Deliver us from evil
Since Fra Elia has been living in the convent in Calvi, I can say that he has performed about a dozen exorcisms. It is the priests themselves, who send him these desperate cases, cases that, even after years and years of prayers and exorcistic practices, have never managed to “heal.”
And Fra Elia succeeds in one go! What is this mysterious force that enables such healing? Where does he derive this charisma, which enables him to succeed, in a very short time, where his illustrious predecessors failed?
Some scholars have expressed their opinion, one among many, I believe, is the most plausible: to call Fra Elia an exorcist would be to belittle him… He possesses angelic power! Could this be the truth?
Fiorella Turolli
Tales of the early exorcisms
1 – At that time Fra Elia did not yet have a Convent and had not founded a religious Fraternity even though this was his intention after meditating for three months in a Tuscan Convent. The number of people who wanted to meet him was immense, which increased greatly after the release of my first book. A dear friend of my first Editor, Ugo together with a copy of neighbors, (the delightful Mriuccia and her husband), being aware that Fra Elia did not have a suitable place to meet all those people, put at his disposal a large shed he owned in Spinea, not far from Venice. Some of Ugo’s priest friends, the wise Salesian Father Xavier, Father Massimo, and Father Michael who believed in Fra Elia’ charisms offered to accompany him during his meetings . Fra Elia then decided to go once a month also to Spinea…as well as Milan and Verona, where Mariuccia and Ugo were also being sobered by hundreds of requests. I remember that period as one of the most beautiful and sweetest of my life, enriched by ardent prayer, conversions, shocking healings of soul and body. At every meeting Elijah left an irrefutable mark, to everyone a message of hope and to many a special word that made them understand that he knew them deeply. The love we felt around us was immense and this nourished and blessed me. I know I am repeating myself remembering with nostalgia the wonderful evenings around the fire at Ugo’s house where we always had to add a place at the table… Beniamino the photographer, the precious watchmen with their families, Father Bruno who was in love with Medjugorje and the various Don and Monsignors and again the ‘publisher Piero Mantero who also joined us in Spinea, who later became a skillful and careful organizer of all the trips of Fra Elia to the various parishes in Italy that required his presence. But on that unforgettable Sunday I noticed that, at the back of the shed packed to capacity, a prelate different from the others, accompanied by a lady, whom I thought was his secretary, was making his way through the people to a room used as a parlor where a couple of chairs were still available. I quickly joined him and introduced myself. I was in the presence of Monsignor F. who had been a well-known exorcist for 45 years. He had heard about Fra Elia and wished to meet him. I promised to lead him to him as soon as the Mass was over…. The people were many, too many, and the service went on longer than expected, interrupted by ragged shouts, lion roars, and other strange coe. Evidently disturbed people-surely something I had never heard or seen.
At the end of Mass Fra Elia moved quickly to the center of the altar ( on a stage) to the amazement of the celebrants and, in a firm, authoritative voice, addressing the audience said, “don’t move from there, stay still. I will descend among you, make way for me and let me pass without touching me…. “the throng of people in perfect silence shrank as he passed to the first obstacle….a rowdy woman behind me, as the friar approached, unleashed a tremendous fist on my back snarling. Quickly Fra Elia grabbed her by the hair as she struggled like an obsessive, growling and roaring. Her strength was immense and Fra Elia struggled to “tame” her, forcing her to the ground as she spat at him, shouting, “I promise I’ll make you die! How disgusting…and Fra Elia with his knee on her chest ordered him to get out of that body… “just imagine, I’ve been here for 20 years and it won’t be you who commands me filthy “Out of her mouth came endless swearing, while Fra Elia tried to make her drink some holy water that she spat back in his face. Impressive were her roars truly similar to those of a lion!
Around us continuous prayers, many people kneeling and I behind Fra Elia saw and heard everything. The exhausting struggle between the two ended when the woman finally drank and collapsed.
