Beware the Night (39 page)

The key, I feel, is to set time aside for spirituality. When I was a kid, I remember seeing my grandmother sitting in a chair and praying the rosary. She did this every day, at the same time. At Queen of Peace School, they didn’t push the rosary, so I didn’t understand how important this prayer was. It was only after Sister Philomena at Our Lady of the Rosary Chapel opened my eyes to its virtues that I began to make this devotion part of my life. One of St. Alphonsus di Liguouri’s teachings is that God appointed Jesus Christ the King of Justice and made Him the judge of the whole world. But at the same time, He gave us the Virgin Mary and made her the Mother of Mercy. That’s why I have such a devotion to her. I’ve inherited my grandmother’s rosary beads and now use them for my own prayers. I’ve also taught my children about the rosary. Recently my daughter Christina and I shared a special moment on Christmas Eve, when I came home from the Four-Six around 4:00
A.M
. and found her awake. We prayed the rosary together. It was a beautiful way to begin Christmas.

Joe and I feel that one of the ways God works is by putting people in your path who influence you to develop a better relationship with Him. That’s certainly been true for me. Father Martin and Bishop McKenna have helped my faith grow. As my spirituality evolved, I came to see things differently. I was raised a Roman Catholic, but became a Traditionalist Catholic in July of 1999, around the time when Father Martin died. It took me a long time to realize that I wasn’t comfortable with the modernization of Catholic liturgy that resulted from Vatican II. Once I started going to Traditionalist masses, I immediately felt at home with the old way of worship. Traditionalist priests aren’t afraid to talk about the Devil during their sermons and don’t shy away from the Church’s teachings on satanic evil. This fits my own belief that once the enemy is exposed, people will be better able to protect themselves from the demonic. It’s like having a serial rapist running around preying on unsuspecting people: Once the word is out, the public will be watchful and alert to avoid becoming victims.

Whether you believe in God or not is strictly up to you. I don’t force my faith on anyone. Toward the end of writing this book, I got a new editor, Joe Cleemann. One of his concerns was that skeptics and agnostics who read my story would not be convinced by assertions based on religious belief. I agree with him 100 percent. No matter what I say, these people won’t believe anyway. I’ve encountered enough of these skeptics to know that. But it’s my hope that sharing my experiences will help people of faith—and investigators of the paranormal—to recognize demonic activity, should they have the misfortune to encounter it, or at least to consider the possibility that pure evil could touch their lives. Once you believe in the Devil, you also have to believe in God who sent His son, Jesus Christ, to defeat Satan and secure everlasting life for us.

I recently saw the powerful impact this knowledge can have. A cop I know, Vinnie, was promoted to sergeant at the same time I was. I happened to run into him at the New York City police force’s Career Advancement Review Board, where we—and other officers up for promotion—were dressed to the nines in our Class A uniforms, waiting to meet with the board. A captain came out and decided to get humorous about the Work. “Hey, Ralph,” he said, “why don’t you exorcise some of these assholes?”

“Give me a break, Captain,” I said. “I’m trying to get promoted here.” Seeing my serious look, he didn’t push the joke any further.

After the review, Vinnie came up to me. “There’s something I’ve been wondering,” he said. “What is this exorcism stuff the captain was talking about?” When I gave him a quick rundown, he was amazed. “You’re kidding! Tell me more.” I did, and he was so interested that he’s phoned me several times since to talk about exorcisms—and God. During these talks, he told me that our chance conversation had sparked an intense spiritual hunger in him. Although he was already a Catholic, from that moment on he became more religious. God can enter your life just as suddenly as the demonic can. Once God was foremost in his mind, Vinnie realized that up to that point, his life had been dismal and dead. Rediscovering his faith gave him renewed hope, helping him cope with some personal problems he was having at that time.

