CHAPTER XVI.

The Devil Deceives and Seduces by means of False Revelations or Apparitions.
Argument.
OUCHING revelations or visions
and as to the character of the person who sees them, much must be taken into consideration if the true are to be distinguished from the false. In the first place it must be discovered whether such a person is of the true Catholic faith; for no credence can be placed in the visions of devil-wor- shippers or heretics. In the town of Gretz, in the year 1601, there were a man and his wife who persistently de- clared that it was through them alone that the Church had endured. There- fore the father baptised their children, with the mother acting as sponsor. They foretold that the world would come to an end in that year; but they were hanged, and by their own death anticipated that of the world.
Secondly, it must be considered fanatic, for no belief may be placed in the revelations or prophecies of such. Firmilian* sent to S. Cyprian many who had been deluded by a woman of this sort (Epistola Ixxiv.).
Thirdly, it must be examined whether the person’s honesty and virtues point to the sincerity of his faith, or whether his vices and notable imperfections constitute a contrary indication. For we must not believe the proud and ambitious, the im- patient, the carnally minded, drunk- ards, those who cherish anger or stir
* “Firmilian.”’ Bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, died c. 269.
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up hatred and spread dissent, or those who defame others; nor hypocrites who display and parade some excep- tional proof of devotion and penitence, against the approval of their superiors in the Church.
Fourthly, the state of his body must be considered. For if his health is not robust, if he suffers from a retching of the black bile, if his body is wasted through excessive fasting or want of sleep; if he is injured in the brain, or is excessively timid and subject to a violent clouding of the imagination; none such are to be credited. For it is said that such men, even when they are awake, think they see, hear or taste that which is not there to be seen or heard or tasted; for the devil easily deludes them, since they eagerly accept and believe the images of false appearances.
Fifthly, the consideration of their age and sex must not be neglected. For in their declining years persons are often delirious ; and if they are children there is the risk of a light and morbid imagination,since the brains ofchildren are more humid than the normal, and are full of vapours and are influenced by a little thing. Therefore in times past the demons used to love to utter their oracles through children’s mouths, as being more adapted to their work. And as for the female sex, it is agreed that this must be regarded with the greater suspicion, as is noted by Johann Nider* in the Praecep- torum, I, 11, in the Question De Diuinatione.
Sixthly, it should be considered whether the person is an old practi- tioner of such spiritual exercises, or whether she is only a novice; whether the devil has in other ways attempted, with or without success, to deceive her; and whether her former prophecies were true, and, if not, which of them
* “*Nider.”? I have used the Douat edition, 1612, of the “‘Praeceptorum diuinae legis.” There were seventeen editions of this book be- fore 1500
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were false. Ifshe is a novice there must be suspicion of fraud. For, according to Gerson, the fervour of a novice is soon misled if she has none to control her, especially in the case of the young and of women, whose fervour is too eager, captious and unbridled, and therefore suspect. By this indication Giovanni Francesco Pico della Mirandola (De rerum praenotione, IX. 3) discovered the falsity of a certain revelation or vision, after other indications had tended to prove its truth ; for the devil, to give his vanities an appearance of verity, had begun to speak in the likeness of our Lord Christ.
I said above that the sex is to be taken into consideration; for, other things being equal, greater faith is to be placed in the revelations of men. The feminine sex is more foolish, and more apt to mistake natural or de- moniacal suggestions for ones of Divine origin. Women, too, are of a more humid and viscous nature, more easily influenced to perceive various phantoms, and slower and more loath to resist such impulses. Therefore women are quicker to imagine, but men are less obstinate in holding to their imaginings; and since women have less power of reasoning and less wisdom, it is easier for the devil to delude them with false and deceptive apparitions.
Further, since women are lascivious, luxurious and avaricious in their manner of life (as Apollonius has re- marked), it must be noted whether such prophetesses are particularly gar- rulous, of a roaming disposition, evil- doers, greedy of praise, passionate, and whether in their teaching or in their attitude towards the Sacraments of the Church they show themselves in any way opposed to the Apostolic doctrine. For women of this sort not only deceive themselves, but drag even learned men to destruction when these place too much credence in them, as will be shown in the examples.
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Examples.
