The Prayer of Saint Francis

Salve Regina in a solemn tone was broadcasting from the house. The Gregorian chant filled the air as David Bear circled his drone back to stand with Noah, who had already sprinted, book in hand, behind the house and into the field. His vision was not deceiving him. The witch was present about forty feet away. As Noah approached, it was as if the spirit had started to materialize into a smoky soot-like substance.

“This is it, David. Don’t do anything until I call.”

“Got it,” David responded.

Noah thrust his palm to the witch, turning his shoulder as if to take the last shot.

“I exorcise you, Oh Earth, by God One-in-Three, by Jesus Christ our Lord, who was conceived by Mary through the power of the Holy Spirit, made man, and crucified for our sake. Oh earth, in you he was buried. You know Him, you recognize Him, I command you not to hold this evil spirit in any way, but immediately and without delay, expel the damned soul from this place. This is Holy ground, give up this spirit like the tombs vomited the dead when the curtain of the Holy of Holies was shorn asunder. Evil spirit, void of life, I exorcise you by the glorious tomb of Christ, who conquered hell and Death itself. By all the prayers and supplications of all the Saints, the angels and archangels, principalities and virtues, powers and dominions, thrones and cherubim, the seraphim and the Holy Virgin Mary, I banish you. Oh Earth, as the fish threw up Jonah from its belly and did not hold him back, thus may you not be able to hold back this evil spirit and those who favor it.”

Noah glanced up, and what happened next, the Oak Heart Druid did not expect. The witch was not standing alone. Slowly, one by one, images of bodies made of smoke and soot started rising out of the ground, forming a line as if hell itself had released its army on Noah’s property.

“Good God Almighty,” Noah said. “David, begin the exorcism.”

David’s drone hovered twelve feet over Noah, its front lights shining into the field, while David started praying.

“Adjúro te, serpens antíque, per júdicem vivórum et mortuórum…”

Noah took a step towards the horde that had gathered around the witch and said, “I adjure you, ancient serpent, by the Judge of the living and the dead…”

“Cede ígitur, cede non mihi, sed minístro Christi.”

“Yield therefore—yield not to me, but to the minister of Christ.”

“Vade, sátana, invéntor et magíster omnis falláciæ…”

“Begone, Satan, inventor and master of every deceit…”

“Humiliáre sub poténti manu Dei; contremísce et éffuge…”

“Humble yourself beneath the mighty hand of God; tremble and flee…”

As Noah and David marched forward, the line of rotted souls started to rise, moving away from the Earth. The soil had heard, the plants knew the Most Holy Name, the life that saturated the property started rejecting the evil like a fever dream. Like a body reacting to a pathogen.

The wind started to pick up and Noah felt a gust of wind come from behind, landing on his shoulder as if to say, “I have your back.” Noah dropped the book into a patch of tall grass and raised his palms toward the heavens. Noah closed his eyes and prayed.

“I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried; he descended into hell; on the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty; from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.”

The force of the wind started to move violently through the tops of the trees surrounding Noah’s home. A gust came from behind so strong it would have knocked over a man five times Noah’s frame, but his feet stayed grounded. Bare feet, toes clenched into the grass, heels dug into the dirt. David’s drone hung in the air and did not falter. It was as if the companion was being held in the hands of Saint Michael the Archangel himself. The light of the drone shined like the Star of Bethlehem on the field.

“I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.”

With that Noah and David heard the sound of a thousand voices moan all at once. An ungodly cry that sounded like demonic goats who knew they were about to go to slaughter.

Noah glanced up at David’s drone and said, “Ok, together now David.”

In unison they prayed.

“Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

The voices started getting louder, the escalation started to sound indistinguishable from the howl of the wind building behind Noah and David.

“Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us”

Noah opened his eyes to see the army of darkness hovering about sixteen feet over the field. He gritted his teeth, threw his head back and declared with David, “lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil!”

Before the last Amen could be uttered, a gust of wind so powerful blew through the property the trees literally bent to accommodate the force, and before Noah’s eyes the entire legion of souls went flying into the night sky, each dark smoky body evaporating one by one in the twilight of the Moon. The last of which was the witch. As her translucent damned spirit was torn apart he got a final look into her eyes. Those black soulless eyes. Noah had a chill run from the base of his spine to the crown of his head. He blinked. And she was gone. They were gone. And the wind stopped as if it had never been invoked. Noah fell to his knees and prayed.

“Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.”

David was silent as he watched Noah make his final plea. Then elevated to eighteen feet to do a full survey of the property. Noah opened his eyes and looked around for his prayer book. He clutched his Rosary with his left hand and put his right over the prayer card in his pocket. As he stood up, he collected himself and scanned the night sky. It was clear, cloudless, still.

Noah lifted his eyes to the Vermont sky and for the first time that night felt the world open instead of close around him. Cassiopeia hung high above the trees in her crooked W, Pegasus stretched broad across the southern dark, and to the east the Pleiades burned like a tight handful of cold blue sparks. Farther down, Orion was beginning to climb over the black pines. The stars looked ancient, indifferent, and free—and for once, so did he.