https://orthodoxwiki.org/Exorcism

https://orthodox.net/sermons/pen-sun-10_2019+exorcism-demoniac-son+faith-prayer-fasting_mat17-14-23.pdf

https://menoikeion.princeton.edu/sites/g/files/toruqf2036/files/media/beard_paper.pdf

Full St Basil prayers: https://www.scribd.com/document/762322653/PRAYER-OF-EXORCISM

Source: https://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2011/08/secrets-of-orthodox-exorcists.html

https://orthodox.net/sermons/pen-sun-10_2019+exorcism-demoniac-son+faith-prayer-fasting_mat17-14-23.pdf

A young woman sat in the chair near the altar. Father Sava began Liturgy reading the prayers

from the Church service book in one hand while handling a lamp and censer in the other. As he

approached the woman she started to cry, twitching her fingers and hitting her legs. Then, an

abnormally deep voice came out of her mouth:

"Savo, don't do it. She is ours! Her aunt brought her to us. She is ours! She should not have

finished college! She should not have gotten married! We want her to die! Death ...St. Matrona

protects her!"

The monk didn't give up. He continued reading. Prayers, hymns, psalms. As he intensified

praying, the invisible power attacked the girl stronger than before. She cried, shook and screamed

for the whole Divine Liturgy. And then peace surprisingly came. The woman's body relaxed with

visible relief. The demons left the suffering human being. She went out of the church as if nothing

had happened.

The scene is not an excerpt from the one of Hollywood's blockbuster horrors. It is a reality that

Sonja Brankovic, a 28-year-old Bosnian woman witnessed at Sunday morning Liturgy, in the

Serbian Orthodox monastery Saint Ilija, Krupa, near Banja Luka, a few days before Pascha

(Easter) 2011.

She could not believe what she saw, but over time she had to accept that the presence of evil was

more than obvious. It finally became clear to her that Satan does not attack only Catholics, as

Hollywood has been filming for almost 40 years, but also the Orthodox Christians of which she is

one.

Unfortunately, the rich tradition of Orthodox exorcism stays in the shadow of "The Exorcist",

launched in 1973 and primarily popularizing the Roman rite. Even the Baylor Religion Survey

(2007) which finds that nearly four in five of respondents believe in demon possession, four

decades after Hollywood's expansion of exorcism, does not present any statistical data within the

Orthodox sample.

However, it is a significant fact from Russian Trinity - Sergius Lavra illustrating that three to five

persons are possessed among the hundreds of those that regularly attend Liturgy.

That which people see in films is usually exaggerated drama. There is no levitating bed, spinning

head or green-pea soups disgorged over the priest.

"An accurate depiction of an Orthodox exorcism appears in a Russian film "Ostrov" says Father

Ioannis, a monk and confessor of Simonos Petras Monastery, Mt. Athos, accenting the

compilation of prayers as the essence of the Orthodox exorcism.

A prayers-cocktail expels the demons

The standard exorcism procedure is found in The Great Book of Needs (Euchologion or Trebnik).

This most comprehensive liturgical book of the Orthodox Church includes:

1. Opening blessing,

2. Trisagion prayers,

3. Psalms 142(143), 22(23), 26(27), 67(68), 50(51),

4. A hymn, Canon of Supplication to our Lord Jesus Christ (includes special litanies after odes

3,6,9);

5. Anointing with oil, with prayer of anointing that is the same prayer used in the service of

healing unction.

6. Three prayers of exorcism by St. Basil and four prayers of St. John Chrysostom.

According the Typikon of St. Sava Monastery, Palestine, the blessed oil used in exorcism is

removed from the temple and kept in the possession of the person receiving the exorcism for

protective custody throughout life. At the time of the exorcised person's death, the residual oil will

be buried with the remains in the coffin.

Father Juvenily Repass, an Instructor and Chaplain at St Herman's Orthodox Theological

Seminary warns that exorcism services would be "a grave sin and spiritually dangerous, "for a

non-priest and layman. He says: "The service of exorcism is a very serious matter so even the

priest should consult with the bishop before practicing it."

Unlike the Roman Catholic Church that elevated the Office of Exorcist, as a special exorcists unit,

all Orthodox priests are trained and equipped to perform exorcism primarily as an obligatory part

of Orthodox Baptism.

Four prayers appear in the early portion of the Baptism service known as "The Making of a

Catechumen."

The Orthodox Greeks practice an unique exorcism against demonic influence known as "Evil Eye"

or "Vaskania", a phenomenon deeply rooted in pre-Christian pagan tradition, but also widely

present among other cultures. There is belief that some people through jealousy or envy can bring

harm upon other people. It is considered that such people are demon-possessed, overlooking

special and attractive people such as: beauties, those born on Saturday afternoon (time of Christ's

birth), babies forty days after their births and young children. Affected persons suffer from

discomfort, dizziness, whining, sleeplessness, peevishness, headache and pain.

Orthodox priests read a special Prayer for overlooking. The special small crosses from Mt. Athos

made of unicorn's horn and oil from sacred lamp in church are also strong defense against the

demon acting from person with evil eye.

The Greek Church permanently confront some groups of self-proclaimed exorcists (mainly oldwomen) that traditionally practice their own rite against " evil-eye" that includes religious

procedure with olive oil, water and Cross, but opposite to recommendations of Church and The

Great Book of Needs.

The monks from Russian Valaam monastery consider that everyone is possessed at some level,

depending how much they are burdened by passions, so they recommend living according to

God's commandments: fast, prayers, confession, repentance and Holy Communion."

