A Miracle of Saints Cyrus and John for Theopompos Who Was Demon Possessed

 

The Miracles of Saints Cyrus and John

Miracle 14

On Theopompos Who Was Demon Possessed

By St. Sophronios of Jerusalem

There was a certain Theopompos who was gravely possessed by a demon and there was nobody who would not cry looking at him. Generally people are more despondent about those who have this kind of malady of the soul; likely because it does not concern the body, which is subject to natural diseases and to corruption due to its origin of the tree of transgression in the paradise (to xylon tes parakoes eiso paradeisou). However, the malady of the soul which is against nature. For it is a kind of alteration of the soul's incorruptible nature created by the grace of God, and a suffering resulting from a demonic machination.

Saint Arsenios of Paros and the Cave of the Demons

 By Archimandrite Philotheos Zervakos

Miracle 3

In the settlement of Langada [on the island of Paros], at the estates of the Monastery of Saint George and other neighboring farmhouses and estates to the Monastery, it was observed by the resident farmers, that at night wild shouts were coming from the estates and causing damage. When this was perceived by the resident farmers, they hastened to drive them away and the phenomenon of those wild shouts. Instead of coming from the entrance of the estate, they came from the areas where there were steep cliffs. When the men hastened to reach them in order to remove them from the entrance, they were in danger of falling down the cliffs and being killed.

Saint Dionysios of Olympus and the Monk Who Summoned a Demon

 

There was a monk at Beroea who was only slightly educated. One day a book on divination came into his hands, and out of curiosity he read a little bit of it, thereby invoking the demons. As he slept that night, he saw in a dream a giant creature, blacker than any Ethiopian, who said to him:

"Because you have called upon me, I have come. If you will make obeisance to me, I will do what you ask!"

Now the monk recognized that this was the devil, and said to him:

The Exorcism That Led to the Building of a Chapel in Honor of Saint Seraphim of Sarov

 

On 2 January 2021, Elder Gabriel, abbot of the Monastery of Venerable David in Evia, together with the fathers of the Monastery, celebrated the feast of Saint Seraphim of Sarov at the Chapel of Saint Seraphim of Sarov built on a mountain near the Monastery by the former abbot, the Holy Elder Kyrillos together with the fathers of his time. During the sermon after the Divine Liturgy, Elder Gabriel explained the history of this chapel as follows:

The Frightening Vision of Saint Anthony the Great

The Vision of Anthony, 16th cent. Russian miniature

When [Anthony] once had a discussion with certain men who had come to him concerning the state of the soul and of what nature its place will be after this life, the following night one from above called him, saying, "Anthony, rise, go out and look." Having gone out therefore (for he knew whom he ought to obey) looking up, he beheld one standing and reaching to the clouds, tall, hideous, and fearful, and others ascending as though they were winged. And the figure stretched forth his hands, and some of those who were ascending were stayed by him, while others flew above, and having escaped heaven-ward, were borne aloft free from care. At such, therefore, the giant gnashed his teeth, but rejoiced over those who fell back. And immediately a voice came to Anthony, "Do you understand what you see?" And his understanding was opened, and he understood that it was the passing of souls, and that the tall being who stood was the enemy who envies the faithful. And those whom he caught and stopped from passing through are accountable to him, while those whom he was unable to hold as they passed upwards had not been subservient to him. So having seen this, and as it were being reminded, he struggled the more daily to advance towards those things which were before. 

From the Life of Anthony by St. Athanasius the Great, Ch. 66.

A Warning to Those Who Abstain from Holy Communion for Five Weeks in a Row

St. Makarios the Great of Egypt (Feast Day - January 19)

By Palladius, Bishop of Helenopolis

(Lausiac History, Ch. 17 - Makarios of Egypt)

A certain Egyptian, enamored of a lady married to a husband, and being unable to seduce her, consulted a magician, saying: "Lead her to love me, or contrive that her husband reject her." And the magician having received a sufficient sum, used magic spells and arranged for her to take the form of a horse. The husband having come in and seen her was surprised that a horse lay on his bed. He wept and lamented; he talked to the animal, but received no reply. He called in the priests of the village. He brought them in, showed her to them, but they did not discover what happened.

