> "This prayer is in honor of the Virgin Mary and was discovered under
> her sepulchre in the valley of Josephat.
The Valley of Jehosaphat is the Kedron Ravine, which divides Jerusalem
from the Mount of Olives. The Church of the Assumption/Tomb of the
Virgin is indeed there, and I have visited it several times.
It is of such virtue
"Virtue" (latin virtus, Gk dynamis) is regarded as a physical force,
almost as an electric charge. I refer the curious to a posting I made
on the subject a year or two ago. Yes, the carrying of such an object
would be thought to confer power.
One comes across people carrying pardons into battle, wrapped around
them like armour, to protect them from wounds. A book of prayers, or
bible, might well be thought to ward off evil.
Giraldus Cambrensis tells the story of man, possessed by devils, who
was cured by placing St John's Gospel on his breast. Then, "experiendi
causa", they placed Geoffrey of Monmouth's "Historia Regum Britanniae"
on his breast instead. The devils returned, far fiercer than before.
Oriens.
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