An Athonite monk Dositej Hilandarac warns that, "We inherit parents' spiritual debts, the same

as we inherent land, money and material debts from them" He recalls:

"In summer 2010, monks from monastery Hilandar [Mt. Athos] exorcised a possessed boy.

Despite prayers that lasted an entire week, the demons did not vacate the boy. Then I suggested to

boy's father to repent and make confession. Because the father never confessed before this time,

his son had become fertile ground for the demons. Indeed, the son had suffered for years just as

the father and other family members had suffered by observing the child without recourse to

resolve the problem on their own. This occasion was the only way to awaken the sinner. The

father's repentance and confession were key to the success of our exorcism prayers."

Archimandrite Petar Dragojlovic, Hegumen of St. Nicholas monastery, Vranjina, recalls a young

woman whom he exorcised in 2005. This woman had been possessed by seven demons after

having practiced spiritualism with her grandmother prior to the elder's death.

"When grandmother died, she came to see her last time expressing desire to be beside her body

that night. At the midnight, the demons began to sing and rejoice as they took the grandmother's

soul because the old woman has served them through spiritualism. All seven demons entered into

the girl. Until then she was an excellent student at Belgrade University with high grades. After

possession she could not pass any exam. I have read the prayers to her in the Cetinje Monastery.

Only after persistent reading of prayers by a year she received healing. But every time she went

through the agony. She screamed with a high-pitched tone. Her body shook as her eyes gyrated.

Her neck became twice as thick with distended veins. Two men were required to hold her in place

for the prayers. Her strength was extraordinary. She now serves the God as a nun."

Possessed or Obsessed?

As the International Classification of Disease does not recognize demon possession as an official

diagnosis the religion and medicine are in constant confrontation. While the psychiatrists

consider it as a symptom of mental disorders, priests say it is possible to distinguish demonpossessed individuals from persons with mental illness. Hegumen Dragojlovic observes:

"When mentally-ill persons approach the holy relics their bodies do not show contractions and

other distortions. Moreover, persons with mental illness do not blaspheme, and they do not

scream. On the other hand, demon-possessed persons look normal outside of holy places such as

an Orthodox temple. However, when they approach the temple and the holy relics, they react

because demons start to torture them."

Hegumen's description parallels what Kurt E. Koch's described in his 1973 text, Demonology Past

and Present differentiate demon possession from psychological disorders?

The monks from the Orthodox Monastery of Vasilije Ostroski in Montenegro also confirm

Hegumen's words. One of most famous Orthodox sanctuary for demonized people keeps the rich

archives of personal testimonies of people that have been brought there as "lunatics" but after

exorcism in front of the relics of St. Vasilije they have been healed continuing to live a normal life.

Does it really work? The answer certainly depends on what you are closer to -- Hollywood or the

Faith of more than 2000 years.

The Greek word ευχολόγιον literally means "book of prayers." The Slavonic word Trebnik literally means "book of needs." This type of service book varies widely in contents and arrangements. The most comprehensive edition is the Ευχολόγιον το Μέγα or Great Euchologion contains the prayers of the priest, deacon, and reader for Vespers, Orthros, and the Divine Liturgy; the six remaining sacraments, and other services of blessings (which in the west are often referred to as sacramentals).

The Slavonic Great Book of Needs consists of two parts:

The sacraments and other sacred rites, which accompany a man from birth and counsels him at his departure into eternity.

Short prayers for various needs. There is also a calendar and the "Alphabetic Classification of Names," the latter being a list of Christian names.

There are also a variety of more concise editions, that contain only the most commonly done of these services. These texts are often called the Small Euchologion (mikron euchologion), and usually contains the forms for the mysteries (sacraments) other than the Eucharist and ordination, and other common services.

The Small Book of Needs is excerpted from the Great Book of Needs for the purpose of convenience, in order to have a small book for the performance of needs, especially those needs which must be served outside the temple.

There is also a Supplemental Book of Needs in Slavonic, which contains within services such as the orders for the consecration of a temple and the consecration of things pertaining to the temple, such as the church utensils, vestments, icons, and so forth. This Supplemental Book of Needs is often combined into one book with the Small Book of Needs.

What distinguishes the services found in the Euchologion is that they are generally services that are not appointed to be done at any given time according to the Church calendar, but are done as the need arises (e.g., funerals, weddings, baptisms, the consecration of a new church, etc.). Some services are associated with the liturgical calendar, however, such as the blessing of candles on the Feast of the Presentation, the blessing of Palms on Palm Sunday, etc.

The Ieresky Molitvoslov contains some services that are considered Trebnik services, however, this is more of a devotional book for priests than a service book for public services.

In English, there are various editions of the Small Euchologion, but only one (4 volume) edition of the entire Euchologion, published by St. Tikhon's Seminary Press under the title The Great Book of Needs. This collection of the Trebnik services attempts to organize these services in a more logical sequence than the Slavonic Trebnik has been historically published in.

Volume One contains the services associated with the 7 sacraments.

Volume Two contains services for the sanctification of Ecclesiastical items, icons, crosses, etc; and services associated with the liturgical year.

Volume Three contains prayers for various needs, general blessings, and services connected with death, funerals, burials, and commemorations of the departed.

Volume Four contains Moliebens, services of supplication, and other services of blessing.

Br. Isaac Lambertsen has also done a translation of the entire Slavonic Trebnik, as well as services that are unique to the Greek Euchologion, but due to the publication of the Book of Needs by St. Tikhon, the publication of his translation has been put on hold indefinitely.