"I'm watching the clock, and I'm looking at 11:23. Is there a change in this person's behavior?" Exorcist Fr. Carlos Martins explains how he tests for a demon before he prays a single word of the Rite.
And when the test comes back empty, he sends the person to a doctor.

Fr. Carlos Martins is a priest of the Companions of the Cross, an exorcist of almost two decades, host of The Exorcist Files podcast, and director of Treasures of the Church. Joe asks him what an exorcist actually looks for when someone says "I heard a voice." Father walks through the blind-prayer test he uses, why a demon hides when you chase him, and why he would put a case like Lindsay Clancy's in the hands of competent doctors first. He does not say she is or is not possessed. He says the evidence is far too weak to conclude it. Then the harder part: the demons have watched you your whole life, they know your weakness, and the ordinary defense is not dramatic at all. It is Mass, Confession, and the state of grace.

Season 3 of The Exorcist Files begins October 5.

FULL CONVERSATION: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k84Lxxy4sqg

CHAPTERS
00:00 "I have no idea whether this person has a demon"
00:43 What does an exorcist look for?
01:37 The 11:23 test
02:59 If you chase the devil, he hides
03:28 When the test is empty: send them to a doctor
03:44 The demons have watched you your whole life
05:20 They know your weakness
05:58 Why an exorcist never works alone
07:01 How should we think about demons?
07:37 The seven sacraments and the state of grace
08:37 "You've got to change kingdoms"
09:34 Dare we hope hell is empty?

SCRIPTURE & SOURCES
1 Peter 5:8 - "Be sober and watch: because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, goeth about seeking whom he may devour."
1 John 4:1 - "Dearly beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits if they be of God."
Ephesians 4:27 - "Give not place to the devil."
James 4:7 - "Be subject therefore to God, but resist the devil, and he will fly from you."
2 Corinthians 5:17 - "If then any be in Christ a new creature, the old things are passed away, behold all things are made new."
Catechism of the Catholic Church 1673 - before an exorcism, "it is important to ascertain that one is dealing with the presence of the Evil One, and not an illness."

FR. CARLOS MARTINS
https://www.fathercarlosmartins.com/
The Exorcist Files podcast - https://www.exorcistfiles.tv/
Treasures of the Church - https://www.treasuresofthechurch.com/

If this helped you, subscribe and send it to someone who has been away from Confession for a while. That is the whole point of this program.

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