| Go inside the little-understood Catholic rite of exorcism and learn how the story of the only documented exorcism performed in the United States was almost lost forever. In 1949, a distraught Maryland family reports a series of supernatural events involving their troubled son. Vases fly off shelves and smash against the wall; heavy chairs flip over; the boy's bed shakes violently as he sleeps. His middle-class parents first consult their family doctor, then a psychologist and finally their Protestant minister. But when bloody scratches begin appearing on the boy's body, the minister suggests they see a Catholic priest. White-haired Father William S. Bowdern – a 52-year-old Jesuit attached to St. Louis University – embarks on a rite of exorcism, one that takes weeks and numerous trips back and forth between Maryland and St. Louis to complete. Several assistant priests are called in to help restrain the boy, who spits, cackles and manifests words in blood on his body. Finally, a few days past Easter, the boy is pronounced "cleansed." Thirty years later, a condemned hospital in St. Louis falls under the wrecking ball. But not everything is destroyed. Salvaged from the destruction are 24 typewritten pages – a diary that tells the disturbing story of a 14-year-old boy from the 1950s who was possessed by the devil and then "exorcised" by Catholic rites. Learn how this one-of-a-kind journal was nearly lost and how its story eventually made its way to Exorcist author William Peter Blatty – providing the inspiration for his landmark novel. Plus, witness the time-honored techniques that priests use to combat possession in this most controversial of all Catholic rites. |
