What are the names of the people in whom the demon possessed. Possessed by Demons: Opinions of the Church and Psychiatrists. Real cases of obsession

V ordinary life as long as it goes steadily, without incident, we do not even think about the fact that in parallel with us there is a world of other entities. Its main "inhabitants" are angels and demons (demons, devils). The Holy Scriptures are rich in descriptions of the effects of demons on human souls. The Bible names the signs of a demon possessed person. since the Middle Ages give this essential... Little is known about angels; they are protectors, and we do not need to know about their methods of protection. Demons are serious enemies of the human race, and in order to resist them, it is necessary to study methods of dealing with this evil. Christ himself emphasized that they can only be driven out with the help of fasting, the cross and prayer.

How did the Evil Spirit appear?

Before the creation of the universe by the Creator, the world of angels existed. The most powerful was named Dennitsa. Once he became proud, rose up against God himself, and for this he was expelled by the angry Lord from the angelic world.

Every Christian knows the signs of a possessed person: this is aggression, talking in a stranger's voice, rejection of church values, the ability to levitate, a sulfuric smell, and more. But there are also some signs of the devil's possession that are difficult to recognize.

To defend against best advice- do not mess with him, since the demoniac does not have his own mind. Only church rituals will help to drive out demons from him.

How the devil takes possession of a person

Anthony the Great claims that humanity itself is to blame for the fact that demons find refuge in the souls of people. These are incorporeal creatures that can take refuge in a person if he accepts their disgusting thoughts, temptations and will. This is how people agree with the existing evil. The stories of the priests about the possession of the devil are quite frightening and scary. From their personal experience, they were more than once convinced of the reality of the actions of dark forces, therefore they know all the signs of a possessed person, they can recognize him and try to save the soul. Even strong prayer does not immediately help to get rid of the infested evil spirits.

So why do demons have the ability to enter a person? The Holy Fathers claim that they belong where sin already dwells. Sinful thoughts, an unworthy way of life, many vices - it is easiest for the devil to penetrate a vicious person.

Many wonder why God allows this. The answer is simple. In fact, from the Almighty, we are endowed with freedom of choice, will. We ourselves must choose whose authority is closer to us, the Lord or Satan.

Priests divide demon-possessed people into two types.

The first is that the demon subjugates the soul and behaves like a second personality within a person. The second is the enslavement of the human will by various sinful passions. Even John of Kronstadt, observing the possessed, noted that the souls ordinary people demons will take possession of them by their innocence and ignorance. If the spirit infiltrates the soul of an educated person, then this is a somewhat different form of possession, and it is rather difficult to fight the devil in these cases.

Possessed people in the church

There is a statement in christian church that a person's obsession is not manifested in Everyday life, goes outside, one has only to approach the demoniac to the church or see the icon and the cross. There have been cases when during the divine service some people begin to rush, howl, cry, shout blasphemous speeches, swear. All these are the main signs of a possessed person. This is explained by the fact that the demon tries to protect the soul from divine influence. The devil is intolerant of anything that somehow reminds of faith in God.

Educated, intelligent people with a demon in their souls, it would seem, are accustomed to taking into account the opinions of others, they are measured and sedate, but once you start a conversation with them about religion, all their respect fades away, the face immediately changes, rage appears. The demon living inside cannot overstep his essence as soon as it comes to his eternal adversary - God. The way demoniac people behave in the church only confirms the fact that the demon tries to avoid sources of danger and is afraid of being expelled. In fact, it is not people who are afraid of the church and the Articles of Faith, but the unclean entity that is in them.

Obsession can be divided into several signs: in some cases, the demon simply whispers nasty things to a person, encourages him to do obscenities, to go against God. Having penetrated the body, the demon can act to the detriment of other people, causing them evil. Having settled in the body of the dead, the devil in the guise of ghosts harasses people.

