 for us. It's exciting. Go for it. Hey, friends. This is Dan Burke. You're watching Behind the Scenes, Divine Intimacy Radio. We'll start the show in just a minute. Before we do, oh, and by the way, we are going to be talking with one senior, Stephen Rosetti, about the diary of an American exorcist. You're not going to want to miss the show. I want to tell you about a few things going on that you may be interested in, into the deep retreat at Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Church in Deer Park Road, Decatur, on Deer Park Road in Decatur. I should have just said Decatur, Texas. So that is on Saturday, June 5th. It's a half-day retreat on prayer. And then Divine Intimacy and Marriage Retreat, which is a three-day retreat, or is it two and a half? Three-day retreat? Two and a half days? Yeah. Yeah. And it's on, it's marriage retreat based on the mystical tradition of the church, which is very different than what anybody will have experienced. I know that. Will you make them hold hands? We're going to make the guys feel really stupid. And then do ice breakers, ice breakers, and we're going to make them hug and I don't know, you know, maybe wear dresses. I don't know. No, that's not the truth. So we're, we are not, our marriage retreats are not man-dangerous, or I don't know how you put it. The guys like it. The guys actually like it a lot. Yeah, because we don't make them do dumb stuff. Well, and I think from the fruit that we've seen, what's remarkable to me is see all the growth in the man. It's incredible. It's funny, the guy, head of our local fraternist chapter here in Birmingham, he went and he's a man's man, you know, and he did not want to go. He's friends with us. And he told us afterward, I did not want to go, my wife dragged me there. And he absolutely loved it. Yeah. Yeah. So much so that he's working to get it promoted like all through everywhere. Right. All this other stuff. Yeah. It's really, really great. So, you know. Yeah. You'll love it. It's a man's man's kind of retreat. Yeah. And it's also a woman's retreat. Yeah. But we get down to the real. The real issues. The real issues. No soft peddling. No. You will grow, you will grow an intimacy with one another and you will grow in intimacy with our Lord if you choose to do so. Right. So, don't miss this. I mean, the last two that we've done, we've had a huge waiting list. So, don't miss this. Get on there. Farmer's Branch, Texas at Mary the Immaculate Church. So, all of our events are out on spiritualdirection.com forward slash events. Yeah. And there will be, get this free childcare. Free childcare. There is going to be free childcare at this retreat. Wow. That's huge. Last word to guys and you can say a last word to women and then we'll get moving. For guys, if your points warehouse, you know, secret guy talk, you know what I'm talking about. If your points warehouse is depleted, telling you what, this is a way to get your inventory back and stop. Lots of deposits into the emotional bank account if you sign up for this and you present it as a gift. Say, hey honey, we're going to take a few days away and I'm going to have a place for the kids. Right. Everything we take care of. Meals will be taken care of. You won't have to clean a dish. Right. Yeah. Anyway, let's get to our guest today and I have to say just at the risk of, well, you know what? We'll start the show and I'll say it at the start of the show. Okay. You ready? Okay. Let's go. On your mark, get set, go. This is Dan Sipney Burke. Welcome to Divine Intimacy Radio, your radio Haven of Wraths. Your hermitage of the heart. Your monastery of the mind where we lift our hearts and minds to heaven to draw upon the wisdom of the saints, to teaching them to the church, to help us to navigate this very challenging life that we all live if you have a pulse anyway, right? That's right. So we're welcoming again a guest that honestly, all the rest of the guests are going to get mad at me, but he's one of my favorite guests. Yeah. So his name is Monsignor Stephen Rosetti. He's the president of St. Michael's Center for Spiritual Renewal. He's participated in hundreds of ecstasisms, licensed psychologists, author of many books, and we're welcoming him on to talk about his latest book, which is extraordinary. And I'm not just saying that. Yeah. It's a wonderful book. Yeah. I'm going to explain why we both think that. It's probably a good idea to say why. I don't think we did previously. But it's diary of an American exorcist, demon possession, modern day battle against ancient evil, published by Sophia Institute Press. Welcome Monsignor, back to Divine Intimacy Radio. Dan and Stephanie, great to be back with you. So I want to tell you, Stephanie, why I think this is the best book ever written on the topic. And I'm not just saying that. The reason I think it's the best is because it has a lot of really short stories. Of course, many of which are out on spiritualdirection.com. There's a lot of short stories, which really draw you in or easy to read, powerful. He's very concise, but not shallow. And then then he provides the depth and with interspersed theological reflections as as this fitting. So I think it's uniquely tailored for the modern, you know, American mind or modern mind, if you will, where we are tension tense, span tends to be brief. But it doesn't. It reaches the modern mind without a compromising