Father José de Acosta,* in the De temporibus nouissimis, Bk. II, ch. ii., relates the following :—
In the Kingdom of Peru there was a man who was at that time held to be of great ability, a learned professor of Theology, a pious Catholic of long standing, and almost esteemed the marvel of his age. This man became familiar with a woman who declared that she had been taught certain mys- teries by an Angel and was not infre- quently thrown into a trance (or rather she pretended to be rapt) like another Priscillat or a Maximilla
* “Fosé de Acosta.” 1540-1600. It has been said that few members of the Society of Jesus in the sixteenth century have been so uniformly eulogized as Father Acosta. His learning and the philosophic spirit pervading his many works attracted the widest attention. Born at Medina del Campo he became a Jesuit novice at thirteen, and in April 1569 he was sent to Lima, the Jesuits having been established in Peru during the preceding year. In Peru, through which country he travelled extensively, he occupied many important positions. Return- ing to Europe he filled the chair of theology at the Roman College in 1594, and at the time of his death he was rector of the College of Sala- manca. A good biography and a short biblio- graphy of Fosé de Acosta will be found in Enrique Torres Saldanando’s ‘‘Los antiguos Fesutas del Perk,” Lima, 1882.
t “Priscilla.” Or Prisca (also called by Epiphanius Quintilla), and Maximilla, two prophetesses, together with the prophet Mon- tanus founded the sect called Montanists, schism- atics of the second century. The headquarters of these enthusiasts were in the village of Pepuza, and the ecstatics did not so much speak as messengers of God but vaunted that they were possessed by God and uttered oracles in His Person. It appears that the extravagances of the sect increased after the deaths of the Sounders (Maximilla must have died about the end of 179, Montanus and Priscilla yet earlier) ; but Tertullian, the most famous of the Mon- tanists who definitely broke away from the Church in 207, merely emphasised those parti- culars of the Montanist teaching that appealed to him and almost ignored the remainder which
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among the Montanists: and he was so enslaved by her that he often con- sulted her upon the deepest points of Theology and in all things treated her as an oracle, proclaiming that she was filled with mighty revelations and was very dear to God. Yet in other respects she was mundane enough and had very little intelligence except for constructing lies. But whether she was possessed by the devil (as is the easier to believe) when she went into this sort of ecstasy, or whether she cleverly simulated it (as many prudent men have thought), the result was that the Theologian, hearing from the woman many wonders concerning himself and wishing greatly to enhance his future importance, freely avowed himself a disciple of him whom the woman called her spiritual father. What followed? The man was so far led astray that he tried to perform miracles, and was per- suaded that he did perform them, although there was never even the slightest indication of a miracle. For this reason, and because he had taken from that prophetess certain doctrines foreign to the teaching of the Catholic Church, he was, to the amazement of the whole Kingdom, seized by the Judges of the most Holy Inquisition, and was for five years patiently heard and examined, until finally he was clearly proved to be the proudest and maddest of all men. For although he most obstinately maintained that he had been divinely gifted with an Angel from whom he learned all that he wished, and that he was on terms of the most familiar conversation with God Himself, yet he proclaimed the wildest absurdities which no one could believe it possible for any man to give utter- ance to unless he were quite out of his mind. None the less, as to his intel- lect, it seemed to all that no one could be saner. He soberly affirmed that he would be King and Pope, when the Apostolic See had been transferred to
was presently to degenerate into Gnostic theo- sophy and other fantastical heresies.
BK. II. CH. XVI.
that Kingdom; that he had been en- dowed with a sanctity above all Angels and Celestial Choirs and Apostles, and that God had even offered him a hypostatic union with Himself, but that he had declined this: that he had been sent to be the redeemer of the world in point of efficacy, whereas Christ (as he said) had been so only in point of sufficiency. All the laws of the Church “were to be abrogated, and he would make new laws which would be easy and clear: the celibacy of the clergy should be abolished, and plurality of wives allowed, and holy confession should no longer be obligatory. These and other arguments he maintained so strongly that all were astonished that a man with such opinions should not be mad. Finally after a long exposure of his frantic behaviour and when he had been found guilty of more than a hundred and ten doctrines which were heretical or foreign to the true teach- ing of the Church, skilled theolo- gians were bidden, after the manner of that holy Tribunal, to reason with the man and try to bring him back to his _ senses and his faith. Accordingly the Judges and the Bishop of Quito* and three other doctors met together, and the man was brought into their presence, where he defended his most pernicious cause with such fluency and eloquence that to this very day, says the writer, I am astounded that the pride of the human mind could pro- ceed to such lengths. He professed that he could not prove his doctrine except by the Holy Scriptures and by miracles, which were above all human reasoning; yea, that he had indeed proved his arguments by the authority of the Scriptures far more clearly and effectively than S. Paul proved that Jesus Christ was the true Messiah:
* “Quito.” The Diocese of Quito was created by Paul III on 8 Fanuary, 1545, at the request of Charles V, and made suffragan of Lima. By the Bull ‘‘Nos semper Romanis Pontificibus,”’ 13 Fanuary, 1848, Pius [IX made Quito a Metropolitan See.
