WITH THE ROSARY, SAINT DOMINIC CAST OUT DEMONS
Then listen, you Christians. This Mother of Jesus is most powerful in saving her servants from falling into Hell.
Once upon a time, Saint Dominic Guzman was preaching the Holy Rosary near Carcassone, France. An Albigensian heretic, who was possessed by the devil was brought to him. Saint Dominic exorcised him in the presence of a great crowd of people; which were more than twelve thousand.
The devils who were in possession of this wretched man were forced to answer Dominic's questions despite their reluctance. They said:
- There are fifteen thousand of us in this body, because he had attacked the fifteen mysteries of the Holy Rosary.
- The Rosary you preach, put fear and horror into the depths of hell, and that you(Saint Dominic) are the man we hate most throughout the world because of the souls you snatch from us by the devotion of the Holy Rosary.
St. Dominic put his Rosary round the neck of the possessed man and asked the Devils;
Of all the saints in Heaven, who is the one they feared most, whom should be the most loved and respected by men.?
At this they let out an unearthly screams that most of the people fell to the ground, seized with terror. Then, employing all their cunning skills, so as not to answer the question, they wept and wailed in such a pitiful way that many of the people wept also, out of pity.
The devils, speaking through the mouth of the Albigensian, pleaded in a heart-rending voice;
"Dominic, Dominic, have pity on us, we promise you we will never harm you. "You have always had compassion for sinners and those in distress; have pity on us, for we are in grievous straits. We are suffering so much already, why do you delight in increasing our pains? Can't you be satisfied with the pains we now endure? Have mercy on us, have mercy on us! "
Saint Dominic was not moved by the pathetic words of those wretched spirits, he told them he would not let them alone until they had answered his question. Then they said they would whisper the answer in such a way that only Dominic would hear.
Saint Dominic firmly insisted upon their answering clearly and audibly.
Then the devils kept quiet and would not utter another word, disregarding Saint Dominic's orders.
So Saint Dominic knelt down and said this prayer to our Lady:
"Oh, most glorious Virgin Mary, I implore you by the power of the holy Rosary command these enemies of the human race to answer my question."
No sooner had he said this prayer than a glowing flame leaped out of the ears, nostrils and mouth of the possessed man. Everyone shook with fear, but the fire did not hurt anyone.
Then the devils cried,
"Dominic, we beseech you, by the passion of Jesus Christ and the merits of his holy Mother and of all the saints, let us leave the body of this man without speaking further; for the angels will answer your question whenever you wish. After all, are we not liars - so why should you want to believe us? Do not torment us any more, have pity on us."
"Woe to you, wretched spirits, who do not deserve to be heard," Saint Dominic said.
Kneeling down he prayed to the Blessed Virgin Mary again: "O most worthy Mother of Wisdom, I am praying for the people assembled here, who have already learned how to say the Angelic Salutation properly. I beg you for the salvation of those here present, compel these adversaries of yours to proclaim the whole truth here and now before the people."
Saint Dominic had scarcely finished this prayer when he saw the Our Lady near at hand surrounded by a multitude of angels. She struck the possessed man with a golden rod that she held and said, "Answer my servant Dominic at once." (It must be noted that the people neither saw nor heard our Lady, only Saint Dominic)
Then the devils started screaming:
"Oh, you who are enemy, our downfall and our destruction, why have you come from heaven to torture us so grievously? O advocate of sinners, you who snatch them from the very jaws of hell, you who are a most sure path to heaven, must we, in spite of ourselves, tell the whole truth and confess before everyone who it is who is the cause of our shame and our ruin? Oh, woe to us, princes of darkness.
"Then listen, you Christians. This Mother of Jesus is most powerful in saving her servants from falling into hell. She is like the sun which destroys the darkness of our wiles and subtlety. It is she who uncovers our hidden plots, breaks our snares, and makes our temptations useless and ineffective.
