THE GLORIES OF MARY

FIRST PART

(Saint Alphonsus Liguori)

1. HAIL, HOLY QUEEN, MOTHER OF MERCY

Our confidence in Mary should be great because she is the queen of mercy

The Blessed Virgin Mary was chosen to be the Mother of the King of Kings. Accordingly, holy Church honors her, and wants everyone to honor her, with the glorious title of "Queen."

Saint Athanasius mentions how proper this is in his sermon on the Annunciation: "If he who was born of the virgin is a king, then the one who bore him is rightly called a lady and a queen." Ever since the moment that Mary gave her consent to be the Mother of the Eternal Word, adds Saint Bernardine of Siena, she deserved to be called the queen of the whole world and of every creature in it. If Jesus took his flesh from Mary, how can Mary be disjoined from the royal dignity of her son? So asks Arnold the Abbot. We must conclude, he infers, that not only the kingdom's glory, but the very kingdom itself, belongs to both the Son and the Mother.

The Abbot Rupert also says that if Jesus is the king of the universe, then Mary is its queen. And Saint Bernardine of Siena assures us that all creatures who serve God must also serve Mary. All angels, all men, all things in heaven and on earth, inasmuch as they are subject to God's dominion, are also subject to Mary. That is why the Abbot Guerric turns to Mary and says: "Continue, O Mary, to feel that all that your Son possesses is yours. Have no hesitation in acting as a queen, as Mother of the King, and as his spouse, for both the kingdom and the power over it belong to you."

There is no doubt, then, that Mary is a queen. But let everyone know, for his own consolation, that she is a most sweet, a most merciful queen, completely dedicated to the well-being of sinners. That is why the Church wants us to greet her in this prayer as the "queen of mercy."

The very name of queen, observes Saint Albert the Great, implies kindness to the poor and solicitude for them. It is different from the title of empress, which usually denotes severity and rigor. According to Seneca, the greatness of kings and queens consists in helping the unfortunate. Tyrants have their own good in view; kings should look to the good of their subjects. That is why kings, when they are consecrated, have their heads anointed with oil. Oil is a symbol of mercy, and it signifies that when a king governs, he should, before all else, be kind and compassionate to his subjects.

It is obvious, therefore, that kings should first and foremost spend themselves in acts of mercy. At the same time, of course, they must not neglect to exercise justice towards the guilty when this is necessary. Mary, however, is different. Though she is queen, she is not a queen of justice. That is to say, she is not concerned with punishing. She is a queen of mercy, committed to pity and pardon. Holy Church expressly wants us to call her a "queen of mercy."

The Grand Chancellor of Paris, John Gerson, meditating on these words of David: "These two things have I heard, that power belongs to God, and mercy to you, O Lord" (Ps 61:12-13), reasoned this way - since God's kingdom consists of two elements, justice and mercy, God decided to divide his kingdom. Justice he reserved to himself; mercy he transmitted to Mary, ordaining that all mercies which come to human beings should come through Mary's hands, and that these mercies should be distributed according to her choice. Saint Thomas, in the preface to his commentary on the Canonical Epistles holds the same opinion. He says that when the Blessed Virgin conceived the Eternal Word in her womb, she obtained half of his kingdom. Mary became the queen of mercy, he says, while the distribution of justice remained in the hands of her son.

The Eternal Father appointed Jesus Christ the King of justice and made him the judge of the whole world. For this reason, the prophet says: "O God, with your judgment endow the king, and with your justice the king's son" (Ps 71:2). Commenting on this, a learned interpreter says: "Lord, you have given justice to your Son, because you have given mercy to the King's Mother."

Saint Bonaventure paraphrases this passage of David by saying: "O God, give judgment to the King and mercy to his Mother." Ernest, the Archbishop of Prague, also says that the Eternal Father gave to his Son the office of judging and punishing and to his Mother the office of pitying and comforting. Hence we can say that the prophet David foretold that God himself, as it were, consecrated Mary as the queen of mercy, anointing her with the oil of gladness: "God has anointed you with the oil of gladness" (Ps 44:8). God did this, according to Saint Bonaventure, so that all the children of Adam might be happy in the thought of having in heaven so great a queen, a queen anointed with the balm of mercy, a queen all full of kindness.

Saint Albert the Great appropriately applies to Mary the history of Queen Esther who was a figure of our heavenly queen. In the fourth chapter of the book of Esther, we read that during the reign of Ahasuerus a decree was issued ordering all Jews to be killed. At that time Mordecai, one of their number, sought help from Esther, begging her to use her influence with the king and have the decree revoked. At first Esther refused because she was afraid that Ahasuerus would become even more angry. But Mordecai chided her and told her she should not think of saving merely herself: the Lord had put her on the throne to insure the safety of all the Jews: "Think not that you may save your life only, because you are in the king's house more than all Jews" (Est 4:13). Just as Mordecai spoke to Esther, so we poor sinners can speak to Mary, our queen, should she ever refuse to plead with God and save us from the punishment we deserve. "Do not think, dear lady," we can say, "that the Lord has made you queen of the universe merely for your own sake. He gave you the power you have so that you could feel all the more pity for us and help us all the more."

When Esther appeared before King Ahasuerus, he said lovingly: "What do you ask of me, Esther?" The queen answered: "If I have found favor in your sight, O king...give me...my people for whom I pray" (Est 7:2-3). Ahasuerus's heart was touched and he immediately ordered the decree to be revoked.

Now, if Ahasuerus spared the Jews because he loved Esther, how can God, who loves Mary immensely, fail to hear her when she prays for the sinners who recommend themselves to her? "If I have found favor in your sight, O king..." Mary knows very well that she has found favor in God's sight. She knows very well that she alone of all creatures has found the grace lost by men, that she is the favorite of the Lord, loved by him more than all the angels and saints together. Therefore she can well say: "Give me my people, for whom I pray." Is it possible for God not to hear her? Is there anyone who has never heard of the power of Mary's prayers with God? "On her tongue is kindly counsel" (Prov 31:26). Her every prayer is like a law established by God - a decision, we might say, on God's part to show mercy toward all for whom Mary intercedes.

Saint Bernard asks why the Church calls Mary the "queen of mercy." And he answers that it is because we believe that Mary opens up the vaults of God's mercy to anyone she likes, when she likes, and as she likes. There is not a sinner, he adds, no matter how wicked, who is lost as long as Mary protects him.

Perhaps there are some who fear that Mary would refuse to pray for this or that sinner, because she sees him hopelessly involved in sin. Or some may feel that we ought to be frightened by the majesty and holiness of this great queen. Saint Gregory puts us at ease. The higher Mary's position, he says, and the greater her holiness, the more gentle and compassionate she is with sinners who want to amend and who have recourse to her. Kings and queens, by the very display of their majesty, inspire awe and their subjects are afraid to come into their presence. But how can sinners, says Saint Bernard, be afraid of this queen of mercy? Mary is not stern or forbidding. "Why should weak humanity fear to approach Mary? There is nothing severe about her, nothing frightening. She is unspeakably sweet, and offers milk and wool to all." Mary not only gives, but she goes out of her way to offer to all, no matter who they are, the milk of mercy to quicken their confidence, and the wool of protection to shelter them from the storms of divine justice.

Suetonius tells us that the Emperor Titus was so tender-hearted that he could never refuse a favor. At times, in fact, he promised more than he was asked. When this was brought to his attention, he replied that a prince should never send anyone away discontented. But once in a while Titus must have lied or at least was unable to keep his promise. But Mary cannot lie and certainly she has sufficient power to obtain for her clients every single favor that they ask. Her heart is so kind and compassionate that, if anyone prays to her, she cannot bear to send him away unsatisfied. "She is so kind," says Louis Blosius, "that she never lets anyone go away disappointed."

How could you, O Mother of Mercy, asked Saint Bernard, refuse to help the miserable, since you are the queen of mercy? And who are the most likely candidates for mercy, if not unfortunate sinners? "And that is why I," he adds, "the most wretched of all sinners, am the first of your subjects. You have to take more care of me than of the rest. Have pity on all of us, therefore, O queen of mercy, and do all in your power to save us."

O most holy virgin, prays Saint Gregory of Nicomedia, please do not claim that you are unable to help us because of the number of our sins. Your power and mercy are so great that they can outweigh any number of sins. Nothing can resist your power, for the Creator himself considers your glory as his own. And your son, exulting in this glory, fulfills all your petitions as if he were paying back a debt. Saint Gregory is saying, in effect, that even though Mary has an infinite obligation towards her son because he chose her to be his mother, at the same time we cannot deny that the son is indebted to his mother for giving him his human nature. And that is why, in recompense to Mary who now enjoys his glory, Jesus especially honors her by always hearing her prayers.

How great, then, should be our confidence in this queen, when we know on the one hand how powerful she is with God, and on the other how tremendously rich in mercy she is - so much so that there is not a person on earth who does not share in Mary's kindness. The Blessed Virgin herself revealed this to Saint Bridget. "I am the queen of the world and the Mother of Mercy. I am the joy of the just and the gate that opens up to sinners the way to God. There is no sinner on earth so abandoned that, while he lives, he will be deprived of my mercy. If he receives no other grace, he will receive at least the grace to be less frequently tempted by the devils than he would otherwise be."

"Nobody," adds Our Lady, "provided he has not been already definitely damned (and this refers to the final irrevocable sentence of damnation), is so cut off from God that he will not return to God and find mercy if he calls on me. Everybody calls me the Mother of Mercy, and indeed it is God's mercy that has made me merciful." She concludes with these words: "He will be very miserable who does not approach me, merciful as I am, when he can do so." There is no doubt then that that man will be miserable forever in the life to come who in this life can have recourse to Mary (who is so compassionate and so eager to help everyone), but who refuses to do so and thus damns himself.

Come, then, you and I - if we want to be saved, let us hasten to the feet of this sweetest of queens. If we are frightened and discouraged at the sight of our sins, we must realize that it was precisely for this that Mary was made the queen of mercy, to protect and save the greatest and most abandoned sinners who beg her for help. These sinners are to be her crown in heaven, according to the words of her divine spouse: "Come from Libanus, my spouse, come from Libanus, come; you shall be crowned...from the dens of the lions, from the mountains of the leopards" (Cant 4:8). What else are these dens of wild beasts and monsters but wretched sinners? Their souls have become dens of sin and they are the most hideous monsters that can be found. It is these same miserable sinners, comments the Abbot Rupert, the sinners you have saved, O Mary, who will crown you in heaven. Their salvation will be your crown, a worthy and becoming crown for a queen of mercy.

