{"collection":"Paganism & Neopaganism","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/pag/mm/mm02b05a.htm","path":"pag/mm/mm02b05a.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/pag/mm/mm02b05a.htm","text":"Prescribed Remedies for those who are Obsessed owing to some Spell.\nWe have shown in Chapter X of the preceding Question that sometimes devils,\nthrough witchcraft, substantially inhabit certain men, and why they do this:\nnamely, that it may be for some grave crime of the man himself, and for his\nown ultimate benefit; or sometimes for the slight fault of another man;\nsometimes for a man's own venial sin; and sometimes for another man's grave\nsin. For any of these reasons a man may in varying degrees be possessed by\na devil. Nider in his Formicarius states that there is no cause for\nwonder if devils, at the instance of witches and with God's permission,\nsubstantially take possession of men.\nIt is clear also from the details given in that chapter what are the remedies\nby which such men can be liberated; namely, by the exorcisms of the Church;\nand by true contrition and confession, when a man is possessed for some\nmortal sin. An example is the manner in which that Bohemian priest was set\nfree. But there are three other remedies besides, which are of virtue;\nnamely, the Holy Communion of the Eucharist, the visitation of shrines and\nthe prayers of holy men, and by lifting the sentence of excommunication. Of\nthese we shall speak, although they are plainly set out in the discourses\nof the Doctors, since all have not easy access to the necessary treatises.\nCassian, in his Collation of the Abbots, speaks in these words of the\nEucharist: We do not remember that our elders ever forbade the administration\nof the Holy Communion to those possessed by evil spirits; it should even be\ngiven to them every day if possible. For it\nmust be believed that It is of great virtue in the purgation and protection\nof both soul and body; and that when a man receives It, the evil spirit\nwhich afflicts his members or lurks hidden in them is driven away as if it\nwere burned with fire. And lately we saw the Abbot Andronicus healed in this\nway; and the devil will rage with mad fury when he feels himself shut out by\nthe heavenly medicine, and he will try the harder and the oftener to inflict\nhis tortures, as he feels himself driven farther off by this spiritual\nremedy. So says S. John Cassian.\nAnd again he adds: Two things must be steadfastly believed. First, that\nwithout the permission of God no one is altogether possessed by these\nspirits. Second, that everything which God permits to happen to us, whether\nit seem to be sorrow or gladness, is sent for out good as from a pitying\nFather and merciful Physician. For the devils are, as it were, schoolmasters\nof humility, so that they who descend from this world may either be purged\nfor the eternal life or be sentenced to the pain of their punishment; and\nsuch, according to S. Paul, are in the present life delivered unto Satan\nfor the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day\nof the Lord Jesus Christ.\nBut here there arises a doubt. For S. Paul says: Let a man examine himself,\nand so eat of the Bread: then how can a man who is possessed communicate,\nsince he has not the use of his reason? S. Thomas answers this in his Third\nPart, Question 80, saying that there are distinct degrees in madness. For to\nsay that a man has not the use of his reason may mean two things. In one\ncase he has some feeble power of reason; as a man is said to be blind when\nhe can nevertheless see imperfectly. And since such men can to some extent\njoin in the devotion of this Sacrament, it is not to be denied to them.\nBut others are said to be mad because they have been so from birth; and\nsuch may not partake of the Sacrament, since they are in no way able to\nengage in devout preparation for it.\nOr perhaps they have not always been without the use of their reason; and\nthen, if when they were sane they appeared to appreciate the devotion due\nto the Sacrament, It should be administered to them when they are at the\npoint of death, unless it is feared that they may vomit or spew It out.\nThe following decision is recorded by the Council\nof Carthage (26, q. 6). When a sick man wishes to confess, and if on the\narrival of the priest he is rendered dumb by his infirmity, or falls into a\nfrenzy, those who have heard him speak must give their testimony. And if he\nis thought to be at the point of death, let him be reconciled with God by\nthe laying on of hands and the placing of the Sacrament in his mouth. S.\nThomas also says that the same procedure may be used with baptized people\nwho are bodily tormented by unclean spirits, and with other mentally\ndistracted persons. And he adds, in Book IV, dist. 9, that the Communion\nmust not be denied to demoniacs unless it is certain that they are being\ntortured by the devil for some crime. To this Peter of Palude adds: In this\ncase they are to be considered as persons to be excommunicated and delivered\nup to Satan.\nFrom this it is clear that, even if a man be possessed by a devil for his\nown crimes, yet if he has lucid intervals and, while he has the use of his\nreason, is contrite and confesses his sins, since he is absolved in the\nsight of God, he must in no way be deprived of the Communion of the Divine\nSacrament of the Eucharist.