The Exorcist Files - S2-Case #07- Dynasty of Death- Pt. 1

Episode Date: July 16, 2024

Joseph, a kind and humble plumber, begins to experience bizarre shifts in his personality that no doctor can explain.SPONSORS- WHO WE LOVE!A special thank you to our two sponsors of today's episode. As you know we went independent so we could control the advertisements and cut down on them to include only that which we love. Below are two sponsors we really enjoy.http://fieldofgreens.com Organic whole fruits and vegetables in an actually delicious greens mix. Use our promo code EXFILES for 15% off and free shipping. Your body is a temple right? Honor it!http://exodus90.com/exfiles- the ultimate men's spiritual formation curriculum, Father Martins is helping co-lead this August. Sign up today. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Do you crave more Exorcist Files content? Do you want to go deeper into theology and spiritual warfare? Well, you're going to want to subscribe to The Vault, our new premium subscriber program. The Vault is our way of ensuring we bring you content all year long. Subscribers will get access to exclusive once a month, Ask Me Anything episodes with Father Martins, where you can submit questions and vote on the ones you want him to answer most. You'll also get access to a very special case behind the case series,

where we relisten to past episodes and cases, and father reflects back on insights and anecdotes he just didn't have time to get into in the podcast. To subscribe, head on over to exorcistfiles.tv and sign up. Or just click the link in the show notes. Again, that's exorcistfiles.tv to get access to the vault. Hello, wise one. What do you seek?

Please. Please, it's my wife. She's dying. Please, please help her. Yes. As it is, she has but one day left. Can you help? Please?

The ruler of this earth can heal. As the sun rises tomorrow, so shall the light heal her. But a price must be paid. I'm sorry, I don't have any money. I'm just a poor farmer. But please, I'll do you. I'll do anything for you. I'm good with my hands.

I can build you something or I can, I, anything, please, just anything. Will you heal her? Please, save her. The cost is death. There is no life without death. What? Yes, I accept. Demons, awful as they are, represent a morbidly fascinating dichotomy.

On the one hand, a demon is an astoundingly grandiose being, one far more intelligent than your eye. It is a being that has existed from creation's beginning, a being that has studied humans intensely, and studied you personally. It has been a keen observer of your behaviors and is frighteningly well-versed in God and his revelation. On the other hand, demons lurk and hide, as if they were small. and insignificant, knowing that obfuscation and stealth are the means by which they best achieve their wicked goal of ensnaring humans. But evil always overextends. Over time, evil cannot

help but show itself. And a demon? Well, as much as he wants to stay hidden, he just can't help himself. As time progresses, he leaves signs that shows he's present. Guess who's back, back again. Season two's here. Tell your friends. Guess who's back? Guess who's back? Welcome to the Exorcist Files, season two. Before we begin, we want to say thank you to everyone to the thousands of you who supported our Kickstarter and helped make this season a reality. It's been a very long road, but now here we are, standing at the threshold of a new exorcistic expedition into a whole new slew of father's famous case files. As a reminder, the episodes contain dramatic recreations in 3D audio, so headphones are recommended. The content is certainly not suitable for all audiences, and for our season opener, we actually begin with some rather heavy themes.

Listener discretion is advised. In today's case, we bring you what I think is one of our most chilling demonic opponents yet, and a demonic dynamic that, well, left my head spinning figuratively as I tried to reconcile what I just heard. May we present to you, our first case file of Season 2, The Dynasty of Death, Part 1. So, folks, let's welcome back our demonic disciplinarian, the man to help you discern God's plan, Father Carlos Martens. Joseph and his wife walked into my office. He was in his 30s,

and for the past year his personality had changed dramatically. He was in the throes of debilitating depression. While he always suffered for mild depression during the winter months when he didn't get enough sunlight, this one was different. He was distant, listless, and had lost interest in everything that usually gives him life. He had never been living.

like this. Joseph loved to restore old cars, specifically Mustangs. Working with his brother, he had restored three. But when he was partly through the fourth, he just stopped. No reason whatsoever. When his brother came over to work on the vehicle, Joseph acted strange, and no one had any idea what was going on. Ah, so he is alive. Dude, I'm so sorry that you're too broke to buy a phone and text me back. Obviously, yours must have died. We must have dropped it in one of those toilets you fix. Yeah, I'm sorry, Stephen.

Whatever, man. Let's just get to work. I'm a happily married man, but this is the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. Best one yet. She is one. Fine automobile. Yeah, she is great.