Our confidence in Mary should be even greater because she is our mother

Mary's clients are not using empty words, or just speaking at random, when they call her "Mother." It is because they know no other name for her and never tire of calling her "Mother." Yes, she really is our mother. Not according to the flesh, of course, but spiritually. She is the mother of our souls and of our salvation.

When sin deprived our souls of grace, it also deprived them of life. Jesus, our Redeemer, with an excess of mercy and love, came to restore this life by his own death on the cross. He himself declared, "I came that they may have life and may have it more abundantly" (Jn 10:10). Jesus said "more abundantly" because, as the theologians teach, Jesus Christ brought us more benefits through the Redemption than we had lost through Adam's sin. By reconciling us with God, he made himself the Father of our souls in the new law of grace, as the prophet Isaiah foretold: "He shall be called...the Father of the world to come, the prince of peace" (Isa 9:6). Now, if Jesus was the Father of our souls then Mary was the Mother, because in giving us Jesus she gave us true life. And by offering her son's life on Mount Calvary for our salvation, she brought us forth to the life of grace.

The Fathers tell us that Mary became our spiritual mother on two occasions. The first, according to Saint Albert the Great, was when she merited to conceive in her virginal womb the Son of God. Even more clearly does Saint Bernardine of Siena tell us this: "The Blessed Virgin, by her consent to the Son's Incarnation, with the most intense ardor sought and obtained the salvation of all. By this consent she dedicated herself to the salvation of all. So much so that ever since, she has carried us in her womb as a true mother carries the children of her flesh."

Speaking of our Redeemer's birth, Saint Luke says that Mary "brought forth her firstborn son" (Lk 2:7). A certain author remarks that since the evangelist speaks of Mary's "firstborn," are we to suppose that later she had other children? But then he replies to his own question, asserting that if it is of faith that according to the flesh Mary had no other children but Jesus, then she must have had other children who were spiritual. We are those spiritual children. Our Lord revealed this to Saint Gertrude, who was puzzled on reading this text from the Gospel. She could not understand how, if Mary had no other children but Jesus, he could be called the firstborn. God explained it to her, saying that Jesus was Mary's firstborn according to the flesh, but that all men are her second-born according to the spirit.

In view of this we can understand why the Canticle of Canticles says in reference to Mary: "Your body is a heap of wheat encircled with lilies" (Cant 7:2). Saint Ambrose explains this verse by saying: "One grain of wheat was in the Virgin's womb, Christ Jesus. But we say 'heap of wheat' because this single grain contained virtually all the elect, so that he was the firstborn of many brethren." And the Abbot Saint William writes that Mary, in bringing forth Jesus, our Savior and our life, brought forth many unto salvation. "By giving birth to life itself, she gave life to many."

The second occasion on which Mary became our spiritual mother was on Mount Calvary, when she so sorrowfully offered the life of her beloved son to the Eternal Father for our salvation. "As she cooperated by her love in the birth of the faithful to the life of her beloved Son to the Eternal Father for our salvation. Mother of all who are members of the one Head, Jesus Christ." This is the meaning of the words of the sacred Canticle as applied to Mary: "They charged me with the care of the vineyards: my own vineyard I have not cared for" (Cant 1:5). In order to save our souls, Mary was content to sacrifice her son's life, as Saint William the Abbot comments: "That she might save many souls, she exposed her own soul to death." And who but Jesus was the soul of Mary? He was her whole life and all her love. And that is what Simeon meant when he announced that one day a sword would pierce her soul (Lk 2:35). This sword was the lance that pierced the side of Jesus, her very soul. It was then that, through her sorrows, she brought us forth to eternal life. And that is why we can call ourselves "children of Mary's sorrows." Our most loving mother was always completely united to the will of God. And therefore, says Saint Bonaventure, when she saw that the love of the Father toward humankind was so great that in order to save men he willed the death of his son; and on the other hand, that the son, out of love, wished to die for us, in order to conform herself to what Saint Bonaventure reverently calls the excessive love of both the Father and the Son, Mary also, for the salvation of men, offered and consented to the death of her son.

It is true that Jesus wanted to be alone in dying for the human race. "I have trodden the winepress alone" (Isa 63:3). But when he saw Mary's eagerness to share in man's salvation, he so arranged it that she, by offering the life of her Jesus, should cooperate in our salvation and in that way become the mother of our souls. Our Savior manifested this when he looked down from the cross upon his mother and upon Saint John, who stood at its foot, and said to Mary: "Behold your son" (Jn 19:26). By that he meant to say: Behold the whole human race, which is even now being born to the life of grace as a result of the sacrifice you have made of my life for the salvation of all. Turning to the disciple, he said: "Behold your Mother" (Jn 19:26). By these words, says Saint Bernardine of Siena, Mary became mother not only to Saint John, but also to all men, because of the love she bore them. Sylveira makes the reflection that Saint John himself gives us this idea by the wording he uses in his Gospel: "Then he said to the disciple, 'Behold your Mother.'" Take notice, Christ did not say these words specifically to John, but to the "disciple." This was to show that the Savior assigned Mary as the common mother to all who, because they are Christians, bear the name of "disciple." "John is a particular name, but 'disciple' is a general name and it shows that Mary is being given as a mother to all."

Blessed are they who live under the protection of a mother so loving and so powerful! The prophet David, before Mary was even born, sought salvation from God by dedicating himself to her as a son. He prayed: "Save the son of your handmaid" (Ps 85:16). "Of what handmaid?" asks Saint Augustine. He answers, "Of her who said, 'Behold the handmaid of the Lord.'" And who, asks Cardinal Bellarmine, will dare to snatch these children from the bosom of Mary once they have turned to her to be saved from their enemies? What power of hell, what temptation can overcome them, once they have placed their confidence in the protection of this great mother?

It is said that when a whale sees her little ones in danger, from storms or from hunters, she opens her mouth and swallows them. Novarinus applies this to Mary, and says that when Mary sees her children in danger she receives them into her bosom and protects them there until she brings them to the harbor of salvation. O most loving Mother, most compassionate Mother, praise be to you forever, and praise be to God forever, for having given you to us as our mother and as a refuge from all the dangers of life.

The Blessed Virgin revealed to Saint Bridget that she is like a mother who sees her child surrounded by the enemy's swords. She wants to do everything in her power to save him. "And this I shall do for my children, sinners though they be, as long as they turn to me for help." There is no doubt, then, that in every battle with hell we shall surely win if we fly to Mary and repeat over and over again: "We fly to thy patronage, O holy Mother of God." O how many victories have the faithful won over the forces of hell because they had recourse to Mary with this short but powerful prayer! It was with this prayer that that great servant of God, Sister Mary Crucified, the Benedictine nun, always conquered the demons.

Rejoice, therefore, you who are Mary's children. And know that Mary receives and accepts everyone who wants to be her child. Why should you fear to be lost when this mother defends and protects you? Saint Bonaventure says: "Say it, my soul, and say it most confidently: I rejoice and exult because, whatever my judgment will be, it depends on what my Brother and my Mother say." The same thought makes Saint Anselm cry out with joy: "O blessed hope! O safe refuge! The Mother of God is my mother! How firm should be our confidence, since our salvation depends on the judgment of so good a Brother and so tender a Mother." It is then our mother who calls out to us: "Whosoever is a little one, let him come to me" (Prov 9:4). Little children always have the word "mother" on their lips. And every time they are frightened, they immediately raise their voice and cry out: "Mother! Mother!" - O sweetest Mary, O most ioving Mother, this is precisely what you want us to do. You want us to cry out to you like chiidren in every danger. You want us to run to you always, because you want to help and save us, as you have in the past helped and saved all your children who ran to you for help.

Our Mother's great love for us

Precisely because Mary is our mother, let us see how much she loves us. Love for one's children is a natural instinct. That is why Saint Thomas points out that God's law commands children to love their parents, but gives no express command to parents to love their children. Saint Ambrose goes further and says that love for one's offspring is so strong a force and one so deeply implanted by nature itself that even the wild beasts have to love their young. Explorers tell us that when tigers hear the cries of their cubs when they have been captured by hunters, they will even plunge into the sea to reach the ships on which they are.

Since the very tigers, says our loving Mother Mary, cannot forget their young ones, how can I forget to love you, my children? And should the impossible happen, that a woman should forget her child, it is impossible that I forget a soul that is my child. "Can a woman forget her infant, so as not to have pity on the son of her womb? And if she should forget, yet will I not forget you" (Isa 49:15).

As we have said, Mary is our mother, not according to the flesh, but through love, "I am the mother of fair love" (Prov 24:24). It is her love for us that makes her our mother and, as a certain author observes, she glories in being the mother of love. All her love is for us, her adopted children.

It is absolutely impossible to analyze the love Mary has for us creatures. Arnold of Chartres tells us that at the death of the Savior, Mary desired, with intense ardor, to die along with him for love of us. And Saint Ambrose adds that while her son was hanging on the cross, Mary offered herself to the executioners.

Consider now the reason for such love, and you will come to some understanding of how much Mary loves us.

The first reason behind the great love Mary bears to men is the great love she bears to God. According to Saint John, love of God and love of our neighbor belong to one and the same commandment: "And this command we have from God, that he who loves God, love also his brother" (1 Jn 4:21). As the one love increases, so does the other. See what the saints have done out of love for their neighbor, because they loved God so much. They gave up everything, even their lives. Read what Saint Francis Xavier did in India. To help the souls of those people and to bring them to God, he went climbing mountains and submitted to all kinds of dangers in his quest for these poor wretches who, like animals, lived in caves.

Saint Francis de Sales, to convert the heretics in the province of Chablais, risked his life for a full year as he daily crossed the streams on an ice-covered beam to reach the other side and preach to those obstinate people. Saint Paulinus gave himself up as a slave to free the son of a poor widow. Saint Fidelis persisted in going to a certain place to preach to the heretics, even though he knew it would cost him his life. It was because the saints loved God so much that they succeeded in doing so much for their neighbor.

But who ever loved God more than Mary did? At the very first moment of her life, she loved God more than all the angels and saints did in the whole course of their existence - as we shall consider at length when we treat of Mary's virtues. Our Blessed Lady herself revealed to Sister Mary Crucified that the fire of love with which she was inflamed toward God was so great that if the heavens and the earth were put in it, they would be instantly consumed. Compared to it, the ardor of the seraphim is like a fresh, gentle breeze. Therefore, since neither angels nor saints surpass Mary in loving God, so no one, after God, loves us or can love us as much as Mary. And if we were to combine all the love that mothers bear their children, all the love of husbands for their wives, all the love of the angels and saints for their devoted clients, all this would not equal Mary's love for a single soul.

Father Nieremberg says that the love that all mothers have ever had for their children is but a shadow in comparison with the love which Mary bears to each one of us; and he adds that she loves us more than all the angels and saints put together.

