The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist

Wow, outstanding book. It was fascinating and intellectually stimulating. The writing was tight and flowed well. The footnotes were extensive and the whole book was well researched. Baglio avoided hysteria and worked to strike a balance between the believer and skeptic. He is open about his Catholic faith, and certainly writes from that point of view, but he seems to be way more open to rational, science based explanations for all but the rare and extreme disturbances. I really liked this book and would recommend it to anyone wanting to learn more about this topic but wants to avoid the religious extremist who see the devil behind every bush and causing every sin of man, and the skeptical extremist who has abandoned all intellectual curiosity and becomes angry at any point of view which looks to religion for answers to some questions. I gave it 5 stars because it wouldn't let me give it more.

Exorcisms are not a thing of the past. The Catholic clergy of today are studying and applying how to rid someone of demonic possession. “The Rite” walks us through Father Gary’s training in Rome on how to identify a possessed person and perform exorcisms where necessary.The author is clearly passionate about the topic and this comes through in his writing, which he does well. Baglio does spend some time on scientific reasoning and possible explanations, which I greatly appreciated. If you are looking for a serious account on this topic, “The Rite” is a quick, easy, and enjoyable read.

Guess I kinda knew what I was getting when I ordered this book by seeing the rosary on the front , however it is disturbing to imagine any exorcist commanding a demon in the name of the Virgin Mary . Baffling actually! Add in some saint worship and more false doctrines with an already childish story and it completes the description of this book. There’s not an institution on earth ordained to cast out demons, that is done through an individual with the Holy Spirit. Not for real Christians. This book is fluff! Glad I bought used.

I've always had a certain interest in the demonic, growing up with Linda Blair's depiction of the possessed in the Exorcist, it always seemed so dramatic, so over the top frightening and at the same time so inspiring -- seeing a priest fight the devil with the power of God on his side is pretty strong stuff after all.When I first saw the previews for the upcoming movie "The Rite" I immediately decided to get this book. The movie looked interesting and as everyone knows, the book is almost universally better, I knew I just had to read it.What I want to tell you about is not a summary of this book, there will no doubt be others who provide a detailed breakdown of its twists and turns, rather I want to tell you how it made me feel -- uncomfortable, no that's not a strong enough word -- disquieted, unhinged, afraid.How did it do this? By theatrics, no. To be sure there were elements that involved the supernatural and were frightening in and of itself. What really did it to me was the sobering investigation into the life of a priest who gets tapped to be an exorcist and his experiences training under an exorcist in Italy.The fear that builds up while reading this book is not one sown by what you know to be fiction, but by a realization that this is *REAL*. I found myself praying a lot more while reading this book. I couldn't escape the fear that while I was reading it I was opening myself up, that is to say, becoming more receptive to potentially unseen forces. Maybe it was psychological, maybe not.The book deals with extreme cases of possession that this priest in training assists his Italian training with as well as minor cases that border on the mundane. It is well written and researched with an extensive bibliography/references.I have not seen the movie yet, chances are it will disappoint. If you are interested in this subject, I really recommend this book. If you saw the movie and thought it sucked, don't make the same assumption about this book. It really is quite good.

I am rating this five stars because of its usefulness and original content. I found the book didn't move very quickly when it started off and I began to wonder if our subject would ever truly become an exorcist. Although, for me, this wasn't particularly a page turner at first, once it took off it was hard to put down. Also, it presents things that even the most harsh critic would be hard put to dismiss. I learned a tremendous amount about exorcism in this book as well as demons. For those of rational and logical bent it also has various psychological and scientific attempts to explain the phenomena. I found some things too far beyond the pale to be logically explained away. For example, when flushing out frauds the exorcist, knowing that demons speak all languages, will do the exorcism in a language unknown to the person being exorcised. Sometimes they will read poetry and literature in those languages. If a person reacts violently to poetry they are a fraud. A demon will react only to the parts that are the actual rite to exorcise them. Are demons real? You be the judge. If you read, The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist, and are sure demons don't exist, you will be a little less sure. This book is unique and fills a niche not filled by the numerous books on demons.

One of the best movie ever!!!

Há um filme baseado nesse livro, se você ver o filme depois de ler o livro você terá um derrame, pois você verá como ruim o filme é por todos os seus clichés de filme de terror, exemplo:-> Você quer fazer um exorcismo, é?: Vá para uma casa semi abandonada numa 'favela' italiana, coloque a pessoa num lugar BEM escuro e tenebroso para dar uma ambiente melhor!.-> Que tal colocar propaganda no seu filme, heim?: Coloque o personagem principal como um cético moderno e sóbrio enquanto os exorcistas são arbitrários, arcaicos e ignorantes! mostre como a igreja católica é ruim, decadente, exploradora e perversa!.Que fique claro que essa é uma avaliação do livro comparada ao filme, e não uma análise do filme em sí. Os pontos acima citados só existem no filme, Matt Baglio te dá uma visão sóbria e pé no chão do que um exorcismo realmente é, sem agenda e sem cliché hollywoodiano, após ler o livro você aprenderá a sentir nojo do lixo que produzem em filmes sobre um assunto como esse. É uma boa compra pois você deixará de ser mal informado sobre tal assunto como a esmagante maioria é. Recomendo muitíssimo.

Libro interessantissimo per chi volesse seguire più da vicino cosa comporta l'essere un esorcista. Matt Baglio segue un sacerdote americano che è stato incaricato dal suo vescovo di assumere questo compito e, mentre si trova a Roma per un periodo di riposo, prende parte ad un corso organizzato dal Vaticano appunto per istruire nuovi esorcisti. Seguono poi incontri con esorcisti più esperti che lo fanno partecipare a diverse loro sedute. Non mancano intermezzi in cui si parla più in generale della possessione, del disturbo mentale e della personalità, quindi il libro offre uno sguardo veramente a 360° sul fenomeno.L'unico punto negativo che ho trovato è che il libro si conclude proprio quando il protagonista, tornato negli Stati Uniti, inizia il suo nuovo ministero. Mi sarebbe piaciuto che la narrazione continuasse un po' di più per parlare sia di come l'attività di esorcista ha cambiato il protagonista, sia per sentire dalla sua voce commenti, pareri, difficoltà.Edizione Kindle ottima, con indice e rimandi veloci alle numerose note a fine libro.

I got this book after having seen the movie. So I was thinking to enjoy a nice horror story. It turns out I should have paid a bit more attention to the book description. This is apparently a true account of a priest's experience in exorcism training, and it was real enough to freak me out. It scared me so much I attended an online catholic mass afterwards. If you are considering reading this book just remember that knowledge is a dangerous thing and ignorance is bliss.

Helps understand exorcism is alive and underappreciated by the general population. More people need to accept the devil is as real as the nose on their face. Great book for better understanding the path a priest needs to undertake to officially be qualified and titled an exorcist. Although I considered myself agnostic I believe everyone would benefit from reading this title.