"We have to say, however, reluctantly, that no soul who has really persevered in her service has ever been damned with us; one single sigh that she offers to the Blessed Trinity is worth far more than all the prayers, desires, and aspirations of all the saints. We fear her more than all the other saints in heaven together, and we have no success with her faithful servants.
"Many Christians who call on her at the hour of death and who really ought to be damned according to our ordinary standards are saved by her intercession. And if that Marietta (it is thus in their fury they called her) did not counter our plans and our efforts, we should have overcome the Church and destroyed it long before this, and caused all the Orders in the Church to fall into error and infidelity.
"Now that we are forced to speak, we must also tell you that nobody who perseveres in saying the Rosary will be damned, because she obtains for her servants the grace of true contrition for their sins by which they obtain pardon and mercy."
Saint Dominic firmly insisted upon their answering clearly and audibly.
Then the devils kept quiet and would not utter another word, disregarding Saint Dominic's orders.
So Saint Dominic knelt down and said this prayer to our Lady:
"Oh, most glorious Virgin Mary, I implore you by the power of the holy Rosary command these enemies of the human race to answer my question."
No sooner had he said this prayer than a glowing flame leaped out of the ears, nostrils and mouth of the possessed man. Everyone shook with fear, but the fire did not hurt anyone.
Then the devils cried,
"Dominic, we beseech you, by the passion of Jesus Christ and the merits of his holy Mother and of all the saints, let us leave the body of this man without speaking further; for the angels will answer your question whenever you wish. After all, are we not liars - so why should you want to believe us? Do not torment us any more, have pity on us."
"Woe to you, wretched spirits, who do not deserve to be heard," Saint Dominic said.
Kneeling down he prayed to the Blessed Virgin Mary again: "O most worthy Mother of Wisdom, I am praying for the people assembled here, who have already learned how to say the Angelic Salutation properly. I beg you for the salvation of those here present, compel these adversaries of yours to proclaim the whole truth here and now before the people."
Saint Dominic had scarcely finished this prayer when he saw the Our Lady near at hand surrounded by a multitude of angels. She struck the possessed man with a golden rod that she held and said, "Answer my servant Dominic at once." (It must be noted that the people neither saw nor heard our Lady, only Saint Dominic)
Then the devils started screaming:
"Oh, you who are enemy, our downfall and our destruction, why have you come from heaven to torture us so grievously? O advocate of sinners, you who snatch them from the very jaws of hell, you who are a most sure path to heaven, must we, in spite of ourselves, tell the whole truth and confess before everyone who it is who is the cause of our shame and our ruin? Oh, woe to us, princes of darkness.
"Then listen, you Christians. This Mother of Jesus is most powerful in saving her servants from falling into hell. She is like the sun which destroys the darkness of our wiles and subtlety. It is she who uncovers our hidden plots, breaks our snares, and makes our temptations useless and ineffective.
"We have to say, however, reluctantly, that no soul who has really persevered in her service has ever been damned with us; one single sigh that she offers to the Blessed Trinity is worth far more than all the prayers, desires, and aspirations of all the saints. We fear her more than all the other saints in heaven together, and we have no success with her faithful servants.
"Many Christians who call on her at the hour of death and who really ought to be damned according to our ordinary standards are saved by her intercession. And if that Marietta (it is thus in their fury they called her) did not counter our plans and our efforts, we should have overcome the Church and destroyed it long before this, and caused all the Orders in the Church to fall into error and infidelity.
"Now that we are forced to speak, we must also tell you that nobody who perseveres in saying the Rosary will be damned, because she obtains for her servants the grace of true contrition for their sins by which they obtain pardon and mercy."
Then Saint Dominic had all the people say the Holy Rosary very slowly and with great devotion, and a wonderful thing happened: at each Hail Mary which he and the people said, a large number of devils issued forth from the wretched man's body under the guise of red-hot coals. When the devils had all been expelled and the heretic completely delivered from them, our Lady, although invisible, gave her blessing to the assembled company, and they were filled with joy.
A large number of heretics were converted because of this miracle and they joined the Confraternity of the Holy Rosary.
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