Father Joil Bulatović on possession, confession, and healing of soul and body

Father Joil Bulatović recounts an exorcism of an unbaptized woman in her forties from eastern Serbia. Three men brought her to the church; she was foaming, screaming, and trying to climb the walls. The priest censed her with basil and holy water of St. Basil the Great.

She screamed violently at the water. When he learned she was unbaptized, he explained that the devil enters the unbaptized freely. That evening, during a procession, her face distorted and she seized the censer. The next morning she returned, saying two demons had left but one remained.

After the prayer of St. Basil against demons was read, her face normalized and the demon departed, asking forgiveness. Six months later she returned healthy and wrote down her experience. Father Joil stresses that 99 percent of illnesses are sin: when the soul hurts, the body hurts, and confession cleanses the soul.

He also relates a vision granted to a man who watched confessions: each confessed sin appeared as a snake that fell on the solea, writhed, and burned. A large snake appeared for a grave carnal sin the penitent was ashamed to name; it asked if there was more, and when the man said no, it left.