When the Emperor Theodosius ordered the destruction of pagan temples throughout the empire, Saint Marcellus set about the work with divine zeal, pulling down shrines and building churches on their ruins to the glory of the Most Holy Trinity. One temple, however, the Temple of Jupiter resisted all such efforts because the demon who dwelt there and accepted the worship of the Romans refused to be driven out. Filled with the spirit and power of the Prophet Elijah, the holy Bishop had three column of the colonnade uncovered, piled wood around the bases of them, had the wood covered with water, and then called on the lord to reveal Himself by fire. Like with the prophet of old, fire descended from heaven and set the bushels alight. Not long after the whole of the temple collapsed under the weight of Divine Judgment. Sometime later, Saint Marcellus, the scourge of demons, was set upon and martyred as he was overseeing the destruction of yet another pagan temple dedicated to idol worship.
Category: Prayer
Indicates saints for whom their defeat of the demons was related to prayer.
Radegunda, Queen of the Franks
A Thuringian princess, Saint Radegunda was given in marriage to the Frankish King, Clotharius, the son of Clovis. The King was a man of loose living, but, nevertheless, The Saint was devoted to him as if to Christ Himself, and thereby she was never parted from the true King of Heaven. Her way of life as Queen was so pious that her husband was chided by his nobles who said that he was married to a nun and not a queen. While initially offended, he eventually came to admire her holy bearing and realized that she was a source of blessings for him and his kingdom. After Clotharius had her brother executed for allegedly seditious behavior, Saint Radegunda was allowed to retire to a monastery where she was tonsured a nun and lived out the rest of her days devoted to asceticism. Because of her voluntary martyrdom she was granted the grace to heal the sick and cast out demons which she frequently did through small gifts such as candles or leaves that she had blessed by her prayers and offered as alms.
Tikhon of Zadonsk, the Wonderworker and the Bishop of Voronezh
A professor of Rhetoric at a seminary in Novgorod, Saint Tikhon was vouchsafed a vision of the uncreated light which ignited in him a desire for the monastic life and heychia. The Lord, however, had need of him in the vineyard of his Church, and so, not long after becoming a monk, he was consecrated as the Bishop of Voronezh. He gave himself so completely to this work that, having completely exhausted himself with his pastoral efforts, he was forced to retire to a monastery after only five years. There he lived like an angel in the flesh – a model of perfect obedience and humility despite his exalted rank. Often he was so caught up in the contemplation of God that he had to be physically jostled to pry away his attention. Once he was tempted to take up again his ministry as Bishop for the good of the Church, but the Theotokos instructed him to remain in the monastery through an appearance to a venerable old monk. If ever he was assailed by dark thoughts suggested by the Evil One, he drove them away by repeating verses from Psalm 118 (LXX). At the end of his life, he withdrew to the complete reclusion of his cell where he prayed without ceasing for the salvation of the whole world.
Dorotheus of Gaza
A disciple of the great monastic elders of Gaza, Saints Barsanuphius and John, Saint Dorotheus longed for a life of strict ascesis, but his weak bodily constitution wouldn’t allow it. Lest he fall into despair and thereby make himself a target of the Devil, the Great Old Man (Barsanuphius) consoled him and instructed him to make every effort to deny the will of the flesh through an inner ascesis of the heart. So, beginning at cutting of his will in small things, he was able to progressively cut off his will in larger things. Eventually this led him to a heavenly detachment and impassibility through which God was able to act to crush the invisible enemy. This also cultivated within him other virtues, chief among them that of humility, compassion, and resilience which he used to guide his own disciples, especially Saint Dositheus. On one occasion, the noonday demon ferociously assailed him with an overwhelming sadness and acedia. The Saint cried out to the Lord for help, and he was granted a vision of an angel in the form of a Bishop who struck Dorotheus on the breast three times repeating the Psalm verse, “With patience I waited patiently for the Lord, and He was attentive unto me, and he hearkened unto my supplication” (Psalm 39 LXX). As soon as this had happened, the angel disappeared, the demon fled, and the Saint’s heart was flooded with the Uncreated Light, joy, and peace. From that time forward he was never subjected again to sadness, acedia, or fear. The Saint’s most famous teaching on unity with both God and neighbor is known today as the Circle of Saint Dorotheos of Gaza wherein he describes a person as a point on the circumference of a circle. The person moves inward towards God represented as the point at the center of the circle. As the person draws nearer to God, they also draw near to others making the same journey as their paths converge. Thus he taught that, while our salvation is a gift from God, it also lies in our neighbor. Such a blessed unity cannot be overcome by the Enemy of Mankind.
Theodora of Sihla
Married but unable to bear children, Saint Theodora and her husband entered a monastery in Moldavia. Not long after, however, the Turks invaded and she fled into the mountains with her Spiritual Mother. Dwelling in the wilderness, they showed manly courage battling both the conditions and the demons which never ceased to assault them. Emerging victorious over the passions and the adversary, she lived life as a new Mary of Egypt, dedicated to the Jesus Prayer. She spent her nights in prayer and her days in fasting, drinking only rainwater that gathered in the cleft of a rock that miraculously flowed like a spring. The Turkish scourge continued to ravage the region, and she gave up her cell to other nuns that had been driven from their monastery as well. Seeing this as a chance to regain some ground, the demons renewed their attacks, but they proved as powerless as before, unable to even get the attention of the athlete of Christ who treated them with utter disdain. Similar to her Egyptian predecessor, she was discovered by two monks that had been guided to her retreat by a pillar of light. Asking for a cloak to cover her nakedness, she greeted the men and begged for them to send a priest to her with the Holy Gifts. After receiving the Body and Blood of Christ, she departed this life in peace, her body giving off the fragrance of paradise.
