ROLAND DOE’S POSSESSION CONFIRMED
PART THREE
Roland Doe’s family was by now clear in mind that evil had possessed their 13-year-old son after he had conducted many Ouija board sessions. Their only choice left was to visit Father Albert Hughes at, St. James Catholic Church, Mount Rainier for assessment.
Father Hughes was initially disbelieving and hesitant about the case. However, he agreed to conduct the interview…encountering one of the worlds most inconceivable, unearthly cases of possession known to date.
THE INTERVIEW
STATED; as Father Hughes began interviewing Roland, the icy breath felt by the Doe family during their ‘supposed’ contact with Aunt Tillie had once more made its hostile return.
Still skeptical, Father Hughes carried on with the interview, which was soon followed by Roland spilling out a tirade of ungodly language directed at the Father. Hughes was evidently stunned but still remained unconvinced. However, this was swiftly dispelled when Roland suddenly began speaking fluently in Latin… a language he had never been taught.
At the end of the interview, there was apparently no doubt in Father Hughe’s mind that Roland Doe was possessed, as he immediately contacted his Archbishop, Cardinal O’Boyle and asked his permission to conduct an exorcism. Which was quickly approved, soon after the Cardinal had studied the case and the medical evidence.
THE EXORCISM
The first exorcism of Roland Doe took place at the Georgetown hospital. Before the ritual, Roland is securely tied to the bed, which is a normal practice.
As the exorcism commenced, Roland launched a spitting frenzy directed at Father Hughes. Which was reported as being an outpouring spat with such force and incredible aim - it was described as ‘beyond natural’.
The exorcism then came to its grisly end as Roland began screaming obscenities at the Father and began trying to break free from his restraint. Roland then manifested a power far beyond his years and condition - ripping a metal spring from the bed and slashing the Father’s left arm - resulting in Hughes needing over 100 stitches.
Roland promptly became peaceful after Father Hughes left the room – not referring to the exorcism at all; it was as though all memories had drained from his mind.
Roland was not considered in need of hospitalisation after the exorcism and was sent home. In the meantime, Father Hughes was unable to comprehend what he had witnessed and suffered a mental breakdown.
The case however remained far from closed; a conclusion to help Roland remained. After Roland’s cousin had spoken with her professor, Father Bishop at St Lois University (mentioned at the end of part two), it was decided that he and his good friend, Father Bowdern would visit Roland.
On March 9th 1949, Father Bishop and Father Bowdern, together with a young Jesuit priest, Fr. Walter Halloran went to Roland’s home. During the visit, they were horrified to discover Roland’s body disfigured with bleeding scratches to his chest. Other phenomenon was also witnessed, which resulted in Cardinal Ritter being petitioned by the priests to carry out another exorcism.
The exorcism was granted by Cardinal Ritter on March 16th 1949…and soon afterwards the priests began the exorcism rites.
The exorcism took on a sinister air from the start, with violent bed movements reported, extreme hostile language and extensive spitting coming from Roland. When further bloody scratch marks apparently spelled out the words ‘hell’ and ‘devil’ it was decided for everyone’s safety – the exorcism should be carried on in the psychiatric ward at the Alexian Brothers Hospital.
At the hospital, Father Bowdern began the exorcism by reciting prayers from ‘The Roman Ritual’, whilst Father Bishop wrote a diary of the events.
Roland began screaming in apparent pain as the prayers went on. At one point Bowdern was clearly shaken as the boy spat out the words, ‘I’m in hell – I see YOU – you’re in hell TOO – it’s 1957.’
Roland then began spitting at the priests again. Fr. Halloran stated that Roland was an absolute marksman when he spat and said that even with his eyes closed Roland would spit right in your face.
The exorcism went on for nights with each episode becoming more fearsome than the last. On one occasion Roland exploded with such rage, he hit Halloran with a force which broke his nose.
Bowdern then began reciting the Roman Ritual of Christian Exorcism over and over again:
‘I cast thee out, thou unclean spirit, along with the least encroachment of the wicked enemy and every phantom and diabolical legion. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, depart and vanish from this creature of God.’
