And is this not a fable, as all unbelievers believe? No, no, this is not a fable. And just as there were demon-possessed during the earthly life of the Lord Jesus, so to this day there are many, many demon-possessed among us. True, not as terrible as the Gadarene demoniac was. Who are the possessed? Why and why did the Lord perform an amazing miracle of healing a demoniac in which lived a whole legion of demons, possessing inhuman strength, breaking iron chains?

In order to show the most vivid example of possession, to show that this demoniac was healed by the power of Christ, although this was the most terrible manifestation of possession. But you know that in nature in general, as in human life, side by side with the vivid manifestations of various physical and spiritual forces, there are many, many smaller, much smaller, barely perceptible manifestations of the same forces; You know that all natural phenomena are arranged according to degrees.

You know that grains of quartz sand and shards of granite are the same as huge mountains, the same as the highest peaks of the Himalayas, the Cordillera and the Andes – they are the same granite, the same quartz, only in a small, small size. There are ciliates and bacteria that are invisible to the naked eye and detectable only by a microscope. Along with them, there were huge, monstrous dinosaur lizards, diplodocus.

Do you not know people who are always lying, lying endlessly, not saying a word of truth? Are they not possessed by the unclean spirit of lies, the power of the one whom the Lord called the father of lies, the devil? And when you see a violently depraved harlot, will you not then say that she is possessed by the demon of fornication? Those robbers, bandits who kill dozens of people for the purpose of robbery, who are capable of slaughtering a baby, are these people not possessed by the demons of bloodlust, the demons of murder, the demons of violence?

These are all demoniacs: there are many, many of them among us. And are we ourselves far from them? No, they are not far away. We are all infected with pride, ambition, vanity, envy. What are those? This is also the demonic possession of pride, ambition, and envy. There are many possessed to this day, and many among us, only not such as the Gadarene possessed, but still possessed by demons. What to do, what to do?

We must fight with all our might against the demons that live in us. Oh yes, it is necessary, we need a struggle, and the Lord has shown us how to fight demons. He said: "This kind is cast out only by prayer and fasting" (Matt. 17:21). Remember this. The holy apostles cast out demons by prayer and fasting, they cast them out in the name of Christ. What happened in this case?

The holy and great spirit of the apostles, burning with love for the Lord Jesus and faith in Him, dwelt in the weak spirit of the sick and possessed. How can he move in? It can be very simple, for the human spirit is like bodiless spirits, it is only a spirit less powerful than these bodiless spirits, but it is of exactly the same nature and is akin to them: it is capable of communion and unity.

And therefore the spirits of wickedness in the heavenly places can dwell in the spirit of sinful people and take possession of it. You know the phenomena of hypnosis: the hypnotist paralyzes the will of the sleeper with his will and can force him to do whatever he pleases. And these commands are carried out quite accurately after suggestion in a state of hypnosis. In the same way, the will of demons enters the hearts of sinners and governs them and torments them. Then sinners do the will of demons.

One must defend oneself against this, defend oneself by the means that were indicated by Christ – fasting and prayer. But it is necessary to delve deeper into how to understand these words of Christ; does this mean that it is enough to pray in the morning and evening, to go to church and to keep the fasts established by the Church in order to achieve the goal? No, it does not mean that Lent must be understood immeasurably more broadly: fasting must be abstinence from all the passions and lusts of the flesh, from everything that pleases it, with which it resists the spirit.

To observe the fast means to renounce oneself, from the pleasures of one's flesh and spirit, it means to be a servant of the will of God. And prayer, which can cast out demons, must be a bottomless, deep, uninterrupted prayer, such as the saints prayed. It must be imbued with the deepest repentance. If a person denies himself, takes up his cross and follows Christ, if he prays constantly, then he will acquire power over demons.

Demons will not dare to dwell in his spirit: they can only dwell in an unclean place, they cannot dwell in a holy place. Let us, too, who are far, far from the image of the saints, always be pure, let us always fast, always pray, and then there will be no access to demons in our hearts. And then all those demons will be cast out of our heart, which for many years have taken refuge in it.

Remember: the power of Christ cast out a legion of demons from the Gadarene demoniac man; remember: the Lord sent His disciples into the world to cast out demons. Let us set ourselves the task of casting out demons from our own hearts. First of all, we humbly realize that we are possessed by demons. If in this humble consciousness we begin with repentance, if we have recourse to the all-powerful help of God, then we will receive the grace of God.

Then you too will cast out demons, cast out not only from your own heart, but also from the hearts of the unfortunate demoniac around you.     On the 90th Psalm  , August 6, 1948 Friday of the 6th week after Pentecost   "He who lives in the help of the Most High shall dwell in the shelter of the God of heaven, saith the Lord: Thou art my intercessor and my refuge, my God, and I trust in Him" (Psalm 90:1-2) Who lives in the help of the Most High?

Who will dwell in the shelter of the God of heaven? Are you all, are you all baptized, are you all Christians? Oh, however hard it is to say, I must say: "Not all." Do you all live in the help of the Most High? Is the life of all of you directed towards one great and holy goal – to glorify God, to love God, to love people, to do works of mercy, to fulfill the law of Christ? No, not all.