This foolish fear of the devil is a cause of many errors such as the one mentioned in the following miracle: “In Trayguerra, a simple lad hearing San Vicente preach on the ugliness of the demon, prayed God that a devil be shown him in order to fight. It happened that a poor, old woman was passing who was dumb from birth, was very ugly and poorly dressed, and had sickle in her hand. The lad, thinking that she was the devil, furiously assailed her, and taking away her sickle, cut off her hands, her ears, and her nose. The afflicted woman shouted but as she was dumb she could not make herself understood and only howled, and then the simpleton cut her up, saying: “Let them come and they will see what I do with the devils!” (p. 18, Novena de San Vicente). To believe that God permitted a similar infamy is a gross insult to God. True, the act is committed by a silly lad, but sillier still is the work of the saint in speaking of the physical ugliness of the demon, when according to the understanding of all, the demon is a spirit.
“In Taulada,” says the Novena (p. 21), “two Moros passed in front of an image of San Vicente, one of whom took off his hat and the other did not. The latter paid dearly for it for in that instant, without knowing from whom, he was slapped, fell to the ground, and had fever from which he died.” It was wonderful how it was known that it was a slap, and the miracle could not have been more cruel, not especially because of the insignificance of the fault committed, inasmuch as it dealt with a Moro who did not believe nor did he understand this Christian superstition.
A devout one who was wont to go to Saint Filomena asks protection against the devil (Novena, p. 22) and says: “Satan like a hungry lion makes a round about turn; his ministers vie with one another to put me down. I with my frailty am also the enemy of my own soul * * *.”
As I said the Novenas are used to implore a divine mercy, utilizing the intervention of a saint or a virgin to secure some necessity or a simple affair in life.
There is nothing more inspiring than to know the news about the origin of the Novena de San Antonio de Padua which “is said to be revealed by the same saint * * * and the devout ones can follow it confident of obtaining thru his intermediation whatever they desire” (Novena de San Antonio, p. 5). “The same San Antonio revealed to a devout woman the way of doing it” (p. 6).
He Who Asks Shall Receive
The Novena of María de los Dolores, Manila, 1905, is “for obtaining what is desired in any affair of the soul or for the good of the body.”
The Novena of San Vicente de Ferrer “altho it can be made in the home, it is much better to do it in the church because there he who asks shall receive and he who looks shall find, as the Lord himself said” (p. 5 of the Novena, Manila, 1917).
San Ramon Nonato is: “Patron of the work of the laborers and their livestock; wonderful antidote against pestilence; universal refuge for the cure of all diseases and pains; singular protector of the women who invoke him in their dangerous hours of giving birth, and of the sterile ones who seek the comfort of his protection.” This is what is said in the frontispiece of his novena, Manila 1918. “By merely invoking his name or by adoring his saintly relic, and by drinking the water where it is passed, the saint can accomplish thousands of wonders” (p. 6).
“I,” says one devout woman, “have such faith in and experience with, San Ramon that whatsoever I ask God thru him was always secured or obtained, and for the sake of truth, I swear and confirm the same” (Novena, p. 15).