Incense and of all his Elect vouchsafe O God to bless this Incense and accept it as an Odor of sweetness Vers. Lord be merciful unto us Resp. And shew us thy salvation Vers. Lord hear our prayer Resp. And let our cry come unto thee Vers. The Lord be with you Resp. And with thy Spirit Then sign the House and all that dwell in it saying at the same time Lord set the sign of Security upon this House and suffer not the destroying Angel to enter in In the Name c. Thus you shall find in Homer and Ovid's Art of Wooing that the Heathens consecrated their Carousing Bowls with Sulphur and the Old women charmed the young peoples Beds with Sulphur and Eggs. If a man had committed any Villany or Murder he was purified by washing his hands in the blood of a Pig And for the lustration or purification of any place they used to fume the said place with the smoke of burnt Brimstone at what time it was the custom to cast a quantity of Salt into a Vessel of Water and with an Olive-branch or any other convenient bough to sprinkle the room or field with the said water as now the Priests water haunted Houses with Holy Water which sprinkling was to be done three times together Thus you find in Ovid's Metamorphosis that Juno returning from Earth to Heaven being the Devil of a Scold was sprinkled three times with water by the Rainbow to fetch the Devil out of her before Jupiter would admit her into his presence fearing a Peal in his Ears They also said several Prayers likewise at the same time as our Priests do For so says Ovid He sprinkled his Locks with Laurel dipped in water and then poured forth his earnest prayers with usual zeal And thus Heathens taught our Popish Priest to purifie haunted Houses and charm the Devil A Most terrible Thundring EXORCISM TO Expel the Devil not only out of Men but Women Which if a Man could be assured of were worth its weight in Gold THE Exorcist coming to eject the Devil must in the first place sign himself with the sign of the Cross and say In the Name of the Father c. Then let him go to the Party possessed and sprinkle him with Holy Water saying at the same time Through the Sprinkling of this Water with the help of God let the Evil Spirit depart from thee and let the power of the Holy Ghost enter and remain with thee for now is the Judgment of this World now shall the Prince of this World be cast forth In the Name c. Pointing to the Body of Christ in the Cup or in the Shrine the Priest must say these words O wicked Spirit here is true Piety Here is he who suffered for our Salvation Now faith he shall the Prince of this World be cast forth This is that Body which was taken from the Body of the Virgin which was stretched out upon the Cross which lay in the Grave which rose from Death and which ascended into Heaven in the sight of his Disciples by the terrible Power of this Majesty I command thee wicked Devil to depart from this Image of God to fly from it and never more to molest it But the Devil 's a true Jailor he seldom takes notice of the first Ha Cor And therefore the Exorcist must fall to his Prayers and say Vers. Our help is in the Lord. Resp. Who made Heaven and Earth Vers. Lord shew us thy mercy Resp. And grant us thy Salvation Vers. Lord hear our crys Resp. And let our cry come unto thee Then follow the Prayers O Eternal and Omnipotent God who mad'st Heaven and Earth and all that therein is save and deliver this thy Servant from these Evil Spirits and from all Diabolical Power that all men may know how great is thy mercy and how infinite is thy power The second Prayer LOrd Jesus Christ Son of the living God free this thy Servant from all his languishings and from all the disturbances of Ghosts and Evil Spirits through thy most holy compassion The God Sabaoth the God Emmanuel the God Elohim the God Agla free and deliver him by virtue of the Prayers and Merits of the blessed Virgin Mary thy Mother and of all the Saints and by virtue of the Intercession of the blessed Michael the Archangel and all the Angels of St. John Baptist and the holy Apostles Peter Paul Andrew James John Thomas James Philip Bartholomew Simon Thaddeus Barnaby and all the rest of the He-Saints and She-Saints by the Mediation of the Cherubims and Seraphims who continually praise thee saying Holy