2 – Fra Elia undaunted continued his chimney and found himself in front of a girl who was accompanying a ranting old woman. He drew out his cross and put it in front of her but his Angel moved his arm toward the girl, she was the possessed one who suddenly snapped screaming and cursing while the old lady calmed down. Again a furious fight between spitting aberrant curses.
All the real possessed people I met turned out to be very strong, dangerous … all of them wanted to kill Fra Elia and committed humanly impossible acts. The possessed are relatively fewer in number than the hundreds of mentally disturbed people who may appear to be possessed but unable to fly, roar, roll their eyes, stretch a green tongue…
3 – It was the turn of a beautiful brunette girl accompanied by her mother. I had seen her before and talked to her mother who related that her daughter was always nervous…perhaps about the upcoming wedding.
When Fra Elia froze in front of the girl and pulled out his cross, she manifested herself by taking a frightening leap to the ceiling and stuck to it screaming and frantically scampering.
All the eyes of those present were turned to look at her as the pleading voices grew stronger. Fra Elia calmly remained in place while two men from the escort brought a long ladder. One climbed up and, I don’t know how, managed to grab her or convince her to lean on him and climb down. Fra Elia did not give her time to put her foot down that he surprised her by grabbing her with all her remaining strength. He forced her to the ground and immobilized her as he knows how. “Let me go…how you stink…filthy” and then the usual spitting and threats…I could hear Fra Elia intimating to her “Drink, drink and pray…” She would not give in, cursing louder and louder. Fra Elia also did not give in and finally managed to get her to drink that saving water that set her free.
4 – I don’t remember how many people Fra Elia managed to free that day…I have the memory of a young woman spitting needles and nails out of her mouth…but he remembers six or seven. But I do remember the last one of the day, a slim, delicate lady with beautiful boots who greeted me with a big smile when we passed each other.
5 – I saw that beautiful lady shortly after, legless and armless, lifted up and carried literally by two sturdy men in front of Fra Elia at the end of her path. The people had not moved and were still praying loudly.
Fra Elia pulled out the cross and she showed him a long green tongue while rolling her eyes. It was still held firmly by the two men. When the woman realized that she had not frightened Fra Elia, she began to rail and insult Fra Elia with unrepeatable words, So much so that I, behind him, sent her a message with the thought “leave him alone you ugly beast” Fra Elia ordered the men to put her on the ground and help her untangle her legs and arms tangled behind her back…an impressive sight to say the least…Everything unfolded with difficulty, the woman did not want to have her legs stretched out and she seemed now very frightened. In fact Fra Elia, smarter than the enemy, managed to immobilize her with his knee until she drank the holy water that a gentleman from the escort handed him each time. I don’t want to, I don’t want to, she screamed amidst the spitting. All to no avail. She, too, was freed.
Bath in holy water: Adriana’s story
A lady named Adriana called me. Her faint voice moved me, “I read your book and was struck by the episode of your friend Liliana….” A few moments of labored sighing and then she resumed, “I’m nailed to the bed without hope… indeed the only hope is Fra’ Elia….” “I understand…but Fra Elia is very busy, in a couple of days he has to go to Spinea for a prayer group….” “I know, but I can’t make it…I’m a doctor and I’ve already had 17 operations…I don’t trust my colleagues anymore…please…I would like to take that bath your friend took…they hurt me too!” “Impossible!”, I replied sorrowfully, “Fra Elia is at the foundation in Verona and returns just in time to leave….” But the lady did not give up: “Please Fiorella, I live near Pordenone…you could leave the night before…I have a big house…I would host you here for the night…you tell him…If you want, he will!” The lady gratified me with a power I did not have, but her voice was so pained that I promised to try. I telephoned Elia, put the case to him, and he agreed. I remember that dark Friday night venturing through the twisted lanes of the Friulian hills that seemed to lead us out of the world, looking for a large white house situated lonely on the top of a hill. There it was at last, and our guide who had met us at the highway exit hurried to open the large gate and lead us into the warm living room.
