The rite of expelling evil spirits Father German reviews. How the reprimand of Father Herman helps in exorcising demons. Where and how much are demons cast out?

In our troubled times, people often suffer from spiritual ailments, which can only be cured by fervent prayer. Unfortunately, all people violate God’s commandments, sin willingly or unwillingly, and do not repent, therefore the Lord calls them to Himself with the help of illnesses and various sorrows.

It’s good if a person comes to his senses, repents and turns to God with fervent prayer, then the illness will be taken away from him. But more often it happens that people do not want to repent of their sins until the last moment, and then disaster befalls them.

In such cases, the unfortunate begin to seek salvation everywhere, some go to grandmothers, sorcerers, psychics, and others go to church. For various mental and physical ailments, Father Herman’s reprimand sometimes helps. It’s worth talking about what this is in more detail.

Now many people talk about damage or possession, but few people know what it is. This phenomenon is often mentioned in the Gospel, for example, about a boy who was tormented by demons, threw himself into fire and water, and no one could heal him.

Or the story of a demoniac, in which there was a whole legion of demons, the unfortunate one was bound in chains. Christ healed them with one word, and He also cast out seven demons from Mary Magdalene. But many people are wondering whether such illnesses still happen today?

The lives of some saints also mention cases of demonic possession of people whom these saints healed. For example, Saint Tryphon healed the possessed daughter of a ruler, etc. This means that all this really happened, and such an ailment as demonic possession actually exists. How do the unfortunate people now recover from such terrible misfortunes?

Nowadays, of course, there are people possessed by demons, but finding those who will really help them is a big problem. Modern medicine tends to consider such people crazy. They are usually admitted to a psychiatric hospital and given injections of strong psychotropic drugs over a long period of time. Of course, this brings little benefit to poor people, quite the opposite.

Important! Possession is allowed by God to people who often sin, violating God’s commandments, but are in no hurry to repent and correct their lives.

Symptoms of demonic possession are usually the following:

• aversion from sacred things, fear of them, intolerance;
• terrible screams when approaching the church;
• obsessive actions;
• causing harm to yourself or loved ones;
• fainting or convulsions like epileptic seizures.

The Gospel describes the case of a demon-possessed youth who, as Christ approached, fell and began to shake with a convulsive attack. The Savior told His disciples that “this generation is driven out only by prayer and fasting.”

Corruption is also a spiritual disease, but it comes to a person from other people, usually unkindly disposed. It also helps against this disease. Symptoms of damage are slightly different, they appear suddenly:

• unreasonable fear, severe anxiety;
• long-term incurable physical illness;
• distortion of true things, hallucinations;
• sudden death.

Some are skeptical about this phenomenon, saying that in our time of scientific development there should not be such prejudices. Orthodox Christians also often deny this fact, saying that Grace protects believers and praying people from everything bad.

However, even saints write that corruption can be allowed by God as punishment for unrepentant sins, for persistence in a passionate life. Consequently, only the Lord Himself can deliver from this. Reprimanding from damage through prayers can be done with the help of a clergyman.

Important! If you suspect damage or possession, you should under no circumstances turn to grandmothers, sorcerers, witches, or psychics because this can only aggravate the condition. For a while a person will be able to get relief, but then it will get even worse.

The Lord Himself said that it is impossible to cast out demons by demonic power. This illness can only be overcome by fasting, prayer, repentance and correction. The true way out of such a deplorable situation is a reprimand in church. It’s worth telling in more detail what it is.

The rite of exorcism

The question of what a reprimand is is answered in the Gospel. Christ cast out demons with just His word. The Gospel says: “this race is driven out only by prayer and fasting.” Of course, rarely does anyone cope with this illness on their own, even if they pray diligently. We need prayer from outside from a righteous person, preferably a priest.

There is a special prayer in the breviary, it is called “the prohibitory prayer of St. Basil over those suffering from demons.” But many believe that not all priests, but only highly spiritual people can read it. Most often, reprimanding the possessed is the prerogative of monastics, because the demon, once released, can harm unspiritual priests.

A similar incident was described in the Acts of the Apostles, when someone decided to try to cast out an evil spirit from a possessed person. In response, the demon said: “I know Christ, Paul too, but who are you?!” and, pouncing, began to strangle the newly minted exorcist.