Saint Nikita the Solitary, Who Had Been Seduced By the Devil and Thereby Became Famous as a Prophet

St. Nikita of the Kiev Caves, Bishop of Novgorod (Feast Day - January 31)

(Paterikon of the Kiev Caves Lavra, 25)

While the venerable Nikon was superior [of the Kiev Caves Lavra], there was a brother named Nikita. He wished to be honored by men and conceived a great deed, but not for God’s sake: he began to ask the superior to allow him to withdraw into solitude. The superior forbade him to do so, saying, “My son, it is not profitable for you to sit idle, since you are young. It is better for you to stay among the brethren and work for them. You will not risk losing your reward. You yourself have seen how our brother the holy Isaac the Cave-Dweller was seduced by demons. Had he not been saved by God’s grace, through the prayers of the venerable fathers Anthony and Theodosius, who to this day work many miracles, he would have been lost.” Nikita said, “I will certainly not be seduced by such a trick. I will ask the Lord God to grant me the gift of working miracles.” Nikon answered, “What you are asking is beyond your powers. Take care, brother, lest you exalt yourself and then have a fall. Our humility orders you to serve the holy brotherhood, for whose sake you will be crowned as a reward for your obedience.” Nikita remained unmoved by the superior’s words and did exactly what he wanted: he shut the door behind him and remained in the cave without going out.

The Tale of Saint Natalis and the Ossory Werewolves

Saint Natalis of Ulster (also called Naile) died in 564 A.D. He was a monk, abbot of monasteries in northern Ireland and disciple of Saint Columba. According to legend, Saint Natalis placed a curse on a clan which transformed their members into werewolves. Here is the tale:

The Tale

An unnamed priest was traveling from Ulster to Meath on an important mission with his assistant, a young boy. The two stopped for the night near woods at the edge of the See of Ossory. As they lay down to sleep, the priest hears a human voice calling from the nearby forest. He gets up and looking out into the darkness he sees a giant wolf draw near. The priest and boy draw back in horror, but the wolf speaks in a human voice and tells them not to be afraid.

Testimony of How a Demon Possessed Monk Was Healed at the Tomb of St. Euthymios the Great

Life of Euthymios

Ch. 50

By Cyril of Scythopolis

In this same period a monk called Paul, who came from the village of Tomessus in the first province of Cilicia, and who was grievously troubled by an impure spirit, was brought along from the monastery of Abba Martyrius and placed in the burial vault by the tomb of our holy father Euthymios. After a few days Euthymios appeared to him in the middle of the night and expelled the impure spirit. Going to the church at the hour of the night office, Paul made confession to God in the presence of all, announcing the miracle that had happened to him. Hearing of his cure, the members of his own cenobium came to fetch him; he, however, did not consent, but with eagerness joined in the labors of the cenobium. Once, when we were outside in the desert to collect faggots, we asked Paul about the nature and cause of his complaint and how he had been cured. Deriving confidence from his frank love for us, he gave us the following account:

The Demoniac Who Journeyed to the Kiev Caves Lavra

Kiev Caves Patericon

Discourse 26

Laurence the Recluse
(Jan. 29)

Some time later another brother named Laurence wished to retire into solitude, but the holy fathers absolutely forbade him to do so. Laurence went to the Monastery of St. Demetrios, founded by Prince Izjaslav, and lived as a recluse there. Because of his austere life, the Lord granted him the gift of healing.

A certain man was brought to him from Kiev, who was possessed by a demon which the solitary was unable to cast out. It was a ferocious demon, like wood, which ten men could scarcely carry, and yet this monk single-handedly took hold of him and bound him. He remained there unhealed a long time, and the solitary ordered him to be taken to the Caves Monastery. Then the demoniac began to cry out, “To whom are you sending me? I dare not approach the cave because of the holy ones buried there. There are only thirty in the monastery whom I fear. I'll fight with the others.” Those who were dragging him along knew that he had never been in the Caves Monastery and knew no one there. They asked him, “Who are those whom you fear?” The demoniac gave the names of all of them. “These thirty,” he said, “will drive me out by a single word.” There were then 180 monks in all. They said to the demoniac, “We are going to shut you in the cave.” The demoniac said, "What is the use of me fighting with dead men? For they can now approach God more boldly on behalf of their monks and pray for those who come to them. But if you want to see me fight, take me to the monastery.” Then he began to speak in Hebrew and Latin and also in Greek, in short in languages which he had never heard, so that those tak­ing him were terrified by his change of languages and diversity of tongues.

Repulsion of the Evil One and an Appeal to Christ (St. Gregory the Theologian)

By St. Gregory the Theologian

Flee swiftly from my heart, all-crafty one.
Flee from my members and from my life.
Deceiver, serpent, and fire, Belial, sin,
death, abyss, dragon, night, snare, and frenzy,
chaos, manslayer, and ferocious beast!
Thou didst entice into perdition those
first-formed folk, my foreparents, offering them
at the same time the taste of sin and death.
Christ, the Ruler of all commandeth thee to
flee into the billows, to fall upon the rocks,
or to enter the herd of swine, O baleful one,
as once He bade that presumptuous Legion.
Nay, yield forthwith, lest I smite thee with the Cross,
whereat all things tremble;

Demonology in the Life of Saint Dionysios of Olympus

By Monk Agapios Landos

The Young Girl From Katerini

In the spring, Saint Dionysios went to the city of Katerini. On the road, he met a group of young girls and boys, who were singing immodest and inappropriate songs of the type that incites youth to shameful and improper desires. The blessed man was grieved hearing these things, and said to them: "Why do you say these things, being that you are virgins? Such disgraceful and immodest words defile your virginity, exciting and inclining these youths to sensuality. Do you not call death to remembrance?"