Okay, bro. What's up with you? Are you sick, man? Nothing. I'm fine. Fine. You sound anything but fine. I know what you need. A beer. Or at least I'm having one, if I'm going to have to put up with your sorry ass.

Beer in the fridge. Romodello, Sam Adams, Stone. Ah, Sapporo. Sapporo Saturday? Check. Joseph. What the heck? It's up with this rain man shit. Everything is pros of four. When Stephen opened the fridge. It was stocked with the usual types of beers that he and Joseph always enjoyed.

But they also liked trying new ones and sharing them while working on cars. But this time, when Stephen opened the fridge, he found the bottles all stacked in perfect rows of four. A minor detail to be sure, but Stephen knew his brother was not usually this neat. No, I'm good, thanks. No beer? It's Saturday. We have the perfect car and ice-cold nectar of the gods.

This is our heaven, man. Joseph, talk to me. What's going on with you? Honestly, I'm okay. Is it stuff with Alicia? No, Alicia is great. Dude, you're not okay. Why are you talking this way?

You should just go. What? Come on, man. Did I do something to piss you off? If I said something, please just tell me. I'm your brother. Please, Stephen. Just go.

Eventually, his brother just stopped coming altogether. Everyone could see there was something wrong with Joseph. But no one quite knew what it was. Joseph was someone who always felt a great sense of responsibility, especially for the local community. Since moving to the neighborhood six years, prior, he had checked on his two elderly neighbors at least once every couple of days, and he always made sure to mow their lawns in the summer and shovel their snow in the winter.

He was a fixture in the community. He felt especially responsible for an elderly woman next door. Ronnie LaChapelle had been a widow for 20 years, and her only child, Matthew, had tragically drowned in a boating accident 55 years ago. She had no family left, and she had. saw Joseph and his concern for her as a godsend. For the past several months, however, Joseph hadn't checked on her, nor had he checked on anyone else. On the contrary, the neighbors came and checked on him.

Alicia, Alicia! Hey! Oh, Ronnie. How are you? Hi. Oh, hey, girl. Hey, Harmony. Be careful.

You know, she's the size of Montana. Watch up for her. It's all right. It's okay. We're good, but she did tell me it was time. for a walk and obviously we both could use it. And I only have about one more lap left in me. And then I have a little cocktail at home and a terrible movie.

A Hallmark movie, by the way, if you'd like to come back and join us. Oh, man, that is so tempting, man. I envy you. My goodness. You know, you're such an inspiration to me, honestly. I hope when I'm your age that I just... Back up a little bit when I'm what? Oh, you know, I didn't.

I'm sorry. I didn't mean. Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, I am so kidding you. I am... Hey, on a different note. How is Joseph? It has been forever. Yeah.

I... Yeah, I know. I'm sorry. I don't know. Ronnie, he's going through a phase right now, I guess. Well, the good news, as you know, I'm always praying for the both of you. And the better news is, you know, the good Lord hears the prayers of a Southern woman. That he does.

You know, oh, that remember. remind me, do you still have those 5 a.m. check-ins with God? I don't know how you do that, Ronnie. It's way too early. Well, hey, it's not like I can sleep anyway. You know, at my age, let's go back here, 50-ish, give or take a death figure or two. No, no. Well, you know you're having to sleep during the day anyway, and then bam, you're just like wide awake and crisp at 5 a.m. in the morning, so why not? Yeah, I bet. Well, now, I don't mean to pry, but I'm going to pry right here. I got to ask you, what was Joseph working on so early yesterday? Yesterday?

What do you mean? Well, yesterday, Carmony comes in and she wakes me up and it's early. I mean, it's 3 a.m. or something, and she just wouldn't stop crying. So I figured she had to go outside. I let her out. And then the motion light comes on. And let me tell you, hi, I swear I thought I was going to have coronary. I see this man standing in your driveway motionless just staring at the garage door.

So at first I thought it was a burglar But then I realized it was Joseph It was? Yeah And he just stood there And of course I called out to him But he never answered me So I thought

You know maybe he's getting some sort of a Idea or a start on a new project or something But Lord, it was early even for me Ronnie Oh Alicia Alicia I'm sorry, I'm sorry

