Eugene did not know the girl in this case personally, but as an assistant to an exorcist in the diocese he attends many of the “deliverance services” that take place in various parishes across Russia. This is how he came to record this exorcism, which was conducted by Father Basil.
The deliverance ministry in Russia, Eugene explains, is relatively new, but growing. It is similar to such ministries in the Anglican Church in England, which has a long tradition. In Russia, these ministries are becoming more organized, working with open-minded psychiatrists and other medical professionals for people who come to them (or are brought to them) with significant problems.
How the girl came to be possessed is not known. Eugene did not have an opportunity to speak with the girl or her mother, but as he understood it, she had some involvement with the occult, either in practice or she consulted with an occult practitioner. The people who go to such practitioners go for personal advice, much as people go to storefront “psychic readers” in the U.S. They claim to be able to rid their customers of curses and such. “The problem is,” Eugene says, “things go wrong and can make a problem much worse” for someone who might have a psychological problem. It may be an entry point for the diabolic.
After this exposure to the occult, the girl’s mother noticed a radical change in her daughter’s behavior and brought her to the deliverance service. (It is not known what kind of medical or psychiatric treatment, if any, was sought first.)
Besides individual exorcisms, Russian parishes offer open deliverance services to which any number of people can come. A less formal rite is conducted at these services.
There are similar ministries in the U.S., such as Bob Larson Ministries among others, whose exorcising services are even televised. During the ceremony, audience members who supposedly have demons in them spontaneously jump up, begin shouting, babble in incoherent language or go into spasms until the minister casts the demons out (and then asks for donations, of course).
In Russia, Eugene has witnessed unusual things at these open deliverance services. He says he has seen demons speaking [through people] to one another in the church. "The demons use the people's voices and speak to one another in the church and also discuss things that the people in which they live could not possibly know," Eugene says.
In the case of the sixteen-year-old girl, she was in a one-on-one session with Father Basil. Watching from just several feet away, Eugene could see that the girl possessed extraordinary strength as her mother struggled to keep her seated. As can be heard on the recording, her voice changed radically. Her face contorted and displayed “total hate” for the priest as she cursed at him.
Toward the end of the recording, the girl, with an unearthly voice, shouts something in Russian at the priest. The translation, Eugene says, is, “I am not leaving her! I am not!”
The demonic voice sounds like something right off the soundtrack of The Exorcist. Was the girl imitating the Linda Blair character in the movie? Eugene, who has been assisting in these exorcisms for several years, does not think so. Those movies are not well known in Russia, he says.
Although the exorcism lasted about a half hour, Eugene says that it was not a success, and he didn’t know if the girl and her mother would seek further treatment.
See Part 2 of this series: Exorcism in Russia: The Video, which brings you video from Russia of actual exorcisms.
Eugene Safronov can be contacted at: safronow@yahoo.com or uloma@yandex.ru