That is why not all priests undertake the exorcism of demons, but only those who are enlightened, prepared and have a blessing from above. In addition, there is another problem: it can be very difficult to bring demoniacs to church, much less to reprimand them.

For this purpose, ropes and even chains are often used to tie up the possessed person and bring him to the temple for reprimand.

During the process of expelling spirits, the possessed behave extremely restlessly and even aggressively, often performing obsessive and monotonous actions. They emit terrible screams (often not human, but animal), throw themselves on the floor, on the walls, and sometimes even jump to the ceiling.

Demons often speak in the voices of the possessed, uttering curses on clergy and various curses. And sometimes the possessed spin in place and cannot stand still, speaking standing nearby that they are bothering them. Some possessed people run away from the prayer service, hide, and it is simply impossible to find them anywhere. They listen to demons who “save” them from this rank.

Due to the fact that some people simply cannot be brought to church (there have been cases where even four healthy men could not restrain a possessed woman), you can order a correspondence procedure for reporting to the church.

Alcohol addiction also refers to obsession, because a person cannot independently give up this passion. Some drunkards even see demons forcing them to drink. And during the exorcism of a demon, in some cases “green snakes” were physically visible. Therefore, such unfortunate people also need to be told off from drunkenness.

Important! After completing the rite of expelling demons from a person, repentance for a previous sinful life and correction must necessarily follow. The former possessed person must become a church person, begin to pray in the mornings and evenings, and often begin the Sacraments of repentance and Communion of the Holy Mysteries. Otherwise, the disease may return, but in a more terrible form.

Christ warns about this in the Gospel, saying that when a demon comes from a person, wanders through deserted places, and then sees its place in a person unoccupied. Then he returns to the unfortunate man, taking with him seven fierce demons.

Exorcism of demons in the Lavra

Crowds of people flock to the Holy Trinity Lavra of Sergius every day in order to attend a lecture from Fr. Herman. Who is Father Herman? This is a hieromonk, the most famous exorcist in Russia. Father German Chesnokov has been driving out demons from people for a long time. People from all over the country come to Father Herman for a prayer service, bring their loved ones, and ask him for advice and spiritual help. And this holy man has never refused anyone! He will listen to everyone, console, give advice, they only leave about him positive reviews. How to get to Father Herman?

Any person in the monastery will tell you how to get to Father Herman for a lecture. The Holy Trinity Lavra of Sergius is located in Sergiev Posad near Moscow. Father Herman conducts a reprimand for the possessed in the gateway church of St. John the Baptist. Finding this temple is very easy - you need to climb into the arch above the entrance to the monastery.

All the locals know Father German’s lecture schedule – this procedure begins at one o’clock in the afternoon every day. Father Herman's prayer service always has a constant schedule, seven days a week.

Absolutely everyone is allowed to see Father Herman for the rite of expelling evil spirits; there are no restrictions for anyone. This procedure is free, they only ask you to donate to the temple, as much as you wish.

Before the ceremony begins, it is necessary to leave the names of those reporting in the shop: the priest will remember them in prayer. There is a video on the Internet filmed during this prayer service.

The service begins with the priest's sermon. It is always approximately the same; there are brochures and audio recordings of this sermon. On it, he says that those possessed are often to blame for their misfortune, and tells what sins this scourge is sent from above. Father tirelessly repeats that we need to go to church, take communion more often, avoid mortal sins, and improve our lives. After all, without this it is impossible to get rid of obsession.

Father Herman's lecture lasts about two hours, the sermon before that lasts about half an hour. He himself is a very kind, bright person, has a subtle sense of humor and philanthropy. Reviews about Father Herman are only positive.

Many thank him for healing themselves or their loved ones and ask for advice on the Internet. But it is clear that the priest does not use websites or social networks, so he cannot answer.

Father Herman’s reprimand (this can be seen in the video) consists of:

• preliminary sermon;
• water blessing prayer;
• reading a prohibitory prayer from demons;
• sprinkling with holy water;
• anointing with consecrated oil;
• kissing the cross.

Useful video

Let's sum it up

You can also order a lecture in absentia, at a distance, from the Lavra. In addition to the rite of exorcism in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, there are similar procedures in other monasteries and churches in the country. In the Sanaksar monastery they also cast out demons, and you can also inquire in nearby parishes and monasteries where they perform the rites of chastising the possessed.

