Gabriel Castillo — Claimed Demonic Attack and Marian Deliverance
The story in one line
Gabriel Castillo survived demonic attack and received help through prayer and Marian intervention.
The basic story
A Texas Catholic evangelist says that while praying the Rosary alone in his dormitory during college, a force pinned him to his bed, choked him, and left when he invoked the name of Mary. The account is preserved through later interviews, talks, and Catholic media appearances.
Historical setting
This file belongs to the modern testimony circuit, where a personal account of oppression, prayer, and Marian help is preserved mainly through talks, ministries, and online interviews.
Claimed setting
Dorm room at the University of St. Thomas, Houston
Castillo places the event during his college years, before his parish ministry career.
Public record type
Later interview testimony
The event is publicly preserved through long-form podcasts, talks, and his 2025 book.
Current ministry record
True Faith TV / Children of Mary
His present public ministry is documented through his own media channels and event bios.
Underlying event file
Unwitnessed personal account
No released diocesan, medical, or police file has been identified for the dorm-room episode itself.
The long-form Pints With Aquinas interview below is the most complete single public telling of Castillo’s account and is the source behind many later summaries.[1]
Primary-source file
Section titled “Primary-source file”This interview is the fullest public account of the claimed choking attack, the Hail Mary response, and the conversion story Castillo repeats elsewhere.
youtube.com Second major interview The Catholic Gentleman - A Demonic Attack Converted MeThis 2023 interview gives a second long-form public telling and a short written summary of the conversion narrative.
catholicgentleman.com Current ministry channel True Faith TV podcastCastillo’s own media site documents his current public ministry under the Children of Mary / True Faith TV banner.
truefaith.tv Book record The Power of the Rosary - Sophia Institute PressSophia Institute Press lists his 2025 book, which presents the Rosary testimony within a longer devotional and practical framework.
sophiainstitute.comWho He Is
Section titled “Who He Is”Gabriel “Gabi” Castillo is a Catholic lay evangelist, videographer, and speaker from Texas. He attended the University of St. Thomas in Houston (a Catholic university), where he became intellectually convinced of Catholicism but — by his own account — continued to struggle morally, particularly with pornography addiction. After graduating he served as Director of Evangelization at St. Theresa Catholic Church in Sugar Land, Texas (2009–2018), then Director of Youth Ministry at the same parish. He is the founder of True Faith TV and host of the “Children of Mary” podcast. In 2025 he published The Power of the Rosary (Sophia Institute Press).[1]
Public event biographies and his own media channels also present him as a Catholic videographer, speaker, husband, and father working from the same rosary-centered devotional identity reflected in the interview testimony.[2] [3] [4]
The Claimed Event
Section titled “The Claimed Event”The event is presented as a private dorm-room experience during Castillo’s college years at the University of St. Thomas in Houston. No source gives an exact calendar date. In his own retelling, the episode unfolds in a very specific sequence: guilt after falling back into serious sin, a first attempt to pray the Rosary, a sudden choking attack, and then release when he calls on Mary.[1][2]
During Lent, Castillo made a firm resolution to stop committing mortal sin. He fell back into sin within hours. In deep contrition, he prayed aloud: “God have mercy on me, I’m a poor sinner, I’m a slave.” He then heard what he describes as an audible demonic voice — “a very high pitched screeching, mocking, insulting” — repeating his own words of contrition back at him in mockery.
Shortly after, he obtained a rosary pamphlet and attempted to pray the Rosary alone for the first time. As he began:
“A force grabbed me by the throat, pins me on the bed, holds me down. The room is like spinning in ice cold. I try to scream for help, but it’s — I’m being choked.”[1]
He tried to call for his mother but could not produce sound. The attack lasted approximately ten seconds. An interior voice he identifies as his guardian angel told him to pray the Hail Mary. He could not speak aloud, so he formed the words mentally. By his account:
“I got the words in my head, Hail Mary. And internally, when I said those words, I felt like a release. And then so I said it audibly, Hail Mary. And the words, Mary, left my lips — the presence left the room.”[1]
He credits this as the moment when devotion to Mary stopped being an idea to him and became something he believed had directly saved him.
Castillo file
- Event Private dorm-room episode The claimed choking attack was unwitnessed and is known through Castillo’s later retellings.
- Public trail Podcasts and interviews The fullest public file is the long-form interview record under his own name.
- Afterward Rosary ministry The testimony later became part of a larger Marian and rosary-centered evangelization work.
Publicly documented chronology
Section titled “Publicly documented chronology”- During his college years at the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Castillo places the reported dorm-room attack and deliverance episode.[1] [2]
- After graduation, public church-event bios place him in ministry at St. Theresa Catholic Church in Sugar Land, first as Director of Evangelization and later as Director of Youth Ministry.[4]
- September 2023: The Catholic Gentleman published a long-form interview and summary under the title “A Demonic Attack Converted Me.”[2]
- 2025: Sophia Institute Press published The Power of the Rosary, which extends Castillo’s rosary testimony into a book-length devotional presentation.[3]
- His current public ministry remains visible through True Faith TV and the Children of Mary podcast archive.[4]
Where the Testimony Has Been Published
Section titled “Where the Testimony Has Been Published”- Pints With Aquinas podcast, Episode 460: “Demonic Attack, The Holy Rosary, and Lives of the Saints” — the fullest account, with extended transcript available[1]
- The Catholic Gentleman podcast, Episode 127 (September 2023): “A Demonic Attack Converted Me”[2]
- ChurchPOP (October 2023): “From an MTV-Influenced Life to Marian Devotion”
- EWTN News / Catholic News Agency interview (January 2026, SEEK conference, Fort Worth)
- National Catholic Register interview on his 2025 book
- His book The Power of the Rosary (Sophia Institute Press, 2025) — contains his testimony alongside 40 others[3]
Documented facts and open questions
Section titled “Documented facts and open questions”| Claim | Status |
|---|---|
| Castillo attended University of St. Thomas, Houston | Plausible; not independently confirmed in sources found |
| His career as Catholic evangelist and parish youth director | Confirmed via parish records and Catholic media directory |
| The choking attack occurred | Self-reported; no witnesses cited; no independent corroboration |
| He heard an audible demonic voice | Self-reported; unfalsifiable |
| Resolution occurred through mentally praying the Hail Mary | Self-reported; unfalsifiable |
| No physical injury was sustained | No contrary evidence; consistent with the claim |
References
Section titled “References”- Pints With Aquinas, Episode 460. “Demonic Attack, The Holy Rosary, and Lives of the Saints w/ Gabi Castillo.” Long-form interview preserving the fullest public version of Castillo’s dorm-room testimony. Video available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5A_8KIEia0
- The Catholic Gentleman, Episode 127. “A Demonic Attack Converted Me.” September 20, 2023. Second major public interview and summary of the account. Available at: https://catholicgentleman.com/2023/09/a-demonic-attack-converted-me/
- Castillo, Gabriel. The Power of the Rosary. Sophia Institute Press, 2025. Publisher page available at: https://sophiainstitute.com/product/the-power-of-the-rosary/
- True Faith TV podcast page and Prince of Peace Catholic Community event bio. Public ministry pages describing Castillo’s podcast ministry and church speaking role. Available at: https://www.truefaith.tv/podcast and https://www.pophouston.org/event/divine-mercy-conference/