Remedies prescribed
against Hailstorms, and for animals that are Bewitched.
With
regard to the remedies for betwitched animals, and
charms against tempests, we must first note some
unlawful remedies which are practised by certain people.
For these are done by means of superstitious words or
actions; as when men cure the worms in the fingers or
limbs by means of certain words or charms, the method of
deciding the legality of which has been explained in the
preceding chapter. There are others who do not sprinkle
Holy Water over bewitched cattle, but pour it into their
mouths.
Beside the
proofs we have already given that the remedy of words is
unlawful, William of Paris, whom we have often quoted,
gives the following reason. If there were any virtue in
words as words, then it would be due to one of three
things: either their material, which is air; or their
form, which is sound; or their meaning; or else to all
three together. Now it cannot be due to air, which has
no power to kill unless it be poisonous; neither can it
be due to sound, the power of which is broken by a more
solid object; neither can it be due to the meaning, for
in that case the words Devil or Death or Hell would
always be harmful, and the words Health and Goodness
always be beneficial. Also it cannot be due to all these
three together; for when the parts of a whole are
invalid, the whole itself is also invalid.
And it cannot
validly be objected that God gave virtue to words just
as He did to herbs and stones. For whatever virtue there
is in certain sacramental words and benedictions and
lawful incantations belongs to them, not as words, but
by Divine institution and ordinance according to God's
promise. It is, as it were, a promise from God that
whoever does such and such a thing will receive such and
such a grace. And so the words of the sacraments are
effective because of their meaning; although some hold
that they have an intrinsic virtue; but these two
opinions are not mutually inconsistent. But the case of
other words and incantations is clear from what has
already been said; for the mere composing or uttering or
writing of words, as such, can have no effect; but the
invocation of the Divine Name, and public prayer, which
is a sacred protestation committing the effect to the
Divine Will, are beneficial.
We have
treated above of remedies performed by actions which
seem to be unlawful. The following is a common practice
in parts of Swabia. On the first of May before sunrise
the women of the village go out and gather from the
woods leaves and branches from willow trees, and weave
them into a wreath which they hang over the stable door,
affirming that all the cattle will then remain unhurt
and safe from witchcraft for a whole year. And in the
opinion of those who hold that vanity may be opposed by
vanity, this remedy would not be unlawful; and neither
would be the driving away of diseases by unknown
cantrips and incantations. But without meaning and
offence, we say that a woman or anyone else may go out
on the first or any other day of the month, without
considering the rising or the setting of the sun, and
collect herbs or leaves and branches, saying the Lord's
Prayer or the Creed, and hang them over the stable door
in good faith, trusting to the will of God for their
protective efficacy; yet even so the practice is not
above reproach, as was shown in the preceding chapter in
the words of S. Jerome; for even if he is not invoked,
the devil has some part in the efficacy of herbs and
stones.
It is the
same with those who make the sign of the Cross with
leaves and consecrated flowers on Palm Sunday, and set
it up among their vines or crops; asserting that,
although the crops all round should be destroyed by
hail, yet they will remain unharmed in their own fields.
Such matters should be decided upon according to the
distinction of which we have already treated.
Similarly
there are women who, for the preservation of milk and
that cows should not be deprived of their milk by
witchcraft, give freely to the poor in God's name the
whole of a Sunday's yield of milk; and say that, by this
sort of alms, the cows yield even more milk and are
preserved from witchcraft. This need not be regarded as
superstitious, provided that it is done out of pity for
the poor, and that they implore the Divine mercy for the
protection of their cattle, leaving the effect to the
good pleasure of Divine providence.
Again, Nider
in the First chapter of his Præceptorium says
that it is lawful to bless cattle, in the same way as
sick men, by means of written charms and sacred words,
even if they have the appearance of incantations, as
long as the seven conditions we have mentioned are
observed. For he says that devout persons and virgins
have been known to sign a cow with the sign of the
Cross, together with the Lord's Prayer and the Angelic
Salutation, upon which the devil's work has been driven
off, if it is due to witchcraft.