on quality of content. So that's my reason. I think it's the best. Yeah, no, I do, too. I find it incredibly engaging and not not scary. You know, I have read books that like rattle me and I it's it's just very uncomfortable and you kind of get to a point where you don't want to go there anymore, but this is factual, it's interesting, it's intriguing. And it's just this is what it is. This is this is why it's happening. This is how it's happened. This is the remedy. This is why it matters. This is why how we live matters. It's just really extraordinary, very engaging and intelligent and deep without, you know, being very heavy. I agree with you. So we're in the third episode, a third show. And what I wanted to jump in with is something that's in his bio that I don't think we asked him about the first time or the second time, which is you said, Monsignor, in two seconds, I learned 80 percent of what an exorcist needs to know. Can you tell us about what happened? Well, I was a seminarian and I was lying down in bed before I had gone to sleep and I was never happening before. And I was immediately attacked and it was unbelievable. It was it was powerful. It was with lightning speed. And I felt like I was going to be overwhelmed. And I knew it instantly what it was. I knew that Satan was attacking me. And so I lunged out of my bed, grabbed my rosary beads. In the instant I touched my rosary beads. God, and I learned a lot. First of all, I mean, I was stunned that that happened. And I learned that Satan's very real. He is very powerful and he moves with a speed of thought. So by myself, I would be completely overwhelmed in less than five seconds. But the Blessed Mother threw him out. So and I saw just ever since, by the way, ever since then. I always have my rosary beads on me. There you go. And I sleep with them around my my hand. And I make rosary beads, too, by the way, I knot them myself. And I would say, Michael here and there are sometimes our lady. So yeah, so I make them strong because they break. The other ones break too easily. But so I'm never without my rosary beads on me. And I realize with the Blessed Mother, no worries, no worries. But by myself, if I try to rely on myself, I'd be quickly overcome. So somebody asked me, so how can you go to sleep after that? I just instantly fell asleep. I said, well, the mother took care of me. What's the problem? So and and that's about again, about 80 percent. What do you need to know about as an exorcist that don't rely on yourself? Because if the same tries to do that in an exorcism, he tries to goad you into a mono face to face fight. No, don't never do that. And oftentimes he'll do that. And I'll say simply, I'm not your problem. You know, Jesus is your problem and his name. Get out. Yeah. Right. I think it's so powerful to to understand whose we are and to whom we belong and having that clarity that we belong to the Lord, that we are his and that we are protected by our lady, as you said, because I had an experience years ago, I think it was three or four years ago. And I as well was attacked. I was I felt like I was like there was a presence on time. It was physical. I felt it pressing down on me. I felt like I was choking and I was going to be drowned all at once. You know, it's kind of this all encompassing. And when I realized what was happening to me, I fought against it and was praying to Saint Michael, the archangel and and going and just standing in. No, I invoke, you know, Saint Michael and I invoke our lady and I would go back and forth and it lifted and it was gone. And it never happened again. And I think it was just for me, it was a reminder of we are in a battle and sometimes the Lord allows us, I think, to have an occasional experience with the reality of the dark side so that we can cling more closely to our Lord and all that he provides for us. So very powerful. Yeah, go ahead, Father. Well, it happens more than people realize. For example, I'm starting to as I work with priests and sisters and seminarians, whatever, it's almost common for anyone going into religious vocation, seminarians, postulates now is at some point, I would say, maybe, maybe majority of them. I have some sort of demonic attack since they don't want people to do that. And Stephanie shared hers. I think it happens more often people realize, but we don't talk about it. Yeah, I agree. And that's why your your book is so important. We're with Monsignor Rosetti, Steven Rosetti, who wrote the diary diary of an American exorcist, and he's the founder of the St. Michael Center, and you can find them online. There's a great app. You know, I don't know if we've talked about the app you guys have created, Father, you want to tell folks a little bit about that? Well, we first put together this app is called Catholic Exorcism. We put together the app for ourselves, first of all, because to put all together in one place, these prayers, no matter where we were, we could access this app and their deliverance prayers for exorcists, deliverance prayers for priests, deliverance prayers for the laity. And so it's very, very useful. As a matter of fact, during some exorcism sessions, I'll whip out my phone, you know, and I'm not I'm not I'm not surfing the net. I'm pulling up our app for some of those prayers. So it just and by the way, it's been it's gone viral. We've had tens of thousands of downloads and it's been