After hours of reciting, Bowdern and the others were alarmed when Roland sat bolt upright and announced in a booming voice he was the ‘Arc Angel Michael’, and demanded the demon to leave Roland.
Roland writhed around – contorting his body in obscure positions until eventually he lay still. Then he sat up and spoke in his normal voice declaring to all the relieved witnesses, he had just seen a vision of, St Michael holding a flaming sword. The exorcism was a success!
Twelve days after the exorcism Roland’s family moved from St Louis to Maryland.
Roland later wrote to Father Bowdern telling him he became settled and had vague re-collections of what had happened to him.
The last report of Roland Doe is of a happily married man with three children and still living in Maryland.
The Catholic Church has a filed dossier which states…the possession of Roland Doe was ‘genuine’ with forty-one signatures of witnesses to the events.
Read part one – click on this
Read part two – click on this
Back to home page click on this
SCROLL DOWN TO COMMENT:
By J Reynolds, copyright, J Reynolds (aka eyepriestess) 2009 @ World Mysteries And True Ghost Tales.
eyepriestess,
I recall the Phoenix Lights incidents happening quite some time ago…, the spherical, orange crafts flew in a “V” formation. If one bothers to investigate the “Lubbock Lights” in TX from 1951, one would be hard pressed to prove there are no similarities. The “V” formations were very similar.
I read many stories too collect how often these sort of objects are seen. Most life forms on the earth are not naturally growing into strictly geometeric formations.
During the “disclosure” regarding UFOs has no doubt recording both instances, but biased I’m sure. This sort of bias put the witnesses into a position frequent enough that one must abandon the thought of speaking at witnesses.
I like the stories of police officers chasing a UFO, or those of pilots of HUGE aircraft, and the FAA keeps the stories about craft as “unknown natural” phenomenon. You could preach to me about why these craft are just a phenomena…, I would not be swayed. Separate appearances in a particular formation, flying slowly and at low altitudes sounds like some intelligence is controlling these craft. Some of these “aliens” are believed to be more like humans than any other species. Why don’t we ask for some tissue that we can grow, and observe the characteristics of same. The samples may prove to be weak relative to our environment, worse still is the samples might be invulnerable to many kinds of disease.
Oh, US and UK military bases have reported some stories that are captivating…, like the Rendalsham and Bentwaters in the UK. The videos on YouTube are very entertaining and informative.
A little humor, if they “come in peace,” don’t be too quick to embrace them. Remember that Twilight Zone episode where the aliens were carrying around a cook book, titled “How to Serve Humanbeings.” The linguists discovered their real intentions were, right after the boyfriend was aboard the ship. The prisoner wouldn’t rest or eat or sleep. The alien cordially asked the man to please eat, as he was becoming tough, stringy meat. A little dark humor. Ha?
jeffb1
The only thing that was left out of this event was when the boy sat up and spoke with the voice of the arc angel, there could be heard a loud blast.
Hi Peter, don’t suppose you can tell me where you read that? i’d love to have a look and see what the article says if you don’t mind.
People who believe in possession amuse me. Don’t they realize none of this ever makes it on film? What is stopping exorcists from using cell phone cameras? Or are they all completely unwilling to prove the reality of their chosen profession that they refuse to properly document these magical happenings?
Don’t be so gullible. Demons aren’t real, gods aren’t real. Possessions would have visible real-world consequences and anyone who believed in them and took part in exorcisms would have every incentive to prove them yet they just… don’t. Never. No photos, no video.
Don’t be so gullible. It is embarassing, isn’t it?
I must admit, i was a total skeptic like you before experiencing the paranormal for myself. Now i know what i do, i really don’t care if some people find it amusing. I used to feel insulted, but now i don’t feel anything other than embarrassment after realising i was very wrong to have been so skeptical
James what makes you so sure demons and god are not real? There are many things in this world we don’t understand, and for most people, they go about their daily lives not knowing or having any reason to know about paranormal experiences .