Physical signs of demon possessed

The ministers of the church have identified phenomena that indicate signs of demoniac people. In the treatise "On Demons" by Peter of Tire, the following points of demon manifestations are indicated:

• the voice acquires an eerie demonic timbre;
• any changes in voice are possible;
• paralysis of the body or some limbs;
• an incredible display of strength for the average person.

Other demonological researchers also point out:

• a huge belly unusual for a person;
• rapid extinction, fatal weight loss;
• levitation;
• split personality;
• imitation of animals;
• obscene behavior, thoughts;
• the smell of sulfur (the smell of hell);
• blasphemy against God, church, holy water, cross;
• muttering in a non-existent language.

This is far from complete list signs. Of course, many of the points of obsession can be attributed to some kind of physical illness, for example, in the Middle Ages, devilry was often confused with symptoms of epilepsy. Mental disorders were passed off as public sinful orgies, imitation of animals was confused with schizophrenia. In fact, it is really difficult to define in everyday life what a demon-possessed person means. Many character traits, stereotypes of behavior, licentiousness, ignorance - all this resembles demoniacal possession.

Exorcism

The traditional "cure" for possession is to expel the demon from the body. The rites of exorcism are performed by clergymen who read special prayers, fumigate with incense, and perform chrismation. Most often, during the ceremony, people strongly resist, even faint. A priest should not be alone, he definitely needs helpers - other representatives of the church. Modern doctors and psychologists do not believe in such rituals and claim that these are just mentally ill people. Then how to explain that such attacks occur exclusively with church intervention and after the ceremony, people feel significant relief? There are still no answers to these questions.

You can cast out demons by sincere faith, prayer and fasting. Before the process of exile, you need to take communion and confess. An account can be given by a prayer-book monk who does not know sin and carnal pleasures. The key point is strict fasting... An unprepared soul itself will not be able to cope with the expulsion of demons. Prayer may not work and the result may be unpredictable. The lecture will be conducted by a monk who has received instructions from the elder spiritual brothers, he is endowed with divine protection and special power that will help to cope with demons. Recited prayer called exorcist. After its repeated recitation, signs of the possession of possessed people disappear, confirming the presence of hellish forces.

When the devil is driven out, prayer should sound from the lips of a sincerely believing person, magic is strictly excluded. People who practice occultism, in 90% of cases, become possessed by demons.

Prayer protection from evil spirits

Unclean power can easily attack us, move into houses, build intrigues, make a person possessed. In Orthodoxy, there are many prayers that help protect oneself from the attacks of evil spirits. The most famous are Elder Pansophius of Athos "From the Attack of Demons", St. Gregory the Wonderworker and, of course, the prayer to Jesus Christ.

Orthodox believers know that the text should always be carried with them, because in the hour of rampant evil spirits there is always a possibility of falling under its influence. A demon-possessed person can also meet at any moment on the way, what to do in this case? Will save the prayer word.

Many people memorize the text of the prayer. But in stressful situations, a person is usually lost and forgets about everything in the world, so it is better to always have protection with you. Give yourself confidence in difficult situation you can read the text of the prayer from the sheet. It is very important to follow some rules:

• Always carry the text of the prayer with you. Style and Old Church Slavonic words alter and counterfeit modern language not worth it, it can diminish the power of words prayed for centuries.
• The text needs to be spoken independently, online listening will not work here, the emotional component and sincerity of the phrases are important.
• When reading a prayer, you must be protected with a cross, an icon. Shameless demonic offspring can easily penetrate unprotected lost souls and reduce the words of prayer to naught.

Protect your vital energy and your home. For example, it will be more difficult for demons to enter a house consecrated by a priest.

Obsession scientifically

What does official science say about devilry? Scientists call obsession with mental illness, which is called demonomania. It is believed that seizures are most often affected by dependent people, open, impressionable or, on the contrary, passive. For the most part, they lend themselves to outside influence. Sigmund Freud called kakodemanomania neurosis. According to him, a person himself invents a demon in himself that suppresses his desires. So what is obsession - a curse or a disease? Scientists explain the signs of demonic possession by various diseases, but it is worth noting that often medical methods are not able to solve the problem.

