This poltergeist case occurred in 1526 in France. He is described with fresh traces, which is important, by an eyewitness and a direct participant in the events (moreover, an educated and enlightened person who held a considerable post), by the priest of King Francis I, Adrian Montalember.
In 1528, his book "The Wonderful Story of a Spirit Recently Appeared in the Convent of Saint Peter in Lyon" was published in Paris. Here's what it says.
There was no order in that ancient monastery until 1516, and the nuns, especially the young ones, lived as they liked. The most immodest behavior was one of them, Alice Tellier, who was quite pretty. She was in charge of the sacristy. In 1516, the riotous life of the nuns came to an end: transformations began in the monastery. Alice, unable to endure them, stole the jewelry from the sacristy entrusted to her and went away in order to continue indulging in various pleasures.
But the body, exhausted by secret vices and sins, eventually ceased to serve her, and in 1524 she died in terrible agony. She was buried in some village without prayers and rituals, as the most despicable creature. They soon forgot about her. But, as it turned out, not all.
In the same monastery lived a young nun, Antoinette Grollet, pious and virtuous. She was sent there as a girl, and she managed to catch Alice. But when Antoinette turned eighteen, strange things began to happen to her and around her.
At the beginning of 1526 at night the girl thought that someone had lifted her cap, made the sign of the cross and kissed her on the lips. She got up, looked around, did not notice anything and decided that she was just dreaming.
However, a few days later, some knocking began to be heard near her. They appeared at her feet. It seemed that someone was hitting the end of a stick directly under the floor or under the steps of the stairs over which it passed. Sounds like the sounds came from the very depths of the boards or even from somewhere below. They were distributed during services, when talking about God, whether in church or elsewhere. But they were heard only in the presence of Antoinette, accompanying her day and night, wherever she was.
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The young nun, alarmed by all this, turned to the abbess, who calmed her down - it is a certain spirit that shows great joy during the divine services and when she addresses God.
The rumor of these miracles quickly spread throughout the city, crowds of curious people flocked to the monastery. The amazed nuns asked Antoinette what she thought of all this. The girl replied that perhaps the knocking was somehow connected with her sister Alice, since she often appeared to her in dreams after her death.
Apparently, by this time the nuns had somehow learned to communicate with the knocking spirit, but the method of communication with it has not been described. Judging by the subsequent conversations, the spirit answered "yes" or "no" with a predetermined number of knocks.
As soon as the name of Alice's sister sounded, they asked the spirit who he represented. He replied that he was the spirit of Alice, giving that clear proof - what is not said. Then they asked if the spirit did not want his earthly remains to be reburied in the monastery. An affirmative answer followed.
They sent for the remains. As the cart with them approached the monastery, the knocking around Antoinette intensified, and when the mournful load approached the doors of the church, the spirit went into a frenzy - the volume of the sounds became almost unbearable!
On Saturday, February 16, 1526, the bishop of the city of Lyon and Montalembert, the king's confessor, arrived at the monastery. What was happening there excited the minds, and it was necessary to sort everything out on the spot. The bishop and priest arrived in secret. According to Montalember, they were nevertheless recognized:
“A crowd of up to four thousand people quickly gathered and followed us closely. When we arrived, the crush was so strong that we were unable to enter the church. The nuns were notified of our arrival, and their confessor immediately came out, who opened an emergency door to go through the altar.
But the people noticed this and intended to enter by force, but they were not allowed to enter. The abbess was surrounded by nuns; they humbly knelt down to greet those who entered. We answered the greeting, and we were taken to the church chapter; Antoinette was immediately introduced to the bishop. He asked how she was feeling. “Thanks God, good,” the nun replied.
Following the question of what kind of spirit followed her, he immediately knocked under the kneeling girl, as if wishing to say something. They began to talk about how to free this poor soul, but decided first to pray for her. The bishop began to pray. All this time the young nun was on her knees in front of him, and the spirit was constantly pounding under her, as if from under the ground."