Furthermore, Mary loves us so much because Jesus himself gave us to her when he said, just before dying: "Woman, behold your son" (Jn 19:26). He intended Saint John to represent all men, as we observed above. These were the last words her son said to her. The last mementoes our loved ones leave us at the point of death are always cherished and can never be forgotten.

Again, we are so dear to Mary because we caused her so much sorrow. Mothers generally love those children most who cause them the most labor and pain to be kept alive. We belong to this class of children. To obtain for us the life of grace, Mary had to suffer the pain of offering her own dear son to the executioners. She was content to see him die in torment before her very eyes. Through this grand sacrifice of Mary, we were born to the life of grace. Analogously, we may apply to Mary what was written of God's love for men in delivering his own Son to death: "God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son" (Jn 3:16). Saint Bonaventure writes that it can be said of Mary: "Mary so loved us that she gave her only-begotten son."

When did she give him? She gave him first, says Father Nieremberg, when she gave him permission to go and die. Second, when she declined to defend her son's life before his judges when others, out of fear or hatred, failed to defend him. We can well believe that the words of so wonderful a mother would have influenced Pilate and stopped him from condemning to death a man whom he himself had recognized and declared as innocent. But no; Mary declined to say one word in favor of her son to hinder the death on which our salvation depended. Finally, she gave him to us a thousand times at the foot of the cross during the three hours she watched him die. Every moment of these three hours, as her heart overflowed with sorrow and with love for us, she constantly offered the sacrifice of her son's life for us. So much so that Saint Anselm and Saint Antoninus maintain that, if there had been no executioners, she herself would have crucified him to obey the will of the Father who wished his Son to die for our salvation. If Abraham showed a similar courage in his willingness to sacrifice his son with his own hand, we must believe that Mary would have fulfilled God's will with even greater courage, since she is more holy and more obedient than Abraham.

Returning to our theme, how grateful we ought to be to Mary for so great an act of love! She sacrificed her son's life amid so much sorrow to obtain salvation for us all. God rewarded Abraham generously for his willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac. But how can we thank Mary enough for the life of her son, so much more holy and beloved than Abraham's son? The only gift we can give Mary is the gift of our own love, especially since Mary loved us more than anyone else ever loved us. Saint Bonaventure says: "No one besides Mary has loved us so much as to give an only-begotten and well-beloved Son for us."

This last reason supplies another motive why Mary loved us so dearly. She realizes the great price of the ransom her Son paid for our souls. Suppose a mother saw her beloved son ransom one of her servants at the cost of twenty years' hard labor and imprisonment. How highly she would esteem that servant! Mary knows very well that Christ came to earth for the sole purpose of saving us poor creatures. He himself protested: "The Son of man came to save what was lost" (Lk 19:10). And to save us, he was content even to lay down his life: "becoming obedient to death" (Phil 2:8). Were Mary not to love us, she would show very little appreciation of her son's blood, the price of our salvation. It was revealed to Saint Elizabeth of Hungary that from the time Mary entered the temple, she prayed continually that God would soon send his Son for the world's salvation. How much more does she love us now that he has come and purchased us at so heavy a cost!

Mary loves and favors all of us because all men were redeemed by Jesus. Saint John saw Our Lady clothed with the sun (Apoc 12:1). She is clothed "with the sun" because there is nothing on earth that can be hidden from the heat of the sun: "There is no one that can hide himself from his heat" (Ps 18:7). So too there is no living being on earth without Mary's love. The Blessed Raymond Jordano, who called himself the Unlearned, says: "From her heat, that is, from her love, no one can escape."

Who can form any idea, asks Saint Antoninus, of the great concern that Mary has for each one of us? That is why she offers and dispenses her mercy to everyone. As our mother, she longed for the salvation of all and cooperated in the salvation of all. It is evident, says Saint Bernard, that she was solicitous for the whole human race. According to Cornelius à Lapide, some clients of Mary have adopted the very beneficial practice of begging God to grant them the graces that Mary implores for them, saying, "Lord, give me whatever the Most Blessed Virgin asks for me." Cornelius à Lapide says this is very reasonable, since Mary desires greater favors for us than we ourselves could desire. Bernardine de Bustis says the same thing: "She is more eager to do you good and to be generous with her graces than you yourself could desire her to be."

Saint Albert the Great applies to Mary a text from the Book of Wisdom and says that Mary forestalls those who have recourse to her by making them find her before they even look for her. Richard of Saint Victor says that the love which this good mother has for us is so great that, as soon as she is aware that we need something, she runs to help us. "She comes before she is asked."

Now, if Mary is so good to all, even to the ungrateful and the negligent who do not love her and do not invoke her, how much more devoted will she be toward those who really love her and frequently call upon her? "She is easily found by them that seek her" (Wis 6:13). O how easy it is, says Saint Albert the Great, for those who love Mary to find her, and to find her filled with compassion and love! Our Blessed Mother protests: "Those who love me, I also love" (Prov 8:17). Though this most loving lady loves all people as her children, yet, says Saint Bernard, she knows and loves more tenderly those who love her. And these happy lovers of Mary, asserts Raymond Jordano, are not only loved by her, but are even served by her.

The Chronicles of the Order of Saint Dominic relate that one of the friars named Leonard used to recommend himself two hundred times a day to Mary, and that when he was dying he saw a most beautiful queen by his bedside. She said to him, "Leonard, do you want to die and come to my Son and me?" "Who are you?" he asked. And the queen replied, "I am the Mother of Mercy. You have prayed to me very often. Now I am coming for you. Let us go to paradise." The Chronicle says, "And Leonard died that very day, and, we hope, followed her to the kingdom of the blessed."

"Ah, my most sweet Mary," exclaimed Saint John Berchmans, S.J., "happy the man that loves you. If I love Mary, I am certain of final perseverance and I shall obtain whatever I ask from God." Therefore, this holy youth never tired of renewing his resolution and of repeating often to himself: "I will love Mary! I will love Mary!"

It is a truism that the Blessed Mother makes all her children advance in love. "She is especially amiable towards those who love her," says Saint Ignatius the Martyr. Let them love her as did Saint Stanislaus Kostka. He loved Mary so much that when he spoke of her he made everyone who heard him love her. He coined new words and invented new titles to honor her. He never did anything without first turning to Mary and asking her blessing. When he recited the Office, said his Rosary, and recited other prayers, he did so with such affection and devotion that he seemed to be speaking with Mary face to face. When the Salve Regina was sung, his whole soul and his countenance were aglow with love. On one occasion, while he and a Jesuit companion were on their way to visit a certain shrine of Our Lady, his companion asked him how much he loved Mary. He replied, "What more can I say than that she is my mother?" The Father afterwards said that when the youth spoke these words, he uttered them with such tenderness and devotion that he seemed no longer a man, but rather an angel speaking of love for Mary.

Let them love her as Blessed Herman loved her. He called her the spouse of his love, because Mary herself had honored him with that title. Let them love her as Saint Philip Neri did. He was filled with consolation when he merely thought of Mary, and for that reason he called her his delight. Let them love her like Saint Bonaventure, who called Mary not only his lady and mother but even his heart and his soul.

Let them love her like that great lover of Mary, Saint Bernard, who called her the "ravisher of hearts." To express his ardent love he would often say: "Have you not stolen my heart?"

Let them even call her "sweetheart," as did Saint Bernardine of Siena. Every day, he made a visit to a shrine of Mary and protested his love for her. When someone asked him where he went each day, he replied that he went to call on his sweetheart.

Let them love her as Saint Aloysius Gonzaga loved her. He loved her so much that whenever he heard her name mentioned his heart was inflamed and even his countenance reddened with a glow that everybody could see.

Let them love her as Saint Francis Solano did, who was considered mad (but with a holy madness) for love of Mary. He would sing before her picture and play a musical instrument, and claim, like worldly troubadours, that he was serenading his queen.

Finally, let them love her as did so many of her servants who could never do enough to show their love. Father John Trexo, S.J., used to call himself the slave of Mary. He often visited her in one or the other of her churches. Then, to prove his servitude, he would drench the floor with his tears. Next, he would wipe away those tears with kisses - all because this was the house of his lady.

Another Jesuit, Father James Martinez, was honored in a special way for his devotion to Mary. On great feasts he was taken by angels to heaven to see how the feasts were observed there. He would often say: "I wish I had the hearts of all the angels and saints to love Mary as they love her! I wish I could control the lives of all men, so that I could direct them all to the love of Mary."

Let still others love her as did Saint Bridget's son, Charles, who claimed he had no greater consolation on earth than knowing that God loved Mary so dearly. He also maintained that he would gladly accept any suffering rather than have Mary lose even one iota of her greatness, if indeed if were possible for her to lose any. Furthermore, he said that if her glory were his, he would renounce it in her favor since she is ever so much more worthy of it.

Let them desire even to lay down their lives as proof of their love for Mary, as Saint Alphonsus Rodriguez did. Let them love Mary as did those who carved the sweet name of Mary on their breasts with sharp knives, as did Francis Binanzio, a holy religious, and Queen Radigunde, the wife of King Clothaire. Let them love her as did those who took red hot irons and imprinted her name upon their flesh, so that it would remain there clear and long, as did John Baptist Achinto and Augustine d'Espinoso of the Society of Jesus, both driven to this by the vehemence of their love.

Even though these lovers of Mary exert their best efforts to prove their affection for her, they will never succeed in loving her as much as she loves them. "I know, O Mary," says Saint Peter Damian, "that you are most lovable and that you love us with an invincible love." I know, my Lady, he said in effect, that you love us with a love that is unsurpassable, that cannot be topped by any other love.

On one occasion, Saint Alphonsus Rodriguez, S.J., was praying before an image of Mary. His heart became inflamed with love for her and he cried out: "My dearest Mother, I know that you love me, but you do not love me as much as I love you." Mary, offended, as it were, on a point of love, immediately answered: "What are you saying, Alphonsus? My love for you is greater than any love you could have for me. The distance between heaven and earth is not so great as the distance between your love and mine."

Saint Bonaventure then was right in exclaiming: "Blessed are the hearts that love Mary! Blessed are those who serve her!" Yes, for Mary will never allow herself to be surpassed in love by her clients. "In this contest, she will never be worsted by us. She returns our love and always adds some new favors to past ones." In this respect Mary imitates our most loving Redeemer. She returns to those who love her their love doubled and redoubled in favors and benefits.