• The obsession is attributed to epilepsy. With a loss of consciousness during convulsions, a person is able to feel contacts with the non-material world.
• Depression, euphoria, and mood swings are common in bipolar affective disorder.
• Tourette's syndrome is also confused with obsession. Upset nervous system nervous tics begin.
• A disease is known in psychology, accompanied by a split personality, when several personalities live in one body, showing themselves at different periods.
• Schizophrenia has also been compared to obsession. The patient has hallucinations, problems with speech begin, delusional ideas appear.

If an impure essence enters a person, this is reflected in his appearance. How to recognize a possessed person is listed in the article above. Also, this can be supplemented by the fact that the color of the eyes of those possessed by demons changes, they become cloudy, although the vision remains the same. The color of the skin may also change, it becomes darker - this sign is very dangerous.

Real cases of obsession

There are stories of people being possessed by demons, which are recorded and documented. Here are just a few of them.

Clara Hermana Celje. History from South America... The girl Clara, at the age of 16, told the priest in confession that she felt the presence of a demon in herself. The story took place in 1906. At first, they did not believe her words, since it is not easy to identify a possessed person. But her condition began to worsen every day. There is documentary evidence of people in which it is said that the girl behaved inappropriately and spoke in other people's voices. The exorcism ritual was performed on her for two days, which saved her.

Roland Doe. The story of this boy took place in 1949. His aunt died. After a while, Roland tried to contact her through a seance, but incredible things began to happen around: screams were heard, crucifixes shook, objects flew, and so on. The invited priest saw objects falling and flying. At the same time, the boy's body was covered various symbols... It took 30 sessions to drive out the evil spirit. More than 14 sources confirm the fact that the bed with the sick boy was flying around the room.

Emily Rose's story

I would like to highlight the case of Annalize Michel. This is the most vivid example demoniacal man. The girl became the prototype for Emily Rose in the famous film.

When the girl turned 17, her life became a nightmare. In the middle of the night she was paralyzed, it was impossible to breathe. The doctors diagnosed her with Grand Mal seizures or epileptic seizures. After Annalize was placed in a mental hospital, her situation only worsened. Drug treatment did not provide any relief. A demon constantly appeared to her and talked about the curse. She began to develop deepest depression... A year later, in 1970, the girl was discharged from the hospital. She herself turned to the church and asked for an exorcism ceremony, claiming that the devil had infiltrated her body. Church ministers know how to understand that a person is possessed, but they refused to help her and advised her to pray more. The girl began to behave more inappropriately. She bit her family members, ate flies and spiders, copied dogs, mutilated herself, and destroyed icons. This went on for five years. Relatives with difficulty persuaded the clergy to perform an exorcism. The ceremony began in 1975 and ended only in 1976, it was performed twice a week. A great many evil spirits were expelled from her body, but her health was still deteriorating, she could neither drink nor eat. As a result, the girl died in her sleep. According to her, before her death, the Virgin Mary came to her and offered her an option of salvation - to leave her body, which was enslaved by demons.

How to deal with a possessed person

If suddenly you find signs of demonic possession in your loved ones, it is important not to get lost at this moment, to try to create conditions so that the person does not harm himself or those around him. There are some tips on how to protect yourself from a possessed person:

• You should not provoke a possessed person into an attack of aggression, since he is not able to take responsibility for his own actions. Agree with him and control the situation.
• Protect the possessed person in movement. Place or lay on the bed. Make sure that he cannot harm himself.
• In case of manifestations of demonic possession, try to calm the person down, bring him to a normal state. If the attack is triggered by icons or crucifixes, remove them.

Protect yourself and your loved ones from the encroachments of demons. True faith, fervent prayer, a life of godliness will not let the devil take possession of your soul and body.

