The devil could not endure such
devotion to the holy Virgin, and tormented
him continually with temptations against purity.
devotion to the holy Virgin, and tormented
him continually with temptations against purity.
See Preliminary Remark by St. Alphonsus de Liguori
A Contract With The Devil
The devil could not endure such devotion to
the holy Virgin, and tormented him continually with temptations against
purity; and the poor old hermit finding himself still pursued by them,
notwithstanding all his prayers and mortifications, said one day to the
enemy: “What have I done to you, that you will not leave me in peace?”
And the demon appeared to him and answered:
“You torment me more than I torment you;” and then he added: “Now come,
and swear secrecy to me, and I will tell you what you must cease to do,
if you wish me not to molest you any more.”
The hermit took the oath, and then the
devil said to him: “I wish you never again to approach that image that
you have in your cell.”
The hermit was greatly perplexed, and went
to take counsel of the Abbot Theodore, who told him that he was not
bound by his oath, and that he must not cease to recommend himself to
Mary before that image, as he had done before.
The hermit obeyed, and the devil was put to shame and conquered.* (*Bonif. Hist. Virg. . 6.)
A young nobleman was reading one day, while at sea, an obscene book, in which he took great pleasure. A religious said to him: “Now come, would you give something to Our Lady?”
“Yes,” he answered; and the other said, “I
wish that, for love of the holy Virgin, you would tear that book in
pieces and cast it into the sea.”
“Here it is, Father,” said the young man.
“No,” said the religious. “I wish that you yourself would make this offering to Mary.”
He did so, and when he returned to Genoa,
his native place, the mother of God so inflamed his heart with the love
of God that he became a religious.* (*Ann. Marian. 1505.)
Most holy Virgin Immaculate, my Mother
Mary, to thee who art the Mother of my Lord, the queen of the universe,
the advocate, the hope, the refuge of sinners, I who am the most
miserable of all sinners, have recourse this day.
I venerate thee, great queen, and I thank
thee for the many graces thou hast bestowed upon me even unto this day;
in particular for having delivered me from the hell which I have so
often deserved by my sins.
I love thee, most dear Lady; and for the
love I bear thee, I promise to serve thee willingly for ever and to do
what I can to make thee loved by others also. I place in thee all my
hopes for salvation; accept me as thy servant and shelter me under thy
mantle, thou who art the Mother of mercy.
And since thou art so powerful with God,
deliver me from all temptations, or at least obtain for me the strength
to overcome them until death. From thee I implore a true love for Jesus
Christ. Through thee I hope to die a holy death.
My dear Mother, by the love thou bearest to
Almighty God, I pray thee to assist me always, but most of all at the
last moment of my life. Forsake me not then, until thou shalt see me
safe in heaven, there to bless thee and sing of thy mercies through all
eternity. Such is my hope. Amen.
Some persons, boasting of being free from
prejudices, take great credit to themselves for believing no miracles
but those recorded in the holy Scriptures, esteeming all others as tales
and fables for foolish women. But it will be well to repeat here a just
remark of the learned and pious Father John Crasset,* who says that the
bad are as ready to deride miracles as the good are to believe them;
adding, that as it is a weakness to give credit to all things, so, on
the other hand, to reject miracles which come to us attested by grave
and pious men, either savors of infidelity, which supposes them
impossible to Gods or of presumption, which refuses belief to such a
class of authors. We give credit to Tacitus and a Suetonius, and can we
deny it without presumption to Christian authors of learning and
probity? There is less risk, says Father Canisius, in believing and
receiving what is related with some probability by honest persons, and
not rejected by the learned, and which serves for the edification of our
neighbor, than in rejecting it with a disdainful and presumptuous
spirit.
This
“Stories of Mary – Stories of the Rosary” is taken from the Glories of
Mary, translated from the Italian of St. Alphonsus Liguori; New Revised
Edition, P.J. Kennedy & Sons. Copyright 1888 by P.J
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