No I'm sorry Honey, I'm sure. I know he was just getting fresh air or something. It's okay. You know, God's got this. God has got this, girl. Yeah, thank you. Amen. Father Martin's here. I want to do a quick plug for one of the most powerful tools I've seen for breaking free and growing closer to Christ. Exodus 90. The Exodus 90 challenge begins this year on January 20th. but this isn't just a 90-day program. Exodus 90 is a spirituality for modern men that is built on three ancient pillars, prayer, self-sacrifice, and fraternity. We all long for something more. We long to be the men God created us to be,

sons of a loving father. It's time to turn away from our idols. It's time to break free from the pharaohs that hold us in bondage. If you're ready to make a fresh start and embark on a journey to uncommon freedom in Jesus Christ, then download the Exodus 90 app today. This is your chance to break free, refocus, and rediscover who God is calling you to be in the new year. It starts January 20th. So go to Exodus 90.com slash X-Files to learn more about Exodus 90.

that's exodus 90.com slash eX files to join tens of thousands of men from all over the world for Exodus 90. Again, it begins Monday, January 20th. God bless you. Ronnie knew something was wrong and was deeply worried. She began to acquire about him weekly and prayed for him daily. She was one of those fierce prayer warriors. that once you got on her prayer list, you never left it. But Joseph's condition deteriorated.

He stopped conversing with everyone. He had his own plumbing business, where he supervised two apprentice plumbers who were his cousins. These days, however, he was so withdrawn that he let them figure out how to solve each job by themselves, and he let his wife do the billing. He stayed at home all the time.

Alicia, Joseph's wife, took him to see various doctors. None could find anything wrong with him. His GP, who was a close family friend, ran all sorts of tests. A psychiatrist prescribed him various medications, but nothing worked. All they did was make him tired and even more distance. His symptoms saw no improvement. Hi, Evan. I am a shot.

He's not here right now. Could I just relay the message to him? I guess. So where do we go from here? We have to do something. This man, it's not the man that I married. Something is really wrong, and no one seems to have any clue what is happening. Almost everything?

We can try that. As we learned in season one, Exorcists rely on medical and mental health professionals, because one, most cases of reported demonic possession, are really just mental illness. And two, more defariously, a demon can camouflage his presence to make it look like what is happening is simply an emotional or mood disorder. Again, detecting the presence of a demon in someone isn't an exact science.

Genuine demonic possession can manifest in many forms. But generally speaking, exorcists like Father Martins and his colleague, Father John Zeta, who holds a PhD in psychology, note that victims can often find themselves, in states that can at times mirror psychiatric disorders, including depressive or manic psychological states. To be clear, in no way are we suggesting that someone suffering from depression or any other psychiatric disorder must be demonized. Rather, Father is saying that when the devil attacks someone, he may try to disable his victim so that he is unable to escape him. Inducing a depression-like state is one such tactic many exorcists have reported. Again, Father does.

doesn't want people to worry. In fact, it is far more often the case that mental health issues are not demonic in origin. At a certain point, someone suggested that Joseph and Alicia see me. Alicia brought Joseph into my office. He sat across from me and relayed to me the details of his condition. He did the talking, and I appreciated very much that Alicia let him do so without interrupting. If he omitted something she thought was important, she turned to him, and he took his cue to elaborate in more detail on what he was communicating. This detail may appear minor, but it established something crucial.

Joseph desired to get better and was willing to put in an effort to get himself there. Without that, the entire process would be pointless. Most people have the impression that visiting an exorcist is, much like visiting a hairdresser. The exorcist goes to work doing his thing, and there's nothing for the client to do but read a magazine or close his eyes and relax. Nothing can be further from the truth. It's work, hard work. If the devil is inside someone, he is there because he has gained the right to do so, and he's not going to go out without a fight from his victim. As a point of clarification and a reminder, when father says the devil, he is a

referring to demons or the diabolical in general, not necessarily Satan himself dwelling in someone, though some demons have claimed to be Lucifer himself. The job of the exorcist is not to cast him out, but to help the victim rescind the rights the devil has obtained. Without the afflicted person's cooperation, and more importantly, exertion, there's very little an exorcist can do. In fact, to be free of the devil, the victim will be. have to exert more energy than the exorcist. The second I met Joseph, I knew something was off. I didn't necessarily suspect the demonic,

but he was clearly struggling, even just to speak. Please make yourselves comfortable. I'm Father Carlos. It's nice to meet you. Joseph and it's Alicia, right? Yes. Thank you. Thank you for seeing us so quickly.

Of course. Joseph, I'm glad you're here. I hope I can be of help. Thank you. Not sure where to begin. You know, why don't we just pray first? And then I'd like to hear your story. Is that okay? Yes. Great. Well, let's get started. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. We prayed together and nothing happened, which I took as a good son.

sign. Some victims are completely unable to pray, as we've shared before. It was not my impression that Joseph was deliberately hiding anything, but it was clear that the physical act of speaking, even just being present for his part, required tremendous exertion. Nevertheless, nothing in his account made me think that what he was experiencing was necessarily demonic. The series of events he revealed next, however, quickly changed my mind. A few days before meeting me, when Joseph was alone in his room and Alicia was at work, he began to hear voices.