It is very difficult for an inexperienced person, it is almost impossible to distinguish real obsession from mental illness, for example, hysteria, since attacks of these diseases are often very similar to attacks of madness. The patient can bend unnaturally, convulse, torment himself, howl, scream, often he has such physical strength that several people cannot cope with him.

It is all the more difficult to distinguish mental illness from demonic possession, since every illness and suffering in this world is also the result of the devil's action. In the Gospel itself, cases of sickness and possession are often intertwined, therefore sometimes it is said about the healing of the possessed by Christ, sometimes about the casting out of demons; so, for example, in a passage about a boy raging “on the new moon”, it is said: “and the demon came out of him; and the boy was healed at the same hour ”viii.

Therefore, we will not try to draw a clear line between mental illness and real obsession, this is the business of experienced people involved in "lecturing", that is, driving out demons. It is important to emphasize that the symptoms of mental illness and obsession are very similar, but this does not mean that the devil dwells in every mentally ill person and must be expelled. The Church gives healing from physical and mental illnesses in the Sacrament of Unction. In this Sacrament, by the way, also indirectly in question about delivering us from the power of the devil.

It is also important to mention that many, on the contrary, deny the possibility of the real instillation of the devil in a person and reduce everything to the phenomena of mental damage. The main thing that can be opposed to such a position is the experience of people engaged in exorcism, and they all testify that, although rarely, they are found among mentally ill people in whom it is the personal being - the devil - who dwells. This fact is also confirmed by psychiatrists, who, by the nature of their work, often communicate with mentally ill people.

If a psychiatrist is not hostile to religion, but objectively assesses the clinical situation of his wards, he may notice that some of the patients with strange irrational aggression relate to everything religious: reading over them Holy Scripture, prayers, sprinkling them holy water... Such patients growl, bite, huddle under the bed, avoid all that is holy. After touching the shrine, these patients calm down for a while.

The author is personally acquainted with a certified physician, a woman who has been working in a city psychiatric hospital for over 25 years. After defending her diploma, the young specialist decided to devote herself theoretical research, first a year or two after working in real conditions, in a psychiatric hospital. However, during practice, this doctor encountered a mysterious phenomenon: some patients did not need medicines. They came to their senses after touching the shrine, after reading prayers over them. And, faced with the situation described, the doctor, as a believer, remained there to help the unfortunate people who are being treated with medication, and they, as she says, “need something completely different.” This doctor invites priests to the hospital, and they confess and give communion to the sick, serve prayer services. This is what brings relief to "strange" patients for a while.

Experience shows that these patients can distinguish holy water from non-holy water; in a priest, dressed in secular clothes, they distinguish God's servant.

Similar experiments were carried out more than a century ago by the famous Russian psychiatrist N. Krainsky, at first a skeptic and positivist, later - a believer. On this topic, he even published a book called "Corruption, whoopers and demoniacs as phenomena of the Russian folk life". Here is an excerpt from that work:

“Klikusha unmistakably distinguished holy water from simple water, no matter how hidden we gave it. Every time a glass of holy water was brought to her, she fell into a seizure, often before she tasted it. The water was fresh, Epiphany (the study was carried out in mid-January). Both samples were poured into identical glasses in another room, and I brought ready-made samples to her. After many times repeated experiments gave the same positive result, I mixed both samples of water together, simple and holy, and poured them equally into both glasses. Then the hitchhiker began to react to both tests with seizures. Not once was she mistaken in this recognition of holy water. "

An interesting example is given in the book of the contemporary Western thinker Walter Martin, which is called Exorcism. The author describes how one day with an unbelieving psychologist they spent three and a half hours at the bedside of a possessed girl, after which this mocking psychologist believed in God and believed that the devil exists and possesses people.

There are several points to be made about the signs of obsession. First of all, it is necessary to dwell on the changes taking place in the human personality itself. Not only is changing appearance(a person takes on a wild, terrible look) - the very essence of a person becomes different. An angry, rushing and foul-mouthed person can be quite good-natured and calm when the seizure passes. Father Grigory Dyachenko leads girl story, who, in a normal state, talked modestly and cheerfully with everyone, when the attack began - like an animal, she rushed at the person who was trying to help her.