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that he had performed so many and such mighty miracles that the resur- rection of Christ was no greater. For he said that he had actually died and risen again, and that he had most clearly manifested this. He quoted from memory (for he had no book, and even his breviary had been taken from him) so many long passages from the Prophets, the Apocalypse, the Psalms, and other Books, that it was wonderful merely as a feat of memory: but he so twisted them to his argu- ment, and so allegorised, that it would have made anyone either laugh or weep. Finally he said that, if we wished him to prove his case by miracles, he was ready to perform them at once. And then the poor fellow proceeded to speak in a manner that suggested either that he thought we were mad, or that he was mad him- self. For he said that it had been re- vealed to him that the Archduke John of Austria had been defeated at sea by the Turks, and that the Kingdom of Spain had been nearly lost by the in- vincible Philip, and that a Council had been held at Rome to consider the deposition of Pope Gregoryt and the election of another. All that he told us that we might know just as surely as if we had received certain news of them, saying that he could only through some divine quality have had knowledge of them. And although all this was so false that nothing could be falser, yet he maintained it all as very truth. Finally when after two days’ reasoning we could do no good, and he had been taken as the Spanish law directs, to be shown to the public with the other criminals, he kept look- ing up to Heaven waiting for the fire to descend upon the Inquisitor and everyone else as the devil had prom- ised him it should. No fire from above seized upon us, however; but the fire from below seized upon that King, that Pope, Redeemer, and Legislator,
+ “Pope Gregory.” Gregory XIII, who reigned 1572-1585.
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and burned him to ashes. So says Father José.
We read in Surius (1 June) that S. Simeon * the Monk of Tréves was sent by divine command to live at the top of Mount Sinai. One night a demon appeared to him in the form of an angel and bade him celebrate Mass. Between sleeping and waking, he ob- jected that no one who was not in Priest’s Orders must undertake that office; but the Enemy urged that he was a messenger from God, and that it was Christ’s will, for it was not right that the holy place should any longer be without such a celebration. While he yet argued and resisted, the demon, with the help of another demon, dragged him from his bed and set him, now fully awake, before the altar, and put an alb upon him; but there was a dispute about the stole. For the Enemy would have him wear it after the manner of a priest, but Simeon said he should wear it as a deacon. At length the servant of God came to himself by virtue of prayer, and drove off the Enemy by the sign of the Cross, and bemoaned that he had been deceived.
That Deceiving Spirit, seeing amongst the Premonstratensian Canons} certain ignorant triflers whom he had long recognised as his own vessels since they devoted themselves to idle- ness and pleasure, so filled them with his false illusion of wisdom that they, who had before been scarcely able to read from a book, now quoted grave matters from books and prophesied even greater and more astounding things for the future. One of them maintained that he understood the prophecy of Daniel and, under a lying Inspiration, made certain pronounce-
* “8. Simeon.” In the ‘Roman Martyro- logy” under 1 Fune is inscribed: “‘At Tréves, of S. Simeon, a monk who was numbered among the Saints by Pope Benedict IX.”’
t ‘‘Premonstratensian Canons.’’ This his- tory 1s from Surius under 6 Fune, the Feast of S. Norbert, the Founder of the Order of Pré-
montré.