A young woman came to meet us. “I am the doctor’s assistant, if you would like to follow me I will lead you to her.” Elijah looked cautiously around and I could tell he was looking for any evil presences. Mrs. Adriana lay suffering in a large bed, too big for her slender body. She looked at us full of gratitude, breathed a sigh of relief and began to tell us her incredible story. Elijah listened attentively to her. “Let’s proceed,” she finally said to me. “Let’s prepare the bath.” As usual, he lit the blessed candles he had brought with him, poured two canisters of holy water into the bath and had the lady put on a white linen robe. We all began to pray. Adriana’s assistant and I helped her get up and slowly immerse herself in the tub filled with warm water while Elijah in the other room continued to pray.
She was not yet fully submerged that from the middle of her back yellowish liquid resembling putrid fat began to seep out of her robe and fall into the water, forming large yellow and brown patches.
A house freed from the devil
In January 2012 Fra Elia was invited to bless a farmhouse near Calvi. When he arrived, the owners tell him about strange phenomena that have occurred recently and show him a shelf in the corner of the bedroom on which is a small television set with other objects. Twice, a few months apart and in the presence of different people, everything on it has suddenly flown to the floor for no cause-and-effect reason.
In that room Fra Elia smells unpleasant odors, and while the accompanying priest prays to impart the blessing, he has repeated retches of vomiting, because according to him the stench has become much more intense. Having finished the sprinkling of the whole house, Fra Elia together with the priest and a family member set off down the driveway that leads to the back of the property, while the others follow them with their eyes from the terrace.
Along the way they all pray the rosary together, and the retching becomes louder and more frequent. When they get to the bottom of the property, Fra Elia points to a laurel bush, bends down under it and with his hands begins to dig until he manages to pull something out. He gets up and shows a strange, earth-wrapped object, about 20 cm long, about the size of a finger, tied very tightly with strands of thread of various colors, ending in a kind of claw.
He stows it in a black sack and carries it to the car. When she goes back into the house again to say goodbye, suddenly everyone present hears her being invaded by intense gusts of rose scent, a sign that she has been freed from the infestations she had been suffering from. Before the celebration of Holy Mass, Fra Elia burns the strange object, which as it melts leaves a glimpse inside of it of numerous pins and pins, joined to one another by the tight bindings that wrapped them.
Friar Sergio tells
We were invited by the Superior lady of a convent near Calvi, Fra Elia found himself facing a boy, whom the enemy had been keeping as a slave for several years, so, permission or no permission, he found himself forced to exercise that strength that Heaven had given him, beginning, in the name of God, an unequal, exhausting, unpredictable struggle in every aspect because the other is cunning, crafty, very strong and all it takes is a small distraction to succumb. But Fra Elia is not afraid. By his own admission, his right hand acquires a hundredfold strength, capable of lifting boulders, a supernatural strength, which enables him in a relatively short time to free the prey from its predator. Brother Sergio recalls that on that day, after the exorcism, he saw Fra Elia staggering into the church and, exhausted, slumped in front of the altar, lacking strength. “I have never seen Fra Elia reduced like that!” he added.
Story of a boy possessed by the Deamon
During Calvi’s last meeting, a boy of about 35 years of age was brought to him, who for seven years had been accompanied, in vain, from one exorcist to another, without, moreover, obtaining any benefit. A relative, knowing the fame of Fra Elia, wanted to try the last card and, thus, without even warning him, led the boy inside the little chapel, where Fra Elia receives, along with the group. Fra Elia, before every meeting, is used to carefully scrutinize those present, one by one, and therefore he immediately saw that, behind the boy, there was a large black shadow. When he took the aspergillum for the blessing with the holy water, he was very careful not to let any drop fall on him, otherwise the uproar would start. When the fights were over, Fra Elia made all those present leave and detained the boy.
