CHAPTER III

Recent Examples of the Mercy of God and the Tyranny of the Devil.
a
ARTIN DELRIO magicarum. V1. 2, sec. 3) narrates the following story, and says that it was
(Disquisit.
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171 both related on paper and told by word of mouth by the man to whom these things happened, and that he himself had that account to his hand as he wrote. On the 22nd of March in the year 1600, being the Wednesday in Holy Week, a young nobleman aged twenty-two, of the name of Nicolas Prutenns, entered the College of the Jesuits, and was seen and heard by one of the Brothers walking about and making arrogant gestures in the lower portico of the College, shaking his head and rashly uttering desperate blasphemies against God. He was told again and again to moderate his be- haviour and bridle his tongue, but in vain; for he became even worse, and showed every sign of a troubled and disturbed mind. Therefore one of the Brethren went up to him and asked him kindly what was the matter and what was so troubling him, and why he kept breaking out into such irreverent use of the Name of God. He answered : *‘Alas, I am lost! I am bound by the shackles of the devil. And yet he has not given me the pleasures I desire, which he promised me.”’ Hearing this the good Jesuit feared there was some- thing gravely amiss and led him by the hand into the College, where he gently asked him not to hesitate to tell him what was the matter. Then Nicolas Prutenns with tears and at first wholly incoherent, but more calmly on the next day, began to tell him as follows. That he was of noble birth and had been brought up richly, elegantly and delicately; but for certain reasons (which I need not mention) he had forfeited his parents’ love and had been driven from his father’s house. He had plenty of money when he set out, but had spent it and fallen into extreme want: but at last ademon came to him with a mighty gust of wind one night as he was lying under a tree, and promised him help and assistance for the ills he had just suffered and those which he would suffer, and also that he would restore him to his former favour with his parents, if only he would put his signature to certain
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small obligations. That time he did not obey the suggestion, which he knew to be full of danger, and the demon departed with the same wind and disturbance as he had come, pre- dicting that he would some day be sorry for not having accepted his con- ditions. This happened near a village not far from Breslau ; therefore he went to that city and lived there for a short space in hardship. One evening he went out reproaching himself for not having put faith in the demon, and weeping because there was no help or hope left to him since he had been offered his chance and had rejected it. It was the dead of night, and a demon of gigantic size appeared to him and reviled him, saying: “‘Did I not say that the day would come when you would beg for my help? By right I should refuse to help you as being un- worthy however much you begged me; but that you may know how I love you from my heart, see, I will help you! You shall have twelve solid years of favour with your parents as before, of pleasures and happiness; but when they are done, I shall have full power over your body and soul. You for your part must freely agree to the stipulations which I exact. First, then, abjure God and His Mother, all the Saints, and the Faith taught you of old. Swear also that you will reveal this pact to no mortal, that you will ‘not read any book of prayers, that you will persecute with implacable hatred all men, especially those who would incite and urge you to piety, and that you will not marry a wife but use con- cubines hired for money.’? When the youth had agreed to this vile compact, and it only remained for him to sign the agreement with his own blood, the demon squeezed his left hand as he put it out, with such force that he filled his hand with blood pressed from the ends of three fingers, and gave him a document to sign, I know not of wnat material, but it was softer than parchment and harder than paper; and the pen wrote as it were
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BK. II. CH. III.
of its own will the terms of the agree- ment as they affected both parties. After he had signed and delivered the document, he said that he heard a wonderful music of all instruments and was lulled to a deep sleep by the sound ; and the next day he at last awoke late in the morning without having been disturbed by the noise of any passers by on the public road. Then he re- pented of the crime he had com- mitted, and went from Breslau to Olmiitz and from there to Vienna. From Vienna he went to Graz where he visited the learned Weninger, and was directed and recommended by him to Master Strassberger. Lastly he came to Marburg to the learned Homelius, and there, weary of his exile, he again lamented that he had not kept his pact with the demon. Again as he lay in bed at night the demon came to him and offered to renew the pact; and he signed a new agreement with the demon in his own blood, and placed it by night in a ruined temple near Marburg. After a few days he again repented of his crime, and in his despair would have killed himself; but someone persuaded him to seek a remedy at Graz. But the day before he left Marburg the demon came to him at night and described to him a certain cottage at Graz near Karlau, telling him to be there on the goth of March, and then he would fulfil his vow and restore him to his former fortune: but meanwhile he must very particularly beware against approaching any Jesuits, for if he did he would be most severely punished. All this the young man told to our Brother on the day that the demon had appointed to meet him at the cot- tage; and although our Brother frightened him from going there on that day, yet on the next day (which was Good Friday) after noon, the un- happy man went to the place assigned by the demon, without consulting any- one. The demon appeared and rated him for his want of faith, in that he had disobeyed him by approaching
' BK. II. CH. II.
