The Dark Sacrament by David Kiely

spirits. The canon has firm opinions on this. “I’m inclined to believe that the dead don’t come back for any good reason, but that evil spirits can masquerade as the dead,” he says. “Roman Catholicism holds that souls in purgatory might return to ask for prayers, and that’s another view. There is the distinct possibility, in Heather’s case, that the uncle and grandmother were both demonized in their lifetimes. I think that it was highly likely. There was no emphasis on a prayer life as far as I’m aware, and therefore no defense against evil. That is not a judgment, but simply a statement of fact.”
    Canon Lendrum is quick to point out that an exorcism will be effective only as long as the person who receives it keeps his or her part of the bargain. That is how he sees it: as a bargain. When people are exorcised, they make a pact with God, as it were, that they will remain “on the straight and narrow.”
    â€œYou know, the most difficult part for me is not the exorcism itself,” he says. “The most difficult part is encouraging a person who has never been religious to return to the Lord after their deliverance. Heather was one such person.
    â€œShe’d never been taught about God, you see. I was very much reminded in this case of the warning in Exodus, the one about the sins of the father being visited upon the children, unto the third and fourth generations.
    â€œA child who doesn’t learn about God’s love and compassion from the parents is an easy target. The father in this case was very violent and abusive—as was the stepfather. Having to cope with this, day after day, week after week, year after year, has a terrible effect on children. They suffer tremendous ‘psychic stress.’
    â€œIt is easy to see how evil can be promulgated over generations, if the individuals concerned have neither the fortitude nor the resources necessary to put an end to it. Oh, you can be sure,” he says with a sigh, “that Satan’s bid for our souls is predicated on the debasement of our humanness as early as possible in our childhood.”
    He is saddened that Heather Mitchelson had so little chance in life—that she was, from the earliest moment, exposed to such danger.
    â€œAfter the exorcism I visited her several times and found her at peace,” he says. “However, it’s quite a distance from Belfast to Balbriggan, and for that reason I could not visit her regularly enough, so I passed her into the care of another minister who lived closer.”
    The canon pauses. He looks wistful and downcast.
    â€œOh, how I wish I could say that the dear girl found peace in this life! She was very, very unfortunate—from the beginning of her life right up to the end. “Six months after the exorcism she died,you see. By her own hand. It was her third attempt at suicide and this time it was successful. Joe wasn’t there that day. There was no one who could stop her, reason with her, give her the assurances she craved. She hanged herself from the light fitting in her bedroom. She strangled herself.
    â€œSo, in the end, sadly, the grandmother did indeed have her way.”

THE HOUSEWIFE AND THE DEMON DUBOIS
    On the face of it, there is nothing magical about the Ouija board. It has no powers, either good or evil. It is simply a rectangular tablet of wood, much the same size as a Monopoly board. It has a long history, extending back to the ancient Romans, perhaps even predating Christ. Its present form emerged in the nineteenth century and was patented by the Baltimore inventor and attorney Elijah J. Bond. Although many of the earlier boards were elaborate affairs that included angels, swastikas, and signs of the zodiac, the modern variant is relatively simple. It is printed with the letters of the alphabet, the numbers 0 to 9, and the words yes, no, and goodbye.
    The “game” is played by two or more persons. Somebody