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ments with regard to the passage where the prophet writes of the four and the seven and the ten horns and the kings and Antichrist; and so he gained the ears of the more simple, and if it had been possible would have led into error even the man of God the Venerable Abbot Simon of S. Nicolas. For his arrogance went so far that, when they were sitting in the presence of the Superior, he dared to preach a sermon upon that Chapter. One who heard and saw it bears witness to the truth of this, and as a proof has given us the be- ginning of that sermon, as follows :— ‘Be ye valiant in war, and fight against that old Serpent.’? These words did that lying spirit utter through this man’s mouth; but he was in no way able to proceed to the truth which follows, namely: “‘ And ye shall re- ceive the eternal Kingdom.’’? When the Deceiving Spirit saw that he could not wholly delude his hearers, being wonderfully full of guile he turned with the greater skill to other methods of deceit; so that if he could not openly subvert those who were on their guard, he might at least disturb them in their meditations. Accordingly that same cleric who was his minister in this work was seized with a sudden and very grave sickness; and whereas he had confined his pronouncements to visible matters, he now turned his face to Heaven and did not fear to speak of matters invisible and ineffable. The Brothers, as is the custom, ran up to give him Unction, and to hear his words ; for he said much of himself, but more of many of those who stood round him. Of himself he said that on that same evening he would either be with the Angels in Heaven, or he would be standing restored to health with the Brothers in the choir, Of the others, he considered the character of each and said as if prophesying and prog- nosticating: ‘“[his man, when I was lately borne up to Heaven in the church, I saw called to eternity ’’; and so he foretold various things of the others.
BK. II. CH. XVI.
Here note, reader, the degree of the devil’s pride when he chooses the ignorant and makes them appear learned. Then he causes them to in- terpret the Scriptures and to preach before their superiors in places where they should be silent.
Ribadeneira * in his Life of S. Ignatius Loyola (V, 10) writes that a few years ago in Belgium in one of the cities of Hainault there was a nun who was thought to be possessed, and she was led to the Superior of her Order to be exorcised. But when the ceremony had already been proceeding a long time, she began to speak successively with different voices, in a gentler voice claiming that she was Christ Our Lord God, while her other voice was harsher and more like a demon: and (with this) she openly blurted out many impieties, and much that was apparently devout; and so some who should have known better came to be- lieve that now Jesus and now the devil spoke through her. This matter so full of danger and deception was carried to such an extent that the woman, as if Christ were speaking through her, dared with solemn intention to utter the canonical words and consecrate the Bloodless Sacrifice ; and (ah, woe!) certain pious but ignorant or rash per- sons bowed in adoration before the un- leavened bread consecrated (or rather, let it be said, execrated) by this priestess (but not after the order of Melchise- dech) and as if it were the live Body of the Lord brought and placed candles upon the altar and venerated it. Yet there were two indications that it was animposture: first the fact that she was a possessed woman, and secondly that she dared to usurp the priestly office
* “*Ribadeneira.”’ Pedro de Ribadeneira, S.F., 1526-1611, wrote his “Life of S. Igna- tius’’ as an eye-witness.of many of the events. It appeared for the first time in Latin at Naples, 1572. The first Spanish edition was 1583. The final text may be accounted the edition of 1594. This book was soon translated into al- _ most all European languages.
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141 which belongs to men, not women. But God deliver us from the like!
In two of the above examples we have shown what fruit may come of intercourse with women of fictitious holiness. I will here in a very few words add a third instance, and Ter- tullian ¢ himself testifies is indeed a signal example. For he, most pro- found scholar of his time, trusting in the visions of women as concerning the quantity and colour of the soul, forgot all that he had most learnedly and truthfully written against such women and fell into grossand ridiculous errors.
Francesco Benci f adds the following example. During the year 1590, in a certain outlying district near the town of Arona, some thirty women were tormented by the devil. Most of them were girls of the humblest station, and those especially were afflicted who were bound by a vow of virginity; for it was wonderful with what wiles he surrounded them and with what arts he attacked them, assuming various forms to tempt them to sin or to deter them from honesty. Now he would take the appearance and piety of a monk, or even (a thing which the ears shudder to hear) that of Christ Himself upon the Cross persuading them to impious deeds. Now he would appear as a bear or a lion or a serpent about to rush with gaping mouth upon the virgins and devour them in one gulp. At other times he appeared as a soldier with his dishonourable weapon thrust out, threatening them with fire and thunder if he could not achieve his
} “‘Tertullian.”” Labriolle dates the ‘‘De Anima’”’ 208-11, and by 207 Tertullian had definitely broken away from the Church to em- brace Montanism, of which sect the prophet- esses were Maximilla and Priscilla. Tertul- lian was indeed in Guazzo’s phrase “‘sut tem- ports doctissimus”’ for of him S. Ferome writes: “Quid Tertulliano eruditius, quid acutius? Apologeticus eius et contra Gentiles libri cunc- tam saeculi continent disciplinam.” “‘Epistola LXX.”
t “Francesco Benct.”” A Milanese writer of local gazettes and intelligences.
