And when he went forth to land, there met him out of the city a certain man, who had demons for a long time, and wore no clothes, neither abode in any house, but in the tombs.
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Cornelius a Lapide
AD 1637
And when he went forth to land, there met him out of the city a certain Prayer of Manasseh , which had devils long time, and ware no clothes, neither abode in any house, but in the tombs.
"A man." S. Matt. says there were two. But as this one was the fiercer, and possessed by a legion, S. Luke and S. Mark mention him alone.
But in the tombs1. The Jews, as I have before said, had their burial places without their cities. Their tombs were large and lofty chambers as it were, so as to afford burial to many, and to be easy of access to the friends and relatives of the departed. This is clear from what we read of the sepulture of Christ, of Abraham, Sarah, and others.
This demoniac then was driven by the devils which possessed him to dwell among the tombs. For these reasons:
1. In order to excite him to greater ferocity, and that he might be the cause of greater fear to the passers-by.
Probably he was like what the French fable to be a "loup-garou," i.e. a man who after the manner of a wolf sallies forth by night and preys upon men and animals, while by day he hides himself in tombs and by hollows of the rocks. "So that no man might pass by that way" (S. Matthew 8:28), because passers-by were attacked and wounded by him. The evil spirits were mostly wont to attack those of a melancholy disposition of mind, as the more easily driven into the madness of despair.
2. Because unclean spirits love to dwell in unclean places. Hence witches hold their sabbaths underneath the gallows.
3. Because the devils rejoice at the death of men, and triumph over the souls of them who are condemned to hell.
4. S. Chrysostom, Euthymius, and Theophylact add that he dwelt amongst the tombs, to persuade men that the souls of the dead are changed into devils, who abide in the sepulchres wherein their bodies are buried. Hence demoniacs from time to time have cried out, I am the soul of Peter, or of Paul, or of John.