During seizures, the demoniac is most often unconscious or his consciousness is in a depressed state. So, the above-mentioned Walter Martin tells how the psychologist himself confirmed that the girl they came to was unconscious, while a completely alien voice came from her body, and “a brazen grin played on her lips”.

Often a person in a state of demonic possession simply does not recognize himself as who he really is. So, the dear girl Avdotya, says Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko, was possessed by an evil spirit who pretended to be a person who had recently committed suicide. The spirit in her even spoke with an accent typical of the deceased. In general, demons very often pass themselves off as the souls of the dead, with this we meet in spiritualism. They probably do this because this technique easily distracts people from God and the true teaching of the Church and focuses their attention on things that are secondary and completely false.

However, the devil often speaks openly about himself, and we see examples of this both in the Gospel stories about the possessed, for example, in the story with the demon-possessed Gadarene, and in life. For example, a girl possessed by demons in a seizure uttered strange words about events about which, by the way, she could not know anything, namely, that a whirlwind during a fair overturned a cart and crushed several merchants' tents: “We were also at the fair, we overturned a cart there and destroyed several barracks. " Such an answer is tantamount to admitting that the devil is in the child, since it is the devil who is the destructive force.

The next thing to note is the physical changes that are usually present in the possessed. A person often loses coordination of movements, falls, convulses. Often he has tremendous, unnatural strength, like the demoniac of Gadarene, who, according to the testimony of the Gospel, was chained many times, but he always broke them and no one could tame him.

Such phenomena today are completely confirmed by ancient observations. So, according to eyewitnesses, a fragile girl weighing 48 kilograms threw four people to the sides strong men... And here is a description of an attack of demonic possession of a possessed young man, witnessed by one reverent and educated man (our good friend, priest Arkady Severyukhin, now a teacher at the St. Petersburg Theological Seminary) in Optina Pustyn in 1990:

“I happened to see the attacks of his (the young man's) demonic possession. During the service, he fell to the floor and bent so unnaturally that it seemed that it was simply impossible for human nature. The impression was that some invisible force was uncontrollably pulling him to the floor, as if trying to submerge him under the ground. At that moment, his palms stuck to the floor so that it was impossible to tear them off. When a priest or deacon passed by him, making incense, he began to growl furiously, spewing out blasphemy. As a rule, these attacks always began when he approached the shrine, he heard bell ringing and, especially, when they tried to bring him to the relics of the Monk Ambrose. According to him, after the attacks, he did not remember anything and was very surprised when they told him what he was doing. "

Also, people who are possessed by demons are most often observed with paranomal abilities and unnatural knowledge. This is not surprising: demons, as spiritual beings who do not have bodies, know much more man... So, the spirit who pretended to be a deceased Mordvin who lived in Avdotya, already known to us, once, as the witness says, began to rage especially, screaming and crying. Naturally, the hostess of the house came and began to try to calm Avdotya, saying: “What are you shouting, Svirid Stepanovich? Shut up! " To this the spirit answered her that he had shouted because the mistress's brother had died, who lived far from the village, and that in two weeks the mistress would receive a letter about this. This is exactly what happened. In another case, cited by Father Grigory Dyachenko, a twelve-year-old girl accurately described the Eiffel Tower and all the details of his journey to a man who returned from Paris, although she had never left the village in her life.

Often, demonic possession is accompanied by mysterious phenomena that occur with the demoniac himself or around him. For example, the candles in the room of an obsessed girl in front of a crowd of curious visitors themselves extinguished and re-lit, and in the house of another possessed, stones coming from nowhere broke all glass and dishes.