Nicanor the Wonderworker of Mount Callistratus
Born to childless parents after a vision of the Great Martyr Means, Saint Nicanor was raised in piety and in the love of Holy Scriptures. His ged parents having departed this life, the Saint quickly gave all of his possessions to the poor and became a monastic. After being made a Deacon, he heard a voice telling him to retire to Mount Callistratus where he would find hesychia. He found a high and inaccessible cave where he gave himself to unceasing prayer and extreme fasting. Hoping to impede his progress, the Devil assailed the Holy Ascetic with endless trials, but he overcame through the Name of Christ and the sign of Cross. The light of Christ shining through him was so bright that it could not be hidden, and he was soon surrounded by disciples who helped him to build a monastery and several dependencies that were renowned for their careful attention to the Typikon of Mar Sabas.
Theodosius the New, the Wonderworker
Born in Athens, Saint Theodosius chose to pursue the Philosophy of the Kingdom rather than that of the world, and, as soon as he was able, received the Angelic Habit and departed for the wilderness in search of silence. There he was vouchsafed a vision of another desert-dweller, St. John the Forerunner, who encouraged him in the ascetic life and tasked him with building a Church. Overcoming the flesh and advancing in the direct experience of God, Saint Theodosius was granted the grace to work miracles and cast out demons. Motivated by fear, the Devil incited some unscrupulous men to accuse the Man of God of performing magic through the aid of demons. Banished by the Bishop of the Diocese, the Saint endured his exile with patience until the truth of the situation was revealed by a vision from the Lord. Thus, he vanquished the enemy through humility and obedience.
Martyr Dometius of Persia
While searching for the truth about God as a young boy in Mesopotamia, a holy man who was passing through introduced Saint Dometius to the Christian Faith. That brief conversation filled him with zeal and an insatiable hunger for the Lord. He immediately entered the monastery where he skipped the refectory but devoured the Holy Scriptures. In order not to be a source of scandal or division amongst the brethren, he left for the wilderness. Along the way, he was approached by a man who offered to guide him and a group of pilgrims he had encountered to another monastery which was more suitable to his way of life. But after being led deeper into a desolate and unforgiving land of cliffs and clefts, Saint Dometius realized that they were being led astray by a demon, and he quickly drove the deceiver away by his prayers. Finally arriving at his destination, the eventual Martyr found a Spiritual Father whom he imitated with precision. Becoming a hermit, he lived in extreme asceticism till the day when, denounced to Julian the Apostate by some jealous locals, he was set upon in his cave and carried off the martyr’s crown.
Hymnography
The whole armor of the Cross didst thou put on thee with courage; and the indestructible breastplate of the Faith of Christ girded thee about. Thus wast thou terrible to the fierce battalions of the demons, whom thou dravest off wielding the dreaded scourge of thy steadfast faith and thy prayers to God; and from the demons’ wicked harm, thou didst save the wayfarers found with thee , O our righteous Father Dometius, thou servant of Christ God, Whom do thou boldly implore for us, praying in our souls behalf.
(Lord, I have cried, Third Troparion of the Saint; Vespers)
Thou didst endure temptation furiously hurled against thee by the enemy and adversary, O all-blessed Dometius; and being tried in many ways and contending with his malice, thou didst prove the victor, O admirable Martyr.
(Ode Six, First Troparion; Orthros Canon)
John of Chozeba
A Romanian orphan, Saint John became a monastic at the prompting of the Lord Himself who promised to be with the young boy as he wept at the grave of the grandmother who raised him. The grace of God enlightened his intelligence and he served the Church by translating spiritual books from Greek into his native language for the benefit of his countrymen. After serving as abbot of the Romanian monastery in the Jordan Valley during the Second World War, the Saint was finally allowed to seek hesychia in a cave where Saint Anna, the mother of the Theotokos had prayed. For seven years he devoted himself to ceaseless prayer, the composition of hymns, and spiritual reading. His way of life being a threat to the demons, they attacked him mercilessly with the hope of driving him from his cave, but he easily repulsed them by quoting the services of the Church. Being made aware of the date of his departure in a vision, Saint John peacefully gave his soul into God’s hands in his cave. During his funeral, his body was adorned by a flock of wild birds who lamented his passing with their song. 20 years later, his body was found to be incorrupt. His relics were translated to the Monastery of Chozeba where they are venerated to this day.
Basil the Blessed, Fool for Christ and Wonderworker of Moscow
An ascetic from his early childhood, Saint Basil the Blessed took upon himself the peculiar ascesis of a Fool for Christ which, by God’s grace, experienced a flowering in 16th Century Russia. The most famous of these ascetics in that land, many of the most characteristic behaviors associated with that way of life were present in the life of the saint. For example, when passing the dwellings of those who lives in repentance and holiness, he cast stones at the corners of the houses. He explained that, because demons were not welcome in such homes, they congregated outside searching for a way in. Pelted by the Saint’s prayers symbolized by the rocks, they were driven away from those homes.