With Saint Anselm, so enamored of Mary, I also exclaim: "May the love of you, O Mary, make my heart languish and my soul melt!" May my heart always burn and my soul be consumed with love for you, my dear Savior, and for you, my dear Mother Mary. Through your merits, therefore, and not because I deserve it, grant my suppliant soul a love that is worthy of you. Therefore, through your merits and not my own, O Jesus and Mary, grant my soul the grace to love you as much as you deserve. O lover of souls, you were able to love guilty men unto death. Will you then refuse love for yourself and for your mother to one who prays for it?

Mary is the mother of penitent sinners

Our Blessed Lady told Saint Bridget that she was the mother not only of the just and innocent, but also of sinners, provided they were willing to repent. Every sinner who wishes to mend his ways finds this good mother ever so willing to embrace and help him; far more so than any earthly mother. Saint Gregory VII had this thought in mind when he wrote to the Countess Matilda, saying: "Resolve to give up sin, and I promise you that you will find Mary more ready to love you than any earthly mother."

But whoever hopes to be a child of this great mother must first abandon sin. Only then can he hope to be accepted as Mary's son. Richard of Saint Lawrence, commenting on the words of Proverbs: "Her children rise up and praise her" (Prov 31:28), remarks that these words indicate that no one can be a child of Mary without first endeavoring to rise from the depths into which he has fallen. He who is in mortal sin is not worthy to be called the son of such a mother. And Saint Peter Chrysologus says, "He who acts differently from Mary plainly proves that he does not want to be her son." Mary is humble, and he is proud; Mary is pure, and he is evil; Mary is full of love, and he hates his neighbor.

"The sons of Mary," says Richard of Saint Lawrence, "imitate her, and they follow her chiefly in four things: in chastity, meekness, humility, and mercy." How can he who repudiates Mary by living a wicked life even dare to wish to be a child of Mary? A certain sinner once said to Mary, "Prove that you are my mother." But the Blessed Virgin answered: "Prove that you are my son."

Another sinner invoked Mary, calling her the "Mother of Mercy." And she replied: "You sinners, when you want my help, call me Mother of Mercy. But at the same time, you do not cease by your sins to make me a mother of sorrows and anguish."

We read in Ecclesiasticus, "He is cursed of God that angers his mother" (Ecclus 3:18). That mother, says Richard of Saint Lawrence, is Mary. God curses those who by their wicked life and by their obstinacy in sin afflict so good a Mother.

I say, by their obstinacy, for if a sinner, though he may not have given up his sin, endeavors to mend his ways and, for this purpose, seeks the help of Mary, this good mother will not fail to help him and make him recover the grace of God. One day, Saint Bridget heard Jesus say to his Mother: "You help everyone who tries to rise to God, and you leave nobody deprived of your consolation." But when the sinner is obstinate, Mary cannot love him. However, if he finds himself chained by some passion which makes him a slave of hell and still recommends himself to the Blessed Virgin and implores her with confidence to draw him out of that state of sin, there can be no doubt that Mary will reach forth her powerful hand, will deliver him from his chains, and will bring him to salvation.

The doctrine that all prayers and works performed in the state of sin are themselves sins was condemned as heretical by the Council of Trent. Saint Bernard says that, although prayer in the mouth of a sinner is devoid of all merit because it is not accompanied by charity, nevertheless it is useful and wins the grace to abandon sin. Saint Thomas teaches that the prayer of a sinner, though without merit, is an act which obtains the grace of forgiveness, since the power of impetration is based not on the merit of him who asks, but on the divine goodness and the merits of Jesus Christ, who said: "Everyone who asks receives" (Lk 11:10).

We must say the same of prayers offered to the Blessed Mother. "If the person who prays," says Saint Anselm, "does not merit to be heard, the merits of Mary, to whom he recommends himself, will effectually intercede for him." Saint Bernard exhorts every sinner to invoke Mary and to have the greatest confidence in praying to her, because, although the sinner does not deserve what he asks, it will be granted to Mary on account of her merits. And those graces will be given to the sinner which she begs of God for him.

Adam, the Abbot of Perseigne, uses this comparison. Suppose a mother knew that her two sons were deadly enemies and plotting each other's murder. What else would she do than try in every way to pacify them? "Mary," says the abbot, "is man's mother and Jesus' mother." When she sees a sinner become the enemy of Jesus Christ, she cannot bear it, and consequently does everything in her power to establish peace between them. "O happy Mary," he said, "you are the mother of the criminal and the mother of the Judge. You are the mother of both and you cannot suffer to see discord between your sons."

The only thing that Mary demands is that the sinner have recourse to her and intend to change his ways. When Mary sees a sinner at her feet begging for mercy, she does not concentrate on the sins with which he is burdened, but rather on the intention with which he comes. If he comes with the proper good intention, even though his soul be black with sin, she welcomes him, and like a loving mother, does not hesitate to heal all the wounds of his soul. For Mary is not merely called, but actually is, the Mother of Mercy. She makes herself known as such by the spontaneous love and tenderness with which she helps all who turn to her. This is precisely what she said to Saint Bridget; "No matter how much a man sins, I am instantly ready to welcome him back. I do not fix my attention on the number of his sins, but rather on the intention with which he returns. I will not refuse to anoint and heal his wounds, for I am called and really am the Mother of Mercy."

Mary is the mother of all sinners who wish to repent. And as such, she cannot help but pity them. In fact, she feels the misfortunes of her children as though they were her own. When the Canaanite woman begged Our Lord to free her daughter from the devil that troubled her, she said: "Have pity on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is sorely beset by a devil" (Mt 15:22). Now, since it was the daughter, and not the mother who was tormented by the devil, we would think she should have said: "Lord, have pity on my daughter," and not "have pity on me." Nevertheless she said: "Have pity on me." And rightly, because mothers feel the miseries of their children as if they were their own. Richard of Saint Lawrence says that is the way that Mary prays for sinners who have recourse to her: "Mary cries out with a loud voice for a sinful soul and says, 'Have pity on me.'" "Yes," she seems to say, "this poor soul is in sin. This soul is my child, and therefore have pity not only on her but also on me, her mother."

God grant that all sinners have recourse to Mary. Because then he will pardon them all. In rapture, Saint Bonaventure exclaims: "O Mary, you affectionately embrace the sinner who is despised by the whole world. And you do not leave him go till you reconcile him with his Judge." What the saint wants to say is, that a sinner is hated and despised by everybody. Inanimate creatures - fire, air, and earth - would like to punish him and take revenge on him for dishonoring their Lord whom the sinner has despised. But when the wretch turns to Mary, does she turn away? On the contrary. If he goes to her for help and is ready to mend his ways, she embraces him like an affectionate mother. And she will not rest till by her powerful intercession she has reconciled him to God and restored him to grace.

We read in the Second Book of Kings how that wise woman of Thecua said to David: "I had two sons. Unfortunately, the one killed the other, and so I have lost a son. Now in justice, they want to take the other, the only one left to me. Have pity on me, their poor mother, and do not let me be deprived of both my sons" (2 Kings 14). David wisely declared that the delinquent should be set free and restored to her. Mary seems to say the same thing when God is indignant against a sinner who has recourse to her: "My God, I had two sons, Jesus and man. Man has slain my Jesus on the cross and now your justice wants to condemn man. O Lord, my Jesus is already dead. Have pity on me. Now that I have lost the one son, do not make me lose the other also."

Surely God does not condemn those sinners who have recourse to Mary and for whom she intercedes. God himself has recommended these sinners as sons to Mary. The devout Lanspergius makes God speak in this vein: "I have commended sinners to Mary as her sons. No one committed to her care shall perish, particularly if he goes to her for help. In as far as it lies in her power, she will bring him back to me."

Who, says Blosius, can ever describe the mercy, the fidelity, and the charity with which this good mother seeks to save us whenever we beg her for help? Let us prostrate ourselves before her, says Saint Bernard, let us embrace her feet, let us not leave her until she has blessed us and received us as her children.

Who could ever mistrust the compassion of Mary? Saint Bonaventure used to say, "Even though she should ask for my life, I would still hope in her. Full of confidence, I hope to die before her image. And I know I shall be saved." Every sinner who has recourse to her should feel the same and should say: "O Lady, O my Mother! On account of my sins I deserve to be abandoned by you and punished according to my just desserts. But even though you would banish me and take my life, I will still trust in you and hope with a firm hope that you will save me. My entire confidence is in you. Give me the grace to die before your image, recommending myself to your mercy. That will convince me that I will not be lost and that I will go to praise you in heaven, in the company of so many of your servants who, when dying, called on you for help, and who were all saved by your powerful intercession."

2. OUR LIFE, OUR SWEETNESS

Mary is our life because she obtains the pardon of our sins

To understand clearly why Holy Church bids us call Mary our life, we must realize that, as the soul is the life of the body, so divine grace is the life of the soul. The Apocalypse says that a soul without grace is really dead, even though it appears to be alive: "You have the name of being alive, and you are dead" (Apoc 3:1). Therefore, when Mary, by her intercession, obtains grace for sinners, she obtains life for them.

The Church applies to Mary these words of Proverbs, and has Mary say: "They that in the early morning watch for me, shall find me" (Prov 8:17). In the Septuagint the words "shall find me" are translated "shall find grace," implying, of course, that to find Mary and to find grace are one and the same thing.

Later, in the same book of Proverbs, these words are applied to Mary: "He that shall find me, shall find life, and shall have salvation from the Lord" (Prov 8:35). "Pay attention to these words," exclaims Saint Bonaventure, "you that desire the kingdom of God. Honor Mary and you shall find life and eternal salvation."

Saint Bernardine of Siena gives it as his opinion that, if God did not destroy man after his first sin, it was because of his great love for the Blessed Virgin, who was to be born of this race. He adds that he does not doubt that all the mercy and pardon received by sinners in the Old Testament were granted in consideration of Mary.

Therefore, Saint Bernard does well to exhort us in these words: "Let us seek grace, and let us seek it through Mary." Even though we may have lost grace, it is she who has recovered it. He calls her "the finder of grace." The idea was earlier expressed by the Archangel Gabriel, who said to Mary: "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found grace" (Lk 1:30). How can the Archangel say Mary found grace when she had never been without it? When anybody gets something he did not previously have, he is said to have found it. Yet the Archangel himself said that Mary was always with God and always possessed grace: "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you" (Lk 1:28). Since, then, Mary did not find grace for herself, and was always full of grace, for whom did she find it? Cardinal Hugo, in commenting on these words of Saint Luke, says: "She found it for sinners who had lost it." Therefore, says the same writer, let sinners who have lost grace run to Mary and they will find grace with her. Let them say to her confidently: "Give us back what we have lost and what you have found. Whatever is lost must be restored to its owner. This grace which you have found is not really yours, because you never lost it. Therefore, you must return it to us." In keeping with this thought, Richard of Saint Lawrence concludes: "Since we desire to find grace, let us go to the finder of grace. Mary always finds what she seeks, and cannot possibly fail us."

