Exorcist reveals terrifying encounter that ‘proved’ to him the devil was real
A Catholic priest famous for exorcising demons has revealed a chilling encounter he says is proof the devil is real and targeted him as a young man.
Father Carlos Martins, a Canadian-born Catholic priest, has performed exorcisms around the world and now describes signs of the devil’s work, including incidents of psychological manipulation that are more terrifying than physical evidence of demons.
Martins said on his podcast The Exorcist Files: ‘Even the things he did to his victims didn’t horrify me as much. What is much more frightening than the physical events you see, hear and feel in the room is the devil’s mind, the evil he can do, the mind games he will play.’
Martins described his own frightening experiences with demonic spirits, which he said began at a time in his life when he was an atheist, before he joined the priesthood.
The exorcist did not say when or where he first encountered the demon, but claimed he was repeatedly harassed by it and that the entity called itself ‘Confusion’.
‘Normally a demon hides his name and if you wear them down enough and they agree to give you a name, 99 times out of 100 it’s not their real name. It gives you something fake,” Martins said.
But the priest noted that the same demon continued to appear throughout his life, including when he watched his first exorcism as a seminary student.
It was at this point that Father Martins realized that this demon was the same demon that had been abusing him for years, and stated that the chilling conversation with Confusion made it clear that the demon had been actively watching you your entire life, looking for weaknesses to exploit.
Father Carlos Martins (Pictured) said he was an atheist in his youth before converting to Christianity.
Before he was fully ordained a priest, Martins said he learned that demons often refer to past events because ‘the devil has spent his whole life perceiving you, watching you, taking notes.’
“The demons will have a way of telling me, ‘I know you and we’re watching you,’ by referencing different parts of my life and events that only I know about, events that have no witnesses there,” he continued.
Martins said the devil watches people because he needs to know what makes them tick.
‘So he knows how to offer you a truly seductive seduction. So if she has red hair, she has the perfect redhead. If it’s about money, if it’s about power, if it’s about opportunity, he’ll offer it.’
The priest said exorcisms taught him that the devil and demonic spirits devise a plan to maximize the appeal of those they are trying to seduce.
As Martins watched his first exorcism – a religious ceremony in which trained priests attempt to exorcise an evil spirit or demon from a person, object or place believed to be possessed or cursed – the demon pursuing him returned and said: ‘You were supposed to be one of us.’
The exorcist explained that this encounter with Confusion gave him the eerie feeling that the demon somehow recognized him.
‘All of a sudden he would stop and say: ‘I’m starting to like you less and less.’ It blows you away. He hopes that his identity, the identity expressed in his name, can cause confusion.’
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The ordained priest said his experience with demonic possession taught him that the devil looks for weaknesses to tempt people (Stock Image)
Martins added that there was a ‘strange familiarity’ surrounding their encounters, noting how demons know certain details about people’s lives that others would normally miss.
‘At that moment there was just awareness. I remember looking up and stepping aside. Everything made sense. ‘I too was harassed by this devil during my atheism.’
Martins was an atheist in his youth, but became a Christian in the mid-1990s and years later felt the call to the priesthood. He was ordained a priest in 2009.
The priest said that after finding religion, he realized that ‘the truth of reality is contained in the Christian understanding of the cosmos’.
‘It has now become clear that the devil is real, and none of this came as a surprise when I first encountered the devil.’
Martins said he saw chairs and even people blown up during his first exorcisms, and he believed this was another attempt by the devil to scare humanity, especially young and inexperienced priests.
‘Why do you see levitation sooner rather than later in your career as an exorcist? Because the devil does this to scare you, to make you walk away and think, “This is so crazy. This is so weird. This is so scary.”‘
According to the exorcist, the devil targets young priests because ‘his energy level is not infinite’, especially when he has a human body.
But the priest said that thanks to his experience during exorcism rituals, he had developed an immunity to the fear the devil tried to instill in people who had never seen supernatural abilities before.
“The first time you walk into a room and realize a chair is levitating, it gives the hairs on the back of your head stand-up,” Martins said.
‘So what happens when you see this for the 18th time? But what about the 89th time you see it? Will you care less each time? If there’s someone new in the room during the exorcism, then I can expect to see things like this because now he’s got a new audience.’
