Priest described 1928 possession of Iowa girl <http://www.thonline.com/article.cfm?id=221231>http://www.thonline.com/article.cfm?id=221231
The 23-day exorcism of a 14-year-old took place in a convent in Earling By MARY NEVANS-PEDERSON TH staff writer <http://www.thonline.com/store/photoBrowse.cfm?fStartDate=10/31/2008&fEndDate=10/31/2008> Father Reisinger Father Reisinger A sensational exorcism performed 80 years ago in the tiny western Iowa town of Earling is well-known throughout the paranormal community. Details of the 23-day ordeal are so disturbing that some accounts caution readers to proceed at their own peril. The most complete account of the 1928 exorcism was written only a few years later by a Catholic priest who witnessed it. The Rev. Carl Vogl wrote " Begone Satan!" a 48-page booklet about the tortured life of the woman he called Emma Schmidt. When she was 14, Schmidt's Aunt Mina (reportedly a witch who had a sexual affair with the girl's father), fed her bewitched herbs. Later, her father hurled curses at her for not submitting to his incestuous advances. For decades, Schmidt was consumed by agonizing thoughts and unexplained urges that she and local doctors could not stop. While some attributed her psychological dysfunction to her childhood sexual traumas, examiners noted symptoms that seemed to indicate "strange preternatural powers were at play." Schmidt understood languages she had never heard or read, foamed at the mouth when the priest blessed her in Latin, and blasphemed when presented with secretly blessed objects. Therefore in 1928, when Schmidt was 46, a Capuchin priest, who had ministered to her previously, asked his superiors for permission to perform a full-fledged, official exorcism. The Rev. Theophilus Riesinger arranged for the ritual to be performed in a secluded Franciscan convent near Earling. The nuns there aided the priest for more than three weeks and, after their ordeal, many asked to be transferred far from the town. Schmidt lay on a bed with iron springs while Riesinger and the parish priest prepared to perform the ancient Roman Catholic rite. As soon as the priests invoked the names of the Trinity, the woman flew up off the bed "and her body, carried through the air, landed high above the door of the room and clung to the wall with a tenacious grip," Vogl wrote. When Schmidt was forced back onto the bed, the priest resumed praying. "Suddenly a loud shrill voice rent the air. The noise in the room sounded as though it were far off, somewhere in a desert. Like a pack of wild beasts suddenly let loose, the terrifying noises sounded aloud as they came out of the mouth of the possessed woman. Those present were struck with a terrible fear that penetrated the very marrow of their bones," the witness recounted. Over the next hours and days, news spread about what was going on in the convent and although church officials had tried to keep the exorcism secret, villagers gathered around the site after hearing unearthly howling and smelling hideous odors coming through the windows. While the priests prayed over Schmidt and sprinkled holy water on her, horrible things happened: the woman's body contorted and swelled to nearly bursting; she exhibited superhuman power -- it took groups of nuns to control her; she vomited torrents of "unspeakable excrements" daily, although she did not eat; otherworldly voices and animal sounds emanated not from her mouth, but "from somewhere within her," Vogl noted. The damned spirits within Schmidt identified themselves as Beelzebub, Judas Iscariot, her father Jacob and his mistress Mina. On the 23rd day of the exorcism, while an exhausted Riesinger continued his prayers, the demons within Schmidt gave up. Her body jerked upright with only her heels touching the bed. The priest exhorted the demons to, "Depart, ye fiends of hell! Begone, Satan." Everyone in the room heard shrieking demonic voices fade away into the distance. Schmidt reportedly led a relatively normal life after the exorcism, embracing her Catholic faith again. Vogl wrote that she had later minor episodes of possession. This is the complete story: http://olrl.org/stories/bgonsatn/ <*}}}>< <http://www.holypostage.com/>Holy Postage <*}}}>< <*}}}><<http://www.halfthekingdom.org/>Half the Kingdom!<*}}}>< Prayer for Unborn Life: O GOD OF LIFE AND LOVE, You have given us the gift to participate with You to bring new life into the world. But, all too often, the mother's womb, which should be a nursery of life, becomes instead a place of it's destruction. Help us to remove this evil and ensure respect for all life made in Your image and likeness, called to fulfill its promise on this earth, and destined to find a home with you for all eternity. We ask this through Jesus Christ, Our Lord, Our God, Our Savior, and Our ALL. Amen. <*}}}>< <http://www.holypostage.com/>Holy Postage <*}}}>< <*}}}><<http://www.halfthekingdom.org/>Half the Kingdom!<*}}}>< Prayer for Unborn Life: O GOD OF LIFE AND LOVE, You have given us the gift to participate with You to bring new life into the world. But, all too often, the mother's womb, which should be a nursery of life, becomes instead a place of it's destruction. Help us to remove this evil and ensure respect for all life made in Your image and likeness, called to fulfill its promise on this earth, and destined to find a home with you for all eternity. We ask this through Jesus Christ, Our Lord, Our God, Our Savior, and Our ALL. Amen. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Please note that I do not send or open attachments sent to this list. You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Catholics on Fire" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Catholics-on-Fire May the blessing of Jesus and our Blessed Mother be with you -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