Holy Holy Lord God of Sabaoth Father Omnipotent who desirest the Salvation of all Mankind and that they should attain to the knowledge of thee be merciful to this thy Servant a Sinner and hear my prayer which I now pour out before thee in the behalf of this poor Creature who is molested by the Devil and flies to thy compassion Here the Exorcist rising up and laying his hand upon the Head of the Demoniac shall proceed and say Let all power of the Devil be extinguished in thee through the Imposition of our Hands as also by virtue of our Invocation of all the Saints Angels Archangels Patriarchs Prophets Apostles Martyrs Confessors and Holy Virgins Then read the following words out of St. Matthew In those days Jesus was led by the Spirit into the Wilderness to be tempted c. Then Vers. The Lord be with you Resp. And with thy Spirit Then Pray VIsit O Lord we beseech thee this Habitation and Creature of thine and remove far away from him all the snares and assaults of the Devil Let thy Angels Michael Raphael and Gabriel dwell therein to preserve it in peace and from all unclean Spirits and let thy blessing be always upon us Let the Exorcist here begin to conjure the Devils abiding in the body to depart But let him take heed of answering to any words of theirs without urgent necessity For that they being subtle and deceiving Spirits will seek all ways to entrap the Exorcist and hinder the progress of his Art and many time ignominiously threaten the Exorcist and command him to let them alone therefore let the Exorcist boldly proceed and say The Conjuration I Conjure ye O accursed Devils abiding in this body from whatever part of the world ye come to whom Power is given by God over this Creature of God and all you Ethereal Powers and Infernal Spirits and all you general and special sorts of evil Demons of whatsoever kind ye are or whether sent from the East or from any other point of the Compass I conjure ye all I say by the Power of God the Father by the Wisdom of God the Son and the virtual Efficacy of God the Son by virtue of the Authority granted me by our Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth who was crucified Son of the most Potent Creator who made all things out of nothing that ye may not have any power of keeping silence or of abiding or remaining in this Creature of God But I constrain and command you whether ye will or no that laying aside all fallacy fraud or deceit you declare unto me your Names and through the Merits of the Virgin Mary and all the Saints I discharge all you unclean and wicked Spirits from this Body and send you to the lowest depths of the profound Abyss Therefore be gone accursed into everlasting fire prepared for ye and all your Companions And if ye rebel or prove contumacious and disobedient I again by the same Authority conjure constrain and command all the Devils your Enemies all the Princes in Hell and all the Infernal Spirits to come and punish and torment and moreover to carry ye away in the Name of Jesus to the aforesaid place of infernal Torture and there to chain you fast by these most holy Names of God El Elion Eloa Sabaoth Elohim Eserejeh Adonai Jehova Jah Tetragrammaton Sadai Messias Hagios Ischyros Ho Theos Athanatos Soter Emmanuel Agla and Jesus who is Alpha and Omega send ye headlong into the deepest depth of the Abyss to the end that from henceforth ye may have no power to abide remain or inhabit in this Creature of God c. and Image of Christ nor that you take up or possess this place or any other place through the virtue and by the virtue of the aforesaid Names And let the Angel Michael bind ye in the depth of the Abyss This done read the following words out of Luke And he was casting out a Devil c. concluding with a Laus tibi Christe Then go on with the following words of St. Matthew Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the Wilderness c. Then pray again after this manner OMnipotent Lord God who didft create all things by thy Word who wert from the beginning before any Images were made or Prayers ever said Preserve us and confirm the work which thou hast wrought in us Stretch forth unto us thy right hand and preserve and defend us thy unworthy Servants from all adversity and send thy Angels from Heaven to preserve strengthen help and corroborate us and this thy Creature and to render us more stout and couragious by virtue of thy Names of Jehova Agla El Adonai Sadai Tetragrammaton Elohim Most holy and merciful God be thou our Protector and Defender and our buckler of defence For thou art God alone and there is no other besides thee Upon the strength of which Prayer follows a swinging Conjuration I Conjure you O Devils and unclean Spirits from all parts of the World to whom power has been given to hurt this Creature of God c. and all you Aereal Spirits and Powers Infernal Princes and all you special and general sorts of Devils of what sort or condition soever sent from the South or any other point of the Compass by the Father Son and Holy