Such phenomena confuse people, especially non-church ones, and, like other occult phenomena, lead away from the search for the true mystery of being - God into the astral world of demons. And this is a huge victory for the devil. “The enemy of salvation does not always inspire evil, but is content, if he has time to get attention, with trifles. He only distracts from the main thing - one for need and time to ruin ... ". This phenomenon is called a poltergeist and is classified by Orthodoxy as the undoubted presence and action of demonic forces.

Finally, one more trait that is present among the possessed is the harm and hatred of Christ brought to the most possessed one way or another, fear of Him.

The harm can be expressed simply in the exhaustion and gradual dying of a person, in suffering from seizures, from being enslaved by Satan. And quite often a person in a state of an attack or depression after it seeks to destroy himself. Twelve year old girl, about which we have already spoken, during the attacks she violently beat herself and tried to rip out her own eye, another woman demanded a knife or rope to kill herself and those around her.

Hatred and fear of Christ manifests itself especially during the process of driving out the devil. Suffice it to recall the Gospel stories about the casting out of demons by Christ; demons react in the same way to the very name of Christ. Father G. Dyachenko tells about a priest who came with the Trebnik and the epitrachilia to the demoniac's house to help her. According to the priest, as soon as she saw him, the possessed woman began to spit at him, “looked at him brutally,” tried to hit him with a log, when she realized that everything was useless, she cried, saying: “My poor little head, why did he come”?

By indulging our passions, we allow demons to dwell and operate in us. But sometimes it seems that by destroying this or that passion in ourselves, we will destroy the peculiarity, the uniqueness of our personality, and in fact, we think, the Lord created each person unique, unlike others. But the Church teaches that this uniqueness is not in sin, but just the opposite, in the righteousness of life. Submitting to the same passions, people become alike, just as all old, blackened icons are alike. And, just as an icon must be cleansed of dust and soot in order to see its true face, so is a person: the more he cleans the image of God embedded in it from the taint of sin, the brighter and more unique his personality becomes. Therefore, starting to fight the passions, it is necessary, first of all, according to St. Theophan the Recluse, to realize that our evil inclinations are nothing more than a diabolical suggestion, not to consider them our own, but all, which will allow us to see our enemy. “That is why this disease is both miserable and pernicious, - writes Simeon New Theologian about people who do not understand that the source of evil in their soul is the devil - that when my enemy drags my own mind here and there, I think that all these circles of my mind are my own. "

Indeed, a person can have a hot, passionate nature or, conversely, a calm nature, prone to contemplation. But it depends on a person whether he will direct this gift in the direction intended by God, or, having succumbed to the inspiration of the devil, will distort it with sin. So, a hot temperament can be directed both to zealous love for God and people, and to anger, irritability. And calmness and balance can contribute to both the acquisition of God's peace in the soul, and the development of laziness and indifference.

However, it is very difficult for a person who has fallen into the net of the devil, who has become his slave, to understand that he is not his own master, that he is fulfilling someone else's will. It is not surprising that the sinner does not see a demonic action in himself: on white clothes you can see any speck, on black - and you can miss a big one. It is no coincidence that the saints felt their sinfulness so keenly, so they repented. According to St. Innocent of Kherson, “in pure soul the slightest evil thought is seen better than huge sins in the dark. "

It is very difficult to talk about the very act of driving out the devil, when special incantatory prayers are read over the possessed, Christ is called for help. The will of people rushes towards Divine grace, and a miracle occurs: a person is freed from the power of the devil and becomes himself. But why not all of their children Orthodox Church allows you to engage in exorcism, but only to people separately blessed for this service? This question is often asked by believers. Indeed, why? After all, it is not man who drives out the devil, but Christ?

The Apostle Paul devotes much attention to the various ministries of the members of the Church. He writes: one is given the charisma of “working miracles, another is prophecy, another is discerning of spirits, another different languages, a different interpretation of languages. " Paul could not and did not strive to give a complete list of ministries, his task was to resist the division into groups that was emerging in the Roman and Corinthian communities, so many charisma remained "behind the scenes", he only mentioned specifically "church" ministries, reducing the indication to practical ministries , for ministries “in the world,” to a minimum. In addition, the ability to cast out demons, according to most interpreters, is included in the gift designated by the apostle. Paul as the gift of "working miracles." In any case, we know that in the ancient Church there were people who possessed a special charisma, that is, the blessed gift of the Holy Spirit, the gift of casting out demons, who were very active in their work.