the scoundrelly Jesuits, and asked him to renew his pact for the third time, and to offer his middle finger as a pledge: then he recounted all his sins from the time of his youth, showing him that he must despair of his soul’s salvation, and quoted the Scriptures to prove that he ought to live his days in luxury, and at the same time offered him a book containing the names of all the demons, and show- ing how to summon whichever one he needed. But the young man would have none of it.
On Holy Saturday, when it was known what had happened, they began to take greater care of the young man, never allowing him to be alone, and from that time he was instructed in the Catholic Faith by a Father to whose peculiar care he was entrusted. About the end of April he was ripe for confession, and on the day when he was to make his confession he was bidden to renounce the devil in the presence of some of the Fathers, and righteously to violate his unholy pact. During the recital of the Litanies, at the words Pater de Coelis Deus, he fell down nearly dead. We raised the man, trembling in all his limbs; but he would have fallen again at the glorious Name of the Mother of God, if we had not held him up on each side. When he had at last with diffi- culty made his renunciation and abjuration of the devil, and had been refreshed with food (for all his strength had gone), he was taken in the after- noon to the church to make his con- fession. But when he had recited the Litanies of the Name of Jesus and of the Angels, and had begun to tell his sins, the demon whispered in his ear: **Do not trust this rogue of a confessor, unless you wish to be foully cheated by him.”? During the whole of May there was not a day but the Father assigned to him wrestled with him to strengthen him in the faith and that he might by frequent confession purge every corner of his conscience; and there appeared to be some hope of his
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salvation. Yet he suffered various in- juries at the hands of the demon. Three times one night he was thrown from his bed to a distance of three paces, but without receiving any hurt. At other times the demon appeared to him and, pretending great kindness to him, persuaded him to return to Mar- burg; for why did he afflict himself in that place? “‘I wonder,” he said, “‘that when you know that you are damned, you take no greater care to make your present life happy, and that you do not return to your former fortunes from which you fell. I am ashamed of you and pity you that, being mine, you lead such a hard life in this place.” And as at that very time a most pious and religious man had died in the paupers’ house (in which the youth himself was), and certain of the Brethren were praying to God for him all night in the hospital, he added that he neither could nor would remain any longer while those living hell-hounds were barking in the hospital about the dead dog; and therefore he begged him again and again to come even once more to the cottage, where he would hear such new things as had never been heard before.
On Trinity Sunday, the 28th of May, when our Brethren had carefully commended the work to God and had to this end offered to God many other pious exercises and mortifications, he was brought to a public assembly of the Faithful, where first, before many of our good Brethren and the holy congregation in the church of S. Catharine, he abjured the devil in measured words read from a paper, and protested that he repudiated the pact which he had so wickedly made. But he did this with incredible diffi- culty, for the demon so hindered his faculties that he could not read, and could only repeat the words after another, slowly and with difficulty. Then he made a profession of the Catholic Faith according to the form laid down in the Bull of Pius the Fourth where it is expressed in these
174 words: “The traditions, observations and constitutions of the Church I do most firmly believe and embrace: and that there are seven true and proper Sacraments of the new law: and that in the most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist there is truly, really and substantially the Body and Blood, etc. And all heresies condemned by the Church, I do also condemn.” All his strength had gone from him, and he was deprived of the use of his eyes, ears and tongue; so that, when he regained a little strength, he said that he feared he would die in that place. While he was in that state, and we were vainly urging him to express in words what he believed in his heart, namely that he believed in the presence of Christ in the Eucharist, he agreed to be moved nearer to the Adorable Sacrament. And at Its presence he was so restored that he awoke as it were from a deep slumber and said that he believed and most fully felt the power of Christ’s presence. Yet the matter ended otherwise: for when the Eucharist was yet on the Altar, he could both speak and hear; but when the priest approached to offer the Sacrament to the youth, he lost all his senses and his teeth were clenched so tightly that it seemed that no power could unlock them; and when the priest withdrew again with the Euchar- ist, he could again see and speak and hear. And he said that he knew no- thing of all that we had cried in his ears, but had only known that his mouth seemed to be shut as ifin a vice. That nothing might be left unat- tempted, the same priest left the
Eucharist upon the Altar and placed.
