Exorcism - myth or reality?

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Casting out demons - myth or reality? In search of an answer to this question, RIA Novosti journalists witnessed a ceremony about which the Russian Orthodox Church does not have an unambiguous opinion, and talked with church and secular experts.

"Shut up! Run away!" - exclaims Father Herman, making a cross over a crowd of people.

The Peter and Paul Church near the Trinity-Sergius Lavra is jam-packed. Here, several times a week at noon, the famous Archimandrite German (Chesnokov), whom many call an elder, performs the rite of "healing those possessed by unclean spirits." In the Church, this rite is also called "lecture".

Before the beginning of the rank, Father Herman explains why an "unclean spirit" can settle in this or that person. The reason is simple - sin. “And we are sick because we sin,” he says.

Father Herman preaches for a long time, more than an hour. People stand, and in the center they sit in a semicircle on benches and chairs and try to listen attentively to the priest, who is actively gesturing, repeating: "We must go to the temple, and not to fortune-tellers or psychics! If someone has books with conspiracies, fortune-telling - burn it today immediately! It is very useful to receive communion! ".

Some come out of the stuffy temple into the street. The rest are shifting from foot to foot, someone yawns, someone looks at the icons, someone checks the messages on the phone. Everyone is waiting for the start of the lecture.

Unlike most Orthodox rituals, during the rite of exorcism of evil spirits, the priest always stands facing the parishioners. Father Herman says prayers not in a chant, as is usually the case at services, but very emotionally, with an abundance of gestures, like pastors from American films. The believers in the front row move even closer to the altar. A thin old woman in a black scarf begins frantically to baptize her belly. Next to her is a woman with two photographs of a young man - during the sermon, she did not take her eyes off the altarpiece of the Savior, and now she is constantly crying.

After reading the prayers and the Gospel, Father Herman with two priests descends from the ambo and begins to smear the forehead of each with blessed oil. He asks the woman with the child how long he has been ill.

"A year and a half, father. After the fast began," the woman cries. "Are you married to your husband? You need to get married! This makes him sick," the archimandrite minted.

Then he picks up a simple metal teapot with holy water and begins to sprinkle abundantly, reciting a special prayer. His gaze is directed at the worshipers, but it seems that he is not looking at them. The cassock is all wet from holy water, there are large puddles on the floor. The worshipers shudder from the cold spray, but immediately smile. “Mothers, if you partake your children every Sunday, then no illnesses will take them!”, The exorcist repeats many times.

A demon possessed my mother

"Father, what to do?" - this question is often asked by people whose relatives, in their opinion, are possessed by demoniacs. The priests give a different answer, based on a personal view of the lectures.

“Something was wrong with my mom. We constantly fought over some trifles. Every day she told me: damn you, you don’t have to live anymore, you don’t even deserve a torn pillowcase,” says Oleg from Moscow (name changed at his request).

Mom forbade him to go to church, was very irritated when he saw an icon or a cross. The man secretly turned to the priest, who advised sprinkling the apartment and mother's things with holy water. But, according to him, "there were no changes."

Then, at one of the Orthodox forums, he learned about the lectures. Oleg admits that "somehow miraculously" he persuaded his mother to go to the temple, where they perform the rite of exorcism.

“Now (after the report - ed.) She behaves very calmly. Father advised me to come again. I later learned that many people do this,” Oleg said.

“The abbot of our parish blessed me to go to the monastery to give Father Herman a lecture, saying that I was possessed,” says Galina (name has been changed) from the Leningrad Region.

She didn't believe it for a long time. But one evening, convulsions began - at first it seemed to her that it was an epileptic seizure.

“But the next day I found out that a miraculous icon of the Mother of God was being brought to our church. It turns out that, not knowing about the arrival of such a shrine, I already felt it. It doesn’t look like self-hypnosis,” she said.

When the icon was brought, Galina "for a very long time could not approach" the relic without outside help. According to her, at that moment she was cursing in the temple, cursing everyone around her, banging her head on the floor.

“I then cried for a long time and asked for forgiveness for the curses, but the priest, calming me down, said that this demon was trying to intimidate everyone,” the woman explains. As a result, she went to her father German for a report, after which, according to her, everything went away.

However, there are other reviews about the benefits of the ceremony. Alexander Dvorkin, President of the Russian Association of Centers for the Study of Religions and Sects (RACIRS), professor at the Orthodox St. Tikhon State University, cited a case from his research practice.

One Orthodox believer, who had certain mental problems, fell into the sect of the false Christ-Vissarion (head of the organization "Church of the Last Testament"). When the new adept Vissarion began to have doubts in the sect, he decided to go for an excuse. But, having passed the ceremony, he did not feel anything - and concluded that he correctly believed in Vissarion: after all, if he were a false Christ, the exocyst would have expelled the demon of evil. Since then, this believer has been in the sect for many years, walks and teaches the Orthodox that Vissarion is right, and the lecture "irrefutably proved this."