At the same time, we must understand that potentially every Christian is capable of driving out the devil by the power of Christ, but in order to do this really, it is necessary to be a Christian with capital letter, lead a stressful spiritual life. Christ said: "If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will tell the mountain to budge, and it will budge." Do all Christians have this kind of faith? In the process of driving out the devil, there can be no magic. Calling on the name of Christ does nothing by itself. Therefore, the personality of the exorcist is important here: “some of the wandering Jewish spellcasters began to use the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying: we conjure you by Jesus, whom Paul preaches”, but “ evil spirit He answered: I know Jesus, and I know Paul, but who are you? ”xii. The Lord never works miracles forcibly, human freedom is inviolable, for a miracle, sincere faith and total appeal to Him are needed. How can a person, who has not yet got rid of sin, not yet established on the path of perfection, be a conductor of divine grace and command demons - but often the devil will find in him more “his own” than God. Indeed, the blind will lead the blind ...

We will not consider the rite of exile itself, it is much more important to dwell on what can protect us from the power or attacks of Satan, on what is in the power of the person who resists demons. After all, how, in the words of St. Simeon the New Theologian, “without sin, man himself cannot be seized by the devil human soul”, And it is possible to expel him from the soul only under the condition of active efforts of the person himself. And if demon expelled, and a person continues his sinful life, it is quite natural that soon the devil will again take possession of him.

We are not only talking about extreme manifestations of obsession, when a personal spirit lives in a person, manifesting itself in the ways described above. When we feel that our will is enslaved by sin, we must also fight hard with its inspirer - the devil. Hieromonk Anatoly (Berestov) gives an example of a young man who became interested in magic. Being a completely normal calm person before practicing occultism, he suddenly began to dramatically change in the worst side... Friends and relatives did not recognize him. They did not understand what was happening to him. Why did he suddenly become aggressive and cruel? .. However given fact easy to explain. As the divine world is good, so the demonic world is evil, even if, at first glance, it is not so. And, living in the world of evil, delving into it, it is natural for such a person to develop towards evil, or rather, to degrade. And although the aforementioned person was conscious, the attacks of aggression intensified so much that he began to beat lonely passers-by at night, and once, in a fit of anger, he almost stabbed his girlfriend. Aggression appeared so spontaneously and took over consciousness so strongly that, according to the young man, there was no way to cope with it. And he himself began to say that he was "possessed by a demon."

The first thing that needs to be done for a person suffering from the attacks of the devil and not yet baptized is, of course, to be baptized. Great amount personal testimonies confirm that most often after Baptism the devil loses power over a person. This is not surprising, because a person comes under the protection of God. It is not for nothing that the first part of the Sacrament of Baptism consists of incantatory, exorcist prayers, in which a person renounces the devil and "all his deeds, and all his angels, and all his ministry, and all his pride" and entrusts himself to Christ. In the Sacrament of Baptism, just as a wild olive tree, according to the Gospel parable xiii, is grafted into the good, so a person with a sinful nature is grafted into the pure nature of Christ, as if merged with Christ. Previously, we tried to fight Satan on our own, naturally, they were not enough, now the power of Christ is working in us. This, of course, does not mean that anyone should be baptized for safety reasons. A magical approach, without sincere faith and a desire to follow Christ, is unacceptable and does not make sense. Only a person who believes in Christ and wants to live a Christian life can and should be baptized.