\nHow those who are possessed may be delivered by the intercessions and prayers\nof the Saints is found in the Legends of the Saints. For by the merits of\nSaints, Martyrs, Confessors and Virgins the unclean spirits are subdued by\ntheir prayers in the land where they live, just as the Saints in their\nearthly journey subdued them.\nLikewise we read that the devout prayers of wayfarers have often obtained\nthe deliverance of those possessed. And Cassian urges them to pray for them,\nsaying: If we hold the opinion or rather faith of which I have written\nabove, that everything is sent by the Lord for the good of our souls and the\nbetterment of the universe, we shall in no way despise those who are\npossessed; but we shall incessantly pray for them as for our own selves, and\npity them with our whole heart.\nAs for the last method, that of releasing the sufferer from excommunication,\nit must be known that this is rare, and only lawfully practised by such as\nhave authority and are informed by revelation that the man has become\npossessed on account of the excommunication of the Church: such was the case\nof the Corinthian fornicator (I. Corinthians v) who was excommunicated\nby S. Paul and the Church, and delivered unto Satan for the destruction of\nthe flesh, that his spirit might be saved in the day of our Lord JESUS\nChrist; that is, as the gloss says, either for the illumination of grace by\ncontrition or for judgement.\nAnd he delivered to Satan false teachers who had lost the faith, such as\nHymenaeus and Alexander, that they might learn not to blaspheme (I.\nTimothy i). For so great was the power and the grace of S. Paul, says\nthe gloss, that by the mere words of his mouth he could deliver to Satan\nthose who fell away from the faith.\nS. Thomas (IV. 18) teaches concerning the three effects of excommunication\nas follows. If a man, he says, is deprived of the prayers of the Church,\nhe suffers a threefold loss corresponding with the benefits which accrue\nto one who is in communion with the Church. For those who are excommunicated\nare bereft of the source from which flows an increase of grace to those who\nhave it, and a mean to obtain grace for those who have it not; and, being\ndeprived of grace, they lose also the power of preserving their uprightness;\nalthough it must not be thought that they are altogether shut out from God's\nprovidence, but only from that special providence which watches over the\nsons of the Church; and they lose also a strong source of protection against\nthe Enemy, for greater power is granted to the devil to injure such men,\nboth bodily and spiritually.\nFor in the primitive Church, when men had to be drawn into the faith by\nsigns, just as the Holy Spirit was made manifest by a visible sign, so also\na bodily affliction by the devil was the visible sign of a man who was\nexcommunicated. And it is not unfitting that a man whose case is not quite\ndesperate should be delivered to Satan; for he is not given to the devil as\none to be damned, but to be corrected, since it is in the power of the\nChurch, when she pleases, to deliver him again from the hands of the devil.\nSo says S. Thomas. Therefore the lifting of the ban of excommunication, when\nprudently used by a discreet exorcist, is a fitting remedy for those who are\npossessed.\nBut Nider adds that the exorcist must particularly beware of making too\npresumptive a use of his powers, or of mingling any ribaldry or jesting with\nthe serious work of God, or adding to it anything that smacks of superstition\nor witchcraft; for otherwise he will hardly escape punishment, as he shows\nby an example.\nFor Blessed Gregory, in his First Dialogue, tells of a certain woman who,\nagainst her conscience, yielded to her husband's persuasions to take pare in\nthe ceremonies at the vigil of the dedication of the Church of S. Sebastian.\nAnd because she joined in the Church's procession against her conscience,\nshe became possessed and raged publicly. When the priest of that church saw\nthis, he took the cloth from the altar and covered her with it; and the\ndevil suddenly entered into the priest. And because he had presumed beyond\nhis strength, he was constrained by his torments to reveal who he was. So\nsays S. Gregory.\nAnd to show that no spirit of ribaldry must\nbe allowed to enter into the holy office of exorcism, Nider tells that he\nsaw in a monastery at Cologne a brother who was given to speaking jestingly,\nbut was a very famous expeller of devils. This man was casting a devil out\nof a man possessed in the monastery, and the devil asked him to give him\nsome place to which he could go. This pleased the Brother, and he jokingly\nsaid, \u201cGo to my privy.\u201d So the devil went out; and when in the\nnight the Brother wished to go and purge his belly, the devil attacked him\nso savagely in the privy that he with difficulty escaped with his life.\nBut especial care is to be taken that those who are obsessed through\nwitchcraft should not be induced to go to witches to be healed. For S.\nGregory goes on to say of the woman we have just mentioned: Her kindred\nand those who loved her in the flesh took her to some witches to be healed,\nby whom she was taken to a river and dipped in the water with many\nincantation; and upon this she was violently shaken, and instead of one\ndevil being cast out, a legion entered into her, and she began to cry out in\ntheir several voices. Therefore her kindred confessed what they had done,\nand in great grief brought her to the holy Bishop\nFortunatus, who by daily prayers and\nfasting entirely restored her to health.