In the eighth chapter of Canticles, Mary says that God has placed her in this world to be our defense. "I am a wall; and my breasts are like towers" (Cant 8:10). And so Mary is truly a mediatrix of peace between God and sinners. "I am become in his presence as one finding peace" (Cant 8:10). Inspired by these words, Saint Bernard encourages the sinner and says: "Go to the Mother of Mercy and show her the wounds inflicted by your sins. She will show you mercy, because the son always hears his mother." This is the sentiment we find in the prayer recited after the Ave Regina Coelorum: "Grant, O merciful God, protection for our weakness, so that we who are ever mindful of the holy Mother of God may, by the help of her intercession, rise again from our sins."

With good reason, then, does Saint Lawrence Giustiniani call Mary "the hope of evildoers," since she alone is the one who obtains God's pardon for them. With good reason, too, does Saint Bernard style her "the ladder of sinners," because she extends her merciful hand to rescue sinners from the abyss into which they have fallen and raises them up to God. Saint Augustine calls her "the only hope of sinners," because through Mary alone do they hope for forgiveness of their sins. Saint John Chrysostom speaks in the same vein when he says that only through Mary's intercession do sinners receive pardon. Therefore does he greet Mary in this fashion in the name of all sinners: "Hail, Mother of God and of us all - the heaven where God dwells, the throne from which Our Lord dispenses all graces, the glory of our Church! Pray unceasingly to Jesus so that we may find mercy on the day of judgment, and that through you we may come into possession of the wonderful things he has prepared for those who love him."

Finally, Mary is fittingly called "the dawn." "Who is she that comes forth like the dawn" (Cant 6:9). "Yes," says Pope Innocent III, "as the dawn marks the end of night and the beginning of day, so is Mary truly styled the dawn, because she marks the end of vice and the beginning of virtue." When devotion toward Mary begins in a soul, it produces the same effect as the birth of Mary produced in the world. It puts an end to the night of sin and makes the soul walk in the path of virtue. That is why Saint Germanus says: "O Mother of God, your protection never ceases; your intercession is life." He goes on to say that the affectionate mention of Mary's name is a proof of life in the soul or a sign that life will soon return there.

We read in the Gospel of Saint Luke that Mary said: "Behold, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed" (Lk 1:48). "Yes, my Lady," exclaims Saint Bernard, "henceforth all generations shall call you blessed, because you have brought forth glory and life for all generations. In you do sinners find their pardon, and the just perseverance and eternal life."

Listen to the devout Bernardine de Bustis: "Do not be afraid, O sinner, even if you have committed every kind of sin. Run to this lady and you will find her hands filled with mercy. She desires more to do you good than you can desire to receive favors from her."

Saint Andrew of Crete calls Mary the guarantee of divine pardon. Here is his meaning. When sinners call upon Mary in order to be reconciled to God, God promises them pardon and moreover gives a pledge of it. That pledge is Mary, whom he has given them as a champion or advocate. Through her intercession and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, God pardons all sinners who go to Mary. Saint Bridget tells us that she heard from her Guardian Angel that the early prophets were happy in knowing that God was to be reconciled with sinners through the humility and purity of Mary.

No sinner need ever fear that Mary will spurn him when he calls on her for mercy. Never! Because Mary is the Mother of Mercy and she burns with the desire to help unfortunate sinners. Mary is that blessed ark, says Saint Bernard, where anyone who takes refuge will escape the shipwreck of eternal damnation. At the time of the deluge, even the brute animals were saved in Noah's ark. And so, under Mary's protection, even sinners are saved.

One day in a vision, Saint Gertrude saw Mary with her cloak spread wide open. Under its folds were many wild animals: lions, bears, tigers - all of whom had taken refuge there. The saint noticed that Mary did not chase the beasts away. She welcomed them kindly and caressed them. From this, Saint Gertrude concluded that even the most sordid sinners are not only not rejected by Mary, but are even welcomed and saved by her from eternal death. Let us then enter this ark, let us take refuge under the cloak of Mary and she will most certainly not spurn us, but will secure our eternal salvation.

Mary is also our life because she obtains perseverance for us

Final perseverance is so great a gift of God that, as the Council of Trent has declared, it is entirely gratuitous on his part, and we cannot merit it. According to Saint Augustine, those who ask for perseverance will obtain it. And according to Suarez, they will infallibly obtain it if they ask for it diligently till the end of their lives. Saint Robert Bellarmine writes: "You must ask for perseverance every day, in order to obtain it every day."

Now, if it is true - and I hold that it is true, according to the common opinion, and as I shall show later in Chapter V - if it is true that all graces given us by God come through Mary's hands, then it is also true that only through the help of Mary are we able to hope for and obtain the greatest grace of all, the grace of final perseverance. We will certainly obtain it if we constantly and confidently ask it of Mary. She herself promises this grace to all who in this life serve her faithfully, according to the words which the Church puts on her lips for the feast of the Immaculate Conception: "They that work by me shall not sin; they that explain me shall have life everlasting" (Ecclus 24:30-31).

To be preserved in the life of grace we must have the spiritual strength to resist all the enemies of our salvation. This strength, however, we will obtain only through Mary. In the liturgy of the feast of Our Lady of the Snows we read this quotation from Proverbs: "Mine is strength; by me kings reign" (Prov 8:14-15). This strength is mine, says Mary. God has put this gift in my hands, so that I can dispense it to my devoted ones. By my help, kings reign. By my help, my children reign over and have control over all their senses and passions, and in that way make themselves worthy to reign eternally in heaven.

How tremendous is this power which Mary's servants have to conquer all the temptations of hell! Mary is that tower of which the sacred Canticle says: "Your neck is like David's tower, girt with battlements; a thousand bucklers hang upon it, all the shields of valiant men" (Cant 4:4). To all who love her and look to her for help in battle, Mary is like a strong tower surrounded by defenses. She contains all the shields and weapons they need to battle against the forces of evil.

That is why Mary is also called a plane tree: "As a plane tree by the water in the streets was I exalted" (Ecclus 24:19). Cardinal Hugo explains this by pointing out that the leaves of the plane tree resemble shields. Blessed Amadeus gives another explanation. He says Mary resembles the plane tree because the shade of its leaves offers the traveler shelter from the sun's heat and from rain. Under the shade of Mary's protection, human beings find refuge from the heat of their passions and from the fury of temptation.

Unfortunate indeed are those souls who get away from this protection, who give up their devotion to Mary, who no longer recommend themselves to her in occasions of sin. Saint Bernard says that if the sun did not rise upon the world, the world would be nothing but a chaos of darkness and horror. "Take away the sun," says the saint, "and where is the daylight? Take away Mary, and what is left but darkness?"

Once a soul loses devotion to Mary, there is nothing left but the darkness of which the Holy Spirit speaks: "You bring darkness and it is night; then all the beasts of the forest roam about" (Ps 103:20). Divine light no longer shines in the soul. It is night, and the soul becomes the haunt of devils and of every sin. Woe to those, says Saint Anselm, who despise the light of this sun, who despise devotion to Mary! Saint Francis Borgia used to fear for the perseverance of those in whom he found no devotion to Mary. He warned the Novice Master to keep an eye on such unfortunate novices. It happened that every one of those eventually lost his vocation and left the Order.

So it was perfectly natural for Saint Germanus to call Mary the "breath of Christians." Just as the body cannot live without breathing, so the soul cannot live without having recourse to Mary, through whom the life of grace is acquired and preserved in us. Here are the saint's own words: "As breathing is not only a sign of life, but also its very cause, so Mary's name, ever on the lips of God's servants, not only is a sign that they really live, but actually causes that life and gives them every help they need to sustain it."

Blessed Alan was once assailed by a strong temptation and was on the point of yielding, because he had neglected to recommend himself to Mary. The Blessed Virgin appeared to him. To warn him once and for all, she struck him on the face, saying, "If you had recommended yourself to me before, you would not be in this danger."

"Happy the man," says Mary, "watching daily at my gates, waiting at my doorposts" (Prov 8:34). Happy the man that hears my voice and is always ready to come to the doors of my mercy for light and help. Mary will take care of such a man. Mary will get for him the light and strength to abandon sin and walk the way of virtue. That is why Pope Innocent III beautifully calls her "the moon in the night, the dawn in the morning, and the sun in the day." She is a moon, because she enlightens those steeped in the night of sin so that they will recognize their wretched state; she is the dawn, that is, the herald of the sun, to those whom she has already enlightened, to help them abandon sin and return to divine grace; she is the sun to those who are already in the state of grace, lest they fall back into sin again.

Learned writers apply these words of Ecclesiasticus to Mary: "Her bands are a healthful binding" (Ecclus 6:31). "Why bands," asks Saint Lawrence Giustiniani, "unless it be to bind her children lest they run about freely on the fields of vice?" Saint Bonaventure gives a similar explanation of these words in Our Lady's Office, "My abode is in the full assembly of the saints" (Ecclus 24:16). He says that Mary is not only placed in the midst of the assembly of the saints, but also preserves the saints from falling out of that assembly. She preserves their virtue and keeps the demons from harming them.

Our Lady's servants are said to be clothed very warmly. "All her charges are doubly clothed" (Prov 31:21). Cornelius à Lapide explains what this double clothing is. He says that Mary adorns her servants with the virtues of her son and with her own. Clothed in this way, they persevere in virtue.

That is why Saint Philip Neri always admonished his penitents with these words: "If you want to persevere, be devoted to Mary." Saint John Berchmans, S.J., often used to say: "Whoever loves Mary will persevere."

The Abbot Rupert makes a beautiful comment on the parable of the Prodigal Son. He says that if this wayward son had had a mother alive, either he would never have left his father's house or he would have returned sooner that he did. It is obvious that the abbot meant to say that whoever is a child of Mary either will not leave God, or, if he has unfortunately done so, will soon return through Mary.

Who would ever fall into sin if all men loved this most kind Mother and immediately ran to her in temptations? Who would ever be lost? Not to have recourse to Mary is one of the surest ways of falling into sin. Saint Lawrence Giustiniani applies to Mary these words of Ecclesiasticus: "I have walked in the waves of the sea" (Ecclus 24:8). And he makes her say: "I have walked with my servants in the waves of the sea, so that I might rescue them from shipwreck."

Father Bernardine de Bustis tells of a little bird that was taught to say: "Ave, Maria!" A sparrow-hawk was on the point of seizing it when the bird cried out, "Ave, Maria!" In an instant, the hawk fell dead. By this, God wanted to show that, if an irrational ittle bird was saved by invoking Mary, how much more surely will one who is tempted be saved from the clutches of Satan who at the moment of the attack calls upon Mary.

