The Confession of a Demon During an Exorcism Regarding Saint Kallinikos of Edessa

St. Kallinikos of Edessa

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos

What I will describe next is authentic, because it is revealed by a serious and central figure of this event.

The late Kallinikos greatly loved Archimandrite Iakovos Pachis, preacher of the Metropolis of Arta. He knew him and appreciated him, when Metropolitan Ignatios of Arta was the locum-tenens of the Holy Metropolis of Aitolia and Acarnania. Many times he tried to get Fr. Iakovos elected as Metropolitan. But his desire was not fulfilled as long as he lived. Eventually, Fr. Iakovos became Metropolitan of Argolis one year after the repose of Kallinikos (in 1984). He himself did not seek such a thing, so he did not know who helped him to be elected.

An important incident is narrated in writing by Protopresbyter Demetrios Kostopoulos, priest of the Church of Saint Basil in Argos, who was an eyewitness:

"On the Sunday of Pentecost in 1986, after the Divine Liturgy, I was with our late Metropolitan Iakovos at the Holy Monastery of Saint Marina, which is on the hill Larissa (Castle) of Argos.

The purpose - at the request of their family - was for the Metropolitan to 'read' exorcism prayers over their two daughters, who were 17 and 18 years old, who had been tortured by demons for years.

During the 'reading' the demons were vicious against the Metropolitan, and at one point said to him: 'Twice I tried to kill you, but you were saved by your Lady (the Panagia) and that toothless elder of yours (Fr. Athanasios Hamakiotis)!'

After a little while, suddenly, the two demons began to scream in terror: 'Go away, Kallinikos, you're burning us, you're twisting us, leave us alone, go away...!'

Surprised, I asked the Metropolitan: 'Which Kallinikos are they seeing, Your Eminence, that is burning them?'

'Of Edessa,' he replied.

'And how did he get here, Your Eminence?' I asked.

'I invoked him mentally,' he answered.

The Metropolitan then asked the demons: 'Do you know Kallinikos?'

'Yes,' said one of them, 'he had removed me years ago from a young man in Agrinio.'

'Ahh,' whispered the Metropolitan, 'that explains the matter.'

'What matter, Your Eminence?' I asked him.

'I'll tell you as soon as we're done,' he replied.

When the exorcism was completed, our late Metropolitan narrated how the late Metropolitan Kallinikos of Edessa, when he was a preacher of the Holy Metropolis of Aitolia and Acarnania, had mentioned in one of their discussions that two clergymen in Agrinio (he did not reveal their names), were called to pray for a young demon possessed man. After reading the exorcisms, one of them left. The other, sympathizing with the tortured young man, stayed with him almost all night praying and finally the demon left!

The two young demon possessed girls - as our late Metropolitan had told us a few months later - were released from the demons at the tomb of Fr. Athanasios Hamakiotis, where they had gone to venerate at the suggestion of the Metropolitan." (Argos, April 25, 2013.)

Metr. Iakovos of Argolis

Metropolitan Iakovos of Argolis many times told me about this incident. In fact, he told me when many people accompanied me on a visit to Nafplio. In addition to what Fr. Demetrios writes, Iakovos had told me that the demon, among other things, said:

"You're burning me. But it's not your fault, it's the fault of the one who made you a Metropolitan." Immediately Iakovos asked: "Who made me a Metropolitan?" The demon replied: "Kallinikos (it should be noted that the young woman did not know Kallinikos, who had died a few years prior). He loved you, he wanted to make you a Metropolitan, but he made you one now when he is in heaven. He had removed me some years ago from a man (indeed he had healed a demon possessed man) and I fought him all his life. I managed to eat his flesh (with sickness), but he shines in heaven. His empty wallet sanctified him. He protects you. If I see you without him, I will hurt you."

Metropolitan Iakovos himself said many times that this scene was shocking and creepy.

From the book Καλλίνικος Μητροπολίτης Ἐδέσσης. Μιά "ὁσία μορφή". Translated by John Sanidopoulos.

The Devil and His Wiles (6 of 6)

...continued from part five.

6. Confronting the Devil

Throughout the biblical and patristic tradition two views of the devil can be discerned. The first is that the devil is not merely a personification of evil or something abstract, but a specific being who works to prevent human beings from being saved. The second is that the devil’s authority, power and energy are of limited strength since the Incarnation of Christ. God’s supremacy over the strength of the evil one is obvious throughout our Tradition.

Christ, as mentioned already, came to defeat the devil and to free man from his tyranny. This is clear from the miracles when people possessed with demons were healed. The demons themselves understood this, because at one point they said, “What have we to do with Thee, Jesus, Thou Son of God? Art Thou come hither to torment us before the time?” The healings of demoniacs are an expression of the eschatological destruction of the devil’s power. This destruction of satanic power was achieved through the Cross, as the Apostle Paul tells us: “Having spoiled principalities and powers, He [Christ] made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it [the Cross]” (Col. 2:15).

The Devil and His Wiles (5 of 6)

...continued from part four.