And in his Formicarius
he tells that witches confess that their witchcraft is
obstructed by the reverent observation of the ceremonies
of the Church; as by the aspersion of Holy Water, or the
consumption of consecrated salt, by the lawful use of
candles on the Day of Purification and of blessed palms,
and such things. For this reason the Church uses these
in her exorcisms, that they may lessen the power of the
devil.
Also, because
when witches wish to deprive a cow of milk they are in
the habit of begging a little of the milk or butter
which comes from that cow, so that they may afterwards
by their art bewitch the cow; therefore women should
take care, when they are asked by persons suspected of
this crime, not to give away the least thing to them.
Again, there
are women who, when they have been turning a church for
a long while to no purpose, and if they suspect that
this is due to some witch, procure if possible a little
butter from the house of that witch. Then they make that
butter into three pieces and throw them into the churn,
invoking the Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Ghost; and so all witchcraft is put to flight. Here
again it is a case of opposing vanity to vanity, for the
simple reason that the butter must be borrowed from the
suspected witch. But if it were done without this; if
with the invocation of the Holy Trinity and the Lord's
Prayer the woman were to commit the effect of the Divine
Will, she would remain beyond reproach. Nevertheless it
is not a commendable practice to throw in the three
pieces of butter; for it would be better to banish the
witchcraft by means of sprinkling Holy Water or putting
in some exorcised salt, always with the prayers we have
mentioned.
Again, since
often the whole of a person's cattle are destroyed by
witchcraft, those who have suffered in this way ought to
take care to remove the soil under the threshold of the
stable or stall, and where the cattle go to water, and
replace it with fresh soil sprinkled with Holy Water.
For witches have often confessed that they have placed
some instrument of witchcraft at the instance of devils,
they have only had to make a hole in which the devil has
placed the instrument of witchcraft; and that this was a
visible object, such as a stone or a piece of wood or a
mouse or some serpent. For it is agreed that the devil
can perform such things by himself without the need of
any partner; but usually, for the perdition of her soul,
he compels a witch to co-operate with him.
In addition
to the setting up of the sign of the Cross which we have
mentioned, the following procedure is practised against
hailstorms and tempests. Three of the hailstones are
thrown into the fire with an invocation of the Most Holy
Trinity, and the Lord's Prayer and the Angelic
Salutation are repeated twice or three times, together
with the Gospel of S. John, In the beginning was the
Word. And the sign of the Cross is made in every
direction towards each quarter of the world. Finally, The
Word was made Flesh is repeated three times, and
three times, “By the words of this Gospel may this
tempest be dispersed.” And suddenly, if the tempest is
due to witchcraft, it will cease. This is most true and
need not be regarded with any suspicion. For if the
hailstones were thrown into the fire without the
invocation of the Divine Name, then it would be
considered superstitious.
But it may be
asked whether the tempest could not be stilled without
the use of those hailstones. We answer that it is the
other sacred words that are chiefly effective; but by
throwing in the hailstones a man means to torment the
devil, and tries to destroy his works by the invocation
of the Holy Trinity. And he throws them into the fire
rather than into water, because the more quickly they
are dissolved the sooner is the devil's work destroyed.
But he must commit to the Divine Will the effect which
is hoped for.
Relevant to
this is the reply given by a witch to a Judge who asked
her if there were any means of stilling a tempest raised
by witchcraft. She answered: Yes, by this means. I
adjure you, hailstorms and winds, by the five wounds of
Christ, and by the three nails which pierced His hands
and feet, and by the four Holy Evangelists, Matthew,
Mark, Luke and John, that you be dissolved and fall as
rain.
Many also
confess, some freely and some under stress of torture,
that there are five things by which they are much
hindered, sometimes entirely, sometimes in part,
sometimes so that they cannot harm his friends. And
these are, that a man should have a pure faith and keep
the commandments of God; that he should protect himself
with the sign of the Cross and with prayer; that he
should reverence the rites and ceremonies of the Church;
that he should be diligent in the performance of public
justice; and that he should meditate aloud or in his
heart on the Passion of Christ. And of these things
Nider also speaks. And for this reason it is a general
practice of the Church to ring bells as a protection
against storms, both that the devils may flee from them
as being consecrated to God and refrain from their
wickedness, and also that the people may be roused up to
invoke God against tempests with the Sacrament of the
Altar and sacred words, following the very ancient
custom of the Church in France and Germany.
