Ordinary Activity
· Temptation – to cause a person to sin
Extraordinary Activity
· Physical Disorders – causing physical pain and suffering to the victim not due to health
o Bruising and lacerations occur sometimes
o At times the victim doesn’t necessarily need exorcism but only prayers for cases when the victim leads a holy life. St. John Mary Vianney for instance was struck several times by the devil and thrown out of his bed. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina had to have stitches put above his eyebrows because he smashed his head on the pavement when the demon threw him out of bed. In these cases, the victims were holy persons and demons would want to annoy and distract them from doing good. For what reason the devil was allowed to do this to them we are not sure but most probably it’s because God knows that they will overcome it and that they would offer their sufferings to God for the sake of others, and perhaps also to further purify and perfect them.
· Vexation – a person not possessed by the demon but suffers for he is struck in his affections, goods, health; a good example would be Job (Job 1:1-22) who’s a good person but God allowed Satan to make him suddenly poor, lose his family, be covered in sores from head to toe, to prove that Job will not denounce God despite everything bad that happened to him
· Diabolic Oppression – a kind of demonic harassment where a person might experience some signs including but not limited to the following:
o severe and repeated temptations
o foul odors not caused by anything natural
o objects being moved
o seeing shadow figures
o hearing things such as knocking, being called by name, etc.
o inciting fear, worry and panic
· Diabolic Obsession – the signs are the same as diabolic oppression but more severe; in many severe cases, the victim loses contact with family, friends, neighbors- the person in short becomes isolated, whether physically or emotionally; below are some more symptoms:
o reasoning becomes confused or somewhat bizarre
o hopelessness
o feeling of isolation
o insomnia
o bizarre and lewd nightmares
o severe depression
o hearing voices
o suicidal thoughts and/or attempts
o thoughts or attempts to hurt others
o lewd thoughts
· Diabolic Possession – the most serious of demonic attacks; gives the impression that the demon is inside the person’s body at times talking through the person’s mouth and/or using the other parts of his body; some possessed people can function but have many problems while others can’t function at all
· Diabolic Infestation – the presence of demon/s in an object or place (ex. haunted house)
· Diabolic Subjugation or Dependence – also called voluntary possession because the person involved intentionally invites a demon to possess him in order to obtain wealth, power, knowledge, and other worldly things (ex. a Satanic worshipper asking to be possessed)
