Vir tribunitius Hesperius apud nos est; habet in territorio
Fussalcensi fundum Zubedi appellatum: ubi cum afflictione animalium et servorum
suorum domum suam spirituum malignorum vim noxiam percepti comperisset, rogavit
nostros, me absente, presbyteros, ut aliquis eorum illo pergeret, cujus
orationibus cederent. Perrexit unus, obtulit ibi sacrificium corporis Christi,
orans quantum potuit, ut cessaret illa vexatio: Deo protinus miserante cessavit. (Augustine, City of God, 22.8.6 [22.8.7 in the English translations in my possession], PL 41:764-65)
There is among us a man,
Hesperius, of tribunitial rank; he has in the territory of Fussalcum an estate
called Zubedi. When, by the affliction of his animals and of his servants, he
had discovered that an injurious power of evil spirits had taken possession of
his house, he asked our presbyters, while I was absent, that one of them should
go there so that by his prayers they might be driven off. One went; he there
offered the sacrifice of the body of Christ, praying as much as he could that
that vexation should cease — and God, taking pity immediately, put an end to
it.