Photo: http://www.bogistina.info

Archimandrite German (Chesnokov) is the rector of the Church of Peter and Paul in the Lavra. Father Herman is spoken of as a warm-hearted and extraordinary person who helps those possessed by demons. In the Church of John the Baptist a special rite is performed daily, these are prayers over special people. Father Herman is confident that for many, a lecture is the only possible cure for mental illness. The Russian Orthodox Church knows cases when a person suffers because an unclean spirit has penetrated his soul. However, the Church's opinion on reprimand remains controversial.

Back in the 4th century, the Holy Fathers composed prayers that were read over those possessed by demons. Father Herman helps them, and the Trinity-Sergius Lavra receives people to anoint them with holy oil and sprinkle them with Epiphany water, overshadowing them with the cross.

At the same time, many representatives of the Church do not consider reprimand to be an analogue of the rite of exorcism and a panacea for possession.

“Some people consider it a “cure for all diseases,” while others do not perceive it at all in the form in which it is practiced now. It is impossible to call reprimanding the only effective way to get rid of obsession. The reason for the infusion of the fallen spirit into a person was sin, therefore it is sinfulness that needs to be treated, and not its consequence - obsession. A truly possessed person is not able to fully confess and then receive communion. He needs help. Such help can be a reprimand, but this is not a panacea, but just one of the means that can be used by the Church to heal a person from possession by evil spirits,” says Archpriest Dionisy Svechnikov.

At the same time, Archpriest Dionysius does not deny that people can encounter obsession: “As soon as a person retreats from resisting the devil and completely surrenders himself to sin, then the fallen spirits will no longer act on the person from the outside, but will enter him and he will become the dwelling place of demons. But when a person’s will is completely subordinated to demons, and he will no longer be able to control himself. An example of such a state can be the Gospel account of the Gadarene demoniac: “When He came out of the boat, He was immediately met by a man who had come out of the tombs and was possessed by an unclean spirit. He had a home in the tombs, and no one could even bind him with chains, because he had been there many times. bound with shackles and chains, but he broke the chains and broke the shackles, and no one was able to tame him; always, night and day, in the mountains and tombs, he screamed and beat against the stones" (Mark 5: 2-5).”

The reprimand of Father Herman in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra

Often the sick are brought to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra in chains: prayers and holy water make demons scream through the person scary voices, people's arms and legs are unnaturally broken.

Before the reprimand, Father Herman always delivers a sermon, which talks about the causes of such a terrible illness of the soul and about the possibilities of protecting oneself with faith from the atrocities of the devil.

The Bible speaks about casting out demons.

In the “Acts of the Apostles” (19, 13-16) there is a story about the unsuccessful experience of exorcists: “Even some of the wandering Jewish exorcists began to use the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying: we conjure you by Jesus, whom Paul preaches. This was done by some seven sons of the Jewish high priest Sceva. But the evil spirit answered: I know Jesus, and I know Paul, but who are you? - and a man in whom there was an evil spirit rushed at them, and, overpowering them, took such power over them that they ran out of that house naked and beaten.” There are also reports of people being saved. During His earthly life, Jesus Christ repeatedly cast out demons from possessed people who trembled before Him.

“... As we have already said, Christ is now more and more often, in the words of the Holy Fathers, beginning to use demons as a scourge to punish sinners. There are no barriers for crafty spirits. They pass through the wall, through a person freely, And only by God’s permission can they stop in the human body... Demons infect all our organs; heart, lungs, kidneys, arms, legs... Crafty demons dictate their will with various hallucinations... Demons torment a person, people often fall, fight, scream, they are called schizophrenics and epileptics. Such a terrible influence of evil spirits on a person.

… And so the holy fathers of the 4th century composed special prayers for sick people. These prayers have such Divine power that if someone cast a spell on you, cast a spell, or slandered you with evil intent, then these prayers destroy all sorts of demonic machinations. They attract the Grace of God to you...” “... Saint John Chrysostom in his “Sermon on Evil Spirits” says that when a person fulfills the commandments of God, he is protected by the grace of God, and in the spiritual realm, evil spirits see that he is protected by some protective fiery shell . Demons are afraid to touch such a person, because how can hay touch fire - it will burn...”, says one of Father Herman’s sermons.

