1.6 About one who was freed from the devil by a true confession

Translation status: first draft unfinished

Now it seems to me that I should add another miracle story worthy of inclusion, which I myself say along with many others, as the following tale recounts. The reason why I travelled to Rome with many of our brothers is well known to all the men of that time. Upon returning from there, I brought with me the Roman Fever, which afflicted me quite harshly. It was counselled, for my recovery, that I return to my ancestral lands and native air. For this reason, I made my way to Sauxillanges, that noble Cluniac monastery, and remained there throughout Lent, afflicted more by a seething fever than by its difficult fasts.

While I was isolated in that house, I kept to bed the entire time, but I heard the continual cries of a certain infirm brother in a lower and nearby house and with each passing day I was troubled more and more. At first, he certainly cried out what kinds of things was able to proceed from a soul so disturbed by sickness. Later, however, he called out abuse with little pause always only this one thing, “And you o brothers, why do you not give me succour. Why do you not remember me? Why do you not take away from me that huge and terrible war horse,” (I use his own word runcinus), “who with his hind legs turned against me, crushes my head under his hooves, pounds my face and knocks out my teeth. Take him away, Lord. Take him away; I ask you in the Lord, take him away!” And with all the brothers hearing it, he turned his voice to the demon whom he saw in the form of a horse. As much as I can, I will try to reproduce his very words, “By the holy Lady Mary, mother of god and by the holy apostles I adjure you, so that you stop torturing me, and leave me in peace.” This brother had been a knight before his conversion, vigourous in the world, and was known to me as a man of good faith for a long time in the monastic order and known (as much as possible) to other men as a man of an honest way of life. I suffered his shouting throughout almost all of Lent, during the whole of which he did not stop from shouting nor was it possible for me to go to him, due to the weakness caused by my illness. Amidst his continuing shouting, the solemnity of Easter took place. With it celebrated, since I then had gotten somewhat better, I went to the sick man –though I myself was still ill– and I sought what he wanted by his daily cries. To which he responded, “That war horse, it, certainly it unbearably torments me.

I ordered therefore, that holy water be brought and I sprinkled the sick person himself and the place which he indicated. After this sprinkling, I asked him if he still saw the demon. He declared that yes and that is felt the usual torments.

If someone is surprised that the demon was not put to flight by the sprinkling of holy water, then he must understand that remedy applied to the exterior is unable to do anything as long as the sickness remains, hidden in the interior. By ‘pus’ I mean mortal sin; as long as it remains camouflaged in the interior of someone, the exterior reception of any sacrament cannot be helpful for them.

This appears clearly in the principal sacraments of the Church, baptism and the Eucharist. If, in fact, they were able to save despite the persistence of interior malice, not even Judas would not take himself after having received the sacrament of the body of Christ like the other disciples.

According to the custom, I gave absolution to the sick person and I imposed on him a penitence for him in the case that he came to die. This absolution the brother received with much devotion; he adored on his knees the cross which I presented to him and he recommended with great fervor his soul and his body to the salvific passion of the Lord....

he ended his life in peace; leaving us good hope for his salvation and an example of authentic penitence.