I take no credit for Vinnie’s return to faith, just as Joe and I take no credit for the successes we’ve had in the Work. We know better than to swell up with pride, because these victories have nothing to do with us. All credit belongs to God, who works through people for His greater glory. Our payment—our glory—is serving His will. Two of the most important commandments are to love God and to love your neighbor. There are many ways of showing this love. Some people visit the sick and read to them. Some people donate their time to soup kitchens to feed the hungry. Some go into prisons to spread the word about God. My act of Christian charity is to help people who fall under the sway of the Devil. It’s just one charity in a sea of charities offered up to God.

It troubles me when I see the Web sites of some paranormal investigators. You’ll see boasts like “We’re number one. We’re the famous ghosthunters.” I know how these people work. They’ll go out on a case and it’s circus time. Some of them exploit people’s pain and fear for financial gain, by charging for their services. Others want to be paid in publicity and walk in with news cameras and reporters to further their own fame. Instead of trying to help people who are snared in a living hell, they’re too busy taking infrared photos and exclaiming “Wow, look at this! The temperature dropped!” Then they’ll say “Good-bye and thanks for all the good stuff,” while the frightened family is saying “Please don’t go! We’re being thrown out of bed at night. We’re getting beaten up and terrorized by something we can’t even see.” But the ghosthunters don’t want to hear it. “It’s just spirit and that won’t hurt you,” they’ll say. Or maybe they’ll brush it off as electromagnetic energy—or tell the people to consult a shrink.

That’s a travesty of everything Joe and I believe in. We’re not in this for the hoopla. Our only concern is to help people solve their problem, if we possibly can, then leave—leaving the family with the name of Jesus on their lips. We’re not out to sell T-shirts, as some of these people do, or enrich ourselves. Like everyone who goes up against ultimate evil, we’ve paid a price. When I look back on my very first case, I had no idea that I was crossing a dangerous line when I decided to battle the Devil. As to my wife and daughters, they had no say in the matter and were dragged along with me. Being involved in the Work has caused problems in my marriage and my home life, but I will not blame it all on the demonic. Even with all the adversity we’ve had to deal with, Jen has given me her support in many ways that have enabled me to continue the Work.

As a husband and father, I don’t like my family to experience these things, but the graces from God outweigh the negatives. So I continue in the Work, and look forward to helping more people who are caught up in the very dangerous and terrifying world of the demonic—a world where nightmares become real. People often ask, “Why does God allow this to happen?” That’s one of the toughest questions to answer, since God allows things to happen for His own reasons. I’m a firm believer that evil does not go unchecked. Whenever something bad happens in someone’s life, something good comes out of it. Jesus asks us to follow Him and pick up our cross. Some of us suffer so others can benefit. How can they deny the existence of God when they are victims of the demonic?

As I close the door on the cases in this book and anticipate new battles I may embark on in God’s name, I think of my favorite quotation from Archbishop Fulton Sheen: “There are 10,000 times 10,000 roads down which we may travel. It makes no difference which, but at the end of those roads, you’re going to see one of two faces, either the beatific face of Jesus or the miserific face of Satan. One or the other, there’s no escape.”

Letter to the Reader

I
HOPE YOU’VE
enjoyed my book. If you have any comments, or want to contact me, you can reach me by writing to me care of my publisher, St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Since I continue to work full-time on the New York City police force and remain involved in the Work, my free time is extremely limited, but I’ll try to respond as quickly as I can.

May God bless you and keep you,

Ralph Sarchie

Bethpage, New York

Appendix I: Prayers of Exorcism

T
HE FOLLOWING PRAYERS
are excerpted with permission from the third edition of the
Catholic Laypersons’ Exorcism Prayer Manuel
,
*
by Joseph Forrester. These are the prayers we actually recite in our cases. They’ve been reviewed by Father Malachi Martin, who thought so highly of them that he recommended them to other Catholic clergy. We invite you to use them yourself, if you wish. The symbol “†” indicates that the sign of the cross should be made at this point in the prayer.