his consecrated finger upon the youth’s mouth ; then when he brought the Host to his lips and offered It to him to eat, the Enemy openly attacked him and began to raise him up in the air, although many struggled against him. When the demon was adjured to leave him in peace and to restore his signed compact, this was seen (but only by the young man) hanging by a great
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BK. III. CH. Ill.
rope from the roof of the church; for no one else saw any such thing. Nothing else was done that day, except that many prayers were offered to God for his safety, and the young man was left with great hope of recover- ing the pact which he had signed. © On the third of June the young man entered the church, when the Enemy smote him unexpectedly in the face as if with his cloak, and at the same time tore his left hand so grievously that the blood flowed freely ; yet there was no one visible who did this. He also felt his neck twisted by some one; but suffered no inconvenience except that for some days the scars remained on his hand, though with less pain than when the hand had been torn. That day our Brethren redoubled their pious efforts that the matter might have a happy end to the greater glory of God. And that night a terrible wind arose without any rain, and the voice of the young man was heard as it were in the wind, woefully lament- ing. fas the fourth of June, on the Sun- day within the Octave of Corpus Christi, after the offertory and Litanies to each Person of the Most Holy Trinity, he was bidden to read a re- pudiation of his sins and a profession of faith, and to protest before God, Angels and men that he was a Catholic, and that he would never mistrust the mercy of God towards him. This he did for some time without help from any ; and when his sight failed, another read for him and he repeated the words slowly, with difficulty and hesi- tation, since the demon obstructed his tongue. When he came to the words, “Wherefore, O Blessed Jesu,”’ etc., he could neither read them nor suffer another to suggest them. The demon was adjured by the virtue of God not to hinder the youth in this; and then the young man was violently shaken as if he were possessed, and in a single moment learned the German tongue which, by the help of the demon, he spoke elegantly enough but with his
BK. III. CH. III.
own native idiom. When they saw this all believed yet more firmly in the power of grace, and recited the Te Deum laudamus, and bade him pro- ceed. But he could not say “I confess to Almighty God, ’’etc. and “Lord, I am not worthy,” etc. And it was in vain that the priest approached him with the Sacrament, and commanded the demon by the power of God to leave the man alone: for the youth was taken up into the air so violently that ten or twelve men with difficulty held him back.
At the repeated pronouncement of the Name of Jesus and the invocation of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary the demon was broken and departed from him; and the young man exclaimed in his own tongue: “He has fled from me.” Thereupon he at once bent his knees and proceeded in a clear and loud voice to recite: ‘‘Wherefore, O good Jesus,” etc., and at the end of the prayer added these words: ‘Praise be to God, Iam now another man.”’ And he prepared himself for Communion and confessed, saying the ‘‘Confiteor.”’ The demon was adjured not only to _ leave the young man alone thereafter, but also to restore the written com- pact; and he confessed again. At length he was so weak that he could not even sit; yet, being now free from the attacks of the demon, he none the less knelt and recited the Confiteor and Domine, non sum dignus, etc., and pro- tested aloud that he believed with all the strength of his soul that Christ was present in the Eucharist and that he hoped that He would be merciful to him. He took the Eucharist kneeling with the greatest devoutness of spirit, and continued for some time to return thanks and so far recovered his strength that he left the church without appear- ing to suffer from any weakness. **Now at last,’ he said, “‘I do not fear the demon, but scorn him from my heart; but of myself I could never have won this freedom. I am ready now to shed my blood a hundred times for the Catholic Faith.” And much
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more he said in praise of the charity of our Brethren, who had been so careful for the salvation of a man whom they had never seen before; saying that the like was not to be found among the Lutherans, and much more which modesty forbids me to repeat.
