The black mass held on Sunday, Sept. 21, may not have been all its organizers wanted it to be, but that doesn’t mean nothing responded when they called upon dark forces.
Thanks to a property-rights suit filed on behalf of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City by attorney Michael Caspino of Orange County, California, the self-proclaimed satanists who put on the black mass in the Oklahoma City Civic Center were not in possession of a pilfered Consecrated Host, which had been returned to Archbishop Paul Coakley. Instead, organizer Adam Daniels said he used a piece of black bread.
Talking to me for Breitbart News, Caspino, who withdrew the suit as soon as the Host was returned, said, “I can just tell you this, without a Consecrated Host, the event is a meaningless, nonsensical show of bad actors.”
Nevertheless, local exorcists were concerned that the participants and attendees at the black mass, not to mention people in the area, might feel the effects.
After the event–and the well-attended prayer service that took place across town at St. Francis of Assisi Church (pictured above) — I spoke to Catholic blogger Rebecca Hamilton for Breitbart.
She said, “I tell ya, it was a little bit rougher than you think. It was a lot more than just going to a church service and sitting through it. It was a really emotional experience. Actually, it started several days before, but it reached a horrendous peak on Saturday, just the most painful spiritual crisis I’ve experienced since I converted [in 2002].”
Hamilton felt a bit better after Vigil Mass, but because physically ill later on Saturday night.
She said “It hit me, this is the devil. I was up until 5 o’clock in the morning. I was sick. I got up to go do this, and everything in me did not want to go. By this time, I believed Satan was fighting me.”
Hamilton made it to the prayer service and the Eucharistic procession, but she said she wasn’t the only one of her acquaintance who felt emotionally or physically upset leading up to the black mass.
Worse than all this, more than simply a theatrical show of evil raised its ugly head when, just four days after the black mass, Oklahoma City man Alton Nolen, a convert to Islam, walked into a local food processing plant and attacked and beheaded a woman.
Even if this horrific incident hadn’t happened, the black mass itself was enough to leave some in the area concerned about any lingering after-effects the event may have had, especially at the Civic Center, a public venue.
As reported by Website Aleteia, Archbishop Coakley released a statement, saying in part, “From the beginning, we have taken seriously the dark and dangerous spirits being invited into our community. We anticipated this would be a concern for those visiting the Civic Center, and we’ve received many questions about the safety of the building following the satanic ritual.
“To address those concerns, we visited the venue the next morning to pray prayers of exorcism over the place and to pray the prayers for cleansing.”
The story quotes Daniels, who was initially defiant about returning the Consecrated Host (that lasted about 24 hours), as saying, “I find it hilarious how over-responsive he’s being to all of this. As I said before [the black mass] is a deprogramming ritual to cast Christianity out of people. All they [the Archdiocese] cares about is their religious freedom and not anybody else’s.”
Despite public protests, city officials allowed the black mass to continue as long as fees were paid and no laws were broken, as provided under the First Amendment. Also, the hundreds of protesters outside the Civic Center didn’t attempt to prevent the event from happening. Other than retrieving the illicitly obtained Consecrated Host, the Archdiocese took no further legal action.
One thing is clear, though, the people of Oklahoma City still need our prayers and support.