Ghost and by virtue of the Function and Authority by which I act from crucified Christ Jesus of Nazareth Son of the living God and most potent Creator who created me and you and all the Creatures of nothing by all this I say I conjure ye O Devils that ye pretend to have no farther power or authority to stay or abide in this Creature c. For that I sentence ye by virtue of the Sentence given by the most high Creator I constrain compel and command ye that laying aside all fraud fallacy and deceit you tell me directly your Names that we may be able to find out and know your Names certainly truly and without any hesitation or Equivocation And by the same authority and by virtue of the same Sentence I discharge you from this Body and send every one of you Devils aforesaid to the bottom of the Abyss into eternal fire And therefore go ye cursed into eternal fire prepared for you and your servants for that by virtue of these most holy Names I send you to the bottom of the Abyss Hel Heloim Eloa Sabaoth Elion Esereheje Adonai Jehova Jah Tetragrammaton Sadai Messias Hagios Ischyros Otheos Athanatos Soter Emmanuel Agla Jesus Alpha and Omega I send you to the bottom of the Abyss into eternal Fire that ye may not have any longer power or pretence of staying abiding or inhabiting in this Creature of God and Image of Christ nor in this place nor in any other place nor in any other Creature by and through the virtue of the Names abovewrit And let the Angel Gabriel bind ye in the depth of the Abyss by virtue of the
be betrayed by Judas with a kiss and as a Lamb to be led to the slaughter to be accused by false witnesses and to be nailed to the Cross to be despised and spit upon and crowned with Thorns to be mocked with Gall and Vinegar to be wounded with a Lance and crucified between two Thieves by these thy most holy Sufferings which I most unworthy and miserable sinner lay hold of and by thy holy Cross I beseech thee that thou wouldst not look upon my sins nor the sins of this thy Creature but according to the multitude of thy Mercy free him from the Devil that vexes him And grant to me thy unworthy servant power that I may expel the Evil Spirits that vex him to the bottom of the Abyss by virtue of thy most holy Words Then follows Ecce Crucem c. Then again The Cross is good the Cross is worthy the wood above all woods By the sign of this Cross all Evil is repelled Then a little scrap of Rhyme Lest they seduce the mind Get Fantomes all behind For no stone must be left unturn'd against the Devil whether Rhyme or Reason Sense or Nonsence Then Ecce Crucem Domini c. Then an Ejaculation or two as thus Hear my prayer O Lord and let my cry come unto thee Bow down thine ear to the voice of my supplication Be my tower of defence against all evil spirits Let them be as the wheel or as chaff before the wind Then follows another Prayer OMnipotent Lord God the Author of invincible Power King of an insuperable Empire always magnificently triumphing who dost potently suppress the power of hostile Domination who didst expel Lucifer and his Angels from Heaven for their pride and rebellion who desirest not the death of a sinner nor the destruction of those that die be merciful to this thy Creature N not regarding his sins but thy own clemency and free him from all the snares of Evil Spirits wherein he is daily intangled and from all trouble and vexation wherewith he is infested and as thou didst free Mary Magdalen from seven unclean Spirits and the daughter of the Canaanite from the vexation of the Devil so now vouchsafe to free thy Creature N from all those Evil Spirits that infest him and as thou didst free Jonas from the Whale's belly Susanna from false accusation and the Three Children from the fiery Furnace Daniel from the Lions den and Joseph from Pharaoh's prison so now vouchsafe to free this thy Creature N redeemed with the Blood of thy Son and washed with the Water of Baptism from all vexation of Evil Spirits and Devils And as thou didst give power to thy Apostles over Evil Spirits to cast them out of the bodies of men so now grant to thy unworthy servant regenerate by Baptism and consecrated to thy Holy Name by the gift of thy Grace to put to flight all malignant Spirits possessing this poor Creature N by virtue of thy Power and the Invocation of thy Holy Name Amen Then Ecce Crucem c. Then another short Prayer OMnipotent Eternal God Father of our Lord Jesus Christ we thy Suppliants beseech thee that thou wouldst command these Evil Spirits that possess thy servant N to depart and be gone and to free him because he believes in his true Saviour our Lord Jesu Christ thy Son