All we have to do when we are tempted, says Saint Thomas of Villanova, is to imitate little chicks. As soon as they see the chicken hawk flying about, they run under the wings of their mother for protection. That is exactly what we should do in moments of temptation. There should be no stopping to reason or to argue with the temptation. We should fly under the wings of Mary's protection immediately. "We know no other refuge than you," says the saint. "You are our only hope; you are the only one to whom we can look for help."

Let us conclude then in the words of Saint Bernard: "O man, whoever you are, know that in this world you are tossed around on a stormy sea, rather than walking on solid ground. Remember that, if you want to escape shipwreck, you must never tum your eyes from this bright star which is Mary. Keep your eyes fixed on her and call on her. In dangers, in troubles, in doubts, remember Mary, call on Mary." Yes, in danger of sinning, and when beset by temptations, when in doubt how to act, remember that Mary can help you. Call on her and she will help you immediately. Never let her name be absent from your heart and lips. Follow her, and you cannot go astray. Pray to her and you will never despair. If she sustains you, you will not fall. If she protects you, you need never fear. If she guides you, you will never become exhausted. With her help, you will reach your goal. In short, with Mary on your side, you will surely reach heaven. Do this, and live!

Mary, our sweetness - she makes death sweet to her clients

"He who is a friend is always a friend, and a brother is born for the time of stress" (Prov 17:17). It is in times of distress and misery that we recognize true friends, not in times of prosperity. People of the world never abandon a friend as long as he is wealthy and successful. But, if he should have some misfortune, and particularly when death comes along, his friends are quick to abandon him. That is not the way Mary acts. When those who love her are in distress, particularly when they are at the point of death, which is the greatest trial they can have on earth, this good mother simply cannot abandon her faithful servants. As during our earthly exile Mary is our life, so too at the moment of death she becomes our sweetness by obtaining for us a sweet and peaceful death. From the very day when Mary sorrowfully stood at the cross of her son, Jesus, who is the head of the Mystical Body, she received the grace to assist the members of that Mystical Body at the moment of their death. That is why Holy Church begs us to admonish Mary to assist us, particularly at the moment of death: "Pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death."

The moment of death brings to a departing soul many anxieties. It is apt to suffer from remorse for past sins, fear of the approaching judgment, and uncertainty of eternal salvation. It is at that moment that all hell arms itself to snatch the soul on the point of entering eternity. Satan knows there is little time left to win that soul and that, if this attempt fails, he has lost that soul forever. "The devil has gone down to you in great wrath, knowing that he has but a short time" (Apoc 12:12).

That is why too, as Isaiah says, the devil, who has been tempting the soul during life, is not content to act alone in tempting the soul at death. He calls on his companions to help: "Their houses shall be filled with serpents" (Isa 13:21). When a person is at the point of death, the whole place is filled with devils who all combine in the attempt to make him lose his soul.

The story is told that when Saint Andrew Avellino lay dying, ten thousand demons came to tempt him. The conflict that he had with the powers of hell at his last agony was so severe that the good religious at his bedside trembled with fear. They saw the saint's face swell and turn black with agitation. They saw his limbs quiver and become frightfully contorted. Tears coursed down his cheeks and his head shook violently. All this was an evidence of the frightful battle hell was waging against him. Trembling with fear to see a saint dying this way, the brethren in the room wept with pity and redoubled their prayers. They were consoled, however, in seeing that very often, as if begging for help, the saint turned his eyes to a picture of Mary. They remembered how he had assured them that at the hour of his death Mary would have to be his refuge. Finally, God put an end to the conflict and gave the saint a glorious victory. The contortions ceased; his face resumed its original shape and color, his eyes remained peacefully fixed on the image of Mary. Then, as if to thank Our Lady, the saint bowed to her and devoutly expired. It is piously believed that Our Blessed Lady had appeared to him at that moment. A Capuchin nun, who was also in her agony at the same time, turned to the Sisters around her and said: "Say an Ave Maria, for a saint has just died."

Imagine how the evil spirits must flee from the presence of Mary! If we have Mary on our side at the hour of death, there is no reason to fear the enemies from hell. When David grew frightened at the thought of death, he comforted himself by placing his reliance in the death of the coming Redeemer and in the intercession of the Blessed Mother. "Even though I walk in the dark valley, I fear no evil; for you are at my side with your rod and your staff that give me courage" (Ps 22:4). Cardinal Hugo beautifully explains these words by saying that the staff is the wood of the cross and the rod is the intercession of Mary, who was the rod foretold by Isaiah; "There shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise out of his root" (Isa 11:1).

Saint Peter Damian affirms that Mary is that powerful rod by which the violence of hell is overcome. Saint Antoninus encourages us by saying: "If Mary is for us, who is against us?" When Father Manuel Padial was at the point of death, Mary appeared to him and spoke these consoling words: "At length the hour has come when angels rejoice with you and exclaim: O happy labors! O well-rewarded mortifications!" At the same moment, an army of demons was seen taking flight and howling in hideous despair: "We are helpless now, because she who is spotless is defending him." Father Jasper Hayewood was similarly attacked by devils with a strong temptation against faith. He turned immediately to Mary for help and those around him heard him exclaim: "Thank you, Mary, for coming to my aid."

Saint Bonaventure claims that, to defend her dying clients, Mary sends the Archangel Saint Michael, together with his host of angels. Moreover, she commands Saint Michael to receive the souls of all who had constantly recommended themselves to her. Addressing Our Blessed Lady, the saint says: "Michael, the leader and prince of the heavenly army, with all his ministering angels, obeys your commands, O Virgin, and defends and receives the souls of the faithful departed who day and night have particularly recommended themselves to you."

The prophet Isaiah tells us that when a man is about to die, hell is opened and sends out its worst devils, both to tempt the soul before it leaves the body and to accuse it when it is presented before the tribunal of Jesus Christ for judgment. The prophet says: "Hell below was in an uproar to meet you at thy coming; it stirred up the giants for you" (Isa 14:9). But Richard of Saint Lawrence says that when Mary defends a soul, the devils dare not even accuse it. They know the supreme judge never has condemned, nor ever will condemn, such a soul.

Saint Jerome wrote to Eustochius that Mary not only helps her servants at the hour of death; she even comes to meet them on their way to eternity, so that she can encourage them and accompany them to the divine tribunal. This is in line with what Saint Bridget heard from the Blessed Virgin. Speaking of the death of those who are devoted to her, Mary said: "Then will I, their lady and mother, fly swiftly to them to console and refresh them."

Saint Vincent Ferrer writes: "This loving queen takes the souls of the dying under her protection and presents them to the judge, her son, and most certainly obtains their salvation." This was verified in the case of Charles, the son of Saint Bridget, who died on the field of battle, far from his mother. The Blessed Virgin revealed to Saint Bridget that Charles was saved because of his love for Mary, and that she herself had aided him at death and suggested to him the acts of faith, hope, love, and contrition that should be made at that hour. In the same vision, the saint saw Jesus seated on his throne as the devil lodged two accusations against the Blessed Mother. The first was that Mary had prevented the devil from tempting Charles at the moment of death; the second, that without giving any reason for claiming him as her son, she herself presented Charles to be judged and thus saved him. Saint Bridget saw the judge drive the devil away in confusion and Charles's soul carried away to heaven.

"In her there is beauty of life," says Ecclesiasticus, "and her bands are a healthful binding" (Ecclus 6:31). He indeed is blessed who finds himself at death bound by the sweet chains of love for Mary. These chains are chains of salvation that assure us of eternal happiness. Father Binetti, in his book The Perfections of Our Blessed Lord, tells how he was present at the deathbed of a great client of Mary. Just before breathing his last, the dying man said: "O Father, I wish I could let you know how happy I feel that I have served the most Blessed Mother of God. I cannot possibly describe the joy I feel at this moment."

Father Suarez was so devoted to Mary that he claimed he would be willing to exchange all of his knowledge for the merit of a single Hail Mary. As a result of his devotion, he died so cheerfully and so happily that he was able to say: "I never thought it was so sweet to die." You, too, will have the same satisfaction at the moment of death if you remember having loved this good mother. Mary simply cannot help being loyal to those who have been faithful to her - faithful by their visits, Rosaries, fasts, and other acts of devotion.

In spite of your sins, as long as you are determined from now on to lead a good life and to be devoted to her, Mary will give you this consolation. In your trials, in your temptations (which the devil will surely bring before you to make you despair), Mary will comfort you and will come to assist you at the moment of death. Saint Peter Damian relates that his brother, Marinus, had seriously offended God and had one day gone to an altar of Mary to dedicate himself to her as her slave. He took the cord which he wore about his waist and put it around his neck as a sign of slavery, and then said to the Blessed Mother: "My Lady, mirror of purity, I have offended God and you by a sin against chastity. There is nothing left for me but to offer myself to you as your slave. This I do. Receive me, a rebel, and do not abandon me." He left a sum of money on the altar step and promised to leave the same amount there annually as a tribute of his slavery to Mary.

Eventually Marinus came to die. One morning before he passed away, he was heard saying these words: "Arise, and honor the presence of my lady." Then he added: "What favor is this, O Queen of Heaven, that you come to visit your poor slave? Bless me, O Lady, and do not let me be lost after you have honored me with your presence." At that moment his brother Peter entered the room. Marinus told him all that had happened, how the Blessed Mother had appeared to him and blessed him. Then he complained that the persons present in the room at the time had not risen from their seats while Mary was present. A few moments later, Marinus died peacefully.

You, too, dear reader, will taste the same joy in death, if you are faithful to Mary. Even though you have offended God seriously in the past, she will see to it that you die a sweet and happy death.

And if at that moment you are still frightened and lose confidence at the thought of your past sins, she will come and encourage you just as she did Adolph, the Count of Alsace. Adolph had left the world and became a Franciscan and was very devoted to the Mother of God. His days were coming to an end, and as he reviewed his past life - the government of his property and the treatment of his vassals - the rigors of God's justice rose up before his mind and he began to tremble for his salvation. Suddenly Mary appeared to him, accompanied by many saints. Reproving the dying religious, she said to him: "Adolph, you are mine. You have given yourself to me and belong to me. Why are you so afraid to die?" At these words of Our Lady, Adolph felt immensely consoled. Every fear disappeared and he died peacefully and contentedly.

Even though we are sinners, as long as we have this confidence in Mary, we may rest assured that Mary will come to assist us at the hour of our death. She said as much to Saint Matilda. What a consolation it will be at the last moment of our lives, when in a few moments the issue of our salvation must be settled, to see the queen of heaven near us, assisting and consoling us with the assurance of her protection!