5. The Devil’s Tactics

The devil does not just make war on human beings, but uses the most appropriate methods to defeat them. He uses many tactics. He is the most experienced general ever in the art of war. St Nicodemus the Hagiorite says on this subject,

“There are three reasons why the devil is very experienced and resourceful in the invisible war against human beings. Firstly, because he and the demons who serve him are by nature subtle spirits, so they are very ingenious in inventing strategies and devices beyond our comprehension. Secondly, because the devil and the demons are seven thousand three hundred years old, and over this long period they have become great experts in tactics. Thirdly, by fighting against all human beings from Adam until now, particularly against saints and hermits eminent in asceticism, and by being counterattacked by them, the devil and the demons have learnt new wiles and tricks from this experience and warfare. They are well-practised and have become highly skilled, as St Isaac the Syrian, St Symeon the New Theologian and St Makarios say.”

The Devil and His Wiles (4 of 6)

...continued from part three.

4. How the Devil Fights Human Beings

The devil uses many methods to oblige human beings to become his servants. This section will identify the particular ways in which he works.

Firstly, the devil has great fury and unquenchable hatred for human beings. Man is the recipient of God’s love. Christ assumed human nature and made it divine. Thus the devil has an overwhelming hatred for human beings and wants to make them his own. In his interpretation of the Gospel passage in which the demons asked Christ to let them enter the herd of pigs once they had left the possessed man (Matt. 8:31), St Gregory Palamas says that in this way the demons show that they have “evil intentions”. Also, according to his interpretation, the reason the Lord allowed them to enter the pigs and uthe whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters” (Matt. 8:32) was “so we would realise who did this to the pigs, and that they would not have spared the man and refrained from sending him to perdition, had they not been invisibly held back earlier by God’s power.” In other words, Christ acted as He did in order to demonstrate that the devil is so enraged against human beings that, if He Himself did not protect them, the devil would like to wipe them out completely.

The Devil and His Wiles (3 of 6)

...continued from part two.

3. Whom Does the Devil Attack and In Whom Does He Act?

We must go further and clarify what sort of people the devil attacks. Against whom does he particularly direct his rage? Also, in whom is he able to act most effectively?

It is beyond doubt that he wages war on everyone. He has an immense hatred of human beings to the extent that, as the holy Fathers say, if God did not sustain the world with His love, the devil would annihilate it. The devil strove in many ways to fight against Christ Himself. The three temptations by which the devil tempted Christ are well known. Holy Scripture says that after His Baptism, “Jesus was led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil” (Matt. 4:1). These were not, however, the only temptations that Christ faced. The devil fought furiously against Him until the last moment, putting thoughts against Him into people’s minds.

The Devil and His Wiles (2 of 6)

...continued from part one.

2. Types of Demons

There are many demons, as the whole biblical and patristic tradition teaches. It is evident both in Holy Scripture and the works of the holy Fathers that Satan is not alone: there are many demons. There are many like him. Also, some demons are more evil than others, and every demon has his own teaching, as well as his own way of acting and working. We shall look at this interesting topic.

Many passages of Holy Scripture demonstrate that there are a large number of evil spirits in existence. The most well known are as follows. The possessed men in the country of the Gerges-enes had many demons. For that reason they spoke in the plural: “And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with Thee, Jesus, Thou Son of God? Art Thou come hither to torment us before the time?” (Matt. 8:29). When St Mark the Evangelist describes the healing of the demoniac in the country of the Ga-darenes, he records Christ’s conversation with the demons inside the man. When Christ asked, “What is thy name?”, they replied “My name is Legion: for we are many.” The account continues, “All the devils besought Him, saying, Send us into the swine.” As soon as Christ granted this wish, “The unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine” (Mark 5:9-13). The Apostle Paul knows that there is not one single “ruler of this world” or one single evil spirit, but many rulers and many evil spirits, so he writes, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Eph. 6:12). Explaining what Christ achieved on the Cross, the same Apostle says, “Having spoiled principalities and powers, He made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it” (Col. 2:15). All these demons teach different things. Each demon has his own way of thinking and acting, but the aim of all is to separate man from God and bring about his eternal death. St Paul knows that many will depart from the faith in the last times, “giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils” (1 Tim. 4:1).

The Devil and His Wiles (1 of 6)

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos

(From the book The Science of Spiritual Medicine)

Describing the wiles and the activities of the devil is not easy. The difficulty is that only those who have managed to escape from his influence are able clearly to discern how he works. By studying the teachings of the saints, however, we too can recognise the devil’s personality and the method that he uses to capture people and keep them under his control. We rely mainly on the teaching of the saints, who were victorious over the devil in the power of Christ. Thus we too can repeat the Apostle Paul’s words: “For we are not ignorant of his devices” (2 Cor. 2:11). The experience of the Church has exposed all the schemes of the devil and his mentality.

On Dreams (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos

In the previous chapter we discussed fantasy and imagination, the damage they cause to our spiritual health, and how we can be ultimately healed of their negative influence.

Dreams are also closely linked with imagination, as we shall see in the following pages. Because many Christians are inexperienced in this aspect of spiritual warfare and incapable of dealing with the matter of dreams, they create problems for themselves. It is not uncommon for people to pay close attention to dreams and to examine what they dreamt the night before, without realising that by so doing they become dupes of the devil. There is also a tendency for people to examine dreams in accordance with the teachings and conclusions of secular psychotherapy, which are different from the Orthodox Tradition.

The holy Fathers were concerned about this issue. In the following pages I shall set out their teaching on dreams, the distorting consequences they have for man, and how they can be cured. It will become clear that the way the Fathers treat the subject of dreams deserves our attention.