St. Mary's Convent

St. Mary's Convent was a prominent convent in Ilchester, Maryland that, unbeknownst to anyone in living memory, served as the prison of Lucifer himself and was the only place where he could be released into the world from his prison in Hell. Even Lucifer’s most loyal demons were unsure of the true location of his prison, nor had they actually spoken to him in ages due to the uncertainty of his prison’s whereabouts. This caused many to lose hope that they would ever actually find him and return him to power. Eventually, the convent’s true nature was discovered by the Yellow-Eyed Demon, Azazel (one of Lucifer’s most loyal servants as well as his theorized son). The convent was attacked by Azazel himself upon this discovery, resulting in a bloody massacre that resulted in the closing and abandonment of the convent. Several decades later, it was the site of Lucifer’s release after the sacrifice of Lilith by a special child spoken of in prophecy by Lucifer himself, Sam Winchester.

The Bellows of St. Mary’s
In 1972, the demon Azazel, after many supposed years of searching, discovered the location of his “father,” Lucifer’s, prison to be in a prominent convent in Ilchester, Maryland, St. Mary’s Convent. The convent was home to a colony of nuns and tended to by a chief priest who oversaw the caretaking tasks of the church. Azazel journeyed to this place and took possession of the priest’s body, entering his body and forcing him to do his bidding. The possessed priest then conducted a mass in the main hall of the convent, with the convent’s eight nuns all in attendance. It soon became apparent that something was odd about the priest’s behavior, as he casually skipped several parts of the Lord’s Prayer and paused at several points during the prayer. He soon began to muse about searching for many long years for his “father,” who had been “put in jail” by God, Lucifer. After several minutes of talking about his search for Lucifer and his discovery that Lucifer’s prison was upon the very ground which they now stood as well as the irony of the location, the priest, now revealed to be Azazel, picked up a knife off of the altar and proceeded to disembowel all of the nuns, whom he had locked inside the room.

After all of the nuns were dead and the main hall of the convent was left a bloody mess after Azazel’s massacre, Azazel (still possessing the priest) laid the corpse of one of the nuns prostate upon the altar and prayed to Lucifer, entreating him to “whisper through the door” to him. A strange breeze blew through the room, and the nun’s body lying on the altar gasped and began to speak in a demonic voice, the voice of Lucifer himself. Azazel stated his relief at finally hearing Lucifer’s voice again and reiterated his ultimate loyalty to Lucifer, to which Lucifer replied that he “had done well.” Azazel then requested the knowledge of how to break Lucifer out of his prison, to which Lucifer replied with one word: “Lilith.” Azazel reminded his father that Lilith was at that time trapped neck-deep in the pit of Hell, as well as reiterating how difficult it would be to release her from the pit. Lucifer reiterated her importance to his release however and stated that she could break the Seals binding him in his prison. Azazel affirmed that he would seek a way to break Lilith out of Hell as per Lucifer’s order, but he also asked what he himself should do to insure Lucifer’s release. Lucifer responded with his request that Azazel find him a “very special child,” one that would possess great psychic powers and that would be powerful enough to perform the deed of sacrificing Lilith and thus insuring his release.

After his conversation with Lucifer, Azazel set out to set the plans into motion to fulfill Lucifer’s orders and ensure his release by finding a way to break Lilith out of Hell and finding a special child that could sacrifice her. Once Azazel left his body, the priest was captured and interrogated by the authorities as to the bloody massacre of St. Mary’s he seemingly had orchestrated. The priest stated that he had been forced to perform the terrible deeds by a demon named Azazel and that he was not at fault for the bloodbath. Following this, St. Mary’s Convent was abandoned and largely forgotten by the mainstream public, but it continued to be a place of importance over the years for Azazel and his associates.

Lucifer Rising
The convent was revisited 27 years after its abandonment in 2009 by the recently-released Lilith (who escaped through the Devil’s Gate when Azazel orchestrated its opening and had by this time caused 65 of the 66 Seals to be broken). Knowing Sam Winchester would soon pursue her to this place, Lilith prepared to meet her fate and ensure her creator’s release from Hell. Sure enough, Sam Winchester arrived with his demon accomplice, Ruby. The pair confronted Lilith in the main chamber where the priest’s murder of the nuns had taken place 27 years earlier, with Sam telekinetically throwing Lilith against the altar and pinning her there before using his enhanced demonic powers to kill her, not realizing that her death was the final Seal. Soon after, Ruby was killed by Dean Winchester after she was revealed to be a traitor working with Lilith to ensure Lucifer’s release. As Lilith’s blood poured from her mouth, it formed a circle in the middle of the chamber and began to spin, opening the gates of Lucifer’s prison and enabling Lucifer to rise once more to wreak havoc upon the world.