(Luke xiii, 31-33.) On that same day there came certain of the Pharisees, saying to him: Depart, and get thee hence, for Herod hath a mind to kill thee. And he said to them: Go and tell that fox: Behold, I cast out devils and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be made perfect. Nevertheless I must walk today and tomorrow and the day following; for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem. (Matt. xvii, 14-20; Mark ix, 16-28; Luke ix, 38-44.) And it came to pass on the next day, that a man came to him and fell down at his knees, and cried out, saying: Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is my only one, and is a lunatic. And when a spirit seizeth him, it throweth him down, and he foameth and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away, and is sorely afflicted.
For oftentimes it casteth him into the fire, and frequently into the water, and suddenly he crieth out, and it teareth him so that he scarcely departeth, mangling him. And I besought thy disciples to cast it out, and they could not cure him. And Jesus answering said: O unbelieving and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? Bring him hither to me. And as he was coming up and beheld him, immediately the spirit threw him into convulsions, and dashed to the ground he rolled about foaming. And he asked his father how long a time it was since this had befallen him. But he said: From his infancy; and often hath it cast him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him; but if thou canst do any thing, help us, having compassion on us. And Jesus said to him: If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
And straightway the father of the boy crying out with tears said: I believe, Lord; help thou mine unbelief. And when Jesus saw the multitude running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it: Thou deaf and dumb spirit, I command thee, go out of him, and enter not again into him. And crying out and rending him sore, it went out of him. And he became as one dead, so that many said that he was dead. But Jesus, taking him by the hand, lifted him up, and he arose. And the boy was cured from that hour, and he restored him to his father. And all were astonished at the mighty power of God. Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said: Why could not we cast it out? He saith to them: Because of your unbelief.
For amen I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain: Remove from hence, and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible to you. But this kind of devils is not cast out save by prayer and fasting.