Page 11 (part 1)

§ 3. The Enchiridion of Pope Leo We come now to the Enchiridion of Pope Leo III., which, as already indicated, is not a book of Ceremonial Magic; it is necessary, however, to include it in this notice, and to analyse it at some length, so as to establish its true character. Misconceptions and mistakes upon a subject so obscure as Magical Rituals are, speaking generally, excusable enough, but in this case they are found where they are not excusable, namely, among those persons who have undertaken to give account of the work. Catholic bibliographers of the occult sciences, or at least the anonymous author of the occult encyclopædia in Migne's great series, are very angry at the pontifical attribution, and stigmatise the Enchiridion as an infamous storehouse of Black Magic. Éliphas Lévi, who may possibly have read it--because occasionally he seems to have glanced at his authors--magnifies its occult importance by stating that it has never been printed with its true figures. In the absence of all evidence on this point, it is impossible to entertain it seriously. The Enchiridion is assuredly not a book of Black Magic, nor does it lend itself to the introduction of other figures than those which appear in it, and these are few and simple. Finally, Alfred Maury, in La Magie et l'Astrologie dans l'Antiquité et au Moyen Age , describes the Enchiridion as a work on Sorcery, bearing traces of Neo-Platonic, and even older, influences. He also evidently had not read it, and is a personage of sufficient consequence to deserve severe censure for following such an evil principle of criticism. The legend of the Enchiridion is as follows. When Charlemagne was leaving Rome after his coronation by Leo III., that pontiff presented him with a memorial of the visit in the shape of a collection of prayers, to which wonderful virtues were attributed. Whosoever bore the little work upon his person with the respect due to Holy Scripture, who also recited it daily to the honour of God, would never be overcome by his enemies, would pass unscathed through all perils, and the Divine protection would abide with him to. the end of his days. These things took place in the year 800. In the year 1523 the Enchiridion is supposed to have been printed at Rome for the first time. Thus broadly outlined, there is nothing in this legend to offend possibility or to raise very serious objection to the authorship. The reputed connection with occult science would indeed seem the chief presumption against it, because there never was a literature so founded in forgery as that of Magic, except the sister science of physical Alchemy. When we come, however, to examine the work at first hand, the case against it assumes a different aspect, and it is condemned out of its own mouth. While it is not a Ritual of Magic, it is also certainly not a simple collection of devotions designed to fortify the person making use of them against dangers of body and soul by the operation of Divine Grace; it is rather a collection of charms cast in the form of prayers, and is quite opposed in its spirit to the devotional spirit of the Church; furthermore, it is concerned with worldly advantages far more than with those of a spiritual kind.