who liveth and reigneth with thee world without end Amen Then Ecce Crucem c. again All 's well that ends well says the Proverb but it does not thence follow that all 's well that begins well These Conjurers borrow their first Positions from very good Prayers but then they do so blind 'um with their superstitious admiration of the Cross that it utterly spoils all again There 's nothing to be done without the Cross The Cross is all in all The Cross is this and the Cross is that as if the Cross were more to be adored than the person who was crucified upon the Wood. Ecce Crucem is the burden of their Song and the Chorus to their Prayers And then again what an impertinent Dunce was this Conjurer to pray so zealously to God and the Cross to command the Devils departure when he knew how hard he had tied his Nose to the Grindstone with his Cool in three knots and had commanded him not to stir till he himself should give him leave But stay a little their Devilships have not been whipped about the Pig-market enough yet and therefore the Conjurer proceeds Here the Priest rises from his Prayers and before he begins to adjure the Devils he must Exorcise the Party possessed after this manner The EXORCISM I Exorcise thee N in the Name of the Father Omnipotent and in the Name of Jesus Christ his Son and in the power of the Holy Ghost that thou become a clean holy and purified Vessel from all spot of iniquity and from all Witchcrafts Incantations Contracts Signatures and Actions done and committed in or about thy body Farther also I the unworthy servant of God though a sinner by the Authority to me committed in the Name of the said Omnipotent God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ and in the power of the Holy Ghost dissolve all those Ties Ligatures and evil Actions and command thee most accursed Devil that thou presume no longer to have power in this body from the sole of the foot to the crown of the head but that thou depart with all thy Witchcrafts and Incantations And all this through him that shall come to judge the quick and the dead and the world by fire Amen Then must be said this Prayer GOD of pity and compassion who according to the multitude of thy mercies correctest whom thou lovest we invoke thee O Lord that thou wouldst be pleased to grant thy Grace to thy Servant N who suffers weakness of his members in his body and that what is corrupted by earthly frailty or disordered by diabolical fraud thou wouldst unite to the Body of thy Church Pity his crys have pity on his tears and admit him to the Sacrament of thy Reconciliation having no other confidence than in thy mercy through Jesus Christ. A very good Prayer were it upon a better occasion and not accompanied with the following piece of Superstition For now the party possessed must be washed with a showre of Holy Water and then follows the ensuing Exorcism I Exorcise thee N weak in body yet regenerate by the Water of Baptism by the living God by the true God by the holy God by the God who redeemed thee with his most precious Blood that thou become a man exorcised that all fancy and fraud of diabolical wickedness may depart from thee and every adjured unclean Spirit through him who shall come to judge the quick and the dead Then this short Ejaculation O God who governest thy handy work with a pious care incline thine ear to our supplications and look upon thy servant N labouring under extreme weakness of body Visit
Who made Heaven and Earth The Exorcism of Salt I Exorcise thee O thou Creature Salt bythe living God by the true God by the holy God by the God who commanded thee to be thrown into the Water by Elisha the Prophet that thou mayst become Salt Exorcised to the Salvation of Believers and mayst be to all that take thee health of body and soul and to the end that all wickedness and subtilty of Diabolical fraud and every unciean Spirit conjured by him that shall come to judge the quick and the dead may avoid the place where-ever thou shalt be strewed The Prayer OMnipotent Eternal God we humbly implore thy insinite Clemency and Goodness that thou wouldst be pleased to bless and sanctisie this Creature Salt which thou hast given to the Use of Mankind that it may be health of body and mind to all that take it and that whatever is touched or strewed with it may be free from all uncleanness and corruption mortal or spiritual What would not our Butchers give for this Salt to preserve their Meat that lies upon their hands in Summer not a Fly would dare to blow upon their Stalls The Exorcism of Water I Exorcise thee O Creature Water in the Name c. that thou mayst become Water exorcised