very exciting to see the positive. Matter of fact, we're just coming out with a Spanish version. Maybe next week, the Spanish version will go very cool. Oh, wonderful. Yeah, that's so needed. Yeah, it's a great it's a great it's a great app. Good work on that, Father. I'm curious, you know, as we've talked about, Stephanie, I have been in a number of exorcisms and I don't I don't remember being afraid not that I'm not really sensitive and aware of the danger because that was clear, but not like a debilitating sort of. Oh, no, you know, but I did go home the first night after assisting and I did have an attack and but I but I was ready. And I used a particular prayer out of the deliverance prayers for the laity book. What about you? Did you did you? I know you were pretty. We talked in one of the previous shows, you were pretty ready to do this. But have you ever experienced fear in the context of exorcism or with that role that you have? Oh, first of all, talking about who who should be in that room, as they said, you you're ready for it. And that's important that we have a strong faith. We don't let people in the room. You never let journalists. And they've been bad stories about journalists who attend sessions and be there or people not ready. We've had some recent examples. I've heard people shared with me that people were involved who shouldn't have been and suffered. So once you've got the armor of faith, if you will, and you're you're ready for it, it's fine. But just don't go in there as a nonbeliever because Christ is our protection of fear. Well, sometimes that's what Satan tries to do. He tries to frighten us when you when you've got a, for example, infested house. Why is it that things are flying around and banging and crashing and all sorts of demonic signs that what's what's Satan trying to do? Trying to scare you. And that's very typical. Satan tries to scare people. And the initial response, a normal human response, when someone starts flying around the room or just helping which I mean, there's an actual response go because you can't see the demons doing it. So but then the Lord kind of takes care of you. He says, you know, and and so slowly you learn, you know, you. Yeah, stop it. I mean, the name of Jesus Christ, I command the demons to stop it, you know. And then you start to realize that, yeah, am I supposed to be afraid of something flying off the wall? Well, I should buy that's like a 12 year old throwing a tantrum. You know, that's what a 12 year old, maybe a seven year old. That's about the same. They act like demons act like seven year old throwing tantrums. You know, I just say, well, I mean, just stop Jesus's name. Stop the antics. Yeah. You know, Father, you you bring up something so important, you said in Jesus's name, you know. So right quick, before we go to the break, why is that so important? You know, you have a theological reflection on invoking the name of Jesus and and a short reflection on stop saying that name. Why is it so important? Why is the Lord's name so powerful? Well, as you said, I wrote a reflection on that in one session, we were using the name of Jesus and the demons respond, stop saying that name. And so we said it even more because we knew it was affecting them. And the fact is that all exorcisms are done in name of Jesus, because when you invoke the name of Jesus, you're invoking the presence of Jesus and the power of Jesus. It is not, you know, Steve Rosetti cast out the demons is the power of Christ. Christ gives that church and us that power, but it's always the name of Jesus. So when you invoke his name, you're invoking the presence of Christ, and that's what casts them out. Perfect timing to head to the break. And when we get back, hold on one second here, let me let me take us out the right way. I got to clear my throat. Perfect timing, Father, so that we can go to the break. When we get back, we're going to continue talking with Monsignor Steven Rosetti, the author of a Diary of an American Exorcist. We're going to talk about possession and manifestations and all of these very interesting topics. And I will say this is the most interesting book I've ever ever read. I think the best book I've ever read on exorcism. So make sure you pick it up at spiritualdirection.com shop and we'll be right back. OK, so I think I made that clean for you. So we're going to go. That was probably 1230 to 1245. What do you want to do? 13. OK. All right. OK. And your mark gets set. Go. Welcome back. This is Dan and Stephanie Burke with Divine Intimacy Radio. We're talking about spiritual warfare, a diary of an American exorcist. This is the book Monsignor Steven Rosetti, demon possession in the modern day battle against ancient evil. Before we jump back in, I also want to tell you about another book on spiritual warfare that is coming. It's called The Devil in the Castle. And it is a book that I'm writing on the progressive nature of the spiritual life and Saint Teresa of Avalos perspective on unique aspects of spiritual warfare along that pathway. And if you would like to be a part of the launch team and like to get an advance copy of the book and all that good stuff, make sure you send a text to 833-820-5466 and text the word Castle. And then you'll join that list. And as soon as the books out, we'll let you know. But let's get back to Monsignor Rosetti. So Monsignor, what does it mean that a