But since
this method of carrying out the Sacrament to still a
storm seems to many a little superstitious, because they
do not understand the rules by which it is possible to
distinguish between that which is superstitious and that
which is not; therefore it must be considered that five
rules are given by which anyone may know whether an
action is superstitious, that is, outside the
observances of the Christian religion, or whether it is
in accordance with the due and proper worship and honour
of God, proceeding from the true virtue of religion both
in the thoughts of the heart and in the actions of the
body. For these are explained in the gloss on Colossians
ii, where S. Paul says: Which things have a show of
wisdom in superstition; and the gloss says: Superstition
is religion observed without due discipline; as was said
before.
The first of
these is, that in all our works the glory of God ought
to be our chief aim; as it is said: Whether ye eat or
drink, or whatsoever else ye do, do all in the glory of
God. Therefore in every work relating to the Christian
religion let care be taken that it is to the glory of
God, and that in it man should give the glory chiefly to
God, so that by that very work the mind of man may be
put in subjection to God. And although, according to
this rule, the ceremonies and legal procedures of the
Old Testament are not now observed, since they are to be
understood figuratively, whereas the truth is made known
in the New Testament, yet the carrying out of the
Sacrament or of Relics to still a storm does not seem to
militate against this rule.
The second
rule is that care should be taken that the work is a
discipline to restrain concupiscence, or a bodily
abstinence, but in the way that is owed to virtue, that
is, according to the rites of the Church and moral
doctrine. For S. Paul says, Romans xii: Let your
service be reasonable. And because of this rule, they
are foolish who make a vow not to comb their hair on the
Sabbath, or who fast on Sunday, saying, The better the
day the better the deed, and such like. But again it
does not seem that it is superstitious to carry out the
Sacrament, etc.
The third
rule is to be sure that what is done is in accordance
with the statutes of the Catholic Church, or with the
witness of Holy Scripture, or according at least to the
rites of some particular Church, or in accordance with
universal use, which S. Augustine says may be taken as a
law. Accordingly when the Bishops of the English were in
doubt because the Mass was celebrated in different
manners in different Churches, S. Gregory wrote to them
that they might use whatever methods they found most
pleasing to God, whether they followed the rites of the
Roman or of the Gallican or of any other Church. For the
fact that different Churches have different methods in
Divine worship does not militate against the truth, and
therefore such customs are to be preserved, and it is
unlawful to neglect them. And so, as we said in the
beginning, it is a very ancient custom in the Churches
of France and some parts of Germany, after the
consecration of the Eucharist to carry It out into the
open; and this cannot be unlawful, provided that It is
not carried exposed to the air, but enclosed and
contained in a Pyx.
The fourth
rule is to take care that what is done bears some
natural relation to the effect which is expected; for if
it does not, it is judged to be superstitious. On this
account unknown characters and suspected names, and the
images or charts of necromancers and astronomer, are
altogether to be condemned as suspect. But we cannot say
that on this account it is superstitious to carry out
Holy Relics or the Eucharist as a protection against the
plagues of the devil; for it is rather a most religious
and salutary practice, since in that Sacrament lies all
our help against the Adversary.
The fifth
rule is to be careful that what is done should give no
occasion for scandal or stumbling; for in that case,
although it be not superstitious, yet because of the
scandal it should be forgone or postponed, or done
secretly without scandal. Therefore if this carrying of
the Sacrament can be done without scandal, or even
secretly, then it should not be neglected. For by this
rule many secular priests neglect the use of
benedictions by means of devout words either uttered
over the sick or bound round their necks. I say that
nothing should be done, at least publicly, if it can
give any occasion of stumbling to other simple folk.
Let this be
enough on the subject of the remedies against
hailstorms, either by words or lawful actions.
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