By personal blessing His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II at one time also made a documentary video of how Father German lectured the possessed. Pavel Gershunenko, a member of the commission on anomalous phenomena of the Russian Geographical Society, confirmed that reprimanding has a positive effect on people suffering from demons.

To turn to Father Herman for help, you need to contact the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. Services in the Lavra are performed daily. The lecture is carried out free of charge, but the Trinity-Sergius Lavra will be grateful if believers donate an amount feasible for them.

Hello.. I really need help.. there is a strange series of events in the family.. we ourselves are believers, my mother works in the church, but personally I’m starting to think that this is some kind of damage.
A year ago they framed and filed a criminal case against my brother, later my sister died... now my father died and the disease appeared suddenly and killed a person in 2 weeks... now my mother is starting to get sick, she has lost weight, she feels very bad, although the tests are fine...
I’m thinking of going to Father Herman’s with her... do you think there’s any point? We have a desire to come to him, but what question will we come with, what will we tell him...

1. 1. Ananim

      Help please.

2. Irisha

   Good afternoon
   I don’t know who I’m writing to, but I hope you will answer my question, or write the email address or other coordinates of a person who will explain everything to me in detail! The fact is that I would like to get a lecture from Father Herman! But is there a possibility somehow? to get there in person, maybe you need to pay for it? Forgive me if I’m writing something wrong, or if there is some day for personal receptions! I would like to talk to him, I really need it, so that he can say whether there is someone in me or not !if I'm with everyone people stand, I I don’t know what will happen to me, and how in the future after the lecture, what points need to be taken into account, what to do at home, what read prayers, I I don’t know anything about this!
   Please help, advise what to do!
   I live very far from you, but I’m ready to come to be healthy! It’s very difficult for me, help!
   I need to raise my daughter, but I have such a problem, and there is also the opportunity, as I understand it, to live with you?! Right? In a hotel?!
   Sent from my

3. Tatiana

   Good evening! Can Father Herman help my husband, he drinks. But according to him, he does not want to do this. It hurts a lot.

4. Tatiana

Exorcism of demons - myth or reality? In search of an answer to this question, RIA Novosti journalists witnessed a ritual about which the Russian Orthodox Church there is no clear opinion, and we talked with church and secular experts.

"Be quiet! Run away!" - Father Herman exclaims, making the sign of the cross over the 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 the elder, performs the rite of “healing those possessed by unclean spirits.” In the Church, this rite is also called “reading”.

Before the beginning of the rite, Father Herman explains why an “unclean spirit” can move into this or that person. The reason is simple - sin. “And we get sick because we sin,” he inspires.

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 carefully to the priest, who is actively gesturing, repeating: “We should go to the temple, and not to fortune-tellers or psychics! If someone has books with spells, fortune-telling - burn it immediately today! It is very useful to receive communion!”

Some come out of the stuffy temple onto the street. The rest are shifting from foot to foot, some are yawning, some are looking at icons, some are checking messages on their phones. Everyone is waiting for the report to begin.

Unlike most Orthodox rites, during the rite of exorcism of evil spirits, the priest always faces the parishioners. Father Herman does not say his prayers in a chant manner, as is usually the case at services, but very emotionally, with an abundance of gestures, like pastors from American films. Believers standing in the front row come even closer to the altar. A thin old woman in a black headscarf begins to frantically cross her stomach. Next to her is a woman with two photographs of a young man - during the sermon she did not take her eyes off the altar image of the Savior, and now she is constantly crying.

After reading the prayers and the Gospel, Father Herman and two priests descend from the pulpit and begin to anoint each forehead with blessed oil. He asks the woman with the child how long he has been sick.

“A year and a half, father. It started after Lent,” the woman cries. “Are you married to your husband? You need to get married! This makes him sick,” the archimandrite mints.

Then he picks up a simple metal teapot with holy water and begins to sprinkle it generously, 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 cold spray makes the worshipers shiver, but immediately smile. “Mothers, if you give communion to your children every Sunday, then no illnesses will take them!” the exorcist repeats many times.

"Mom has been possessed by a demon"

"Father, what should I do?" - this question is often asked by people whose relatives, in their opinion, are possessed. The priests give different answers, based on their personal views on the reprimands.

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

His mother forbade him to go to church and became very irritated when he saw an icon or a cross. The man, secretly from her, turned to the priest, who advised her to sprinkle the apartment and her mother’s things with holy water. But, he said, “no changes occurred.”