In various books there are countless examples besides those I have just cited, of how Mary comes to the assistance of her devotees at the moment of death. Saint Clare, Saint Felix the Capuchin, Saint Clare of Montefalco, Saint Teresa, Saint Peter of Alcántara - all were remarkably assisted by Mary on their deathbed. But for your encouragement and extraordinary consolation, let me relate the following incidents.

Father Crasset relates that Blessed Mary of Oignies saw the Blessed Virgin standing near the deathbed of a devout widow of Willambronx. The widow was burning with fever, and Mary stood near her consoling her and cooling her with a fan.

They tell of Saint John of God that he was tenderly devoted to Mary and that he expected a visit from her when he was dying. He was disappointed when she did not appear immediately and even complained a little. First, Mary reproved him for his lack of confidence. Then she spoke to him these tender words that should console all who are devoted to Mary: "John, it is not my practice to abandon my clients at this hour." As much as to say: "My dear John, what is the matter with you? Did you think I had forsaken you? Do you not know that I cannot abandon my clients at the point of death? I did not come sooner because the appointed hour had not yet struck. Now, however, the hour has come and I have come to take you. Let us go to paradise." Shortly after, the saint breathed his last and his soul took flight to heaven, there to thank his most loving queen forever.

3. OUR HOPE

Mary is everybody's hope

People outside the Church cannot bear to hear us call Mary "our hope." They say that God is our only hope and that he curses anyone who puts his trust in creatures: "Cursed be the man that trusts in man" (Jer 17:5). Mary is a creature, they argue, and how can a creature be "our hope"? That is what many non-Catholics say. Nevertheless, Holy Church obliges all priests and religious to raise their voices every day in the name of the faithful and invoke Mary by the sweet name of "our hope," the hope of all: "Hail, our hope!"

The Angelic Doctor, Saint Thomas, says that we can place our hope in a person in two ways: as a principal cause and as a mediate cause. Those who expect something from a king put their trust in him as their sovereign. They put their trust in his ministers or courtiers as intercessors. When the favor is granted, it comes really from the king, though the minister or courtier is the intermediary. In this case, the one who seeks the favor is right in calling the intercessor or intermediary his hope.

Because his goodness is infinite, the king of heaven is most eager to enrich us with his graces. On our part, we must have confidence. To increase this confidence, God has given us his own mother as our mother and advocate and has supplied her with the power to help us. Therefore he wants us to place our hope of salvation and of every blessing in her. To fix one's hope on creatures alone, independently of God, as sinners are wont to do, and to outrage God in seeking the friendship and favor of men, is to bring down the curse of heaven, says the prophet Jeremiah. But to hope in Mary, the Mother of God, who can really obtain grace and eternal life for men, is to do something very pleasing to the heart of God. For God desires to see Mary honored in this way, that same Mary whom in this world he loved and who loved and honored him more than all angels and all people together.

That is why we justly and reasonably call Mary our hope, trusting, as Saint Robert Bellarmine says, to obtain through her intercession what we cannot obtain by our prayers alone. Saint Anselm says that we pray to her so that her dignity as intercessor may supply for our unworthiness. And he adds that when we invoke the Blessed Virgin with this kind of hope, it does not mean that we lack hope in God's mercy, but rather that we fear our own lack of the proper dispositions.

Consequently, the Church is right when she applies these words of Ecclesiasticus to Mary: "I am the mother...of holy hope" (Ecclus 24:24). She is the mother who gives birth to holy hope in our hearts. Not the hope of the transitory goods of this life, but the hope of boundless joys and the eternal goods of heaven. Saint Ephrem greets Mary by saying: "Hail, hope of my soul! Hail, sure salvation of Christians! Hail, helper of sinners! Hail, defense of the faithful and salvation of the world." Saint Basil, too, is right in reminding us that after God we have no other hope than Mary.

Reflecting on the present arrangement of Providence by which, as Saint Bernard says (and as we shall discuss at length later), God has disposed that all who are to be saved must be saved through Mary, Saint Ephrem says to her: "Lady, never stop guarding and protecting us, because, next to God, we have no other hope but you." Saint Thomas of Villanova says the same thing: "You are our only refuge, our only hope." Saint Bernard gives the reason for this when he says: "Behold, O man, God's merciful plan. About to redeem the human race, he places the price in Mary's hands." He places the price in Mary's hands so that she can dispense it at will.

We read in the Book of Exodus that God commanded Moses to make a mercy-seat of purest gold, because it was from there he would speak to him (Exod 25:17-22). Saint Andrew of Crete says that the whole world considers Mary as this mercy-seat. A certain author, commenting on this, says: "You, O Mary, are the propitiatory of the whole world. From you, our most compassionate Lord speaks to our hearts. From you, he speaks words of pardon and mercy. From you, he bestows his gifts. From you, all good flows to us." And, therefore, according to Saint Irenaeus, before the Divine Word took flesh in Mary's womb, he sent an archangel to ask her consent: because he willed that the world should receive the Incarnate Word through Mary and that she should be the source of every blessing.

Blessed Raymond Jordano, who styles himself the Unlearned, says: "Through her the world has, and shall have, every good." Every good, every help, every grace that men are to receive from God till the very end of time, and every grace that men have received must have come to them and shall come to them through Mary and her intercession. The devout Blosius did well to exclaim: "O Mary, who would not love you? You are a light in doubts, a comfort in sadness, a refuge in danger. After your only begotten Son, you are the sure salvation of the faithful. Hail, hope of the despairing! Hail, helper of the needy! So much does your Son honor you that he immediately does what you ask him."

Saint Germanus recognizes Mary as the channel of all our blessings and of our liberation from evil, and addresses her in this fashion: "O my Lady, you alone are my consolation from God, the guide for my path, the strength for my weakness, the wealth for my poverty, the medicine for my wounds, the assuagement of my sorrows, the severing of my fetters, the hope of my salvation. Hear my prayers, have pity on my sighs, O my Lady, my refuge, my life, my help, my hope, and my strength."

We should not be surprised then that Saint Antoninus applies these words from the Book of Wisdom to Mary: "All good things together came to me in her company" (Wis 7:11). Since Mary is the mother and dispenser of every good, the whole world, and more particularly each individual who is devoted to Mary, may say with truth that, with devotion to Mary, there came to both him and the world everything good and perfect. And the Abbot of Celles does not hesitate to say absolutely: "To find Mary means to find every good." Whoever finds Mary, finds all graces and every virtue, because by her intercession he obtains everything he needs to become rich in divine grace. In the Book of Proverbs Mary herself tells us that she possesses all the riches of God, that is, his mercies, so that she may disperse them to her lovers: "With me are riches and honor, enduring wealth and prosperity....On the way of duty I walk...granting wealth to those who love me, and filling their treasuries" (Prov 8:18-21). That is why Saint Bonaventure says that all of us should keep our eyes fixed on Mary's hands, so as to receive from her whatever favor we want.

Oh, how many people who were once proud have become humble through Mary! How many ill-tempered people have become meek, and how many blind have been enlightened! How many in despair have found confidence, how many lost have been saved! Our Blessed Lady foretold all this in the sublime canticle she sang when visiting Elizabeth: "For behold, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed" (Lk 1:48). Saint Bernard paraphrases these words and says: "Henceforth all generations shall call you blessed, because you have brought all generations forth to life and glory. In you, sinners find forgiveness, and the just find perseverance in divine grace."

We find the devout Lanspergius picturing Our Lord as saying to the world: "Men, poor children of Adam, who live surrounded by so many enemies and in the midst of so many trials, endeavor to honor my Mother and yours with special veneration. For I have given Mary to the world so that she may be your model, and that you may learn from her to lead a good life. Also so that she may be a refuge to which you can fly in all your afflictions and trials. I have so created this daughter of mine that nobody should fear her or hesitate to turn to her. I have given her so kind and compassionate a nature that it is impossible for her to despise anyone having recourse to her, nor can she deny her favor to anyone who seeks it. Her mercy is open to all and she does not allow anyone to leave her without being consoled." May the immense goodness of God be forever praised and blessed for having given us so great, so tender, so loving a mother and advocate!

How touching and full of confidence are the sentiments of the enamored Saint Bonaventure toward Jesus our loving Redeemer and Mary our most loving advocate. He says: "No matter how much the Lord may know about me, I am confident that he cannot deny himself to one who loves him and seeks him with all his heart. I will embrace him, and if he does not bless me, I will never let him go, for without me he will never be able to leave me. If I can do nothing else, I can at least hide myself in the depth of his wounds and it will be in himself alone that he will find me. And if, finally, on account of my sins, my Redeemer does drive me from his feet, I will throw myself at the feet of Mary and there I will remain prostrate until she has obtained forgiveness for me. This Mother of Mercy does not know, and has never known, how to do otherwise than pity the miseries and satisfy the wishes of troubled creatures who run to her for help. And so, if not out of duty, at least out of love and compassion, she will influence her Son to pardon me."

"Look down upon us then," let us exclaim in the words of Saint Euthymius, "look down upon us, O compassionate Mother, for we are your slaves and we have placed all our trust in you."

Mary is the hope of sinners

In the first chapter of Genesis we read: "God made two great lights; a greater light to rule the day; and a lesser light to rule the night" (Gen 1:16). Cardinal Hugo says that the sun is a figure of Jesus Christ, whose light illumines the just who live in the day of divine grace; the moon is a figure of Mary who enlightens those who dwell in the night of sin. Since Mary is the moon, so propitious to sinners, Innocent III asks what a man should do who finds himself in the night of sin, and answers: "Let him who wanders despairingly in this night of sin look at the moon. That is, let him pray to Mary." Since he has lost the light of the sun by losing divine grace, let him turn to the moon, let him pray to Mary that she obtain for him light to know his miserable state and the power to escape from it. Saint Methodius says that an innumerable multitude of sinners are constantly being converted through Mary's prayers: "By the power and prayers of Mary an almost uncountable number of conversions takes place."

One of the most encouraging titles under which the Church bids us have recourse to Mary is the title "refuge of sinners." In ancient Judea, there were cities of refuge to which criminals fled to escape punishment for their crimes. There are very few, if any, such cities today; but we still have one in Mary, of whom it is said: "Glorious things are said of you, O city of God" (Ps 86:3). However, there is this difference: not all criminals were sheltered by the ancient cities of refuge, nor were these cities for every kind of crime. But, under Mary's mantle, all sinners find refuge; it is enough that a sinner turn to her for protection. Saint John Damascene puts these words on Mary's lips: "I am the city of refuge for all who come to me."

