How this saint could tell true from false apparitions

Philip Neri, an Italian saint (1515-1595) was often consulted by bishops to help discern authentic mystics.

One day, one of his penitents shared that the Blessed Virgin came to see him at night in his room, which filled him with joy and light! The saint said to him: “Listen, the next time she comes, I want you to spit in her face.”

The following night, the apparition started talking to him about God, but remembering the promise made to his director, the man spat in her face ... prompting the vision to disappear in a sulfurous cloud (it was the devil).

The same night, he woke up again, finding his room full of light and seeing a new apparition that smiled on him. This time the Virgin was not sitting on the bed, but stood in a corner of the room. As he prepared to spit again, she said: “You may spit if you want.” She was too far for him to succeed, but the apparition congratulated him on obeying his spiritual director. “This was indeed the Virgin Mary,” Father Neri declared.

In l’Etoile Notre Dame #148, October 2006