to expel all Power of the Enemy and to root out and supplant the Enemy himself with all his Apostate Angels through the Power of Him who shall come to judge the quick and the dead The Prayer THou who hast made Water the substance of some of our Sacraments be propitious to our Invocations and to this Element prepared by many purifications that this Water may be effectual to the casting out of Devils and expelling noxious diseases and that in whatever Houses or places it shall be sprinkled they may be free from all uncleanness from all harm from all corrupt and pestilent Air from all the snares of the lurking Enemy and that nothing offensive or that may disturb the quiet and health of the Inhabitants may presume to approach the sprinklings of this Water Let the Operators have a care here 's a Plot upon the Queen of Hungary's Rosemary flowers and all the Book-sellers Scurvygrass Glasses Quaere whether the French disease be a Devil or no if it be here 's a present Expulsion to cure the Patient The Salt and the Water thus far prepared the Salt must be put into the Water in the form of a Cross and so both mixed together of each q. s. the Priest at the same time saying Versicle The Lord be with you Respons And with thy Spirit After which must be said the following Prayer THou who suppressest the power of Satanical dominion who subduest the fury of the roaring Lion we trembling and suppliant implore and beseech thee to look upon these thy Creatures of Salt and Water thus mixed together and to sanctifie them with the dew of thy pity that where-ever they shall be sprinkled they may be prevalently efficacious to expel all unclean Spirits and Terror of the venomous Serpent A surpassing piece of Magic which if it will not prevail against the Devil may be of excellent use to expel Worms out of young Children Therefore put it up in a clean Vessel and reserve it for use A most Approved Benediction of Oyl against all sorts of Incantations Sorceries Diabolical Ligaments and Contracts and of all evil Operations of the Devil upon the Body of Man Which Receipt is by some ascribed to St. Cyprian As also the manner of using the said Oyl The Priest must have a large Vessel of Oyl ready and then putting on his Sacerdotal Robes it behoves him to bless it in this manner In the Name c. Amen Vers. Our help is in the Lord. Resp. Who made Heaven and Earth Vers. Lord shew us thy Mercy Resp. And grant us thy Salvation Vers. Lord be thou our Helper Resp. And for the Glory of thy Name preserve us Vers. Let not the Enemy prevail against us Resp. Nor let the Son of Iniquity approach to hurt us Vers. Lord shew thy mercy to us Resp. As we do put our trust in thee Why but two Ejaculations apiece for Water and Salt and ten for the Consecration of Oyl The reason 's plain Oyl is ten times more worthy than Water and will stick ten times longer upon the Devil's Skirts therefore Oyl requires ten times more devotion than Water and it is requisite that there should be a distinction and difference in the Formalities of pious Cheats The EXORCISM I Exorcise thee unclean Spirit every assault of Satan and every evil Apparition in the Name c. that ye depart from this Oyl that it may be an efficacious spiritual Diet-drink to cleanse and cure the Infirm to the end the Holy Spirit may dwell in them through God the Father and his most beloved Son Jesus Christ who shall judge the quick and the dead and the World by fire Amen The Prayer O God send down thy Holy Spirit upon this Oyl which thou hast produced from green wood for the refreshment of mind and body that through thy blessing it may be to whoever touches it the preservation of mind and body by evacuating all melancholy humors all pains all infirmities and distempers of mind and body with which thou hast therefore anointed Kings Prophets and Martyrs let it be blessed in the Bowels of thy Servants in the Name c. who liveth and reigneth c. Now what is this Oyl a Quart In truth I can't tell dear enough you may be sure for you see 't is got into Hucksters hands Here the Priest having send for the Demoniac let him lay his hands upon the Party possessed and then adjure the Devil in this manner The Adjuration I Adjure thee O Satan and all Evil Spirits by the Name of the living true and holy God by the Name and Merits of the Virgin Mary by the Power of all the Celestial Spirits and the Nine Celestial Hierarchies to thy confusion and the augmentation of thy torments to be increased an hundred-fold from day to day to the last day of Judgment if thou dost not depart accursed Satan from this same Servant of God By him that shall come to judge the quick and