It helps if you believe

Archimandrite German has been practicing mass exorcism of demons for over 30 years. To him, according to the Dean of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, Archimandrite Pavel (Krivonogov), many people come. "Do the lectures help? Yes, I was an eyewitness. And it happens that someone is not helped. It depends on the person, on his faith, on the state of his soul," - said the dean. He does not agree that the lectures performed in the Lavra can be called massive (for which the rank is most often criticized). Usually, as the Dean noted, 50-60 people come to them, and not thousands, as you might think.

It is believed that the rite of casting out demons should be performed only in exceptional cases, when a person is under the total influence of the dark spirit that has taken over him and no longer controls his movements and actions.

In the Gospel, it is written about the demoniac in Gadarene, who beat against stones day and night, and when he was chained, he broke the bonds and ran unconscious through the wilderness. Christ by his power in an instant freed the unfortunate man from the heavy bondage. In the first centuries of Christianity, even pagans knew about the existence of special persons who conjured those possessed by the name of Jesus Christ and thereby expelled evil spirits from them.

Often, this was beyond the power of even the apostles - the closest disciples of Christ: the New Testament describes a case when they could not expel a demon from a possessed youth. Over time, Christianity developed an understanding that victory over evil spirits is possible only with a decisive correction of his life by a person, while observing strict asceticism, and not thanks to a formally fulfilled rule.

Archimandrite German (Chesnokov)

At the same time, the expulsion of demons in the Orthodox tradition is considered a special gift of God, which only some people receive because of their special, holy life and which they can realize only with the blessing of their spiritual father.

Exorcism in Russia

"According to the doctrine that after the Fall, humanity is in close communion with unclean spirits, trying to completely possess every soul, almost all Christian cult actions, including prayer at home, contain elements of exorcism. Spells against demons are contained in the rite of baptism, the great consecration water and others, "says Ilya Vevyurko, a religious scholar, senior lecturer at the Faculty of Philosophy at Moscow State University.

Exorcism is familiar to popular culture, first of all, from Western films about Catholic priests. There is even an Association of Exorcists in the Roman Catholic Church, courses and conferences are held for them. Experts from the Moscow Theological Academy have no unequivocal opinion about whether exorcism is inherent in Orthodox Christianity.

For example, Alexei Osipov, a professor at the Moscow Theological Academy, believes that, unlike the Catholic Church, exorcism is historically alien to Eastern Christianity. “In Russia, they never lectured. Only at the end of the 20th century, due to the penetration of Catholic influence into Russia, certain people began the practice of lecturing, and often without any blessing. Then, when the popular rumor rushed, they began to do it openly. But no special they never received blessings, Osipov emphasizes.

But the professor of the MDA, Archpriest Maxim Kozlov, believes that the practice of exorcism is regulated from the point of view of the canons, therefore, it is not marginal. “Practice assumes that such a rite is performed with the blessing of the ruling bishop. But only if it is regular,” the professor clarifies. This practice came to Russia from Byzantium immediately after baptism, "together with liturgical books, which were translated from Greek."

Modern exorcists use the text of the rite of the lecture from the famous missal of the Metropolitan of Kiev Peter (Grave) of the 17th century.

To church or clinic?

A couple of hundred years ago, various mental illnesses were sometimes attributed to demonic possession. Today, the Church accepts the achievements of science and at the same time speaks of the possibility of the influence of evil spirits on human behavior.

At present, the Church does not have a clear methodology for separating possessed and mentally ill people. Sometimes this is practically impossible, since demonic content is combined with mental illness. Sometimes the demonic possession proceeds in isolation. Before the revolution, the Holy Synod specifically addressed the psychiatry clinic of the Medical-Surgical Academy (now the Military Medical Academy - ed.) with a request to provide guidelines for priests with similar spiritual practice. Grigory Grigoriev.

According to him, if a priest "reads the church prayer with faith," then a demon-possessed person - in spiritual practice such people are "extremely rare" - will experience a sharp relief of his mental state. Spiritually-related mental disorders usually resolve after the discourse.

But mentally ill people, according to the doctor, not only will not benefit, but even worsen the condition. "For example, in some forms of schizophrenia, delusions of influence on religious grounds can develop. This requires serious medical treatment in a hospital setting," the psychiatrist explained. Therefore, he advises to see a doctor first. And if he doesn't help, then to the temple.

The abbot of the Optina Compound in Moscow, Archimandrite Melchizedek (Artyukhin), explained why, for example, in the famous Optina Pustynia there was never a lecture. “In difficult spiritual cases, the Optina elders advised confession (detailed, from childhood), unction and communion. This is the tradition. Innovations are sought by those who have no desire to take root in tradition, but who have a desire for everything at once, without struggling with themselves. Fruitless practice. Healing is a process, not a focus, says Archimandrite Melchizedek.

