The Mysteries of All Nations: Rise and Progress of Superstition, Laws Against and Trials of Witches, Ancient and Modern Delusions Together with Strange Customs, Fables, and TalesGrant, James (Archaeologist)
History
The Mysteries of All Nations: Rise and Progress of Superstition, Laws Against and Trials of Witches, Ancient and Modern Delusions Together with Strange Customs, Fables, and Tales
Grant, James (Archaeologist)
Occultism; Superstition; Trials (Witchcraft)
St. Bridget possessed the faculty of witnessing angels, and enjoyed
the privilege of having them for her companions; nevertheless, she had
to sustain many conflicts with the devil. One time she saw Satan in a
dreadful shape, with a hundred hands and as many feet. Terrified, she
fled from the horrid monster and took shelter near a holy relic, where
she was safe. In a sad hour of affliction the spirit of St. Denis
appeared to her, and told her he would be her protector ever
afterwards. She certainly, if report be true, turned out to be a saint
endowed with extraordinary power, which enabled her to give sight to
the blind, hearing to the deaf, speech to the dumb, and health to the
sick; and, moreover, we are informed that she raised ten dead persons
to life. On account of these miracles, and for her most holy life,
Pope Boniface IX. canonised her, and put her in the number of the
saints.
St. Gregory of Tours recounts numerous miracles wrought by St. Denis
in life, and after his death. St. Teresa had glorious visions; and
after, in her walks and seclusions, had the company of angels with
beautiful countenances and corporeal shapes. In particular, one angel
of the order of the Seraphim attended her in times of danger with a
flaming sword, to drive back her enemies. Among St. Teresa's other
powers was one of no mean importance--the power of delivering souls
out of purgatory. Her faith in holy water was great, for by its force
she swept away devils as by a mighty river.
St. Hilarian was a match for Satan and his sorcerers. A young man,
desperately in love with a lady of rare beauty and chastity, who
rejected his advances, applied to certain sorcerers, ministers of the
temple of Esculapius. By means of their evil devices the damsel began
to love her admirer extravagantly; indeed, so much so, that her
emotions savoured more of madness than of true affection. Her parents
laid her at St. Hilarian's feet, and he immediately drove out a devil
that had taken possession of the maiden, both bodily and mentally. At
one time St. Hilarian did what at first seemed invaluable service to
the neighbourhood in which he lived. The people besought him to send
rain, as their crops were withering away, and their cattle dying of
thirst. He sent what they desired, but the rain bred serpents and
venomous creatures, which destroyed the fruits of the earth and
injured the inhabitants. Like St. Patrick, he drove away the reptiles,
and healed the people who had been wounded by them. St. Hilarian also
consumed, as with fire, a dragon of enormous size which swallowed
oxen, devoured men, and laid waste the country far and near.
St. Martin, like many other saints, possessed the wonderful power of
bringing the dead to life. It was said he had dominion over devils and
men, over the heavens and the elements, over diseases, and over all
birds and beasts of the field.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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