Baptism presupposes further church life. The center of the Church, the Sacrament of the Sacraments, is the Sacrament of the Eucharist, in which, under the guise of bread and wine, we unite with the Living Lord Himself. In the Eucharist, Christ is incomprehensible to reason and invisible, but really abides with us, gives us strength and grace to endure the suffering of life, to fight temptations, and further spiritual growth. It is clear that the closer we are to Christ, the less the devil has the opportunity to reach us. “Like brushwood thrown into a fire, it cannot resist the power of the fire, but it immediately burns up,” we read in St. Macarius the Great, - so the demons, when they want to attack a person who is worthy of the gifts of the Spirit, are scorched and destroyed by the Divine fiery power. "

What should we do so that in everyday life we ​​do not lose the grace given in Baptism, but constantly be near God? First of all, take at least a little time to daily prayer and reading the Gospel. “This kind is expelled only by prayer and fasting,” Christ said absolutely firmly, and the whole practice of the life of the saints confirms this.

Prayer is a conversation with God, the Lord wants to talk with us, but we must also make an effort on our part for the dialogue to take place. Fasting is determined for each person in accordance with the practice of the Church and the recommendations of the spiritual father. It is necessary so that it is the spirit that dominates our being and the devil cannot subdue us through excessive attachment to something secondary, for example, through the passion of gluttony, when the stomach becomes the center of life, a kind of god.

But, of course, all our efforts - and regular participation in the Eucharist, and reading the Gospel, and prayer, and fasting - will be meaningless if not combined with constant good deeds and spiritual growth. Rather, if all this did not give birth to a desire to live a truly Christian life, it means that our very approach to was wrong. If we live church life, regularly confess and receive communion, do good deeds, pray, read the Gospel and spiritual literature, that is, delve into God, then other, more individual moments will open up for us, which are necessary specifically in our case to fight demons.

The Lord is always waiting for our appeal to him, always ready to help. But this help cannot be provided without our active participation. We should not passively wait for liberation from demonic actions (such a relaxed state, on the contrary, is convenient for demons), but strive to be true soldiers of Christ, always vigilant and ready to repel the enemy.

The Church calls on us to always be on the alert so that the devil does not find his way into our soul. To do this, we must carefully monitor our thoughts, not let demons take possession of our being through sin, and if the devil nevertheless caught us, repent and be doubly vigilant and active.

The modern Athos Elder Paisiy Svyatorets said that a person who has a demon in him needs to completely change the state of his soul if he wants it from the dwelling of demons to become the house of God: “When sin abides in a person's soul for a long time, then the devil acquires more rights to him, and then, in order for him to leave, we need to destroy an old house and build a new one. " And he continues with the instruction that it is necessary to treat demon-possession with patience and hope in God as one's own cross or punishment for sins, combining all this with an active spiritual ascent: murmur until they are freed by the grace of God. Those who themselves became the cause of their obsession must themselves struggle. "

Let's end with the words of the saint righteous John Kronstadt. They are about what can and should be done right now for each of us to drive the devil out of our soul and cleanse it for God: “Do everything against what the enemy inspires: he inspires to hate those who offend us, you - love them; those who abuse - bless; and those who take what are yours, do not torture, and give it yourself willingly; when you want to laugh, cry; when he finds himself discouraged, try to be merry; when envy - rejoice in the well-being of others; when contradiction, disobedience fights - submit immediately, agree; when prodigal thoughts - be jealous of the purity of the heart; when pride - humble yourself; when malice - be especially kind; when irritability, keep calm; when stingy - be generous; when absent-mindedness - think about one thing that is needed ”.

From personal experience the holy fathers knew about the reality and operation of dark forces, but they were never afraid of them. By death on the Cross and by the Resurrection, Christ destroyed the power of Satan. “One should not be afraid of them at all, for all their undertakings have been turned into nothing by the grace of Christ,” writes St. Athanasius the Great. And all the Gospel stories about Christ's driving out of demons, too, first of all, speak about one thing - about the power of Christ over the devil. Now, with the help of God, Christians can overcome demons, the devil has lost his power over us. Everything now depends on us, on our desire to live in the Church, to live with Christ, who will help us completely free ourselves from demonic power!