The Saint who made a deal with the devil

In Sicily in the year 537, as we have from the account by Fulbert of Chartres, there was a man named Theophilus, who served a Bishop as his administrator. Theophilus managed the Church’s affairs so ably that when the Bishop died, the whole populace acclaimed him as worthy of the episcopate. He was content to remain as administrator, however, and preferred to have someone else ordained as Bishop.

But in time, this new Bishop deprived Theophilus, all unwilling, of his office. Theophilus fell into such despair that, in order to regain his honorable post, he sought the advice of a Jewish sorcerer.

The sorcerer summoned the Devil, who came immediately. Thereupon, Theophilus, at the demon’s command, renounced Christ and His Mother, repudiated the Catholic Faith, wrote a statement of his renunciation and repudiation in his own blood, and signed and sealed the script. He then gave it to the Devil, thus pledging himself to his service. The next day, by the Devil’s manipulation, Theophilus was taken back into the Bishop’s good graces and reinstated in his dignities of office.

In time, however, the miserable man came to his senses and regretted what he had done. With all the devotion of his heart, he had recourse to the glorious Virgin. At a certain moment Blessed Mary appeared to him, upbraided him sternly for his impiety, ordered him to renounce the Devil, and made him confess his faith in her and in Christ, the Son of God, and in the whole Catholic doctrine.

Having received this gift, Theophilus was filled with joy. He went before the Bishop and the whole populace, and gave a full account of the above events. All were filled with admiration and gave praise to the glorious Virgin, and Theophilus, three days later, fell asleep in the peace of the Lord.