The following incident took place according to the testimony of Andrei
Fedorovich Kovalevsky (1840-1901), who was a pious Kharkov landowner who
pursued asceticism in the field of spiritual literature, and was acquainted with Saint Ioanniki of Svyatogorsk (+ 1882), about whom he wrote the following:
Once a man of enormous height was brought to [St. Ioanniki], a line Cossack from beyond the Kuban, with a brutally
distorted face; he was hardly able to be dragged there by two stalwart
Cossacks, his relatives. The demoniac roared in an inhuman voice, and
the roar of a bear, and the howl of a wolf, and the grunt of a pig were
alternately heard in the sounds of his voice, while his eyes sparkled
with inexpressible malice.
In the Svyatogorsk Hermitage, in front of the
cathedral, which stands on a dais, there is a spacious stone staircase
leading to the platform where the cathedral stands. Having brought the
possessed man to this staircase, the companions could no longer lead him
further by any means, about which one of them went to the cathedral to
inform Father Ioanniki. He himself left the cathedral in the priestly
stole with the relevant prayer book in his hand and, fearlessly
approaching the possessed man who was spread on the ground, prepared to
start reciting the exorcism prayers over him. The possessed man suddenly
jumped up and, rushing to Father Ioanniki, grabbed him in by the arm
and, throwing him over his shoulder, ran with him up the stairs around
the cathedral. The people who were at the same time were frightened and
did not know what to do: they rushed after the demoniac and saw that
just opposite the western doors of the cathedral he again fell to the
ground, while Father Ioanniki sat on him safe and sound and held him by
the hair. The relatives rushed to tie the hands and feet of the demoniac
with a rope, but Father Ioanniki forbade them, saying: “Don't touch
him, leave him alone, he will no longer run; we fought with him and now
you see who is on top”, - and pointed to the head of the possessed man,
which he held tightly by the hair.
Then he got up, covered the possessed
man with his priestly stole and began to read exorcism prayers over
him. The possessed man lay still, only breathing heavily, as if about to
vomit something out of himself; finally, with great effort, he spewed
out a stinking bloody foam, so stinking that those around him, unable to
bear the stench, recoiled from him. After that, the possessed man got
up, began to bow in the direction of the cathedral, entered the
cathedral itself and prayed earnestly there, and the next day, he
confessed to Father.
In confession he explained that he was possessed by
madness at the time when he dared to inflict beatings on his mother,
and from then on it had been cruelly tormenting him. With full hope of
recovery, he set off from the Kuban to this Holy Mountain, having
received instruction from Father Ioanniki how to behave so as not to
again be exposed to the actions of an evil spirit. Subsequently, Father
Ioanniki said, recalling this incident, that when the demoniac threw him
on his shoulders and carried him up the stairs to the platform around
the cathedral, he felt in himself some extraordinary power, with which
he easily overcame the demoniac, noetically invoking the sweetest name
of the Lord Jesus.
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| A.F. Kovalevsky |
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| Stairs of the Dormition Cathedral |