7 Kinds of Demonic Harassment | Msgr. Stephen Rossetti

Msgr. Rossetti is one of several exorcists online sharing their experiences. Another exorcist has stated that if you're not being attacked in some form, that's not necessarily a good thing. You're probably doing exactly what demons want, so they leave you alone to continue to dig yourself deeper into sin and the pleasures of the world instead of growing holier with self-denial and sacrifice. Demons also don't waste their time on those who fall for the lies that they don't exist. Why bother exposing themselves to non-believers and risk those people becoming believers?

Below is a video from Armor of God on YouTube, a channel I enjoy with a lot of information from a variety of exorcists, like this one on a similar topic to the above:

From what I've learned in listening to exorcists, demons most attack people who are a threat--those seeking holiness or to save souls--but it's worse on those who have given themselves to demons. Possession is actually a rare occurrence, but harassments of some form or another is very common.

A word on retaliation:

Be careful of retaliation when you pray for someone who willingly, or maybe even unknown to them, is serving demons. I've experienced this. Every time I offer the strongest prayer (holy mass) for a friend who believes she's serving Christ in writing romance stories with married couple sex scenes, I am attacked in the night in a very consistent (can mark my calendar!) and distinct way that tells me the demons are pissed at my prayers for her. It's been unpleasant, but I have learned to say extra protection prayers to Our Blessed Mother and St. Michael. When I do, the attack is almost nothing. (To those who object to this intercessory help, I refer you to Matthew 12:22-28, Psalm 141:2, and Revelations 5:8, 7:10, and 12:7-9.)

What I've experienced after offering the mass for her confirms to me that any story (written, visual, etc.) that inspires lust in readers, no matter the state of the characters, is serving the demons of lust ("but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart." Matthew 5:28). Even if the fictional couple are married, the reader is likely to fantasize sexual feelings and most likely for the characters rather than their spouse, which is adultery. A writer/filmmaker provides the demons a feast of souls through damning the souls of their audience, and they hate when anyone tries to save the writer/filmmaker, because it takes away not just one person but the potentially hundreds of thousands or even millions of members of their audience. (I suggest studying Mark 9:42-48 and taking heed of it.)

edit 2/2/25: A new video describes exactly what my feeling is of these attacks--amusement that what I'm doing really irks the demons:

Exorcists warn of spiritual retaliation when praying for someone serving demons, whether they know it or not; and boy, have I learned that lesson! It's why I bring this up--my wish is for others to realize the damnation to their soul and others.

Why sex scenes serve demons:

This is why I have said that I will never write sex scenes (or glorify violence or other vice or sinful matters, although they are a part of life and may be mentioned but will be portrayed as the evil they are). I have never liked reading or seeing sex scenes, because even in visual media, they are present and it really doesn't add anything, no matter how much a writer says it does. Graphic sex NEVER adds to the story. Let the flaming begin--responses by writers attached to lust/porn will prove my point of serving demons. The demons of lust will be enraged and inspire the writers who serve them into hatred instead of introspection and reason. They are providing sales to those writers to encourage them to continue to damn souls. “For what good will it do a person if he gains the whole world, but forfeits his soul?” -Matthew 16:26.

(edit 2/25/25: Here's an excellent explanation I finally found by a priest--https://bismarckdiocese.com/news/is-it-a-sin-if-i-read-books-or-watch-movies-that-contain-sexual-scenes)

It's only in further listening to exorcists that I have learned why sex scenes are wrong. Most of the souls in hell never believed hell existed and the majority (overlapping) are there for sins of the flesh, according to mystics shown hell and average people who have had near death experiences of hell.

Promote virtues instead:

My Starfire Angels characters value life, charity, kindness, purity, honesty, generosity, temperance, modesty, diligence, patience, and humility. In Forgotten Worlds, the characters have their individual virtues while being deficient in others that develop through the series. L'Ni and Nya have complimentary virtues that rub off on each other, which is where I see the greatest character growth. Nik and Ann and even Shen and Zaer each compliment each other and keep their partner in check. I hadn't even realized that was happening until now. My objective is to promote those good qualities in fantastic, entertaining stories through the reactions of the characters demonstrating those virtues in the most difficult situations. It's actually what stories used to be and what made heroes great in the old traditions. And through the series, each learns the value of the other virtues to the point of self-sacrifice for others and redemption of sins (see Book 18).

Many people have experiences that they may or may not recognize as spiritual in origins, wherever they fall in the state of their soul, which is why the video is helpful for recognizing some of the forms of diabolical harassment. The saints had much more pronounced experiences, however.

What happens when you aren't affected by ordinary temptations:

Those who are closer to Christ (true saints) have more direct battles with demons in their earthly lives, because ordinary temptations don't affect them. St. Padre Pio is said to have directly battled Satan and ended up with bruises from it. He was also gifted with reading souls, seeing and conversing with angels, bilocation, and bearing the stigmata, and his relics bring healing. There's a reason the man was canonized (confirmed in heaven). He could handle that level of spiritual warfare, which only increased his holiness.

St. Gemma Galgani also had her battles with Satan. She could also see and converse with her guardian angel and also received the stigmata. (Pay particular attention in the article to the quotes of what she says Satan did to try to stop her prayers. You'll probably recognize the same thoughts forcing themselves into your head or the same difficulties blocking your efforts. Spiritual warfare is a constant battle, and demons don't need sleep, so they pester and pester like spoiled toddlers until you break or call in spiritual reinforcements. If they can't get you with ordinary temptation, they'll attack through others or directly themselves. According to exorcists, God keeps them on a leash, so they can't kill you directly but can by influencing others.)

Msgr. Rossetti touches on less extreme diabolic harassments in the above video than what the saints went through. Fr. Iannuzzi (who trained under Fr. Gabriele Amorth, the "Pope's exorcist") says much the same in segments of the below video:

Protect yourself from demonic harassment:

The best protection is complete faith in God, and loving Him as fully as humanly possible, which means 1) forgiveness, including praying for one's "enemies" (not necessarily liking them but showing love by praying for what's best for them and will get them into heaven), 2) staying in a state of grace (confession and avoiding sin), and 3) frequent (no more than once a day but as many days as possible) worthy (in a state of grace) reception of the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus, which is only available in the Catholic church. This is why it is the only church harshly attacked--the demons know it is the only church against which the "gates of hell shall not prevail". It is the church founded by Jesus giving the keys to the kingdom to Peter, the rock upon which Christ established his church on earth, which came before the Bible was compiled (which was done by the fathers of the Catholic church).

Conclusion:

The top video came up on my feed a couple of weeks ago, helping me with something I wanted to write about but wasn't sure how to say. It took me this long to figure out exactly what I wanted to say, which is why it has taken this long to post. God always provides.

Grow in grace!

God bless!