SATAN UNBOUND

The rite is similar to rituals in the churches of the East-the Byzantine Catholic Church calls it the Great Blessing of Waters on the Eve of Theophany-and it entered the Roman Ritual in 1890, the same year Pope Leo XIII composed his "Exorcism Against Satan and the Apostate Angels," a longe...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inFirst things (New York, N.Y.) pp. 1 - 13
Main Author Snow, Patricia
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published New York Institute of Religion and Public Life 01.12.2022
Subjects
Clergy
Exorcism
Rites & ceremonies
Spirituality
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Summary:The rite is similar to rituals in the churches of the East-the Byzantine Catholic Church calls it the Great Blessing of Waters on the Eve of Theophany-and it entered the Roman Ritual in 1890, the same year Pope Leo XIII composed his "Exorcism Against Satan and the Apostate Angels," a longer version of his familiar 1886 St. Michael prayer. Many parishioners attended the blessing in the church that night, bringing with them water in receptacles of every kind, from antique glass perfume bottles to plastic gallon jugs, all of which were spread out on the rosewood floor around the altar. Faith healers and deliverance ministers, self-appointed prophets and preachers routinely called out Satan in public, tearing down strongholds and binding every proud obstacle to the knowledge of God. In the dispositions of ordinary Catholics, I discovered a remarkable confidence in God's providence, and a literally cruciform faith, which accepted sufferings as crosses from God's hand.
ISSN:1047-5141
1945-5097