The Roman Catholic Exorcism
Translated from the Rituale Romanum

First published in the reign of Paul V

• 1. The Litany.
• 2. Psalm 54 ('Save me, O God, by Thy name').
• 3. Adjuration imploring God's grace for the proposed exorcism against the 'wicked dragon' and a caution to the possessing spirit to 'tell me thy name, the day, and the hour of thy going out by some sign.'
• 4. The Gospel (John I; and/or Mark XVI; Luke X; Luke XI).
• 5. Preparatory Prayer.

Then the priest, protecting himself and the possessed by the sign of the cross, placing part of his stole round the neck and placing his right hand on the head of the possessed, resolutely and with great faith shall say what follows.

'I exorcise thee, most vile spirit, the very embodiment of our enemy, the entire specter, the whole legion, in the name of Jesus Christ, to † get out and flee from this creature of God ††.

'He Himself commands thee, who has ordered those cast down from the heights of heaven to the depths of the earth. He commands thee, he who commanded the sea, the winds, and the tempests.

'Hear therefore and fear, O Satan, enemy of the faith, foe to the human race, producer of death, thief of life, destroyer of justice, root of evils, kindler of vices, seducer of men, betrayer of nations, inciter of envy, origin of avarice, cause of discord, procurer of sorrows. Why dost thou stand and resist, when thou knowest that Christ the Lord will destroy they strength? Fear him who was immolated in Isaac, sold in Joseph, slain in the lamb, crucified in man, and then was triumphant over hell.

(The signs of the cross † should be made on the forehead of the possessed.)

'Depart therefore in the name of the † Father, and of the † Son, and of the Holy † Ghost; give place to the Holy Ghost, by the sign of the † Cross of Jesus Christ our Lord, who with the Father and the same Holy Ghost liveth and reigneth one God, for ever and ever, world without end.'

'I adjure thee, thou old serpent, by the judge of the quick and the dead, by thy maker and the maker of the world, by him who has power to send thee to hell, that thou depart quickly from this servant of God, N. (name of the possessed), who returns to the bosom of the Church, with fear and the affliction of thy terror. I adjure the again († on his forehead), not in my infirmity, but by the virtue of the Holy Ghost, that thou depart from this servant of God, N., whom Almighty God hath made in his own image.

'Yield therefore; yield not to me, but to the minister of Christ. For his power urges thee, who subjugated thee to his cross. Tremble at his arm, who led the souls to light after the lamentations of hell had been subdued. May the body of man be a terror to thee († on his chest), let the image of God be terrible to thee († on his forehead). Resist not, neither delay to flee from this man, since it has pleased Christ to dwell in this body. And, although thou knowest me to be none the less a sinner, do not think me contemptible.

'Go out, therefore, thou transgressor. Go out, thou seducer, full of all deceit and guile, enemy of virtue, persecutor of innocence. O most dire one, give place; give place, thou most impious; give place to Christ, in whom thou hast found nothing of thy works, who hath despoiled thee, who hath destroyed thy kingdom, who hath led thee captive and hath plundered thy goods, who hath cast thee into outer darkness, where for thee and they ministers is prepared annihilation.

'But why, truculent one, dost thou withstand? Why, rash creature, dost thou refuse?

'Thou art accused by Almighty God, whose statues thou hast transgressed.

'Thou art accused by his Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, whom thou didst dare to tempt and presume to crucify.

'Thou art accused by the human race, to whom by the persuasion thou hast given to drink the poison of death.

'Therefore I adjure thee, most wicked dragon in the name of the † immaculate lamb, who trod upon the asp and basilisk, who trampled the lion and dragon, to depart from this man († let the sign be made on his forehead), to depart from the Church of God († let the sign be made on those standing by). Tremble and flee at the invocation of the name of that Lord at whom hell trembles, to whom the virtues of heaven, the powers and dominions are subject, whom cherubim and seraphim with unwearied voices praise, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Sabbath.

'Therefore, adjured now in his † name, depart from this man, whom he has created. It is hard for thee to wish to resist. It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks †. Because the more slowly thou go out, the more the punishment against thee increases, since thou despisest not men but him who is Lord of the quick and dead, who shall come to judge the quick and the dead and the world by fire.'

'Therefore, I adjure thee, most vile of spirits, the entire specter, the very embodiment of Satan, in the name of Jesus Christ † of Nazareth, who, after his baptism in Jordan, was led into the wilderness and overcame thee in thine own habitations, that thou stop assaulting him whom he hath formed from the dust of the earth to the honor of his glory, and that thou tremble not at the human weakness in miserable man but at the image of Almighty God.

'Therefore, yield to God, who by his servant Moses drowned thee and thy malice in Pharoah and in his army in the abyss.

'Yield to God, who made thee flee when expelled from King Saul with spiritual songs through his most faithful servant, David.

'Yield to God † who condemned thee in Judas Iscariot the traitor. For he beats thee with divine † scourges, in whose sight, trembling and crying out with thy legions, thou hast said: What are thou to us, O Jesus, Son of the most high God? Art thou come hither to torture us before our time? He presses on thee with perpetual flames, who shall say at the end of time to the wicked: Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, which is prepared for the devil and his angels.

'For thee, impious one, and for thy angels are prepared worms which never die.

'For thee and thy angels is prepared the unquenchable fire; because thou art the chief of accursed murder, thou art the author of incest, the head of sacrilege, the master of the worst actions, the teacher of heretics, the inventor of all obscenities. Therefore, O impious one, go out. Go out, thou scoundrel, go out with all thy deceits, because God has willed that man be his temple.

'But why dost thou delay longer here?

'Give honor to God, the Father Almighty, to whom every knee is bent.

'Give place to the Lord Jesus Christ † who shed for man his most precious blood.

'Give place to the Holy Ghost, who through his blessed apostle Peter manifestly struck thee in Simon Magnus, who condemned thy deceit in Ananias and Sapphira, who smote thee in Herod the King because he did not give God honor, who through his apostle Paul destroyed thee in the magician Elymas by the mist of blindness, and through the same apostle by his word of command bade thee come out of the pythoness.

'Now therefore depart. † Depart, thou seducer. Thy abode is the wilderness, thy habitation is the serpent. Be humbled and prostrate. Now there is no time to delay. For behold the Lord God approaches quickly, and his fire will glow before him and precede him and burn up his enemies on every side. For if thou hast deceived man, thou canst not mock God.

† is used for the 'signs of the cross' in this text

see also Exorcising Devils and Demons and of course 'The Complete Book of Devils and Demons'