the dead c. The Conjuration AGain I conjure thee O Satan to remove out of this same person both thy own and all malignant Fascination Sorceries infirmities and pains of body and mind by the words of the foregoing Adjuration cursed be thy name O Satan and thy works accursed and confounded to Eternity Cursed be thou by the Omnipotent God and by me through the power committed to me not only in Baptism and the administration of other Sacraments but also by the administration of the real Body and Blood of Christ by the authority of the blessed Apostles Peter and Paul and if ye prove rebellious contumacious and disobedient I conjure against thee and against ye all all the infernal Spirits to drag ye forth
them and that thou answer me the Truth the whole Truth and nothing but the Truth to all such Questions as shall- be by me demanded and that then by the Merits of all the He Saints and She Saints that at my command thou depart without delay from this Servant of God without presuming to give molestation vexation or trouble to any person whatsoever and betake thy self to the internal Abyss thence never to return till the day of Judgment This done repeat the old Ecce Crucem c. behold the Cross of God fly Mankind's Adversaries the Lion of the Tribe of Juda the Root of David has overcome In this last Exorcism the Exorcist you see not only makes use of all the Saints from the beginning of the World to his own time and as it were plays them against the Devil at the stake but gives the Evil Spirit particular Reasons why he ought to obey them more than others Only one would think that the Exorcist forgot himself in leaving out one particular Saint who perhaps would have been more terrible to him than all the rest that is to say St. Dunstan and the reason is not because he was delivered from the Lions Den but because he took the Devil by the Nose with a red-hot pair of Tonges He forgot also to add to those words Ecce Crucem c. Ecce Forcipes c. However believing he has pretty well teaz'd his Satanical patience the Exorcist grows bold and falls to examine the Devil so strictly about the Interrogatories above-mentioned that the severest Justice of Peace of 'um all in Quorum could not act more haughtily particularly he demands of him sowrely what he intends to do whether he intends to be gone or no and when Or if not what course he intends to take But to this the Devil answers him only with a Bow and therefore he proceeds after the following manner The EXORCISM OLD Serpent I conjure thee by the Judge of the quick and the dead by the Creator of the World and him that has power to cast thee headlong into Gehennah that thou depart from this same Servant of God who flies for succour to the Church and that thou make haste to be gone I adjure thee not by my own weakness but by the power of the Holy Ghost to depart from this same Servant of God whom Christ created in his likeness Give way not to me but to the Minister of Christ. His power enforces thee who being fixed to the Cross subdued thee under his feet Tremble at his power who recovered the Souls of the Just from the Infernal Wailings Let the body of man be a terror to thee and be afraid of the Image of God Make therefore no longer resistance but depart with speed from this man since it has pleased God to make him his Habitation and do not think me to be contemned because thou knowest me to be a Sinner The Holy Ghost commands thee The Faith of the Apostles Peter and Paul and the rest of the Apostles commands thee The Blood of the Martyrs commands thee The Sacrament of the Cross commands thee The Word made flesh commands thee Avoid Transgressor out Seducer full of deceit and fraud the Enemy of Truth Give way most cruel Devil give way impious Devil give way to Christ who has despoiled thee and destroyed thy Kingdom who vanquished thee and bound thee in chains and cast thee into utter darkness there to be tormented eternally with all thy Angels Darest thou mutter Darest thou rashly delay Guilty before God whose Statutes thou hast transgrest Guilty before Christ his Son whom thou didst boldly presume to tempt and crucifie Guilty before all Mankind whom thy perswasions allured to taste the Fruit of death I conjure thee therefore accursed Dragon in the Name of the immaculate Lamb who walks upon the Asp and Basilisk and treads upon the Lion and the Dragon to depart from this man and from the Church of God Tremble and fly dreading his Name at which the Infernal Spirits tremble to whom the Powers of Heaven are subjected and whom the Cherubims and Seraphims incessantly praise Obey Jesus of Nazareth who when thou contemnedst his Disciple cast thee raging and tearing out of the Man in whose presence when thou wert cast out thou durst not so much as touch the Herd of Swine without his leave Therefore now thus conjured depart from this man whom he has formed 'T is a dangerous thing to resist Christ. 