\nBut since it has been said that exorcists must beware lest they make use of\nanything savouring of superstition or witchcraft, some exorcist may doubt\nwhether it is lawful to use certain unconsecrated herbs and stones. In answer\nwe say that it is so much the better if the herbs are consecrated; but that\nif they are not, then it is not superstitious to use a certain herb called\nDemonifuge, or even the natural properties of\nstones. But he must not think that he is casting out devils by the power of\nthese; for then he would fall into the error of believing that he could use\nother herbs and incantations in the same way; and this is the error of\nnecromancers, who think that they can perform this kind of work through the\nnatural and unknown virtues of such objects.\nTherefore S. Thomas says, Book IV. dist. 7, art. the last: It must not be\nany corporeal powers; and therefore they are not to be influenced by\ninvocations or any acts of sorcery, except in so far as they have entered\ninto a pact with a witch. Of this Esaias (xxviii) speaks: We have made a\ncovenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement. And he thus explains\nthe passage in Job xli: Canst thou draw out Leviathan with an hook?\nand the following words. For he says: If one rightly considers all that has\nbeen said before, it will seem that it belongs to the heretical presumption\nof necromancers when anyone tries to make an agreement with devils, or to\nsubject them in any way to his own will.\nHaving, then, shown that man cannot of his own power overcome the devil, he\nconcludes by saying: Place your hand upon him; but understand that, if you\nhave any power, it is yet by Divine virtue that he is overcome. And he adds:\nRemember the battle which I wage against him; that is to say, the present\nbeing put for the future, I shall fight against him on the Cross, where\nLeviathan will be taken with an hook, that is, by the divinity hidden under\nthe bait of humanity, since he will think our Saviour to be only a man. And\nafterwards it says: There is no power on earth to be compared with him: by\nwhich it is meant that no bodily power can equal the power of the devil,\nwhich is a purely spiritual power. So says S. Thomas.\nBut a man possessed by a devil can indirectly be relieved by the power of\nmusic, as was Saul by David's harp, or of a herb, or of any other bodily\nmatter in which there lies some natural virtue. Therefore such remedies may\nbe used, as can be argued both from authority and by reason. For S. Thomas,\nXXVI. 7, says that stones and herbs may be used for the relief of a man\npossessed by a devil. And there are the words of S. Jerome.\nAnd as for the passage in Tobias, where the Angel says: Touching the\nheart and the liver (which you took from the fish), if a devil or an evil\nspirit trouble any, we must make a smoke thereof before the man or the\nwoman, and the party shall be no more vexed; S. Thomas says: We ought not to\nmarvel at this, for the smoke of a certain tree when it is burned seems to\nhave the same virtue, as if it has in it some spiritual sense, or power of\nspiritual prayer for the future.\nOf the same opinion are Blessed Albert, in his commentary on S. Luke\nix, and Nicolas of Lyra and Paul of Burgos,\non I. Samuel xvi. The last-named homilist comes to this conclusion:\nthat it must be allowed that those possessed by a devil can not only be\nrelieved, but even entirely delivered by means of material things,\nunderstanding that in the latter case they are not very fiercely molested.\nAnd he proves this by reasoning as follows: Devils cannot alter corporeal\nmatter just at their will, but only by bringing together complementary active\nand passive agents, as Nicolas says. In the same way some material object\ncan cause in the human body a disposition which makes it susceptible to the\noperations of the devil. For example, according to physicians, mania very\nmuch predisposes a man to dementia, and consequently to demoniac obsession:\ntherefore if, in such a case, the predisposing passive agent be remove, it\nwill follow that the active affliction of the devil will be cured.\nIn this light we may consider the fish's liver; and the music of David, by\nwhich Saul was at first relieved and then entirely delivered of the evil\nspirit; for it says: And the evil spirit departed from him. But it is not\nconsonant with the meaning of the Scripture to say that this was done by\nthe merits or prayers of David; for the Scripture says nothing of any such\nmatter, whereas it would have spoken notably in his praise if this had been\nso. This reasoning we take fro Paul of Burgos. There is also the reason\nwhich we gave in Question V of the First Part: that Saul was liberated\nbecause by the harp was prefigured the virtue of the Cross on which were\nstretched the Sacred Limbs of Christ's Body. And more is written there which\nmay be considered together with the present inquiry. But we shall only\nconclude by saying that the use of material things in lawful exorcisms is\nnot superstitious. And now it is expedient that we should speak about the\nexorcisms themselves.\nNext: Chapter VI Prescribed Remedies; to wit, the Lawful Exorcisms of the Church, for all Sorts of Infirmities and Ills due to Witchcraft; and the Method of Exorcising those who are Bewitched.","title":"Malleus Maleficarum Part 2 Chapter V","type":"page"}