Some of us who are perfectly normal, down to earth people have experienced something which opens up your mind and makes you question things. And not be so small minded to say that or this cannot exist. Some things are wonderful, others are terrifying! And yes they do have an effect on real-world consequences as you say. Which has made some people talk about these things in the hope to understand. Knowing full-well there are always going to be the knockers!
I can’t speak for people who do exorcisms, that’s not something I know much about. I am sure they are a special kind of person who just want to help others and understand what they are going through. It’s not a question of proving to the world or getting your video on the top of the list on you tube! It’s about compassion and understanding human lives when people need it most.
Thanks Andrew,
just to add, there are exorcisms carried out today James, are all these priests deluded do you think?
Father Thomas, pastor of the Sacred Heart Parish in Saratoga, California, is a 28-year veteran of the priesthood. He is also a practicing exorcist; in Autumn 2005, Father Thomas traveled to Rome to complete a years training course under the tutelage of a master Italian exorcist. The story of his training inspired the film, ‘The Rite’, starring Anthony Hopkins. Despite this fictional portrayal, Father Thomas is also the embodiment of a new trend in the American Catholic church: Long the purview of American cinema, Catholic exorcism is being reclaimed, publicly, by its real-life practitioners. A factual account of Father Thomas’s training has been published in a book by journalist Matt Baglio; the Discovery Channel recently announced the airing of a reality show featuring the accounts of trained Catholic exorcists (though the Vatican has denied any official involvement with the series); and last November, Bishop Thomas John Paprocki of the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois convened a two-day conference to discuss the practice of exorcism within the Catholic Church.
“If a priest has the power to cast out demons, that’s a lot of power.”
The Catholic Church does not maintain official statistics on exorcisms. Yet Bishop Paprocki estimates that there are only around 30 priests in the United States qualified to perform the Rite of Exorcism, and he argues that these priests must contend with a growing number of exorcism requests.
The exorcism conference included sessions devoted to canon law and the dangers of an improperly performed exorcism, and the bishop hopes to eventually create a network of exorcists that extends across the United States. He also envisions the establishment of a formal program to train the next generation of exorcists. “The priests who have this responsibility get exorcism requests from all over the country,” he explains. “We want to prevent these priests from being overburdened.
Roughly a quarter of active bishops in the United States registered for the event, underscoring a growing interest in the Rite of Exorcism–a ritual that has remained, among American Catholics, relatively obscure. Historically, Catholics in the United States have been concerned with successfully assimilating into a majority-Protestant culture, explains Mathew Schmalz, a Professor of Religion at the College of the Holy Cross. They began to distance themselves from religious practices that came across as odd or out of place: the 1949 exorcism that inspired the 1970′s film The Exorcist, for example, was the last to be held in the archdiocese of Washington, D.C
I could give you many sources on exorcisms, but for now here is this one where i got the info above: http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/01/the-return-of-the-catholic-exorcism/70364/
This is very interesting: http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/01/05/discovery-exorcist-files/
Roland was sent to Alexian Brothers hospital, as this site says, Which is located in Illinois, Dad went to a certain college in St louis area and was certain the Kid was from St. Louis Missouri, or the general area
Thanks Cheese!
Hi Tonja, the voice i heard was gentle, and like a reassuring tone. Wonder why it said nothing else.
Isis who comments on here from time to time has passed away last week. She was only 38. She would have been 39 tomorrow. We talked daily, we laughed so much. Love you darling and please take care of her Jesus XX
Does anyone know how Roland is doing today? I live in Maryland also. Does anyone know his real name?
Hi Mutton, apparently Roland and his family are doing fine when he sent a letter to the priest, but they don’t want their location knowing and asked the priest not to disclose it.
If you think how much money Roland could have made after what happened to him, but he doesn’t do anything about it – not even a book, it makes his story more credible. He just wants a normal life.
“The Exorcist Files will recreate stories of real-life hauntings and demonic possession”
So it’ll pretty much be similar to the program “A Haunting”. I was expecting to see something more reality show like, more real. But I doubt anything like that will ever air on a big channel like Discovery. Maybe one day an underground documentary will be made about it.