'T is a dangerous thing to wince against the pricks For the longer thou delayst the greater will be thy punishment for thou contemnest not Man but the Lord of the quick and the dead who shall come to judge the quick and the dead and the World by fire Amen Now Monsieur Devil will ye go or stay Does not your heart ake If you delay a minute longer here 's one little tickling Touch for ye more The CONJURATION AGain and again I conjure thee O Devil by him who gave power to his Disciples to give light to the blind to cleanse the leprosie to raise the dead and cure all diseases I conjure thee by him who restored the first man by the wood of the Cross who gave sight to the blind and raised up Lazarus from the grave who cured all diseases and destroyed the Magical fictions of Jannes and Jambres and by this Exorcism and by all the former Conjurations and holy Words and Offices which are celebrated over the World by all these I command thee where-ever thou art or wert that thou vanish away forthwith like smoke and that thou retire to some Desart or to the deep Abyss without doing harm to any one and that thou never more return In the Name of the Father c. Ecce Crucem c. Amen This Sparring Blow has done the business Exit Diabolus Exit Exorcista And thus the Popish Vulgar are abused by a company of idle Drones who having nothing else to do in their Sties of Laziness and Superstition make it their business by such figments as these to maintain their Credit among the Ignorant Neither is the Devil such a Fool to be against his own profit for by this means he seduces thousands and increases his Harvest Else Reason could never believe the Devil to be such a Sot to be led by the Nose by his own Servants He himself knows too well how to play the Hypocrite and cannot be thought to be afraid of godly Words and pious Sentences who makes use of them so often But for Sport's sake let us see a little more of their Trumpery For this is certain the more you see the worse you 'l like Most Efficacious REMEDIES For the Expelling EVIL SPIRITS And for the clearing Bodies possessed from Incantations and Sorceries with their Benedictions The Method how to make Holy Water THE Priest being habited in his Sacerdotal Ornaments or with his Stole must say these words Vers. Our help is in the Name of the Lord. Resp.
cast out Devils And Adjuration or charging by an Oath we find in the fifth of Numbers by which the Woman was not adjured by the Priest to the end he might cast out Devils out of her only he wished her good or evil as she had behaved her self in the point of Chastity or Uncleanness upon which he charged her with an Oath and either absolved or cursed her Joshua also adjured Achan not to cast out the Devil out of him but to make him confess the concealment of the Spoils Some are of Opinion however That David exorcised Saul which is not to be believed For he only played upon his Harp before him and the Songs he sang were only the Praises of God But that he made no use of Exorcisms may be confirmed from hence first for that he did not perfectly cure Saul only when David play'd Saul was refreshed and the Evil Spirit departed for a time Neither did David use any form of Conjuration but only certain Musical Verses which were delightful to the ear and therefore not unfit to recreate the heavy Hypochondriacal humor of Saul As for the Jews it is plain there were certain Pretenders to Exorcism among them as appears by the twelfth of Matthew If I by Beelzebub cast out Devils by whom do your sons cast them out By which words your sons St. Jerome understands certain Exorcists that ran about the Country conjuring unclean Spirits in the Name of God But it does not hence follow that the Pope has power to erect Colledges and Societies of Exorcists as if it were in the power of man to bind and tye the Grace of God to Institutions and humane Elections Afterwards Christ renewed this power of casting out Devils and was himself the Head and Chief of those that did and acted with great Command and Authority against Unclean Spirits He also bequeathed this Gift to his Disciples who nevertheless were not always obeyed by those Evil Spirits as appears by the seventeenth of Matthew and Christ tells them the reason why because of their unbelief How then can these Popish Priests and Exorcists presume to such a miraculous Gift who give