The intercession of Mary at the cross (1987): the demonic testimony, according to Father Giovanni Bamonte

The doctrine of the intercession of Mary constitutes one of the richest and at the same time most precisely defined domains of dogmatic mariology. Its scriptural basis lies at the Cross, where Mary’s presence at the foot of the Cross is not a marginal biographical detail but a theological act of profound soteriological significance: the Mother, present at the moment when the Son offers the redeeming sacrifice, co-offers with Him what is hers, participating in the logic of the oblation that lies at the heart of the Paschal mystery.The records of exorcisms documented by Italian priest Giovanni Bamonte provide, in this regard, an unintended testimony of remarkable precision, confirming by negative means what dogmatic mariology asserts positively: the intercession of Mary is real, permanent, and operationally effective in the economy of salvation.

I. Mary at the Cross: The Biblical Foundation for Intercession

The biblical foundation for Mary’s intercession is centered on two narrative moments from the Gospel of John: the Wedding at Cana (John 2:1-11) and the Cross (John 19:25-27). At Cana, Mary’s intercession leads to Jesus’ first public manifestation of power, as He responds to the human need she anticipates and presents to Him, inaugurating the cycle of signs in the Gospel of John that reveal the identity of the Word.On the Cross, Mary’s silent presence at the foot of the Cross completes the arc: she was present at the beginning of the redemptive work and remained present at its fulfillment. Exegetical tradition, from Origen to Benedict XVI, has identified in this presence not only a sentimental fact but an active participation in the mystery being accomplished.Patristic theology developed this understanding, viewing Mary’s intercession as a structural dimension of the salvific economy. Irenaeus of Lyon, by formulating the antithesis between Eve and Mary, already implied that Mary’s obedience was not merely a single act but a lasting one: just as Eve continued to exercise her influence on humanity after the original sin, Mary continues to participate in redemption after Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross. The spiritual motherhood Christ bestowed upon her at the Cross does not cease with her physical death; it expands into her perpetual intercession for humanity, which He recapitulated in Himself.

II. Co-offer at the Cross: Mary as a Participant in the Redemptive Sacrifice

Mariological dogma progressively developed the understanding of Mary’s presence at the Cross as a co-offer. The concept of Co-redemption, while still subject to theological debate regarding its definitive formulation, asserts that Mary was not a passive spectator on the Cross but an active participant in the logic of the sacrifice. The *Lumen Gentium*, in its dogmatic statement on the role of the Virgin Mary, emphasizes this point, affirming that Mary, by her obedience, became a partaker in Christ’s sacrifice, sharing in His redemptive work.

In the text, number 58 states that Mary “suffered deeply with her only-begotten Son and united herself with a maternal heart to Christ’s sacrifice.” The language is precise: union with the sacrifice implies a participation that, without confusing itself with Christ’s unique and unrepeatable mediation, is theologically significant.

The documented exorcism records by Bamonte confirm this dimension through a radically unexpected avenue. In response to a prayer invoking the redeeming power of the Cross, the demonic entity, constrained to answer, stated about Mary: “what she offered and, under her Cross, she suffered.” The confession, wrenched from the adversary, identifies Mary’s presence at the foot of the Cross as an act of offering that he recognizes as theologically decisive.

Mary’s suffering at the Cross is not merely the natural pain of a mother who sees her son die: it is, according to this involuntary confession, an oblation that the enemy of humanity recorded as his defeat. Father Bamonte recorded the demonic reaction to words that recalled this co-offering: “enough, don’t make me remember, that’s enough, it’s burning me.”

III. The Immaculate Heart as the Instrument of Universal Intercession

The post-17th-century Marian tradition developed devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary as an expression of her intercession in its affective and volitive dimensions. The heart, in biblical anthropology, designates the center of a person, the place where intentions are formed and decisions are made. Mary’s Immaculate Heart, within this framework, is the symbol of her entire person oriented towards God and humanity: her will, her love, her suffering, and her joy, all gathered in a permanent oblation that forms the foundation of her intercessory activity.

The demonic testimonies documented by Bamonte notably converge on this point. In one of the most cited sessions, the demonic entity, constrained by the authority of the exorcism, stated: “the Immaculate Heart of Mary will save the whole world. Only her Immaculate Heart.” This declaration has a theological depth that its context of origin does not allow to be underestimated. The adversary of humanity, forced to speak about Mary, identifies the instrument of universal salvation not in an abstract doctrine but in a concrete personal reality: the Heart that the Church has defined as Immaculate. The demonic proclamation, in a register of hatred and constraint, echoes, in a profound way, what Fátima and the Marian magisterium of the 20th century affirmed in the register of revelation and faith.

IV. The Demonic Testimony on Mary’s Permanent Intercession

The records of Bamonte include a set of statements about Mary’s prayer and her intercessory effectiveness that, in their consistency and accuracy, constitute a significant apologetic testimony. The first describes the relationship between Mary’s prayerful activity and demonic operation with an image of violence: “she prays always, she is never silent, and we are whipped by her prayers.” The second formulates the relationship between Mary’s intercession and the fate of each soul with a precision that Mariology treatises rarely attain: “for she reads hearts and justifies before God.”The statement “she reads hearts and justifies before God” is theologically rich. Reading hearts is a divine attribute: Jesus, in the Gospel, knows the thoughts of men. That Mary shares this capacity, albeit in a participated and subordinate way, is not alien to theological tradition: the beatitude of divine vision, which the Church affirms of Mary as definitively realized in her Assumption, implies a participation in divine knowledge that enables informed intercession based on the reality of each soul.The demon’s hatred of this reality is, once again, an indication of its theological magnitude: the adversary fears what does not threaten him. Mary’s intercession as a permanent activity aimed at the salvation of each soul is, from the enemy’s perspective, a real and permanent threat.V. The Theological Legacy of Mary’s Maternal IntercessionThe doctrine of Mary’s intercession received in the conciliar and post-conciliar magisterium a formulation that precisely balances its affirmation with the safeguarding of the uniqueness of Christ’s mediation. The *Lumen Gentium* (Light of the Peoples)In n. 62 it states: “The motherhood of Mary in the order of grace is uninterrupted from her faithful consent at the Annunciation and her unwavering stand at the Cross, to the perpetual consummation of all the elect.” Mary’s intercession within this framework is the perpetual expression of her spiritual motherhood: she never ceases to intercede for the children Christ entrusted to her on the Cross, and the duration of this intercession is the duration of salvation history itself.The demonological testimony collected by Bamonte adds nothing new to this teaching. Rather, it confirms it in a way that a theological argument alone could not: through the voice of the adversary, who recognizes, with terror and shame, what faith proclaims with love and hope. “Every pain, every suffering offered to that Heart of Mary are sweet tenderness of profound charity that she receives and offers with her hands, and raises to the light of that Creator”: this declaration, torn from the demon by the weight of exorcism, is the exact demonological translation of the doctrine of vicarious oblation taught by Mariology.What the adversary confesses with hatred, the Church proclaims with gratitude. See Lumen Gentium, nn. 58-62 and Redemptoris Mater (John Paul II, 1987). The in-depth study of Mary’s intercession is part of the program of the Post-Graduate Program in Mariology at Locus Mariologicus.