www.byzcath.org Forums News & Events Church News Orthodox Church Desecration at Cambridge, MA

I know many will not agree with me, but I do think that there is some demon possession in such acts. I know that monastics would agree.

It may very well be that this fellow is just mentally deranged.

However, it should be stated that modern psychiatric medicine is ill-equipped to deal with the reality of demonic possession. And it is a very strong reality.

My father, for example, played with a ouija board when I was about ten. Later that year, my brother and I were subjected to the phenomena of flickering lights, moving furniture and floating clothes . . .

My brother got on his hands and knees and crawled out of our shared bedroom underneath the floating clothes to run to our parents.

The clothes came at me, having twisted into ropes, and pinned me to the bed.

I looked at our icon of Perpetual Help that survived the communist invasion and the phenomena came to an abrupt end.

I remember being wrapped in clothes and the mess our room was in. We finally had a minor exorcism performed which put an end to all further incidents. (BTW, I was interviewed on a show called "Ghostly Encounters" and the whole scene was recreated theatrically for TV . . .).

I've always told my kids in religion class not to play with such and have gotten calls from their parents about phenomena in their own homes.

One mother called me to say that things keep disappearing in their house, falling off tables and the like. She was convinced the place was haunted.

I just asked her if she ever used a ouija board and if she still had it in the house. It was "yes" to both questions. She got rid of it and had her house formally blessed by a priest.

Alex

May I ask what happens when an Orthodox Church is desecrated like this?

Is there a special blessing involved afterwards?

In the Kiev Caves Patericon, there is the narrative about an Armenian who visited a Father in his cell. Since the Armenian was considered a heretic, and outside of Orthodoxy, the Father chastised him for desecrating his cell and later aspersed it with holy water and prayer, I believe.

Is that what occurs in situations like this?

Alex

In the Trenbyk there is a 'Rite of the renewal of a church' (Чин dіlновлення храму). It can be used in various circumstances, from damage by fire to desecration. It is served by a bishop, or senior priest with the bishop's blessing.