Soon the challenge began, the struggle between good and evil, with humanly impossible manifestations such as the rolling of the eyes, the animalistic burrs and grins, the cavernous voice and above all the dexterity and supernatural strength of the two contenders. From outside, the waiting people could hear those bark-like howls, and so, to help and support Fra Elia, they prayed hard, loudly, louder and louder, until the battle ended, which could only be the Lord’s victory. Later, Mark and Clare, who were present at the event, recounted the incident to me, pointing out that, at the end, Fra Elia, seized with dizziness, had to lean against the wall in order not to fall. It was about thirteen o’clock and we of the community, were at the table upstairs. In the evening, Fra Elia, telling me some details, asked me, why I had not joined him. “How can you tell the facts, if you can’t see?” “Next time, I will,” I answered him. And the next time soon came, the following week, in Feletto Umberto.
Vigevano: testimony of Pastor Florindo
During these two days Fra Elia was very busy praying and exorcising possessed people. What anguish to see those people on the ground possessed by another presence and speaking with his voice saying, “You will not be able to take me!” I thought: you will not be able to free his soul from me, because he belongs to me. And after many prayers and holy water finally those people calmed down and came to their senses.
Fr. Mark, who was present, also prayed and cooperated, living the whole thing very naturally, as if this struggle of Fra Elia with the devil was a usual thing. A struggle that happens even within the walls of the Calvi convent where Fra Elia lives with his community, like the time when Elias was thrown down a four-meter wall and buried under a pile of rubble and the community was struggling to find him the next day..
Saying goodbye to Fra Elia, I told him that it was good and enriching to be with him, because I can always learn something both in dealing with people in need and in fighting against the evil one. Besides, he is a person who never bores.
The Swiss case: the frozen lake
Cold, frost, deep snow in Lombardy. Yet Fra Elia decided to go to the February 12 meeting in Switzerland by car accompanied by Brother Tommaso and me (Fiorella). The salt spread on the roads could not cover the sneaky slabs of ice between the accumulations of snow, which like gigantic sculptures made a beautiful display on the sides of the road. It seemed as if we were passing through a shimmering white enchanted landscape.
It had been a few years that a dear friend of ours had been going through a very difficult time. Great problems in every matter that concerned him: work, friendships, health, including a serious illness of his daughter, and many other things, perhaps less serious, but equally unbearable. Fra Elia knew this and prayed for him. Then, all of a sudden to someone, who learned that D. had hosted for a considerable time an unspeakable character, (but D. wanted to help him redeem himself) and, that this person had manifested to many people all his hatred for our friend and his family, this someone, immediately sensed that D.’s misfortunes could be consequent to an invoice. He immediately telephoned Fra Elia, begging him to come by D.’s house on the occasion of the trip to Switzerland. She would be there, too.
We arrived in the morning, and after struggling through a vast expanse of deep snow, we entered the house greeted by the whole family, a priest and other friends.
Fra Elia asked if it was possible to celebrate a Holy Mass to purify us and prepare us to defeat evil. Then he asked the landlord to guide him through all the rooms starting with the cellar. He asked us not to disturb him and to follow him from a distance.
Fra Elia slowly went down the stairs behind the landlord carrying a lighted candle, and we behind in absolute silence. Down, Fra Elia found nothing to suggest an invoice, but looking up at a “wolf’s mouth,” he asked what was on it.
“The garden,” replied D. “Let’s get out!” proposed Fra Elia.
We all followed Fra Elia outside while he, walked briskly barefoot (in Franciscan sandals) sinking into the snow. The garden was actually a planted park, full of avenues and pathways including a beautiful pond and associated bridge to cross it
Fra Elia headed determinedly toward the frozen snow-covered lake, not knowing that it was a lake… and while we at a distance were worrying, he began to walk over it… All of a sudden, right under the bridge, he stopped and asked us to bring him a hammer. Fra Elia began to hammer the frozen section of the lake at the spot where he had stopped, fortunately near the shore, then he lay down on his stomach and stuck his whole arm into the hole he had created.