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aim. But their virgin simplicity, with the help of God, overcame all his subtleties. Great indeed was their faith, and with that shield they quenched the fiery darts of the Evil One. Let us relate two of the many stories which are told of these virgins. One of them, who was born of noble parents and had been gently reared, was much disturbed one night by the devil’s temptings; and_ therefore, though it was mid-winter and bitterly cold, she left her bed and slept naked on the bare floor. But when the flame of her desire in no way decreased (for a mighty fire does but burn the more when water is thrown upon it), she stole from her bedroom into the garden and there, in emulation of the great S. Francis who she had heard had done the same, threw her body into a bank of snow; and, although the demon (who was visible to her) raved and gnashed his teeth, she rolled in the snow so long that she wholly quenched her internal fire with the external cold. To another of these virgins the demon likewise appeared at night in the form of S. Ursula bearing the banner of the Cross with a company of many virgins, and spoke to her as follows: ‘‘ God sees and loves your zeal in keeping your chastity. But because it is some- what difficult for you in your father’s house, with so much bustle of people coming and going, and so many dangers to be encountered, to avoid contaminating your mind in some part, He has sent us to take you toa Convent of Holy Virgins who have put aside all other cares to serve His will with all their strength.” The virgin, with the breath of God upon her, feared some ambush of the devil and drew her right hand from her brow to her breast, and then from left to right in the form of the Cross, and protested that she was most unworthy of such a vision and so great an honour. And she added: ‘“ Neither ‘have I very great faith in you, for I fear some hidden guile in your specious counsel. But if you are the messengers of God,
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then humbly adore these Relics of the Saints.” (For she was wearing these about her neck.) Strange to say, the devils knelt in worship before them, and urged her all the more to hasten her departure with them. But she said: ‘**T may not come to any grave de- cision without the advice of my spiritual father, and it is not seemly for me to go to him at this hour of the night. Do you, therefore, approach him and make known the commands of God ; and when it is day I will come and abide by his advice.”’ At this an- swer the demons threw off all disguise and hid themselves in their own dark- ness, raging at, and attacking with their tongues only, and pouring insults and vituperations upon the maiden, who mocked at them and humbly gave thanks to God. What greater wisdom could there be than that of this virgin? But indeed true wisdom became hers who bound herself with the girdle of chastity.
I will add an example of a remark- able precaution, by which we are taught that nothing is safer for a man than to mistrust his own judgement, and to preserve his obedience to his superior even in the face of a vision which compels his belief. S. Gene- bald,* Bishop of Laon, formed a friendship, which arose from the best of motives, with a woman; but such is human frailty that at last he had carnal intercourse with her. Afterwards he came to his senses and confessed to S. Remigius of Reims. He was shut in a narrow Cell like a tomb, and there did bitter penance for seven years. In the seventh year at the vigil of the Lord’s Supper, while S. Genebald was spend- ing the night in prayer and lamenta- tion, about the middle of the night an Angel of the Lord came to him in a great light in the cell where he lay, and said to him: ‘‘ Genebald, the
* “ migius, S. Genebald, first Bishop of Laon, who was appointed to that see in 497, 1s much ven- erated in the Diocese of Reims.
BK. II. CH. XVI...
prayers of your father Remigius for you have been heard, and the Lord has accepted your penitence and your sin is absolved. Arise and go hence, and perform your Episcopal duties and reconcile penitent sinners with the Lord.”? But S. Genebald was too terri- fied to answer anything. Then the Angel of the Lord comforted him and told him not to fear, but to rejoice in the mercy of God shown to him. Thus encouraged, he said to the Angel: ** I cannot go from here; for my Lord and father Remigius carries with him the key of this door, and he has sealed it with his seal.”” And the Angel said to him: “‘ Do not doubt: I am sent from the Lord. Even as Heaven is open to you, so also will this door open.”” And at once the door was opened, the wax of the seal being yet unbroken. Here, then, are the signs of a true vision: for first he was afraid, and then he was comforted ; and the unbroken seal and wax was a true and patent miracle.
Ah, how different was that virgin of Ghent in our own times!