On the roth of June, the vigil of S. Barnabas the Apostle, our Brethren again armed themselves in the monas- tery against the Enemy by those methods known to the Society; and the young man wore a hair shirt all day lest he should fail himself, and in the evening scourged himself soundly of his own accord. That evening, and during a great part of the night, a great wind blew upon the college. Before the eleventh hour of the night the Enemy came, together with some man or woman, and walked into the dormitory where the young man was sleeping with three others, and the demon said to the woman with him (who is thought to have been a certain witch): “Do you see this vile fellow lying here? Oh, if I had managed my business differently it would not have ended like this: they would hardly have driven me off before its fulfil- ment! Meanwhile I commend the fellow to you. Torment him as much as you can.” Then he turned to the young man and said in a terrible voice: “‘O faithless varlet, O you most light and inconstant wretch who never kept your promise to me, O base and degenerate heart! Your forefathers would have lost body and soul a hundred times rather than break their word once it had been given. Have, then, what you gave me; but I will keep what is mine.” He said this two or three times, and the young man heard him making a sound like the erasure of writing from a paper. Then he said to the woman: “I go to the place appointed for me. Do you mean- while take care of this fellow.” And then again to the young man: “And did you think, you worthless rogue, that you would escape from my
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hands? I am compelled now to re- store to you that which is yours: but meanwhile do you and the vile Jesuits leave me untroubled by the foolish mummery of your ceremonies; for I have nothing of yours. Yet hereafter I shall take much more from you; for the faith which you have embraced is unsound and an invention of these Fathers, whom you revere as holy men, but I drag them to hell as they deserve.” Saying this he placed an ice-cold hand upon the young man’s neck without at all wounding him, and vanished. ‘To all this the young man made no answer except for telling him at once to depart, for God was upon his side. Then he tried to arouse the others who were sleeping soundly in the dormitory, calling out their names ; and one of them, who was sick, heard him and sprang to his feet and, going to the bed of another who was in good health, awakened him. This man struck fire from a flint and kindled tinder; but before he could light a candle it was violently put out by someone. This happened a second and third time, and when at last he had just got the candle alight, both it and the tinder were again extinguished. At last it came into his mind to light a blessed candle ; and, when he had done this, it could no longer be put out. On the appearance of a light the Enemy vanished; and although he had again and again said that he was restoring to the young man that which was his, yet the youth had had nothing from him. They then addressed them- selves to prayer, and he who had lit the light recited Litanies before an Image of the Blessed Virgin Mary. After about half-an-hour he arose and saw lying upon the floor a bloody paper, which he took up and offered to him whose handwriting it was. He, recognising the writing, began to show great joy, kissing it and pressing it to his bosom ; and then they all gave thanks to God, the four of them to- gether reciting the Te Deum laudamus, etc. And lest by chance the demon
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BK. III. CH. II.
should recover the paper, they pro- tected it with the sign of the Cross, and sprinkled it with Holy Water, and bound it round with the halo of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
On Sunday morning they called the Father to whose care the young man had been committed, and showed him the recovered paper which he had written at Marburg, with the blood erased which recorded the demon’s part of the pact. But lest there should yet remain some evil guile and per- haps there had not been a complete sur- render of everything which the young man had written, our Brethren went again as is their custom to the church of S. Catharine and poured out prayers to God, recited Litanies, brought the Sacrament to the young man, and adjured and required the demon, if there was anything further belonging to the young man, by the virtue of Almighty God to restore it. But since the youth said that he was sure that everything had been restored, and he was perfectly at ease in his heart, they decided to proceed no further. There- fore they gave hearty thanks to the Divine goodness for so great a mercy, saying a Te Deum laudamus, etc., and we all returned rejoicing. His Most Serene Highness the Archduke Ferdi- nand, and the Right Reverend Bishop of Seckau determined to make the whole of this matter known to the people. Accordingly this was done at midday on the eighteenth of June, and the very paper written with blood was by the order of the Bishop burned in our church by the parish priest of Graz before a great concourse of men. This is a most true story of what really hap- pened: and you may see from it, reader, the efficacy of each and every of the Catholic ceremonies, of which we could add countless other examples.
*
BK. III. CH. IV.