The Woman of Antwerp and the Pact Returned

Attribution: from The Secret of the Rosary, Fourth Decade; it happened in 1578.

In 1578 a woman of Antwerp had given herself to the devil and signed a contract to that effect with her own hand. Almost at once she was struck with remorse and longed to undo the terrible thing she had done, so she went looking for a wise and kindly confessor who could tell her how to be set free.

A holy priest sent her to Father Henry, director of the Confraternity of the Rosary at the Dominican friary. But when she went, she met not Father Henry but the devil disguised as a friar, who scolded her harshly and told her there was no hope for her and no way to revoke what she had signed. Grieved but not despairing, she went back a second time, and again met the disguised enemy and the same cruel rebuff. She came a third time, and at last, by the providence of God, she found the real Father Henry, who received her with great kindness, urged her to trust in God's mercy, heard her confession, enrolled her in the Confraternity, and told her to pray the Rosary often.

One day, while Father Henry was offering Mass for her, the Blessed Virgin Mary forced the devil to hand back the contract the woman had signed. By Our Lady's authority and the power of the Rosary, she was completely freed.

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Source:

Simplified retellings of the miracle and conversion stories that St. Louis de Montfort gathered in The Secret of the Rosary, written in the early eighteenth century. These are paraphrased in plain modern prose, faithful to the substance of the traditional English translation but not word for word. Montfort himself called them "ancient but authentic stories about the holy Rosary," collected from earlier authors such as Blessed Alan de la Roche, and offered on human authority, not as articles of faith.