demon manifests in one of our previous shows? I mentioned that somebody who's possessed was not able to come into our home because of, I don't know, whatever it was there that was bothering them. Somebody said maybe it was you said that people who are living for Christ stink to the enemy in there. It's repulsive, right? So hopefully we're incredibly repulsive. That's Father McManus's. Father McManus said that. So the enemy was the person was possessed. They couldn't come into the home. I call that manifesting, am I using the right term? How does that? What does that mean? But how does that work? Well, someone who is possessed doesn't always show their possessed, they walk around looking fairly normal. But then there are moments when you realize there's got spiritual demonic problems. For example, sometimes they get close to a church, can't walk at the steps and just can't go in. Or someone recently, where I was working with, she tried to take in the Eucharist and she said it felt like a smelt and taste like a dead animal. So it becomes repulsive, as you say, to the demons. And so it's a kind of a manifestation. Now, a full-out manifestation will happen during an ecstasy, the person's personality recedes into the background and oftentimes they're somewhat unconscious. And then the demonic presence comes forward. You're no longer talking to the person, you're talking to the demons. It's very obvious because they're in a rage and they're really evil and it can be a nerving. I mean, that's one of the ways we do diagnostics. When you're standing and looking face to face evil in the eye, it is a little nerving and debilitating at times. That brings up an important point, Father. What is it like to face the enemy as a priest of God? What can you help us understand standing as an exorcist in the midst of an exorcism? What is that like for you personally? What are you experiencing? Well, let me say on the backside before we get to that, but is it, first of all, having been an exorcist for over 13 or 14 years, that, and we do probably 20 sessions a week at our team. It affirms your faith. The things we learn in the cataclysm, you see it face to face, you see it acted out, you see the power of the Virgin Mary, you see the power of the cross, you see the power of the name of Jesus, the power of the church, the priesthood, all those things. So you learn, again, experientially, the truths of the faith. The second thing I would say is being an exorcist, if one's truly called, and for everyone in the room who's called, all the ladies and the deacons and the priests, it's a wonderful grace. You walk out feeling blessed. At the same time, the sessions themselves can be, especially if someone's really possessed, a little oppressed or whatever. I mean, but someone's really possessed and you're facing demons. It is, well, they're ugly. And it is, one thing it does, it spiritually drains you. I had a naturalist, a new one, talked to me the other day and he said, is it just me or is it, after these sessions, I'm unusually drained. I said, yes, there is this spiritual warfare goes on which you don't even, part of it, you don't even see. So after a session or two, if I do three sessions in a day, I'm basically lying down for a while. I mean, it just drains the life out of you. So I would say it is challenging, it is draining, it is, but you gotta sign up, hang in there and get tough. We need people in that room who are somewhat fearless. When the demons start doing their thing, just say, just body retro-self in us, get out. Yeah, you know, it's interesting. Part of the reason, when I said I didn't experience fear, I don't wanna in any way communicate that's because I have this sense of personal strength, but I totally believe as you do, and as Stephanie does, and I think it's why we were, I mean, it wasn't fun. I'd say it was pretty brutal. In our, one case we worked on was very brutal because of the suffering, but it's just the knowledge that God is so much bigger. In terms of you could compare the strength of, if you could somehow physically represent the differential between the strength of God and the strength of a demon, it's like comparing all the matter in the universe against one grain of the sand of the sea. All the matter of the universe would be God's strength and the strength of the enemy in terms of in comparison would be of one grain of sand. And that even doesn't even get how disproportionate the whole thing is. So my comfort, I think your comfort, our comfort with dealing with these situations, it comes from knowing the reality of how big God is. Would you, does that sound on the right path to you? Sure, as you said, Dan, that nexusism is nothing to sort of glory and it is ugly. It's an ugly event, first of all, and being possessed is ugly. And so sometimes people are a little bit too Hollywood about the whole thing. No, it's really an ugly event, but you get to see the power of God. And for example, when we're doing exorcism and you start bringing out holy things and saying the right, the demons are screaming. Sometimes you can hear it actually, but with the spiritual ear, you can hear them screaming. I mean, they're just, even a matter of fact, we had one session which is actually not that common that Lucifer himself was present and he was, of course, the last one gone. And at the end, Lucifer himself was screaming. And you could see the terror