Demonology in the Life of Saint Anthony the Great

By Rosemary Guiley

Anthony (251–356)

Anthony was a Christian saint credited as a founder of monasticism, famous for his temptations by the Devil and his demons. Anthony means “inestimable.” Saint Anthony is also known as Anthony or Antony of Egypt, Anthony of the Desert, and Anthony the Abbott. The account of his life and demonic torments was recorded by his friend St. Athanasius, Patriarch of the Church at Alexandria, Egypt, in Vita S. Antoni (Life of St. Anthony). The temptations of Anthony were a popular subject for medieval artists.

The Occultist, the Immaculate Conception, and the Assassination on the Feast of Saint Genevieve

By John Sanidopoulos

I spent a week in Paris in October of 2016, taking in the culture and visiting the various shrines and museums of the city, and on the day I visited the Pantheon, where I saw the tombs of Voltaire, Rousseau, Zola, Hugo, Monnet, Dumas and the Curies (just to name a few) as well as an exact replica of Foucault’s pendulum, I also wanted to visit the location of the relics of Saint Genevieve behind the Pantheon, at Saint-Ètienne-du-Mont, which unfortunately was closed for the day. Staying at a hotel in the Latin Quarter, I realized the next time I would be able to visit the church was on the morning of my flight back to America. So having packed my things that morning, I rushed on an eight minute uphill walk to Saint-Ètienne-du-Mont, arriving early waiting for the priest to unlock the door at 9:00 AM, hoping I would have enough time to venerate the relics of the Patron Saint of Paris before I went to catch my flight. My goal there was three-fold: a) to venerate the relics of Saint Genevieve, b) to see the tombs of Pascal and Racine, and C) to see the location of the assassination of the Archbishop of Paris which took place in this church on January 3, 1857, which was the feast of Saint Genevieve.

Saint Thomais of Lesvos and the Demon Possessed

St. Thomais of Lesvos (Feast Day - January 3)

Below are two miracles from the biography of Saint Thomais the Wonderworker of Lesvos, who reposed in Constantinople in the tenth century.

Miracle 1:

My narrative has shown us that Thomais constantly visited the divine churches, and most frequently attended services at churches where all-night hymnody to God was being performed. She used to go regularly to the most divine church at Blachernae, and would walk the whole way at night sending forth hymns of supplication to God and entreating His all-pure Mother. Then she would prostrate herself before Her all-honored and all-holy shrine,* entreating Her with tears and begging grace for the whole world, that is, to intercede with Her Son to postpone and delay His punishment and to grant a respite from the wickedness that afflicts the world because of our sins. For she did not petition and entreat the Lord on her own behalf, but for the salvation and redemption of the community and the world. In the words of the apostle she strove not for her own but for another,** and indeed she carried out this saying by her very deeds.

Saint Anthony's Encounter With the Satyr and the Centaur

In the Life of Paul the Hermit by Saint Jerome, written in the year 374 or 375 during Jerome’s stay in the desert of Syria, we read how Saint Anthony was on a journey in the desert to find Saint Paul of Thebes, who according to his dream was a greater and more perfect desert-dweller than he. Saint Anthony had been under the impression that he was the first person to ever dwell in the desert; however, due to the dream, Saint Anthony was called into the desert to find his "better," Saint Paul. On his way there, he ran into two creatures in the forms of a centaur and a satyr, which are considered to have been demonic temptations, although Jerome seems to be open to the possibility that they may have been monstrous creatures of the desert, of which he says that one such creature was seen alive in Alexandria during the reign of Constantine the Great.

Saint Theonas: From Pagan Magician to Martyr of Christ

Sts. Theopemtos and Theonas (Feast Day - January 5)

Theonas was a magician who lived during the reign of Emperor Diocletian (284-305). When Diocletian initiated his Great Persecution against the Christians, the first to be martyred was a Bishop named Theopemptos. Theopemptos was arrested and brought before Diocletian, and confessed before him his faith in Christ. He underwent several tortures, such as being thrown in flames, suffering from hunger and thirst, and having one of his eyes removed, but after emerging from these unharmed and miraculously restored, it was believed by Diocletian that he did so by means of magic. For this reason Diocletian sought for a magician who could overcome the magic of Theopemptos, by dispatching letters throughout the Roman Empire for a sorcerer to come to Nicomedia and overcome Christian sorcery, and in return he would receive costs gifts and high honor.