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).