And they urged him to do something terrible. This can end now. A wife deserves better. She does. Death is the only escape. At first, he tried to ignore it. But as the thoughts became more and more intense, he was unable to think of anything else. He was flooded with thoughts about how miserable his...

life was and how death would be a blessed end. It was like every sin of my done full to spruce to every bad decision and regret so worthless. It was like being forced to look at TV, just looping all your worst qualities. I had to escape it. It's okay, Joseph. It's okay, please, please continue.

Anything like it. The scary part wasn't the voice, father. It was how convincing he was. It was irresistible. This voice just invited me to end it. Joseph said that framed in his mind was an image he simply couldn't shake. Tying the rope he kept in his garden shed into a noose, slinging it over one of the beams in his garage,

and hanging himself on it. He tried occupying his mind with other thoughts, and fidgeting around the house with this or that, but it was hopeless. After a moment or two, he was back to thinking that his existence was a mistake, and killing himself was the only way to fix it. Joseph went outside,

and after retrieving the rope from his shed, headed for the garage. All he could think about was that, in a few short moments, the horror and misery of his life would be over. Let's go, go forth! Joseph. By the grace of God, Elisha came home from her errands

just in time. She heard Joseph in the garage counted before over and over again. Curious, she opened the door to the garage only to discover her husband on top of the ladder, tying a noosed rope he had already slung around his neck to an overhead beam.

Her screaming stopped him from going any further. Joseph, what are you doing? Stop! What are you doing? And Joseph didn't know. And yet he did. That afternoon, he could think of nothing he desired more than taking his life. Looking back on it now, he wondered why he ever thought that. Sitting in front of me in my office, he explained how he had lived two distinct and contradictory experiences at that moment.

On the one hand, he knew full well what he was doing. He had an intense desire to kill himself, and he planned out precisely how he would do it. It seemed good to him. On the other, he had no idea why he wanted it. Never before had he ever thought of taking his life. The notion was repulsive to him. But it is what happened next that ultimately led them to me. Elisha brought Joseph into the house and sat him in a chair in the sitting room. In that same room was a small table that she turned into a prayer corner. On it was a crucifix, a picture of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the form of Our Lady of Guadalupe,

a bottle of holy water, pictures of different deceased family members, and various prayer cards. Elisha sat down near the table and started imploring God to heal him. Hey, I was that you lose my husband. Here you go. God, please bless my husband

and heal him in the name of Jesus. As Alicia put the holy water on God, Joseph, he shot up out of the chair, began to flail his arms, and writhe on the floor, screaming that what she just put on him burned and stank horribly. Within seconds, Red Welds formed on the areas of his skin where the holy water landed, as if he had been sprinkled with acid. What is this? It burned! What did she go?

What did she go? What did she go? What did he go? At this point, it became clear. wasn't a medical issue. This was spiritual. And only God could help Joseph. There is a time for doctors, and to be sure, that is many times. They can only do so much. For Joseph, only Christ would be his help. I've blessed him with holy water before. And nothing like this has ever happened. It was like something suddenly was inside and clawing its way out of my husband.

It's just him. He was so angry. Thank God for you. I'm so sorry. Yes, praise God. My heart really breaks for both of you and what you've gone through. I need to ask a couple more questions if you don't mind. Joseph, have you ever had suicidal thoughts before?

Whatever your doctor said. I, of course, was already fairly well-versed in his case. In the days before our meeting, the couple sent me copies of the reports from the doctors and psychiatrists that Joseph had visited. I went over them with a psychiatrist who volunteers his expertise to ensure that I properly interpreted them. The reports indicated that during the past year, Joseph was administered the usual tests somebody with his condition acute depression would receive.

But no specific cause for the depression could be identified. In addition, none of the numerous medications he was prescribed had any effect on the depression. And as I mentioned, all his lab tests were normal. There was only one thing left to do, pray. I had no certainty in my mind that Joseph's symptoms had a demonic cause. But neither was I certain they didn't. In such moments, an exorcist will engage in diagnostic prayer. We simply begin praying and see what happens.

