St. Dominic de Guzman, Founder of the Order of Preachers, defeats the Evil One - Part 2

(Reference: http://opcentral.org/blog/the-miracles-of-st-dominic/)

 Of the Demon Who Appeared in the Form of an Ape to Blessed Dominic as He Wrote
 

One night, when the brethren were still living at San Sisto, the blessed father, after spending a long time in prayer, left the church and, lighting a candle, sat down at one end of the dormitory to write. Suddenly a demon in the form of an ape stood before him and began to prance up and down, grimacing and taunting him with jesting verses. Whereupon Blessed Dominic motioned for him to stand still and, taking the lighted candle, handed it to the demon to hold before him. With the candle in his hand, the demon stood before him and continued to grimace and recite his verses. As the candle burned down, the ape’s fingers began to burn. At once he began to howl and twist and turn, as though anyone who had experienced the hell of eternal fire would be bothered by earthly fire. But Blessed Dominic motioned for him to be quiet. What could he do? He stood holding the candle until his index finger was seared down to where it meets the hand. This made him howl and twist all the more. Then Blessed Dominic took the ferule he always carried with him and gave the ape a whack and said, “Go away, evil one.” The blow sounded as though someone had struck a bladder filled with air. The ape flung himself through the nearest wall and never returned, but the stench he produced left no doubt as to its true identity.

Sister Cecilia heard the blessed father tell this story to the brethren and sisters and saw him mimic the ape’s gestures and grimaces.

How He Cast Seven Devils From a Certain Woman
 

After the sisters had moved into the church of San Sisto, the same blessed father announced that a solemn sermon would be held there on the second Sunday of Lent, when the Gospel of Cana is read. On the day scheduled, a large group of men and women, young and old, had assembled and Blessed Dominic stood near the cloister door, where the sisters could see and hear him. As he preached the Lord’s words, he was interrupted by the loud cries of a woman filled with demons; she claimed there were seven of them. “Ribald, ribald,” she cried, “through your deceptions you have taken four from me. They were mine and you took them from me.” When the people told her to be quiet and not interrupt the sermon, Blessed Dominic said to her, “Silence, silence.” But the demons speaking through her mouth answered, “You won’t cast us out from here. She is ours and we won’t go. There are seven of us who entered into her one way or another.” And each began to tell how he entered. As the people grew more excited on account of the interruption she made, Blessed Dominic raised his hand and, making a Sign of the Cross, said, “In the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ, I command you to depart from her and molest her no more.” Then she began to shake and to vomit a large quantity of blood and charcoal, so much so that she seemed to be dead. Then Blessed Dominic ordered her carried outside the church into a house where she could be given care until completely recovered and gave her the name Sister Amata. Later on, when Sister Cecilia and her companions, in obedience to the Lord Pope’s command, were living at St. Agnes in Bologna, this same woman, now perfectly cured, made a pilgrimage to the tomb of St. James the Apostle and, on the way, visited the sisters and appeared very cheerful and happy.

This miracle was performed by Blessed Dominic as he stood preaching near the cloister door in the Church of San Sisto, and was witnessed by Sr. Cecilia and other sisters who saw him standing by the door and, in great fear, heard him order the demons to depart.

How the Demon Who Appeared in the Form of a Lizard Tried to Obstruct his Preaching
 

One day after his Mass, Blessed Dominic went outside and, standing by the door, told the sisters to come to the stream where the mill was, for he intended to preach the word of God. But knowing what was about to happen, he said, “My daughters, if the enemy of the human race tries to terrify you by appearing in some strange shape, do not be afraid.” So the sisters went along to the place Blessed Dominic described wondering why he wanted to preach to them in such an unusual place. Since the mill was being repaired at that time, he and several of the brethren went through the sisters’ cloister to get to the place where the sisters had gathered. After they took their places along the stream, Blessed Dominic began to speak very strongly about the deceits and tricks of the devil. As he spoke, the devil suddenly appeared in the form of a horrible, black ugly lizard with two heads and two tails. It crawled along the bank of the stream, rapidly lifting its heads and tails and then slapping them on the ground. Then it headed toward the sisters as though to attack them. But, knowing through the Holy Spirit what it was, Blessed Dominic looked squarely into its wild eyes and its shaking head and said, “You enemy, you enemy.” Then, turning to the sisters, he said, “Don’t be afraid; he can’t harm you.” But, seeing that some of the sisters had already become so terrified that they arose and fled, he said to it, “I command you, enemy of the human race, to cast yourself into this water.” And he immediately threw himself into the water and never reappeared.

At this miracle were present Sister Cecilia and the other sisters of San Sisto, as well as a number of the brethren.

Of the Demon Who Turned Over a Lamp as He Was Preaching But it Continued to Burn
 

One time Blessed Dominic returned from a trip to Spain bringing each of the sisters a wooden spoon as a gift. So one day, after many hours of preaching and performing other works of charity, he came to visit the sisters in the evening and brought the spoons he had obtained in Spain. As he sat near the window with some of the brethren, he began to preach to the sisters about the snares of the enemy and told them that, in order to deceive, Satan would not only transform himself into an angel of light, but, if he could hinder preaching and other good works, would assume the shape of the most trifling things, even a sparrow. The venerable father had scarcely spoken these words when the enemy of the human race did appear in the form of a sparrow and began to fly over the heads of the sisters low enough to be snatched at with their hands if they wished to do so and interrupt the sermon. When Blessed Dominic noticed this he called Sister Maximilla and told her, “Catch it and bring it to me.” She got up and caught the sparrow without any trouble and handed it through the window to Blessed Dominic, who held it in his hands and began dexterously to pluck out its feathers, saying, “Enemy, enemy.” By this time, all the brothers and sisters were laughing as he plucked out everyone of its feathers and chattered in a plaintive voice as he did so. Then he released it with the words, “Fly now, if you can, enemy of the human race. You can make all the noise you want to disturb us, but you can’t cause us any harm.” But after the sisters had settled back for the rest of the sermon, it returned through the window and settled on the brass vessel which hung on a small chain in front of the Blessed Virgin’s altar. In it was a burning lamp filled with oil which turned over as the bird crashed into the chain. But even though the lamp became detached from its brass container, it neither broke nor went out. Instead it stood inverted in mid-air with its mouth down and its base uppermost. After the crash, the sisters raised their heads and were astonished to see the lamp standing in mid-air without any support. But this was exactly as Blessed Dominic had predicted. For, although the lamp remained upside down, it continued to burn and not one drop of oil spilled.

Even the grain which had been scattered in the basin under the lamp to protect it did not scatter. In a word, everything continued as though nothing had been disturbed. When Blessed Dominic and the brethren saw this, they gave thanks to God. Then Blessed Dominic ordered Sister Sabina, whom he had appointed sacristan at the time when he was assigning all of the officials for San Sisto, to restore the lamp to its proper place. This she did. And so it came about that a hoax which the enemy of the human race had, in his envy, intended as a hindrance and a source of harm was turned to God’s glory. As for the sparrow which had flown in that night, it disappeared, no one knows where.

When Blessed Dominic preached to the sisters in the evening the brethren outside and the sisters inside lit large lamps so that they could more easily see what was taking place in the church.

This delightful miracle Blessed Dominic performed in the Church of San Sisto near the cloister-window, in the presence of Sister Cecilia and the other sisters of San Sisto.