The crowd grew tense. Their gaze went from the bent figure of the priest to the contorted person of the heretic. Everything was deathly still, the only movement coming from the Saint, who slowly raised his bowed head. Trouble fled from his eyes and a smile spread across his face. His eyes looked past the Albigensian without focusing on the crowd. A new multitude was visible to him, that of an Angelic nature. And there, surrounded by hundreds of Holy Angels was the Blessed Virgin Mary herself. In her slender hand, she held a rod of gold. She gazed lovingly into Dominic's eyes, giving him great interior consolation and joy.

With a slight turn of her beautiful head, the Holy Virgin stepped towards the silent heretic. Without warning, she raised her arm and struck the possessed man with her golden rod. With a voice of incredible dignity and authority, the Woman commanded the possessed heretic: "Answer my servant Dominic at once."

The people watched St. Dominic's face reacting to what was happening, while they themselves were still unaware of their Heavenly Mother's presence. Suddenly, to the crowd's terror, a horrific cry, a hundred times more intense than before, came issuing from the Albigensian's mouth. With diabolical hatred, the demons began screaming at Our Lady:

"Oh you who are our enemy, our downfall and our destruction, why have you come from Heaven just to torture us so grievously? O Advocate of sinners, you who snatch them from the very jaws of hell, you who are the very sure path to Heaven! Must we, in spite of ourselves, tell the whole truth and confess, before everyone, who it is who is the cause of our shame and our ruin? Oh woe unto us, the princes of darkness! Then listen well, you Christians."

The crowd trembled at the frightful screams. Although they were glad at the demons' defeat, they could feel the hatred with which the devils were about to answer St. Dominic's question. So half in triumph and half in fear, they listened to the demons' reluctant revelation.

"The Mother of Jesus Christ is all-powerful," the fallen angels hissed, "and she can save her servants from falling into hell! Mary is the sun which destroys the darkness of our wiles and subtlety. It is she who uncovers our hidden plots, breaks our snares and makes our temptations useless and ineffectual.

"We have to say, because we are forced to tell the truth, that not a single soul who has really persevered in her service has ever been damned with us. One single sigh that she offers to the Blessed Trinity is worth far more than all the prayers and aspirations of all the Saints.

"We fear her more than all the Saints in Heaven together and we have no success with her faithful servants. Many Christians who call upon her, when they are at the hour of death and who really ought to be damned according to ordinary standards, are saved by her intercession.

"Oh if only that Mary," they disgustedly screamed, "had not pitted her strength against ours and had not upset our plan, we should have conquered the Church and destroyed it long before this; and we would have seen to it that all the Orders in the Church fell into error and disorder. Now that we are forced to speak, we must also tell you this: no one who perseveres in saying the Rosary will be damned, because she obtains for her servants the grace of true contrition for their sins, and by means of this they obtain God's forgiveness and mercy."

The astonished multitude gazed wide-eyed at their reluctant speaker. They were deeply moved by what the demons had said. And yet, hadn't they heard something similar about Our Lady all this time? Partially in shame, the people, remembering his past exhortations, looked towards St. Dominic for what to do.

The Spanish priest did what he always had done. He turned to the Blessed Mother, and led the multitude in the recitation of the Holy Rosary. Following the Saint's holy example, the crowd prayed that Rosary as they never had before. With the greatest devotion, they slowly recited every decade. As the humble prayers poured forth from the earnest hearts of the assembled company, a wonderful thing happened.

One person at a time, the entire huge crowd came to realize that with each Hail Mary they prayed, a great number of devils left the heretic's body. The demons were visible to the people only as red-hot coals which issued from the wretched man's mouth. As the multitude finished the Rosary, reverently crossing themselves, the heretic sat still, freed at last from the devils which had possessed him.

Then Our Lady, who was still invisible to the crowd, gracefully raised her hand in blessing. When the Blessed Mother bestowed her blessing on her erring children, a deep joy filled all of their hearts. Accompanying Our Lady's blessing was a grace for everyone present and for the work of St. Dominic.

From that grace and the witnessing of the miraculous expulsion of 15,000 demons from the Albigensian, many heretics who embraced the same heresy that he had, were converted to the Catholic Faith. So great is the intercession of Our Lady, that they were further given the grace to join the Confraternity of the Most Holy Rosary. Thus was the security of their salvation strengthened, for as the demons themselves said "no one who perseveres in saying the Rosary will be damned."

How is this possible? Because the Queen of Heaven and Earth always obtains for her faithful, loving servants the grace they need to be truly sorry for their sins. In this way, they obtain God's mercy and forgiveness and salvation. After the Redemptive suffering and death of Jesus Christ, the greatest act of God's mercy to poor, sinful humanity was the gift of the Blessed Virgin Mary as our Most Loving Mother and Most Powerful Queen. Knowing this, how could any sane person not begin to pray the Holy Rosary every day exactly as Our Lady has requested and beg God for the grace to love her as much He desires us to? But then, as the Holy Bible tells: we each have free will; we can choose life or we can choose death, we can choose Heaven or we can choose hell, we can choose to love and serve the Queen of Heaven and earth or we can choose to ignore her (or worse). We each have a free will. We each have a choice to make.

We can join the demons in their hatred and rebellion or, in-spite of them, choose to love "what devils fear most."