In the photo: A report from Father Herman
The reports go from Father German, who serves in Sergiev Posad. According to eyewitnesses, something inexplicable is happening here, just ten minutes walk from the railway line.
“We climbed the stairs to the temple. Before us were the parents with the girl. She turned around - instead of a nose, she had a patch, and a pig's ears were sticking out from under her hair, - says one of the casual visitors who entered the temple. - Then the child turned around again, and the face became normal. And then one of the priests kicked us out. This is no place for the curious …
It all started with my gangster past
A small brick church built right above the entrance to the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. Below, on an iron door, on a white piece of paper, a seemingly ordinary notice. "Before the rite of driving out evil spirits, it is necessary to confess, put on a pectoral cross, it is not recommended to receive communion …"
There are already a lot of people in the room. Sergey is one of them. Tall, sturdy, in a leather jacket. This man, who came to part with the forces of evil, agreed to tell his story.
Sergei from Smolensk, he is 35. In the 90s, as a young man, he became friends with the company of the yard. As he reluctantly admits, he dreamed of becoming a thief in law. The son of a single mother began to engage in violent fights and robbing apartments. He wanted to feel strong, and the world of evil attracted him. This went on for six years, until for the first time he unexpectedly experienced what superstitious grandmothers call a delusion.
“Suddenly, for no reason, I experienced a panic. The world has narrowed down to a point. I clearly felt that a little more - I would go mad or die. And he could not cope with it. This went on for about 15 seconds. And - worst of all - this nightmare began to roll over me again and again,”he says.
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Soon, Sergei was forced to tie up with a criminal company. It's hard to feel tough when panic rolls in when you talk to guys like you. A strange illness pursued him more and more - now obscene curses, obscene insults constantly invaded his thoughts. “If I saw a church, an icon or communicated with a good person, a three-story mat would start to sound in my head and vile thoughts would creep in. I began to avoid people,”admits Sergei.
There was no longer a question of boxing. From time to time, he began to experience uncontrolled movements. At the most unexpected moment, his right hand feverishly began to rub his chest: "I cannot stop my own hand, as if someone else is doing it instead of me …"
The doctors diagnosed him with a neurotic disorder. He takes pills, but only after going to the temple does he feel much better.
“Panic attacks can start for a variety of reasons,” the priests say. - This may be the result of a nervous illness or - exposure to demonic forces. When a person sins, commits crimes, his evil actions cause feedback - he literally opens the door to the other world.."
Tatyana
A simple village temple, four hours from Moscow. Among the parishioners there are grandmothers, and obviously "city" tall, tall guys from the neighboring drug addict rehabilitation center.
Father Vladimir, the rector, reads a simple prayer service with blessing of water. Among the believers, a mother and daughter standing in the corner stand out. A woman, embarrassed, ties a tall beautiful girl with a long scarf over her jeans. Judging by their appearance, they are definitely not regulars of the temples.
The priest begins to sprinkle holy water on the parishioners. The mother looks at the girl with concern - although, it would seem, it is difficult to expect any unusual actions from her …
And then the inexplicable happens. When the priest approaches the mother and daughter, the girl's face completely changes. She should play in the movie "Wii". Huge blue eyes fill with a completely unexpected expression. She bares her teeth and grins at the priest … It's impossible to play that. Grinning before, young visitors to the drug addicts center, without stopping, look at their peers.
Despite resistance, the priest sprinkles it with water. Finishes the sacrament and departs. And after that, she directs her gaze to those standing opposite. This look is impossible to bear. Involuntarily, associations arise with the other world, with drawings of a vile laughing devil's grin …
I have never seen such terrible eyes …
After the service, snatches of a conversation between the girl's mother and another woman are heard:
- My God, what a horror …
- Yes, like that. But I'm not afraid of her. He looks at me with such eyes and speaks in a man's voice. I take an aspen stick (according to popular beliefs and customs, an aspen stick is used to drive away evil spirits - author) and go to it …
The "VM" correspondent managed to get to know the mother of an unusual parishioner. The story of the girl puzzles even experienced Moscow doctors. Tatiana - that's the name of the girl - very beautiful. Long black hair, thin eyebrows, blue eyes that suddenly become kind as soon as the service ends. But under the eyes there are huge dark circles. “We moved from the North, from Neryunga. All my life I worked on the railway, I did not know about any mysticism,”says her mother, Svetlana.
They arrived in central Russia 7 years ago. Tatiana then turned 18. And after that the strange began. Tatiana studied at the Mining Faculty. Mother went on business to her homeland, to the North. The student stayed at home with her father. At night, Tatyana's mother was woken up by a bell - a frightened husband called. Their daughter had a seizure. “She was screaming, all the walls were covered in blood,” a woman recounts her conversation with her husband. She bit her tongue, cheeks.
Svetlana began to take her daughter to the doctors. The attacks became more frequent. But none of the examinations showed pathological changes. The doctors also did not find epilepsy in the girl.
Who are you - I am a demon
Tatiana's condition continued to deteriorate. Gradually she was forced to give up her studies at the institute - she forgot everything.