greater credit to fictitious Saints and Images than to that Jesus in whose only Name they ought to perform that great work which they pretend to undertake How long then this Gift of adjuring Evil Spirits remained in the Church is uncertain Justin Martyr who lived in the time of Antoninus Pius affirms That several Christians performed great Cures of this nature which other Enchanters Exorcists and Charmers could not do and Tertullian that the same Gift of expelling Devils continued in the time of Severus and numbers himself among the rest but he adds withal We cast out Devils not for reward or hire as the Popish Exorcists do meerly to pick the pockets of the deluded people But though it be not so clear how long this great Gift continued in the Church most certain it is that Superstition and Prophaneness soon trod upon the heels of primitive Piety and the Devil tyred and curbed with the commands of entire Sanctity soon found out a way to rid himself out of those bonds and to be at more liberty Therefore St. Austin tells us of a certain Roman Tribune in his time that having his House haunted was presented by his Friend with a piece of the Earth taken from the Grave where Christ was buried and out of which he rose again which the Tribune hung up in his Bed-Chamber to terrifie the Devil Afterwards when the ancient Bishops and Parochial Priests were so far from correcting these Errors that as they call it out of a good intention they rather increased and added to them they augmented to a prodigious number And then it was that the mercenary Exorcisers minding more their profit than the good of the people not only called upon Christ but invoked an hundred sorts of Saints not minding the saying of St. Paul How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed But the Popish Exorcisers call upon the Saints in whom they believe how then shall they call upon Christ in whom they do not believe while they adore the Saved before the Saviour Others believed the mumbling of Ave Mary to be of special force against the Devil whenas it is certain that that Angelical Salutation was no Prayer but an Angelical relation of the happy Tidings which he brought the Virgin for so the following words full of Grace explain denoting that God had at that time conferred his Grace upon her and not that she is the Fountain of Grace as the Papists would thence collect Now there is a great difference between the person that confers the favour and the person upon whom the favour is conferred But now adays the Papists all implore the Virgin Mary as expecting from her more favour and assistance than from Christ himself Afterwards as Superstition increased they fell to exorcising and consecrating Water Salt Herbs Candles and an hundred more such sort of things and gave them to silly people to keep in their houses as Preservatives against the Devil But the Sign of the Cross out-did all so that about the year 1098. when the Cestertian Order first begun to appear in the World several Armies being seen in the Air near Wormes for many nights and days together and at such a certain time being observed to retire to a Mountain not far distant and there to vanish a certain Cestertian Monk of Limburgh was resolved to know their business To which purpose he first fortified and armed himself and his Companions with the Sign of the Holy Cross and so going to the Mountain when they appeared again he conjured and adjured them in the Name of the holy Trinity so terribly that one of the Troop made answer That they were the Souls of Souldiers that had been slain in or near that place some time before The Monk asked them Whether they expected any assistance or succour from men The Spirit answered Yes by their Fasting and Prayers but more especially by the Oblation of the Body and Blood of Christ and so saying the whole Host cryed out three times Orate pro nobis Pray for us And thus you see the great Virtue of the holy Cross and a Popish Tale to confirm it And thousands there are at this day who deceived by their Priests most stedfastly believe That if they do but sign their Foreheads with the Sign of the Cross the Devil has no power to come near them nor to hurt them From whence it is apparent That in the primitive Times for the Confirmation of the Divine Truth of the Gospel there was a heavenly Bequest to several holy Persons to excel in Miracles who by the Imposition of hands did deliver many Demoniacs from the vexation of Evil Spirits Which extraordinary Gift then ceased when those other extraordinary Gifts that accompanied it were at a period So that the Herd of Popish Exorcisers that fill the