OF MONKEYS AND DEMONS, THE SATANIC IN THE SIMIAN

 

I was unnerved when I learned St Thomas Moore had a pet monkey who used play tricks on his guests. Something about the simian has always scared me. To be fair to Thomas, I think monkeys were to him, what Border Collies are to me.

But I have found two instances of when demons took the flesh form of a monkey. A priest gave a sermon on the following. In 15th century Naples, in the heart of the city, a self- important man who was prosperous and popular became a cynic and took to mocking practicing Catholics. 

He had a grand home where he held many lavish parties. Like St. Thomas he had a pet monkey. Unlike Saint Thomas’s, this monkey had an evil and ulterior motive.

The macaque dressed in a red velvet waistcoat and matching cap and served the guests like the most nimble waiter, and also performed acrobatics. All with a rictus smile. 

The local priest got curious and requested an invite. At first the prosperous man declined, he didn’t want a cleric on his territory, but then he wanted to show off, so he issued a summons. On the night of the soirée, the host outdid himself to brag about his house to the priest.

The priest begged to see the red-capped monkey. So the wealthy host rang the silver bell, and unusually the monkey did not appear. Up till then, the monkey had always been preternaturally prompt. It was like the monkey had vanished, and so they did an extensive search of the house, only to find him quivering under the bed.

When the primate was pulled from under, it did its best to escape the presence of the priest. The priest demanded of the beast to tell him his real identity and mission in the name of the Holy Trinity. 

The hairy little ape divulged that he was a demon from hell who had become a slave-servant to the man and was waiting for the man to stop offering three Hail Marys every night before his sleep that his mother had taught him. He waited for the night when the prayers to the Mother of God would be skipped and he could take the man to Hell.

The wealthy host was much chastened and asked the priest to hear his confession. Immediately he became devout and much known for his devotion to Our Lady.

Then, in the life of Saint Dominic, the devil came as a vicious primate to persecute him, and prevent him from writing works of holiness. Sean Fitzpatrick wrote a wonderfully eloquent piece on how Dominic gained control of the prince of darkness and made him hold the candle by which he could see the workings of his quill as he wrote across his parchment. Eventually, Dominic was able to reduce the evil one to a pile of acidic smelling ash.

The evil spirits and the devil can, if given permission from the Lord, transmogrify and take on the bestial. The devil came as a hideous black cat to St. Andre Bessette, as a ferocious dog to Padre Pio, and as a livid bull to St John Bosco, who also saw the devil as a horned cat and the demons as a snake pit. 

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This post was informed by Forty Dreams of St John Bosco. The classic painting, Singerie was executed by David Teniers and is in the public domain.