Prayer is always a great place to start for pretty much anything. Blessed, O Lord, come to thy aid of your faithful servant. Have mercy now and send your angels. No, no, no, no. Reveal to us any foul. thing that lies below. Set your son three. As a refresher, we learned in season one that there are three classical signs of possession that the church looks for, and

importantly, these signs are usually not evident prior to the exorcism. They may be, but for many exorcists, these things are not really seen until they are in the room. Of course, these are not the only signs, but they are three that point towards genuine demonic possession. 1. Knowledge of hidden things and events, like in season 1, when Cheryl recognized Father Martins as a priest when he was dressed as a layperson and she had never met him before. Cheryl, honey, I have someone here I wanted to introduce you to. Two, knowledge of unknown languages. Like when the murder demon in episode 5 started shouting hell in a bunch of languages.

Father's. 3. Exhibiting Super Bowl. human strength, like in episode four, when Jeremy threw the helpers across the room. If you... No breaking our agreement! Be still, dear. How delightfully foolish, your human restraint, so... Flores, I command...

Die of darkness, you puny orphan. Demons will often hide these signs when they know an exorcist is looking for them. Remember, there needs to be evidence to get an official exorcism approved, so it would be in their best interest to remain. hidden. They know once they are discovered, it's only a matter of time. But demonic possession can show other signs too. The requirements for exorcism teach that the devil will show a vehement aversion to God, the most holy name of Jesus, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the saints, the church, the Word of God, sacred things and rights, and especially sacramental ones, and to sacred images. It also states that various other indications, which, when taken together as a whole,

build up the evidence. People may often ask, why is there not more proof? Fair question, but if demons are real, then they have every reason to hide and certainly no obligation to play by the rules of the skeptic. Or, say you think the idea of demons is just nonsense, and rather, they are just extraterrestrials or interdimensional beings. Again, the same issue. They may not want to be discovered, and we don't have any say in that. To quote the Sine-canonautical masterpiece, the usual suspects, the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing us he didn't exist. And if you ever meet a demon identifying himself as Kaiser Sosei, call Father Martin's ASAP. It is truly a tough part of the job knowing that some people are just mentally ill.

Sometimes you almost hope as an exorcist that there is a clear spiritual cause because you can hopefully remove it quickly. But many times, this is not. not the case. And it makes the victim's trauma no less significant. In Joseph's case, clearly something was wrong. I laid my hand in his head and, well, that's where things got interesting. And just like our therapists say, that's about all the time we have for today. We will return to the climactic finish to Joseph and Alicia's case in our next episode. This is a heavy case to be sure, and it touches on a very serious subject, that of the capacity of humans to contemplate self-harm and suicide.

It is a profound aspect of our cognitive and emotional complexity. Well, of course, in nature, all species face dangers and threats. The concept of self-inflicted harm or taking one's own life appears to be distinctively human. This phenomenon reflects our capacity for abstract thinking, self-awareness, and introspection. It's deeply intertwined with our ability to dwell in complex emotional states, such as despair, helplessness, and existential questioning, which in a strange way is the byproduct of our unique cognitive giftings. It's the commingling of all these things with our psyche that makes this part of our existence so enigmatic. Be sure to tune in next week for the chilling conclusion

to this episode. Dear God, what have I done? Thank you for listening to The Exorcist Files. To keep in touch with us and get some of our anointed merchandise, you can visit our website at exorcistfiles.tv. You can also email us absurd and overly specific criticisms at ExorcistFiles at gmail.com. All cases are recounted by Father Carlos Martins from his personal archives. The role of Joseph was played by Joe Coffey. Yes, his name is Joe. Alicia by Rachel Hemsley. The Poor Farmer by Daniel Schwab. The Scary Witch Doctor at the beginning by Ryan Bethay.

Stephen by Brandon Collins. The Good Doctor Evan by Kevin Lawson. Ronnie, the concerned neighbor by Ronnie Richards and Father Martins by Paul Leach. It takes a legion of people to make this show possible, so thank you sound designers, editors, and mixers, Dan Blesinger and Michelle Martinez, music and scoring by James Cavell and Tom Staley. This case was adapted and written for the show by Ryan Bithay and Father Martins,

additional script consulting by Jonathan Langley. We also want to give a special shout-out to Floriani music for their chance of deliverance album and letting us integrate that into the show. You can learn more about their music at floriani.org. And as we come to a close of our debut episode from season two, we want to give a very special thank you to some special donors.

John Carlo, you truly blessed us. Thank you. We also want to recognize Evan Loomis, Michael Ekstrom, and Ernesto Pablo Posas Garcia. Thank you for your generosity as well. You're like Million Mile Medallion members. You've really helped us out. Executive producers are Carlos Martins and Ryan Bethay.

See you next week, folks. Thank you.