We, who were very worried that the ice would break and that Fra Elia’s arm would freeze, saw, as he continued to rummage on the bottom and spill dirt and gravel on the ice, that his legs were jerking backwards in an unnatural way, as if someone from behind was pulling them violently at him.
In fact he later told us that the “beast” did not want him to find the cause of the curse and wanted to drag him away forcefully. Finally Fra Elia found a small round, sealed box. He took it and showed it to us. He was all frozen, his clothing wet and icy, his hands purple…but happy.
He tried several times to open the sealed box without succeeding, but finally with a loud tug, the box showed us what was in it: two blue-colored glass eyes, (similar to the eyes of D. and the whole family) some grains of ‘gold, some dead man’s bones and other small things.
The bill had been made to strike DEAD the whole family AND ROVING D. IN HIS WORK (the gold next to the bones).
Then, Fra Elia, in front of the dismayed family, lit a fire but the little box did not burn. So he took it away and threw it into the river.
The infested house in Brussels
It had a nefarious reputation, so much so that for years it drove away every possible tenant. There was also a suicide and many other unpleasant incidents. No one wanted to inhabit it anymore. But the last brave tenant, after noticing the beauty and size of the building and, what did not spoil, the advantageous rent, decided, in spite of everything, to go and live there together with a friend of hers. One on the mezzanine floor and the other on the upper floor.
Further downstairs remained a room reserved for the landlady. But from the moment the two women went to live within those walls, they began to feel ill. At night they were disturbed by creaks and noises of all kinds, as well as nightmares and health problems. Despite an exorcism and a mass celebrated in the house, the noises continued, their health deteriorated and the discomfort of the people friends, who visited them, was such to the point of causing a strong sense of nausea and cold chills. One of these people was Giusi, our interpreter who asked Fra Elia to help them. As soon as Fra Elia, Giusi, Guillome and I crossed the threshold of that house, we felt great discomfort and Fra Elia, without wasting time, immediately asked to visit every corner of it.
We followed him: kitchen, living room, room by room, including stairs. Nothing. We went down to the floor of the first tenant, nothing. We continued down until we arrived in a dark, cramped anteroom that preceded the closed dwelling of the landlady. Fra Elia paused in front of a huge statue of a Buddha sitting on a small chest. After a few seconds, he ordered us to lift it, and Giusi and Guillome, with much effort given the size of the statue, managed to move it. Fra Elia bent down, stretched out his arm to ascertain, if the chest was locked. It wasn’t. He opened it. At this point, he was seized with gags. He tried to pull himself together and, sinking his hands into that sinister container, he extracted from it a typical decapitated Bali puppet, horrible human bones, frightening various amulets. And, as he tried to clear the chest of every last fragment, still he was seized with gags. We, petrified, watched the scene. We recovered when Fra Elia asked for a plastic bag. He placed everything in it, advising us not to touch anything. As the Buddha was put back in its place, Fra Elia revived, drawing long sighs. Finally ascending to the top floor, we opened wide all the windows of the house and, with our lungs full, inhaled fresh air, inexplicably smelling of roses and incense, from outside. In the space of a very few seconds all the floors of the house, from top to bottom, down the stairs, were so quickly and totally filled with that scent of blooming roses, of grace, (as Fra Elia put it) so much so that it truly left everyone present in awe, and while Fra Elia remained motionless in the living room, everyone else was coming and going to and from every place, to ascertain whether the scent had really spread everywhere. All that remained for Fra Elia was to bless the house and its astonished inhabitants, after which we headed for a large river, where Fra Elia threw the sack containing those evil fetishes. The water of the Lord will purify them and they will no longer do any harm to anyone.