Then, on one of the Orthodox forums, he learned about reprimands. Oleg admits that “somehow miraculously“Nevertheless, I persuaded my mother to go to the temple where the exorcism ritual is performed.

“Now (after the reprimand - ed.) she behaves very calmly. Father advised her to come again. I later found out that many people do this,” said Oleg.

“The rector of our parish blessed me to go to the Lavra to Father German for a lecture, saying that I was possessed,” admits Galina (name 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 attack of epilepsy.

“But the next day I found out that they were taking us to the temple. miraculous icon Mother of God. It turns out that I, not knowing about the arrival of such a shrine, already felt it. It’s not like self-hypnosis,” she noted.

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

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

However, there are other reviews about the benefits of the ritual. The president Russian Association Centers for the Study of Religions and Sects (RACIRS) Professor of the Orthodox St. Tikhon's state university Alexander Dvorkin cited a case from his research practice.

One Orthodox believer, who had certain mental problems, ended up in 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 about the sect, he decided to go for a lecture. But, having gone through the ritual, he did not feel anything - and concluded that he correctly believed in Vissarion: after all, if he were a false Christ, the exocist would have cast out the demon of evil. Since then, this believer has been in the sect for many years, going around and teaching the Orthodox that Vissarion is right, and the reprimand “irrefutably proved this.”

"It helps if you believe"

Archimandrite Herman has been practicing mass exorcisms of demons for more than 30 years. According to the dean of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, Archimandrite Pavel (Krivonogov), many people come to him. “Do lectures help? Yes, I was an eyewitness. But it happens that they don’t help someone. It depends on the person, on his faith, on the state of his soul,” said the dean. He does not agree that the reprimands carried out in the Lavra can be called mass (for which the rank is most often criticized). Usually, as the dean noted, 50-60 people come to them, and not thousands, as one might think.

It is believed that the rite of exorcism should be performed only in exceptional cases, when a person finds himself under the total influence of a dark spirit that has moved into him and no longer controls his movements and actions.

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

Often this was beyond the power of even the apostles, Christ’s closest disciples: the New Testament describes a case when they were unable to drive out a demon from a demon-possessed young man. Over time, Christianity developed the understanding that victory over evil spirits is possible only if a person decisively corrects his life, while observing strict asceticism, and not thanks to a formally executed rule.

© Photo: photo provided by the press service of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra

© Photo: photo provided by the press service of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra

At the same time, the exorcism of demons in Orthodox tradition is considered a special gift of God, which only some people receive due to their special, holy life and which they can realize only with the blessing of their confessor.

Exorcism in Rus'

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

Exorcism is familiar to mass culture primarily from Western films about Catholic priests. In the Roman catholic church There is even an Association of Exorcists; courses and conferences are held for them. Experts from the Moscow Theological Academy do not have a clear opinion about whether exorcism is inherent in Orthodox Christianity.

Thus, Professor of the Moscow Theological Academy Alexei Osipov believes that, unlike the Catholic Church, exorcism is historically unusual in Eastern Christianity. “In Rus' they never scolded. Only at the end of the 20th century, due to the penetration of Catholic influence into Russia, did individual people begin the practice of scolding, often without any blessing. Then, when popular rumor spread, they began to do it openly. But no special They never received any blessings,” Osipov emphasizes.

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

Modern exorcists use the text of the rite of reprimand from the famous breviary of Metropolitan Peter of Kyiv (Mogila) of the 17th century.

To church or to clinic?

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

“Currently in the Church there is no clear methodology for separating demon-possessed and mentally ill people. Sometimes this is practically impossible, since demon-possession is combined with mental illness. Sometimes demon-possession occurs in isolation. Before the revolution Holy Synod specially addressed the psychiatry clinic of the Medical-Surgical Academy (now the Military Medical Academy - ed.) with a request to give guidelines for priests who have a similar spiritual practice. The main task was precisely to establish the line between spiritual and mental pathology,” notes the Doctor of Theology and medical sciences, Honored Doctor of the Russian Federation, psychiatrist, Archpriest Grigory Grigoriev.

According to him, if the priest “reads with faith church prayer", then a person possessed by demons - such people are "extremely rare" in spiritual practice - will experience sharp relief from his mental state. After reprimand, mental disorders caused by spiritual reasons usually go away.

