The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist Read Online Free PDF

of friends. “He had this ability to put other people first and make them feel special,” Lori recalls.
    Sometimes, however, Gary's mortuary job threw a kink into their plans. Lori remembers a few occasions when she'd gotten all dressed up, only to have Gary cancel at the last minute because he had to do a removal. Despite being disappointed, she'd soothe her bruised ego by telling herself that if he was to become a funeral director, she'd better get used to this now rather than later.
    In 1975, Gary graduated from USF and immediately entered a year-long program at the San Francisco College of Mortuary Science in order to get his embalming license. He continued to live at home while attending the mortuary school, easily making friends and even picking up a nickname. One course he took was on funeral services as practiced by different religious denominations. Because of his long exposure to Catholic tradition, Gary was asked if he'd be willing to teach it to the other students. Before long, everyone began calling him “Father Thomas.”
    He excelled at the school, finishing the program in only nine months, after which he went to work as an apprentice for a mortuary in South City. Then in 1977, at the age of twenty-four, Gary got his embalmer's license and moved to a funeral home in Los Altos. The mortuary had a little cottage on-site, where for the first time in his life, Gary lived on his own.
    During mortuary school, he had discovered a sort of “marvel to the human body as a system,” especially the circulatory system, which embalmers use for draining the blood and inserting the embalming fluid. And rather than being sickened by what he witnessed, if anything the constant exposure to death helped to “elevate” his spiritual life. Oftentimes, while inserting the eye caps—small plastic devices with edged “teeth” that keep the eyes closed—he would find himself staring into the lifeless eyes of the deceased. The first time he did this, he could tell there was something odd about them; a presence was missing. To Gary, this was clear proof that there is eternal life, that the soul leaves the body at death.
    During his time in Los Altos, a feeling Gary thought was long gone began to gnaw at him; he started thinking seriously about the priesthood again. Despite having a rewarding career, he felt deep down somewhere that he was destined to do something different. He began asking himself a hard question: Was the life he had mapped out for himself as a mortician the one God intended?
    There was also his relationship with Lori to consider. In the end he knew he couldn't be fair to her if he continued to harbor doubts. A few weeks later, one September afternoon, he and Lori drove to Vasona Lake Park in Los Gatos for a picnic. Lori had no idea what was coming, though perhaps she should have seen the writing on the wall. For five months, Gary had been dropping hints about his interest in joining the priesthood. Lori's mind, however, had been focused elsewhere. In fact, she had expected to get a ring for her twenty-first birthday in August. At the park, the two wandered out to a shady spot on the grass, overlooking the lake. There they sat for a few minutes, watching the water, each looking at a different world and contemplating a very different future. Gary could see himself alone, a priest dedicating himself to a life of celibacy and service to God. Lori saw herself as a mother and wife of a funeral director. At some point, Gary turned to face her and their worlds collided. Though dumbfounded, Lori realized she could not stand in Gary's way.

    T HE YEAR AFTER he broke up with Lori turned into a time of struggle for Gary. He continued working in the funeral business while determining whether or not God was calling him to the priesthood.
    In the summer of 1978, he began meeting regularly with a spiritual director, Father James O'Shaunessy to find out “How is God in all of this?” However, the decision to apply to the