By the sixth century, demons were no longer a serious threat in hagiographical literature. To be sure, they remained on the center stage as the primary adversaries of the saints, but they were largely defanged. Whether encountered lurking in monastic gardens or holding clandestine meetings in abandoned pagan temples, a word of authority or the sign of the cross was enough to banish them. In many stories, their banter with the saints and among themselves was entertaining and almost comical. Widely read by medieval monks, the Dialogues of Pope Gregory the Great (ca. 540–604) featured several verbose demons whose discourse lent color and texture to his anecdotes about the intervention of the saints. There were advantages to this kind of storytelling. While Gregory’s Dialogues were didactic in character, they were also amusing and therefore memorable to their monastic audience.
One day, a nun went into the garden and saw a lettuce that appealed to her. Forgetting to bless it with the sign of the cross, she ate it greedily. Immediately after this, the nun was possessed by a demon. She fell down to the ground and was tormented without mercy. News of this soon reached Bishop Equitius, who hastened to visit the afflicted woman and help her with his prayers. As soon as he came into the garden, the demon spoke with the nun’s voice to justify himself, saying, “What have I done? What have I done? I was sitting there on the lettuce, and she came and ate me!” But the man of God commanded him with great zeal to depart and not to linger any longer in the servant of almighty God. The demon did so at once and presumed to trouble her no more.
As I narrate the acts of holy men, there comes to my mind what God in his great mercy did for Bishop Andrew of Fondi. I want everyone to read this story as a warning. Those who have dedicated themselves to celibacy should not dwell among women, lest their souls perish by having at hand that which they unlawfully desire. This story is neither doubtful nor uncertain, for there are almost as many witnesses to justify the truth of the tale, as there are inhabitants in that city.
When this venerable man Andrew was leading a virtuous life with diligent care, answerable to his priestly function and acting with self-control, there lived in his residence a holy woman, who had served him in the past before he was bishop. Andrew assured himself of his own intentions and had no doubt of hers, so he was content to allow her to remain in his house. The devil took his decision as an occasion to assault him with temptation. He began to present before the eyes of the bishop’s mind the form of that woman, so that by such allurements ungodly thoughts might possess his whole heart.
In the meantime, it happened that a Jew was traveling from Campania to Rome. As he approached the city of Fondi, night was falling. Unable to find lodging, he took shelter in a temple dedicated to Apollo not far from the city. He intended to find rest there, but he was so afraid to reside in such a wicked and sacrilegious place that he signed himself with the cross, even though he was not a Christian.
Around midnight, as he lay awake out of fear of that forlorn and deserted temple, he looked about and spied a troop of wicked spirits marching before a demon of greater authority. The master demon took up his place and sat down in the middle of the temple, where he began diligently to ask his servants how they had spent their time and what wickedness they had done in the world. And when each one told what he had done against God’s servants, one of the demons stepped forward and proclaimed that he had put into the mind of Bishop Andrew a temptation of the flesh concerning that holy woman who lived in his residence. The master demon listened attentively; what a boon it would be to corrupt the soul of so holy a man! The servant demon went on with his tale and related that the previous evening he had assaulted the bishop so mightily that the man had been compelled to touch the woman on her back. Hearing this joyful news, the wicked serpent and old enemy of humankind urged his servant with winsome words to labor diligently in the task he had already begun, in order to complete the spiritual ruin of that virtuous prelate and thereby earn a reward greater than that of his fellow demons.
The Jew lay awake all the while and heard everything the demons said, but he was very afraid. At length, the master demon sent some of his companions to see who he was and how he had presumed to lodge in their temple. When they approached and eyed him sharply, they found that he had marked himself with the sign of the cross. They marveled at this and said, “Alas, alas, here is an empty vessel, but yet it carries the sign!” Upon hearing this news, the entire pack of demons fled straightaway.
Having heard what had passed between them, the Jew rose up and hastened to the bishop, whom he found in the church. Taking the prelate aside, he demanded to know what temptation troubled him, but shame prevailed and he would not confess the truth. Then the Jew replied and told Andrew that he was guilty of casting his eyes wickedly on one of God’s handmaidens, but the bishop did not acknowledge the truth. “Why do you deny it?” asked the Jew. “For is it not true that yesterday evening you advanced so far in sinful temptation that you presumed to touch her on the back?” When the bishop realized from hearing these details that the truth was known, he humbly confessed what he had so obstinately denied. Then the Jew, moved with compassion, told him how he learned about this and what the assembly of wicked spirits had said about the bishop. Hearing this, Andrew fell face down upon the earth and prayed. Then he immediately dismissed from his house not only the holy woman, but also all of the women who attended to her. And not long thereafter, he converted the temple of Apollo into an oratory dedicated to the blessed apostle Andrew. He was never again troubled by temptations of the flesh.
For his part, the Jew who had rescued the bishop found everlasting salvation, for Andrew baptized him and made him a member of the holy church. Thus, by God’s providence, the Jew who had cared for the spiritual health of the Christian attained for himself the singular benefit of the Christian faith. And almighty God by the same means brought one man to embrace piety and virtue and preserved another in a holy and godly way of life.