Prayer when preparing to repulse the attacks of powers of darkness or their human agents, and when arriving at a site of demonic infestation.

†

Eternal God, Our Father, let not the enemy prevail against us, nor let the son of iniquity have the power to harm us. For our faith is in you our God who made heaven and earth, not just in our religious beliefs or the power of our prayers. Rather, it is in you our God who can do all things if You choose. So Father have mercy on us, grant us the grace of perfect contrition that we may be cleansed from all sin, attachment to sin, plans to sin, and fond memories of sin. Free us from any false prideful belief that we deserve to be punished for our lives.

Forgive us O Lord so that in right relationship to Jesus—we as members of His mystical body, may claim His authority over all spirits not in worship to Your Holy Trinity. Send us the holy paraclete to purify our hearts so we may truly forgive all who have wronged us, and let the Holy Spirit illumine our minds and wills—so we may proclaim Your Son who told us: “Go into the whole world and preach the gospel to all creation … and these signs shall attend those who believe … in My name they shall cast out devils … they shall lay hands upon the sick and they shall be healed.” (Mark 16: 15–18)

†

“I will go to the altar of God—the God of my joy and my youth.”

“Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil … take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand. Stand therefore having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Above all taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one; and accept salvation as a helmet, and the word of God as the sword which the spirit gives you. Do all this asking for God’s help.” (Paul to Ephesians)

†

In the name of Jesus Christ, by the power of His precious blood shed on the cross at Calvary, we as members of his mystical body and fully imbued with the holy spirit, bind all spirits not in worship to the Trinity not to interfere with, impede or evade our holy work. We adjure you in Jesus’ name not to hurt or molest any living creatures of God nor bother in any way ourselves, our loved ones, our families, our friends, our neighbors or acquaintances, even our pets or homes and personal property now and in the future.

We beg God send his angels to block all psychic powers sent against us. And we plead the blood of Jesus over every living creature in our lives, in this building on this land and in this place or neighborhood. And in Jesus’ name we take authority over all spirits of any kind not in worship to the Trinity from the North—South—East—West, in the air and below the ground, in fire, water and nature. By the power of the precious blood we bind these forces in Jesus’ name.

Heavenly Father, mark not our sins but the faith of Your church and send Your warrior angels to rebuke all forces of evil that are presently among us; let them clear a path before us and link arms around this building and property to prevent all communication between the enemy here and elsewhere.

We ask this in Jesus’ name not for our own ego, reputation or to impress any being—rather knowing our sinfulness we offer this work for the glory of Thy name. Amen.

“Not by might, nor by power but by My spirit say the Lord of Hosts. You will succeed because of My spirit though you are few and weak.” (Zechariah 4:6)

This is a modified version of the Pope Leo XIII exorcism prayer, which the Holy Pontiff gave express permission to all Catholics to say in their own name to repulse the attacks of evil. Such permission, once given by the Vicar of Christ, may not be revoked by anyone at any time. This version has been modified by addition only; no deletions were made from the original form, which received the imprimatur from Manuel, Bishop of Barcelona, December 19, 1931, and again from Francis Cardinal Spellman, Archbishop of New York, February 24, 1961.

†

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Prayer to Saint Michael the Archangel

Glorious prince of the Heavenly Host, St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in the conflicts which we have to sustain “against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in high places.” (Ephes. 6:12) Come to the rescue of men, whom God has created to His image and likeness, and whom he has redeemed at a great price from the tyranny of the devil.

It is Thou whom Holy Church venerates as her guardian and protector, Thou whom the Lord has charged to conduct redeemed souls into Heaven. Pray, therefore, the God of Peace to subdue Satan beneath our feet, that he may no longer retain men captive nor do injury to the Church.

Present our prayers to the Most High, that without delay they may draw His mercy down upon us. Seize “the dragon, the old serpent, which is the devil and Satan,” bind him and cast him into the bottomless pit “… that he may no more seduce the nations.” (Apoc. 20:2–3)