“Suddenly she began to speak in a man's voice,” Tatiana recalls. We went for a walk on the shore of the pond. She sat down on the slope. And how she began to kick, on stones, straight into the blood! I tell her - "What are you doing?" And she looks at me and says in a deep voice: "I don't feel sorry for my feet, they are not mine." One of the doctors who came to the ambulance call was frightened by Tatiana's terrible eyes. “I've seen a lot in my life, Mom, but I've never seen anything like this,” said the mother's neurologist.
“She increasingly spoke in a male voice. I was afraid how her next seizure would pass and began to sleep with her on the next bed. She happens at night to point her terrible eyes at me, her soul goes into his heels,”says Tatiana.
“I have the feeling that someone else is talking in her,” the woman admits. - Once, when she, sitting on the bed, again began to talk in a bass - I asked her "Well, who are you?" And she answered: “I am me. I am a demon."
For the first time, Svetlana heard that evil spirits might be involved in the girl's strange illness three years ago. After four years of unsuccessful visits to doctors, one of them told her: “Woman - you are a fool! Take her to the priest!"
Psychiatrists: these patients are afraid of icons
Psychotherapists quite often meet with patients who, in their behavior, resemble possessed ones. And they drew attention to a strange pattern: some patients who behave as if they were controlled by an evil force, are panicky afraid of religious rituals.
“An experiment was organized. For such patients, without warning, as usual, they brought water in a glass. Only water was poured there, not ordinary, but holy. And this unexpectedly caused wild anger in them. Several people, in different wards, to whom we brought this glass, pushed it away with a shout,”says Maria N., a psychiatrist with 25 years of experience.
“In 2001, a test was carried out in the laboratory of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation - we looked at what happens to the water if one or another person has a mental influence on it. And the conclusions were sensational - the structure of the water could change. At the same time, she received both healing properties and destructive ones,”says Stanislav Zenin, head of the Biophysics of Water laboratory at the head institute of the Ministry of Health and Social Development. Scientists suggest that the emotions of good and evil literally produce different vibrations that a person feels.
“Man is 70 percent water. And what her "program" will be - largely determines his behavior and health. We believe that strong negativity can literally knock down a healthy program, and a person will suffer,”says the scientist. And he adds: "There is still a lot of unknown things.."
Tatyana's mother believes that the cause of all her troubles is a rare beauty. Even in the North, the failed mother-in-law really hated the girl who charmed her son. As a result, Tatyana and her fiancé parted on one day … According to rumors, that woman was engaged in magic, and Tatyana did not go to church.
… A week ago Tatiana and her mother were in the monastery. Entering the font, she began to beat and scream, almost choking. Regional psychiatrists shrug their shoulders. Moscow doctors became interested in her strange illness. The girl goes to the doctors in her city and really hopes to get a referral to the capital's psychiatric clinic. “I just don't know what to do with this obsession anymore,” her mother sobs in despair.
Sacrament
Before each service, Father Herman preaches a sermon, after which he reads an old prayer service, 4 centuries. “These prayers have such divine power that they destroy all demonic wiles. They attract the grace of God,”says Father German. From the text of the prayer: "I conjure thee and all the downward force consistent with your will: I conjure thee, an unclean soul, by the God of hosts, and all the host of the angel of God, Adonai Eloi of God Almighty, go out and be separated from the servant of God (name)."
The prayer service lasts 40 minutes. At the climax, all the parishioners kneel and the priest sprinkles all with holy water. It was at this time that one can witness the strange metamorphoses that occur with people.
From the sermon of Father Herman:
Cunning demons dictate their will with various hallucinations … Demons torment a person, people often fall, fight, scream. They are called schizophrenics and epileptics.
From the sermon of Father Herman:
When a person fulfills the commandments of God, he is guarded by the grace of God, and in the spiritual realm, evil spirits see that he is guarded by a certain protective fiery shell. Demons are afraid to touch such a person …
NUMERAL
3 times a week (Friday - Sunday) Father Herman gives lectures. Only those who have received the blessing of their priest can participate in the service.
EXPERT OPINION
Marina Alekseeva. Psychiatrist
In practice, he often encounters patients with symptoms of the disease that resemble those possessed:
“It is very difficult to save the nervous system in our modern age. Aggressive emotions are constantly being born around, people are charged with them. It is very important to follow moral rules. It is necessary to be able to bring something positive through your soul, to keep love in it. According to our observations, people who suffer from depression and panic attacks, most often at some point did not comply with moral laws."
Vatican exorcists
An exorcism course has been introduced at the Vatican University. It includes practical classes in psychology and law, liturgical and pastoral work. The classes are taught by Father Giulio Savoldi, who has been the official exorcist of Milan for over 20 years.
“Each case of the exorcism of the devil is special, each person in whom he possessed is not like the others. Anyone who studies to be an exorcist must also study psychology in order to be able to distinguish mental illness from obsession,”says Father Giulio Savoldi.
How do they become possessed?
Experienced priests, communicating with a person, feel whether there is an evil force in him or not. It is believed that a person falls into a risk zone if he commits terrible sins. He seems to be making a pact with evil. Also, the church categorically prohibits practicing occultism.
From the point of view of religion, a person who has opened the door to a parallel world is connected by invisible threads with dark forces. And they begin to torture their victim. Young children have to answer for the sins of their parents.