The bishop of Lyons and the king's confessor came again on February 22, on the day of St. Peter, whose name the monastery bore. The task of those who arrived this time was "to find out the pure truth about this spirit, namely: is it really the soul of the deceased or some evil spirit pretending to be good in order to deceive the nuns."
When everyone was assembled, Antoinette was brought in, then the coffin with the remains of Alice's sister was brought in, and the bishop began to act; at the same time, “all those present, eager to hear the answers of the spirit, agreed to observe complete silence. No one made a sound, everyone's gazes turned to Antoinette with intense attention. The bishop asked the questions prepared in advance, recording what the spirit answered. Here is the content of this highly learned discourse:
“Tell me, are you really the soul of Alice’s long-dead sister?
- Yes.
- Do the remains brought here belong to your body?
- Yes.
- After parting with the body, did you immediately follow Antoinette?
- Yes.
- Is there an angel accompanying you?
- Yes.
- Is he one of the blessed?
- Yes.
- Does he follow you everywhere?
- Yes.
- Is this a guardian angel?
- Yes.
- What is his name?
- No answer.
- Is he the first in the hierarchy?
- No answer.
- Second?
- No answer.
- Third?
- Yes.
- Did he break up with you after you died?
- Not.
- Did he leave you sometimes?
- Not.
- Does your angel strengthen and comfort you in your sorrows and sorrows?
- Yes.
- Do you see other angels?
- Yes.
- Is there an evil angel with you?
- No answer.
- Do you see the devil?
- Yes.
- Is there a purgatory in which souls condemned to this by God's justice live?
- Yes.
- Have you met in purgatory the souls of those whom you knew during your lifetime?
- Yes.
- Are there grief and sorrow in this world comparable to the torments of purgatory?
- No answer.
- Were you given a rest on Good Friday in memory of the Passion of the Lord?
- Yes.
- Did you have a rest on Easter in memory of the bright Resurrection?
- Yes.
- And on Trinity day?
- Yes.
- Do you know when you will be free from your torment?
- Not.
- Can you free yourself through the posts?
- Yes.
- And through prayers?
- Yes.
- Through alms?
- Yes.
- Through a pilgrimage?
- Yes.
- Does the pope have the power to free you with his papal authority?
- Yes.
The bishop was quite pleased with the answers. At the very least, they allayed his fears that some evil spirit might be hiding under the guise of a knocking invisibility.
After completing the investigation, the bishop addressed the spirit of Alice with the following words: “My sister! This respectable and pious society has gathered in order to pray to the Creator - may He put an end to your sorrows and sufferings, may it please Him to accept you into the host of blessed angels and saints in paradise."
When he said these words, very loud knocks were heard. Then the bishop asked each of the nuns to forgive the unfortunate one and he forgave her grave sins, after which everyone parted with the world.
Montalember, continuing to follow the development of events, visited the monastery from time to time. He heard knocks more than once: "They were distributed at my request as many times as I ordered." The spirit of Alice's sister always knew when he would arrive, and announced this with frantic knocks.
True, now they were already heard in the air. Once, with joy, the spirit even lifted Antoinette! Montalember asked Sister Alice to knock nine times, if she, being in purgatory, does not experience suffering. There were exactly nine knocks in confirmation.
Over time, the knocks became weaker. Antoinette, being alone, on March 20, 1526, saw a human figure dressed as a nun and holding a candle, which disappeared into the corner of the cell. She thought it might be Alice's sister. A few hours later, a barely audible voice was heard speaking on behalf of Alice. He said that thanks to the prayers of the sisters, the Creator freed her from a thirty-three-year stay in purgatory.
The last act of this long-standing drama took place on March 21st. All the nuns gathered at the table and had barely begun reading their prayers when thirty-three powerful blows rang out. This meant, those who had heard reasoned, that the thirty-three-year term had been reduced to thirty-three days. Be that as it may, but since then the spirit has ceased to haunt Sister Antoinette and amaze others.