From the writings of Don Giuseppe Tomaselli
H/T Cordialiter Blog
The Devil gets furious with those striving for
their own spiritual perfection and so everyday he engages in a fight with them,
tempting them towards evil; if he doesn’t manage today, he hopes to do so
tomorrow; he knows the weaknesses of everyone and also how to exploit them, by driving
people to impurity, hate or the abuse of God’s mercy.
But if he behaves like this with devout people,
imagine how his furor is roused against those who bring souls to God. Don Bosco
was a fisher of souls; the Demon, as a consequence, enraged against him, in the
foolish hope of hampering his apostolate. The diabolical vexations began with
loud, nocturnal noises on the roof of his home; sudden and terrifying shaking
at the door and windows occurred; while he was resting, the covers on his bed were
pulled back by an invisible hand…
The Demon often took a monstrous, visible
form and personally attacked Don Bosco. Such phenomena was repeated with so
much insistence that the Saint’s health suffered greatly.
One night, the priest, Angelo Savio, decided courageously
to keep vigil in the Saint’s hallway, to validate the strange phenomena; but
upon hearing the diabolical rumblings, he was seized with fright and so filled
with terror that he fled back to his own room.
The abovementioned vexations happened at
specific times, particularly when he had started or accomplished some new apostolic
work. One evening, Don Bosco,
while speaking to a group of boys and recounting something of his terrible
nights, was interrupted by one of them:
- “Oh, I’m not afraid of the Devil!”
- “Be quiet! Don’t say that!” replied Don Bosco, in a vibrant
voice which surprised everyone. “You don’t know what kind of power the Demon
has if the Lord gives him freedom to act.”
- “Yes,
yes! If
I saw him, I’d grab him by the neck and he’d have to deal with me!”
- “You’d die of fright at the first sight of him…”
- “And how did you manage to drive him away? With
the Sign of the Cross?”
- “Yes, but that wasn’t enough; the Sign of the
Cross is of benefit only for a minute or two.”
- “Did you throw Holy Water on him then?”
- “Sometimes Holy Water is not enough. In any
case, I discovered an effective remedy- which it isn’t necessary to tell you
about…. I don’t wish the terrible moments I experienced on anyone; we need to pray to God so that He will prevent
our enemy from playing these tricks on us.”
Despite all the battles with the Demon, the Saint managed to realize God’s
plans and triumphed completely over his enemy with the aid of Our Lady Help of Christians.
In the last years of his life a fellow asked him: “Don Bosco, when you die
everyone will be sorry! He replied: “All except the Devil, who will say: At last! The one who gave
me so much trouble is dead!”
Translation:
Contributor Francesca Romana
