That sounds really interesting
Here's a bit relating St. Anthony's experience:
77. A third principal proof of our con-
clusion regarding the existence of those
animals, in other words, respecting the
corporeity of Incubi, is adduced by the
testimony of St Hieronymus, in his Life
of St Paul, the first Hermit. St Anthony,
says he, set on a journey to visit St Paul.
After traveling several days, he met a
Centaur, of whom he inquired the hermit's
abode ; whereupon the Centaur, growling
some uncouth and scarcely intelligible
answer, shew the way with his out-stretched
hand, and fled with the utmost speed into
a wood. The Holy Abbot kept on his way,
and, in a dale, met a little man, almost a
dwarf, with crooked hands, horned brow,
and his lower extremities ending with
goat's feet. At the sight of him, St Anthony
stood still, and fearing the arts of the De-
vil, comforted himself with a sign of the
Cross. But, far from running away, or even
seeming frightened at it, the little fellow
respectfully approached the old man, and
tendered him, as a peace offering, dates
for his journey. The blessed St Anthony
having then inquired who he was : « 1 am
a mortal, » replied he, « and one of the inha-
bitants of the Wilderness, whom Gentility^
under its varied delusions, worships under
the names of Fauns^ Satyrs and Incubi ; I
am on a mission from my flock : we request
thee to pray for us unto the common God,
whom we know to have come for the salva-
tion of the world, and whose praises are
sounded all over the earth. » Rejoicing at
the glory of Christ, St Anthony, turning his
face towards Alexandria, and striking the
ground with his staff, cried out : » Woe be
unto thee^ thou harlot City, who worshipest
animals as Gods ! » Such is the narrative
of St Hieronymus, who expatiates at length
on the fact, explaining its import in a long
discourse.
78. It were indeed rash to doubt the
truth of the above recital, constantly re-
ferred to by the greatest of the Doctors of
the Holy Church, St Hieronymus, whose
authority no Catholic will ever deny. Let
us therefore investigate the circuмstances
thereof which most clearly confirm our
opinion.
79. Firstly, we must observe that if ever
a Saint was assailed by the arts of the De-
mon, saw through his infernal devices, and
carried off victories and trophies from the
contest, that Saint was St Anthony, as is
shown by his life written by St Athana-
sius. Now, since in that little man St An-
thony did not recognize a devil but an
animal, saying : « Woe be unto thee^ thou
harlot City, who worshipest animals as
Gods ! », it is clear that it was no devil or
pure spirit ejected from heaven and damned,
but some kind of animal. Still more : St
Anthony, when instructing his friars and
cautioning them against the assaults of the
Demon, said to them, as related in the
Roman Breviary [Festival of St Anthony^
Abbot ^ b. I) ; « Believe me, my brethren,
Satan dreads the vigils of pious men, their
prayers, fasts, voluntary poverty, compas-
sion and humility; but, above all, he dreads
their burning love of our Lord Christ, at
the mere sign of whose most Holy Cross he
flies disabled. » As the little man, against
whom St Anthony guarded himself with a
sign of the Cross, neither took fright nor
fled, but approached the Saint confidently
and humbly, offering him some dates, it is
a sure sign that he was no Devil.
80. Secondly, we must observe that the
little man said : « / also am a mortal »,
whence it follows that he was an animal
subject to death, and consequently called
into being through generation ; for, an
immaterial spirit is immortal, because sim-
ple, and consequently is not called into
being through generation from preexistent
matter, but through creation, and, conse-
quently also, cannot lose it through the
corruption called death ; its existence can
only come to an end through annihilation.
Therefore, when saying he was mortal, he
professed himself an animal.
81. Thirdly, we must observe that he
said he knew that the common God had
suffered in human flesh. Those words show
him to have been a rational animal, for
brutes know nothing but what is sensible
and present, and can therefore have no
knowledge of God. If that little man said
that he and his fellows were aware of God
having suffered in human flesh, it shows
that, by means of some revelation, he had
acquired the notion of God, as we have
ourselves the revealed faith. That God as-
sumed human flesh and suffered in it, is the
essence of the two principal articles of our
Faith ; the existence of God one and three-
fold, His Incarnation, Passion and Resur-
rection. All that shows, as I said, that it
was a rational animal, capable of the know-
ledge of God through revelation, like our-
selves, and endowed with a rational, and
consequently, immortal soul.
82. Fourthly, we must observe that, in
the name of his whole flock whose dele-
gate he professed to be, he besought St An-
thony to pray for them to the common
God. Wherefrom I infer that that little man
was capable of beatitude and damnation,
and that he was not in termino but in via ;
for, from his being, as has been shown
above, rational and consequently endowed
with an immortal soul, it flows that he was
capable of beatitude and damnation, the
proper share of every rational Creature,
Angel or man. I likewise infer that he was
on the way, in via, that is, capable of
merit and demerit ; for, if he had been at
the goal, in termino, he would have been
either blessed or damned. Now, he could be
neither the one nor the other ; for, St An-
thony's prayers, to which he commended
himself, could have been of no assistance
to him, if finally damned, and, if blessed,
he stood in no need of them. Since he
commended himself to those prayers, it
shows they could be of avail to him, and,
consequently, that he was on the way to
salvation, in statu vice et meriti.
83. Fifthly, we must observe that the
little man professed to be delegated by
others of his kind, when saying : « 1 am
on a mission from my flock », words from
which many inferences may be deduced.
One is, that the little man was not alone
of his kind, an exceptional and solitary
monster, but that there were many of the
same species, since congregating they made
up a flock, and that he came in the name of
all ; which could not have been, had not the
will of many centered in him. Another is,
that those animals lead a social life, since
one of them was sent in the name of many.
Another again is , that , although living
in the Wilderness, it is not assigned to
them as a permanent abode ; for St An-
thony having never previously been in that
desert, which was far distant from his her-
mitage, they could not have known who he
was nor what his degree of sanctity ; it was
therefore necessary that they should have
become acquainted with him elsewhere,
and, consequently, that they should have
traveled beyond that wilderness.
84. Lastly, we must observe that the
little man said he was one of those whom
the Gentiles, blinded by error, call Fauns,
Satyrs and Incubi : and by these words is
shown the truth of our principal proposi-
tion : that Incubi are rational animals,
capable of beatitude and damnation.