This miserable woman spent much time in prayer and frequently assisted at Mass, but either she did not go often enough to a confessor or, if she did, she did not unfeignedly open to him the secrets of her heart, or else she did not follow his good advice. In any case, by degrees and in various visions the devil filled her with spiritual pride, and at last persuaded her that in all other merits she was the equal of the Virgin Mary, but that the one thing lacking to her was fertility joined with spotless virginity ; and that, if she per- severed, she would achieve that also. Oh madness, worthy of the folly of women! After that she no longer de- spised confession but used it regularly for some years, at the same time par- taking of the Holy Communion. What followed? Once when she was in church awaiting her Communion, and was fervently praying for that one re- maining benefit, she heard a voice say : ** Be of good heart, beloved ; for know that your prayer is heard and you are
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143 permitted to become pregnant with all the prerogatives of chastity. Have faith that you have conceived from heaven.” (For she had lain with the demon who was pretending to be an Angel.) She went home, and felt her womb swel- ling ; and after the due period of gesta- tion she went to a pious and discreet citizen who was well known, and told him all, and asked that she might give birth in the interior of his house, begging him to keep it secret. The man did not believe her story about her visions, yet he would not thrust the woman from his house; for the Sectarians were just then gaining ground, and he feared that if this © matter were made public it would give rise to blasphemous and injurious utterances by the heretics. Therefore he took her in and, having engaged a trustworthy midwife, awaited her de- liverance. The unhappy woman was afflicted with violent pains, and at length, instead of a human child, shed from her womb a great quantity of horrible, ugly and vile worms, so terrible to see that all were appalled, and of so foul a stench that it nearly killed all who were present. So at last the wretched woman understood that she had been deluded, and that she had reaped the merited fruit of her pride from the Prince of Pride. In this way was the woman deceived.
S. Friard* and his companion, the Deacon Secondel, remained perfectly stable in their anchoretic vocation upon an island, each having his own cell at a long distance from the other’s. As they were labouring in strenuous prayer, the Tempter appeared at night to the Deacon Secondel in the likeness of the Lord, saying: “I am Christ to whom you continually pray. And now you are a Saint, and I have
* Friard and S. Secondel of Besné (sixth century) are particularly honoured in the diocese of Nantes. Guazzo has his history from S. Gre- gory of Tours, ‘De uita Patrum,” X, and one may also consult Surius under 1 August.
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written your name in the Book of Life with the rest of my Saints. Depart now from this island, and go among the people healing the sick.” De- ceived by this illusion he departed from the island without telling his companion; and when he placed his hands upon the sick in the name of Christ they were moreover healed. After a long time he returned to the island and came with great glory to his companion, saying: ‘“‘I went from the island and have done many mighty works among the people.” The other was appalled, and asked what he meant; and he told him simply all that he had done. But the old man was amazed, and said with sighs and tears; ‘“‘Woe to us! How terribly do I hear that you have been deceived by the Tempter! Come now and do penance, lest his wiles prevail over you.’ Secondel, understanding his error, fell weeping at his feet and begged him to intercede for him with God; and the Saint said to him; “Come, let us both pray the Almighty for the safety of your soul: for He is not a hard God to those who trust in His mercy, as He said by the Prophet.* I desire not the death of a sinner, but rather that he should turn and live.” While they were praying the Tempter came again in the same likeness to the Deacon Secondel, saying: “‘Did I not tell you, because my sheep were sick and without a shepherd, to go out and visit them and heal their sickness?” But he answered: ‘‘I know now of a truth that you are a seducer, and I do not believe that you are God, whose image you falsely assume. But if you are Christ, show me your Cross which you have left behind, and I will be- lieve you.”? And when he could not show it, and the Deacon had made the sign of the Cross upon his face, he vanished in confusion.