But for mentally ill people, according to the doctor, scolding not only will not bring any benefit, but will even worsen the condition. “For example, in some forms of schizophrenia, delusions of religious influence may develop. This requires serious drug treatment in a hospital setting,” the psychiatrist explained. Therefore, he advises consulting a doctor first. And if he doesn’t help, then to the temple.

The rector of the Optina Metochion in Moscow, Archimandrite Melchizedek (Artyukhin), explained why, for example, in the Optina Monastery, famous for its elders, there were never any reprimands. “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 have a desire for everything at once without fighting with themselves. Fruitless practice. Healing is a process, not a trick,” says Archimandrite Melchizedek.

"Reprimand those who reprimand"

Psychiatrist priest Grigory Grigoriev emphasizes that before the revolution, clergy were recommended to carry out scoldings individually, “in order to cut off those suffering from hysteria, who in the church were called cliques.” They, according to him, often attract attention to church services sharp cries and other demonstrative actions, perceived by believers as demonic possession, although they are not. The demoniac, according to the priest, is distinguished by fear of church sacraments, holy relics, holy water and miraculous icons.

Professor Alexander Dvorkin has an extremely negative attitude towards the current practice of scolding. According to him, he agrees with the opinion of Patriarch Alexy II, who many years ago at one diocesan meeting said that one should “chastise those who scold.”

“Reprimands are a completely unconventional phenomenon that degenerates into some kind of hysterical, gloomy and extremely unpleasant shows. Of course, how Orthodox man, I understand that demonic possession undoubtedly happens. Christ cast out demons from possessed people, the saints also did this in His name,” noted the head of RACRS.

Where and how much are demons cast out?

According to MDA professor Osipov, today people who sometimes take on the task of reprimanding are not those who received this special gift thanks to a holy life. “People sometimes take it upon themselves to reprimand out of arrogance, vanity, and greed, about which we find more than enough evidence,” states Osipov.

“It is clear that reprimands bring popularity to the priests who conduct them. People begin to visit them, this brings massive cash, increases income, so in certain dioceses the hierarchy supports such events, or at least does not interfere with their implementation,” notes Dvorkin, in turn.

Judging by messages on the Internet, trips to the village of Chikhachevo, Ivanovo region, to 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 lectures at the Pochaev Lavra or the Elias Monastery in Odessa.

On the Internet you can find lists of dozens more places throughout Russia where reprimands take place. Therefore, on numerous websites of pilgrimage services there are even special tours to famous exorcists. Pilgrimages are held mainly on weekends; it is advisable to register for them in advance, due to large number willing.

As a rule, on the websites of pilgrimage centers, a donation for a trip is mentioned, but the “donation amount” cannot be seen - it is announced when communicating by phone. It may include, for example, only the round trip. There are also all-inclusive packages that provide, in addition to travel, accommodation, food and necessities. For example, a trip from Moscow to Livny will cost about 6 thousand rubles, including two prayer services “For the Sick” (as they call it at the pilgrimage center) and unction.

To be fair, it is worth noting that you can attend the lectures without making a donation.

"Unauthorized exile"

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

“Any person can put on a cassock, a hood, take up a cross and declare himself a bishop, a gracious elder, and he will have followers and all that. It is clear that no one keeps statistics (reports - ed.)," said the leading Internet project "Father Online" Hieromonk Macarius (Markish).

Bishops can ban such self-proclaimed besogons from serving 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-saint, or an outright schismatic, a sectarian.”

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

Experts who have a negative attitude towards mass reporting advocate the eradication of such practices. However, in their opinion, this is extremely difficult to do. Popular rumor supports exorcism. And if, according to Professor Osipov, you try to “forbid”, for example, reprimanding Father Herman, there will be a big noise.

“Sometimes those on whom it depends do not attach much importance to what is happening, they 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 who perform it. “If the saints hid their gift, now you can find on the website of our Lavra a schedule on what days and times the priest performs the miracle of expulsion. Christ himself did not do this according to the schedule,” our interlocutor concluded.

However, the dean of the Lavra, Archimandrite Pavel, is convinced that little depends on a person - no one can limit the “power God's grace". "The Lord himself controls and heals. It’s not like taking aspirin to make it feel better,” he emphasizes. The main thing that is required of a person is to sincerely believe.