in his eyes. He was terrified. And one of the priests was so edified by that. He said, my gosh, I can't believe it. Lucifer himself was terrified. I said, he's terrified of the church. He's terrified of Jesus. It's fascinating because it sounds like the apostles, you know, when they come back and they're sort of amazed at how they're able to, right? How to, they're able to cast out demons. Of course, they watch Jesus do it. Then he says, now you go and they come back going, hey man, this is really something, this is really amazing. And I can imagine there was a similar feeling, but Steph, did you want to jump in on another question from? Well, and it reminds me, we just saw the, you know, the chosen, the chosen, the recent episode. And so there's a possessed, the demoniac, and he's attacking one of the apostles and the Lord comes running and he says, get out of it or get out, you know? And with a wave of his hand, the man is delivered. And so he's the power of Christ, the power. It was, it was quite remarkable. It was a beautiful scene. I thought it was really well done. So tell us about this, because just the wave of Christ's hand cast this, this demon out of this man. What is this idea about Satan being on a short leash? That, that sounds very interesting. What is that? Very good, yeah. Very clearly that what Satan is allowed to do is very limited. And for example, oftentimes the demons will threaten to kill the person. The person will say that the demons are gonna kill them and no, God will not allow it. Never does. It does not allow the demons directly to maim someone. Now they can make them suffer, they can torment them and taunt them and hurt them a little bit, burn things, whatever, but they can't maim or kill them. And so they're reduced to tempting suffering and terrifying, but they're on a short leash now. Sadly in hell, demons are not on a leash. And I can tell people, I can think of a lot of reasons not to go to hell, and that's one of them. Because you see what demons do, they will do the worst thing they possibly are allowed to do. As a matter of fact, I'm gonna miss it one touch and I told this story not too long ago. I had a religious in the room with us working with us and I said, for the first time, I said, I want you to know what you're dealing with. I looked at the demons, I said, child of truth in Jesus name. If you could stick a knife in the back of every person that's from twisted and laugh, would you do so? He says yes, but God doesn't allow it. Right. God, be praised for that. Yeah, let me ask you, Father, because I'm sure this is on the hearts and minds of many and many people have struggled with this, even in their faith. And why does the Lord allow possession, oppression, you know, why does the Lord, if the enemy's on a short leash, why do we have to suffer through this? Let me give you a couple of thoughts through that. First is when we have someone come to us who is possessed or oppressed or obsessed and they go through the process, it's not a magic ritual. It is a prayer of the church, the intercession of Christ and it's a conversion process. And so by the end of it, if it goes the way it should, the person's faith is strengthened. They learn the truths of the faith. Many of the people we deliver are in the front views of the church because they know what the truth is. So ironically, sometimes possession, oppression, actually can be a grace. But it raises a larger question of why God allows evil. That's really the tough question for everyone. Why do children suffer? Why is there a Holocaust? Why all these things, it's horrible things. And that's the mystery of evil and sin in the world. Yeah, I think, as I've watched and participated, I think what I see is what you've seen, which is, it seems to me, and this may sound a little strange, but it seems to me necessary for the salvation of the person for whatever reason, they needed to battle through whatever they had to battle through to come to the depth of faith they needed to be saved. Because in the end, as you note, these are some very holy people. And it's not just that individual's story. It affects all of the team. It affects the priest, affects the church. It raises, I think, the faith. And it helps us to intercede and supplicate to the Lord for the salvation of all souls. Are we in the ballpark, Father? Yes, I, sometimes people say when they're possessed or oppressed or whatever, that I'm the worst of people. Not necessarily true. Sometimes, Lord allows this thing for, not as you're suggesting, it's not only their sanctification, but for others as well. And of course, there's a whole history of spiritually sensitive people and mystics who have battled with Satan, you know, Padre Pio and great St. Catherine of Siena, the great saints and mystics. So it's really a part of our spiritual tradition and the holiest of our brothers and sisters often battle Satan. Yes, okay. Well, wonderful, Father. So everyone, check out Diary of an American Exorcist, book by Monsignor Stephen Rosetti. You can find it out at spiritualdirection.com on our shop button. And until next time, may the God of peace make you perfect in holiness, may he preserve you whole and entire spirit, soul, and body, irreproachable at the coming of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen. There you go. Amen. Okay. So are we doing? Yes, roll into number two. We're gonna send...