(CNN) You know things are bad in Congress when the chaplain's morning prayer on the House floor sounds like an exorcism.

On Thursday, the Rev. Patrick Conroy said during his prayer that it had been a "difficult and contentious week in which darker spirits seem to have been at play in the people's house."

"In Your most holy name, I now cast out all spirits of darkness from this chamber, spirits not from You," continued Conroy, a Jesuit priest who has been chaplain of the House of Representatives since 2011. As he prayed, Conroy closed his eyes and raised his hands in supplication.

At times, Conroy's prayer sounded strikingly similar to the Catholic Church's old Rite of Exorcism , in which a priest cast "unclean spirits" from a possessed person. (The rite was revised in 1999.)

House Chaplain Pat Conroy's opening prayer: "This has been a difficult and contentious week in which darker spirits seem to have been at play in the people's house. In Your most holy name, I now cast out all spirits of darkness from this chamber, spirits not from You." pic.twitter.com/DleRYUtLWV — CSPAN (@cspan) July 18, 2019

In a brief interview afterward, Conroy said the echo was intentional. But he added that his prayer, which he wrote himself, was more inspired by traditional blessings for homes or other buildings.

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