Albert Leanderf tells us that when
* “Prophet.”? Ezechiel, xxxiti, 11. t ‘‘Albert Leander.’? A Dominican writer and hagiographir of the sixteenth century. The
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Blessed Jordant of Saxony, the Master General of the Order of Preaching Friars, was suffering from an acute fever, there chanced to be with the venerable Father the Supe- rior, or Prior, of a certain friary of the same Order, a discreet man, skil- ful, provident, learned and of sober behaviour, who brought him some medical assistance. But he could read. the mind of Father Jordan and knew that in his very sickness he bore him- self very stiffly towards him. There- fore he said: “‘Father, a sick man must in all things be subject to his physician if he wishes to recover his former health. Wherefore, although you are the chief and head of our religious Order, now that you are sick you must lay aside your headship and subject yourself to me and obey me. And, if you do this, I have no fear but that in a short time you will go away from here cured.” The Venerable Father agreed, and at the order of the prudent Prior lay upon a bed of feathers, con- trary to the custom of the Order. In the night the devil came in the form of an Angel and said to him, as if in astonishment: “Is this the famous Jordan so renowned among all men? Is this the Master and Father of the esteemed Order of Preachers? I should doubt it if I had not known you before. Oh how vile and imprudent you have become, that you lie upon a bed of feathers and silken stuffs like one of the Lords of the earth. Unhappy man, what an example you give to the Brethren of your Order! Yet God has not forgotten you, for He has sent me to correct you. Rise therefore from your bed and cast yourself in prayer upon the ground.”’ And at once, when the devil had vanished, Jordan threw
history is from his “‘Uita B. Iordanis,” xxi and XxI1.
t “Blessed Fordan.” The Second Master General of the Dominicans, which Order he ruled from 1222-1237. His cult was confirmed by Leo XII and his feast is kept on 15 Febru-
ary.
BK. II. CH. XVI.
himself in terror to the ground, and after the dawn he was found so lying by the Prior and the Brethren. The Prior seized him roughly and com- pelled him, on his obedience, to lie upon the bed prepared for him. On the following night the devil came again in the same likeness, and chid him more than before for his disobed- ience, and ordered him to jump down on to the ground. When the Prior again saw him in the morning lying on the ground he was at first angry, say- ing: ‘I wonder at your simplicity, not to say ignorance, that you have pre- sumed to act thus in disobedience and to the danger not only of your body but of your soul. For I call God, the Lord of Heaven and Earth, to witness that, for my part, I would not for the whole world sin so gravely against God and the Order.’ And so saying he burst into a flood of tears. Seeing this, the Venerable Father himself wept and fell at his feet, and told him of his visions, or rather illusions, and how, as he guessed, it had been the devil, transfigured into the form of an Angel of Light. The Prior was then seized with astonishment and became soft- ened to him through pity, and told him to climb into bed: for these hap- penings had brought him such a weak- ness of the limbs and such an indura- tion of his humours that he hardly had breath left for sleep. On the third night the devil came as before, but as soon as he saw him the Holy Man said: “O shameless dog! O most wicked foe to the human race! O filthy beast! How have you dared to delude my simplicity under a cloak of zeal for our Order? Had it not been per- mitted by the dispensation of Al- mighty God, I should have been more rudent in noting that obedience is far better than the sacrifices of fools.”? And spitting in his face, he put him to flight. Not long after his death S. Meinolf*
* “8 Meinolf.”? S. Meinolf was a canon of the Cathedral chapter of Paderborn in the first half of the ninth century, and the founder
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the canon of Paderborn and Confessor appeared in a vision to one of his sacristans, urging him quickly to renounce the world and its pomps, and to fight under the banner of the Eternal King. But the man took the vision to be an illusion, and made no attempt to mend his life. The Saint had pity on his infirmity .and again warned him as before: but when even so he took no thought for correcting his life, he appeared the third time and said: “You know not, unhappy wretch, you know not how the savage Thief is claiming your soul for himself; for he it is who has persuaded you to disobey the message of God and of me who am sent by Him. When you were plainly going astray in evil living and would not of your own will desist from sinning, a Divine revelation warned you so that you might thus betake yourself to better fruits. But, fool that you are, you allowed yourself to be miserably and perniciously deluded, taking a true revelation to be a fan- tastic illusion. For none of the faithful can be in doubt that there is no illusion about that revelation which invites a man to Christian piety and religion. But if such a vision were to come to you while you were awake, you ought in no wise to despise it: and since words will not serve to correct you, we must proceed to deeds. ‘Therefore, that I may make it plain that the vision which you affect to misunderstand was a very true one, you shall be left in no doubt at all.” When the Saint had said this, the man arose and found that his entire beard had been torn from his chin, and all sleep fled far from his eyes.
Cardinal Jacques de Vitry,* in his
of the Béddeken monastery. His feast is kept on 5 October and his life by Person Gobelinus (“Uita Meinulphi’’) will be found in the “‘Acta Sanctorum”? of the Bollandists, October, vol. III, 216, sqq.
* ““Facques de Vitry.” Historian of the Crusades, cardinal, Bishop of Acre, and later of Tusculum, was born c. 1160 and died at
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