The Phantom World; or, The philosophy of spirits, apparitions, &c, &c.Calmet, Augustin
Religion
The Phantom World; or, The philosophy of spirits, apparitions, &c, &c.
Calmet, Augustin
Apparitions; Demonology; Spirits
Roger, Count of Calabria and Sicily, besieging the town of Capua, one
named Sergius, a Greek by birth, to whom he had given the command of
200 men, having suffered himself to be bribed, formed the design of
betraying him, and of delivering the army of the count to the Prince
of Capua, during the night. It was on the 1st of March that he was to
execute his intention. St. Bruno, who then dwelt in the Desert of
Squilantia, appeared to Count Roger, and told him to fly to arms
promptly, if he would not be oppressed by his enemies. The count
starts from his sleep, commands his people to mount their horses and
see what is going on in the camp. They met the men belonging to
Sergius, with the Prince of Capua, who having perceived them retired
promptly into the town; those of Count Roger took 162 of them, from
whom they learned all the secret of the treason. Roger went, on the
29th of July following, to Squilantia, and having related to Bruno
what had happened to him, the saint said to him, "It was not I who
warned you; it was the angel of God, who is near princes in time of
war." Thus Count Roger relates the affair himself, in a privilege
granted to St. Bruno.
A monk[413] named Fidus, a disciple of St. Euthymius, a celebrated
abbot in Palestine, having been sent by Martyrius, the patriarch of
Jerusalem, on an important mission concerning the affairs of the
church, embarked at Joppa, and was shipwrecked the following night; he
supported himself above water for some time by clinging to a piece of
wood, which he found by chance. Then he invoked the help of St.
Euthymius, who appeared to him walking on the sea, and who said to
him, "Know that this voyage is not pleasing to God, and will be of no
utility to the mother of the Churches, that is to say, to Jerusalem.
Return to him who sent you, and tell him from me not to be uneasy at
the separation of the schismatics--union will take place ere long; for
you, you must go to my laurel grove, and you must build there a
monastery."
Having said this, he enveloped Fidus in his mantle, and Fidus found
himself immediately at Jerusalem, and in his house, without knowing
how he came there; he related it all to the Patriarch Martyrius, who
remembered the prediction of St. Euthymius concerning the building in
the laurel grove a monastery.
Queen Margaret, in her memoirs, asserts that God protects the great in
a particular manner, and that he lets them know, either in dreams or
otherwise, what is to happen to them. "As Queen Catherine de Medicis,
my mother," says she, "who the night before that unhappy day dreamt
she saw the king, Henry II., my father, wounded in the eye, as it
really happened; when she awoke she several times implored the king
not to tilt that day.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account