Report the lecturers

Priest-psychiatrist Grigory Grigoriev emphasizes that before the revolution, clergymen were recommended to give lectures individually, "in order to cut off patients with hysteria, who were called hysterics in the church." According to him, they often attract attention at church services with harsh outcries and other demonstrative actions, which are perceived by believers as demonic, although they are not. The demoniac, according to the priest, is distinguished by the fear of church sacraments, holy relics, holy water and miraculous icons.

Professor Alexander Dvorkin is extremely negative about the current practice of the report. According to him, he is in solidarity with the opinion of Patriarch Alexy II, who many years ago, at one diocesan meeting, said that one should "reprimand the reprimands."

"Reporting is a completely unconventional phenomenon that degenerates into some kind of hysterical, gloomy and extremely unpleasant show. Of course, as an Orthodox person, I understand that demonic possession undoubtedly happens. Christ expelled demons from possessed people, the saints also did it to Him. name ", - said the head of RACIRS.

Professor Dvorkin proposes to turn to the lives of the saints, from which it is clear: if some confessor or saint cast out demons, then it was always exclusively individual - not in public, not in large numbers. "Also, it has never been a long process and did not turn into lengthy dialogues with demons, the collections of which were only recently sold in our church shops," he said.

Icon "Saint Marina of Antioch, slaying the demon". 1857 year. Lazaros. Athens. Hidden in the Byzantine Museum (Greece)

Where and how much do they drive out demons

According to MDA professor Osipov, today it is not the people who received this special gift thanks to the holy life that are taken up for the lecture. “Sometimes people take up scolding out of arrogance, vanity, self-interest, of which we find more than enough evidence,” Osipov states.

"It is clear that the lectures bring popularity to the priests who conduct them. People begin to go to them, this brings massive funds, increases income, therefore, in certain dioceses, the hierarchy supports such events, or at least does not interfere with their holding," he notes. in turn, Dvorkin.

Judging by the reports on the network, trips to the village of Chikhachevo, Ivanovo Region, to see Schema-Archimandrite Ioannikiy (Efimenko) are quite popular among believers. Hieromonk Vladimir (Gusev) is also known in the city of Livny, Oryol region. In Ukraine, they go to the Pochaev Lavra or to the Ilyinsky Monastery in Odessa for lectures.

On the Internet you can find lists of dozens of other places throughout Russia where lectures are given. Therefore, on numerous sites of pilgrimage services there are even special tours to famous exorcists. Pilgrimages are held mainly on weekends, it is advised to sign up for them in advance, due to the large number of those who wish.

As a rule, on the sites of pilgrimage centers it is mentioned about donation for the trip, but the "donation amount" cannot be seen - it is announced when communicating on the phone. It can include, for example, only a round-trip road. There are also all-inclusive packages that include, in addition to travel, lodging, meals and necessities. For example, a trip from Moscow to Livny will cost about 6 thousand rubles, including two prayers "For the sick" (as they call the lecture in the pilgrim center) and unction.

For the sake of fairness, it is worth noting that you can attend the reports without making a donation.

Unauthorized expulsion

Another problem is the recognition of the legitimacy of an exorcist. On the Internet, you can often find articles about how in some village a priest casts out demons in various ways.

"Anyone can put on a cassock, a cowl, take up a cross and declare himself a bishop, a gracious old man - and he will have followers and so on. It is clear that no one keeps statistics (report - ed.)," Said the host of the Internet of the "Father Online" project, Hieromonk Macarius (Markish).

Bishops can ban such self-proclaimed demons from the ministry or defrock them. However, according to the hieromonk, a person casting out demons is unlikely to accept the decision of the hierarch - therefore "he will become a self-sacred, or a direct schismatic, a sectarian."

“In particular, we can say: since our country is free, everyone can declare himself (an exorcist - ed.),” Markish is convinced.

Experts with a negative attitude to mass reporting are in favor of eradicating this practice. However, in their opinion, it is extremely difficult to do this. Popular rumor supports the exorcism. And if, according to Professor Osipov, one tries to "forbid", for example, giving lectures to Father German, there will be a lot of noise.

“Sometimes those on whom it depends do not attach much importance to what is happening, do not understand how many people simply die because of this, become abnormal,” Osipov is convinced.

He criticized the popularization of exorcism and the clergy performing it. "If the saints hid their gift, then now you can find on the website of our Lavra the schedule, on what days and hours the priest performs the miracle of exile. Christ himself did not do this according to the schedule," our interlocutor concluded.

However, the Dean of the Lavra, Archimandrite Paul, is convinced that little depends on a person - no one can limit "the power of God's grace." "The Lord himself controls and heals. It's not like drinking aspirin to make it easier," he emphasizes. The main thing that is required of a person is to sincerely believe.