But before leaving, Fra Elia was approached by a friend of one of the hosts, a delicate-looking lady afflicted, as she told us, with an incurable sea. A disease called invoice. She had been told that her strange and serious illness was a bill passed down to her from one of her ancestors. She, unfortunately, was so convinced of this, that she resigned herself, without a fight. At first, she tried to survive, making the rounds of countless exorcists, otherwise to no avail, and now, greatly worsened, she had also come to Fra Elia as a last hope. Fra Elia listened to the whole story and, so did I, who, beside him, acted as interpreter. But, as often happens, Fra Elia “saw” that the lady had no bill. True, she was serious, but only because of her fear and resignation, which had taken away her strength to fight, to the point that any treatment was ineffective. Fra Elia blessed her with a relic of the “Innocent Martyrs,” and its effect was immediately evident to all including the unbelieving unaware.
In passing the relic over her ailing kidneys, down her spine and over her head, the lady began, at first, to vibrate perceptibly and, then, to shudder in a frenzied rhythm, as if shaken by a strong electric shock. The Lord’s healing energy was entering her, producing its effect. How long did this last? I could not calculate it, but I think, although it seemed like an eternity to me, that it was for about thirty seconds, maximum one minute. Then Fra Elia reassured the lady, telling her that from now on she would have the strength to face and overcome the disease, but only if she wanted to.
Australia: exorcism in Adelaide
About ten years ago, Mr. and Mrs. Mercuri purchased land once owned by Aborigines where strange rituals, including human sacrifices, were performed. Not at all disturbed by this, the Mercuri built the mansion and lived there with their children. But after a very short time they were continually disturbed by incessant noises, abruptly awakened in their sleep, frightened by inexplicable phenomena, beaten, struck by strange diseases and misfortunes to no end. People of great faith, Mr. and Mrs. Mercuri sensed that these were probably evil forces and asked the church for help. Famous exorcists intervened, Masses were celebrated, and except for some faint improvement, everything soon began again and got worse. Today, more than two months after Fra Elia’s intervention, I got news that there is peace and joy in the house. Mrs. Giovanna wanted to send her testimony to the Archbishop of Perth.
The story: beautiful sunny day, a beautiful garden and a coala on the eucalyptus…The husbands of the two ladies Giuseppe Branca and Carmelo Mercuri remain in the garden chatting under the umbrella while Fra Elia with the hostess and Rossella (Rose as I have learned to call her) they entered the house.
I follow the trail of scent left by Fra Elia and enter as well…when suddenly I hear a terrible bang followed by a scream coming from the tavern. Fra Elia understands, asks for holy water, an olive or eucalyptus twig, a candle and salt.
Mrs. Joan executes as Rose looks at me aghast. We go downstairs. Fra Elia calmly tells us to pray leaning against the wall. When Joan hands him the holy water and the twig, he begins to sprinkle water invoking St. Michael the Archangel then continuing in Aramaic while we, with lit candle in hand, begin to pray.
In an instant all hell breaks loose. Large logs of wood stacked next to the fireplace, they hurl themselves at Fra Elia, but when they come within 10 centimeters of him, they seem to bump into an invisible protective wall, and fall to the ground. Fra Elia does not seem to notice and continues to walk slowly into the large tavern; he prays and blesses, but the two women scream as a large ceramic vase flies from a cupboard and violently hits Fra Elia in the head, who, waking up from his “situation” that I cannot define, has a moment of bewilderment from the pain. He recovers immediately and courageously continues to bless. In the meantime, the doors of a large closet slam violently, clothes come out, books fly, the women scream and I scramble to tell them not to make any sound or noise because Fra Elia’ life depends on it. I don’t know how long this lasted…moments?…minutes? I only remember not being frightened (I am used to these events) and, when things were over, taking pictures of the remnants of the disaster. Now, thinking back, I see Fra Elia again, who from the dark end of a hallway returned to us smiling and affirming that everything was over.(His swollen and aching head healed after his return to Italy.)