It is enough simply to take refuge there. Those who already have the good fortune to have entered this city need say no more in order to be saved. Quickly "let us enter into the fenced city, and let us be silent there" (Jer 8:14). Saint Albert the Great explains that this walled city is the Blessed Virgin, who is fortified with grace and glory. The Commentary says: "And let us be silent there, because we dare not implore the Lord whom we offended. Let her pray and plead for us." Because we do not dare beg the Lord's pardon, it is enough to enter this city and remain silent, because then Mary will speak for us and pray for us. That is why a pious author, Benedict Fernandez, exhorts all sinners to take shelter under Mary's mantle when he says: "Flee, O Adam and Eve - and you, their children - flee to Mary's bosom. She is the city of refuge, the only hope of sinners." Years before Saint Augustine had already styled her "the only hope of sinners."

Saint Ephrem says to Mary: "You are the only advocate of sinners and the helpless." And he greets her with these words: "Hail, refuge of sinners; hail, haven to which sinners can safely fly for refuge." A certain author thinks that this is what David meant when he said: "For he has hidden me in his tabernacle" (Ps 26:5). What other tabernacle can this be but Mary? So Saint Germanus says, in reference to her: "O tabernacle made by God, which God alone has entered, to work in you his sacred mysteries for the salvation of all men!" Yes, a God-made tabernacle where God alone entered to effect the mysteries of man's redemption. And Saint Basil says that God gave us Mary as a "public hospital," where all the sick who are poor and without any help may be received. I ask: in hospitals established for the poor, who but the sickest and the poorest have the greatest right to be accepted?

The greatest sinners, therefore, being short on merits and most oppressed by ailments of the soul, can say to Mary: "O Lady, you are the refuge of the poor and the sick. Do not send me away; since I am sicker and poorer than the rest, I have a greater claim to your pity." Let us say then with Saint Thomas of Villanova: "We do not know of any refuge but you. You are the only one in whom we trust. You are the only one to whom we look for aid." O Mary, we poor sinners cannot find any other refuge but you. You, to whom we all have turned, are our only hope and we confide our salvation to you. You are our only advocate with Jesus Christ.

In the revelations of Saint Bridget, Mary is called "the star preceding the sun." She is so named, because when we notice devotion to Mary appearing in a soul, we may recognize it as a sure sign that God will soon enrich this soul with his grace. In order to inspire sinners with devotion to Mary, Saint Bonaventure pictures a stormy sea into which sinners have fallen from the ship of divine grace, and where they are buffeted to and fro by remorse of conscience and by a fear of divine justice. They are without light and without a guide; they are about to lose the breath of hope and are on the point of despair. With these thoughts in mind, the saint recommends Mary to sinners, Mary who is commonly called "star of the sea." Raising his voice, he says to them: "Look to her, you sinners who are lost, and she will lead you to port." Poor sinners, you who are lost, do not despair; raise your eyes to this beautiful star and regain the breath of hope, because she will bring you out of the storm and lead you to the port of salvation.

Saint Bernard says the same: "If you do not want to be overwhelmed by the waves, look at this star and call on Mary." And the devout Blosius says, she is the only shelter for those who have offended God. She is the refuge of all the tempted and afflicted. She is all kindness and sweetness not only to the just but also to the despairing and to sinners. Whenever she sees that unfortunate creatures with all their heart seek her help, she aids them at once, welcomes them, and obtains pardon from her son. She cannot despise anybody, no matter how unworthy he is, and does not deny her protection to anyone. She consoles everybody. Merely to have invoked her means that immediately she helps the one who has called upon her. And in her gentle way she knows how to attract to her devotion those sinners who are most at enmity with God and most deeply plunged in sin: "Often through her kindness she sweetly draws to her devotion sinners who are least attached to God. She influences them powerfully and prepares them for the reception of grace, and finally makes them fit for the kingdom of heaven." That is how God made her, so that nobody need fear to approach her. It is impossible for anyone to perish who has been diligently and humbly devoted to Mary.

She is called in sacred Scripture a plane tree: "As a plane tree...was I exalted" (Ecclus 24:19). As the plane tree offers relief to travelers resting under its shade to escape the sun's heat, so Mary, on seeing the anger of divine justice raised against sinners, invites them to rest in the shade of her protection. Saint Bonaventure reminds us that the prophet Isaiah made this complaint to God: "Behold you are angry, and we have sinned...there is none...that rises up and takes hold of you" (Isa 64:5, 7). There was no one then to appease God because Mary had not yet been born. "Before Mary," says the saint, "there was nobody who dared stay God's hand." But now, whenever God is angry with a sinner, and Mary takes him under her protection, "she restrains her son's hand and withholds him from punishing." In fact, continues Saint Bonaventure, "there is nobody so capable as Mary of putting a detaining hand on the sword of divine justice," lest it fall to punish the sinner.

Following the same line of thought, Richard of Saint Lawrence says that before Mary came into the world, God complained that there was not anybody to keep him from punishing the sinner; but once Mary was born she appeased him and stayed the hand of his justice.

Saint Basil encourages sinners with these words: "Do not lose hope, O sinner, but in all things follow and invoke Mary, whom God desired to be our aid in all things." You will find her ever ready to help you, because it is God's will that she help everybody in all necessities. This Mother of Mercy so greatly desires to help the most abandoned sinners that she goes out in search of them. And if they have recourse to her, she has no difficulty in making them acceptable to God.

Because the Patriarch Isaac was eager to eat a dish of game, he promised to bless Esau. But Rebecca wanted her other son, Jacob, to receive the blessing; so she told Jacob to bring in a pair of goats which she would season according to Isaac's taste: "Go your way to the flock, bring me two kids of the best, that I may make of them meat for your father, such as he gladly eats" (Gen 27:9). Saint Antoninus says Rebecca is a figure of Mary saying to the angels: "Bring me sinners" - prefigured by the kids - "because by obtaining for them sorrow and amendment, I shall season them in such a manner that they become dear and acceptable to my Lord." The Abbot Francone, following the same idea, says that Mary knows how to season these goats in a manner that they not only equal but even surpass the flavor of venison.

The Blessed Virgin herself revealed to Saint Bridget that there is no sinner on earth so far removed from God that he will not return to him and recover his grace, if he has recourse to Mary and begs her assistance.

One day, the same Saint Bridget heard Jesus say to his mother: "You would obtain mercy even for Lucifer if he humbly asked for it." That proud spirit, however, would never humble himself so much as to beg for Mary's protection. Nevertheless, were it possible for Lucifer to humiliate himself enough to ask Mary for her protection, she would have the power and mercy to obtain his pardon and salvation from God. What will never come true with regard to the devil, will come true in the case of every sinner who seeks the protection of this Mother of Mercy.

The ark of Noah was a figure of Mary, because every species of animal found refuge there. Similarly, all sinners who have become brutes by their vices and sins of sensuality find refuge under Mary's protection - with this difference, however, that the ark received them as animals and kept them as animals. The wolf remained a wolf, the tiger a tiger. But under Mary's protection the wolf becomes a lamb, and the tiger a dove. One day Saint Gertrude saw Mary with her cloak spread wide open and under it many different wild beasts, such as leopards, lions, tigers, and bears. She noticed that the Blessed Virgin not only did not chase them away, but with her own kind hand welcomed and caressed them. The saint understood that these wild animals represented sinners who have recourse to Mary and are welcomed by her kindness and love.

Therefore Saint Bernard had good reason to say to Mary: "Lady, you do not turn your back on any sinner, no matter how despicable, as long as he approaches you. If he begs your help, you do not refuse to extend a hand to rescue him from the depths of despair." May God be ever blessed and thanked, O loving Mother, for having made you so kind and gentle towards sinners! Doomed indeed is the man who does not love you, who does not hope in you. Whoever does not turn to Mary will be lost. But, on the other hand, who has ever been lost who has turned to Mary for help?

There is a scriptural story that tells how Boaz allowed Ruth to gather the ears of corn which at the harvest fell from the reapers' hands: "She went therefore and gleaned the ears of corn after the reapers" (Ruth 2:3). Saint Bonaventure's comment on this passage is this: "As Ruth found favor in the eyes of Boaz, so Mary found favor in the Lord's eyes and was allowed to glean the ears of corn, that is, the souls left by the reapers, and bring them to pardon." These reapers of souls are the missionaries, preachers, and confessors who daily acquire souls for God by their labors. But there are certain rebellious and hardened souls who are left behind by the reapers. Only Mary has the privilege of saving these by her intercession. There is no doubt that the souls that will not let themselves be garnered by Mary are in a sad way. Hell is of their own choosing. On the other hand, how fortunate the souls that let themselves be gathered up by Mary. The devout Blosius says there is no sinner on earth so depraved, so abandoned, and so filled with misery as to be rejected and despised by Mary. Mary can and will reconcile him to her beloved son, if only he begs for her help.

With excellent reason then, O sweetest queen, Saint John Damascene calls you the "hope of the despairing." And with equal right, Saint Lawrence Giustiniani calls you the "hope of evildoers," and Saint Augustine the "only hope of sinners." Saint Ephrem likes to call you the "safe port of the shipwrecked." He even goes so far as to call you the "protectress of the damned." Finally, Saint Bernard is right when he tells even the despairing not to despair: "Let him who is without hope, hope in you."

Saint Antoninus tells of a sinner who was under God's displeasure and who saw himself in a vision standing before the judgment seat of Jesus Christ. The devil was accusing him and Mary was defending him. In the prosecution, the devil presented the entire list of sins the defendant had committed. When these were put on the scales of divine justice, they outweighed all the sinner's good works. But what did Mary do? She gently placed her hand on the side of the good works and the balance went down in favor of her client. In this way, she gave him to understand that she would obtain his pardon if he would but amend his life. After the vision, the sinner was converted and led a devout life.

4. TO YOU DO WE CRY, POOR BANISHED CHILDREN OF EVE

Mary is prompt to help those who invoke her

We are poor unfortunate children of Eve. As guilty before God as she, and condemned to the same penalty, we are doomed to wander in this valley of tears as exiles, weeping over our many afflictions of body and soul. But happy is he who can turn in the midst of these sorrows to the comforter of the world, to the great Mother of God, and who can devoutly and humbly pray to her: "Blessed is the man that hears me, and that watches daily at my gates" (Prov 8:34). Blessed, says Mary, is he who listens to my counsels and who watches at the gates of my mercy and invokes my intercession and aid.

Holy Church indicates quite clearly how attentively and confidently we are to have recourse constantly to this loving protectress. As a matter of fact, she commands us to have a special devotion to Mary. During the year, a certain number of feasts are to be celebrated in her honor. One day a week is to be specially dedicated to her. In the daily Office, all priests and religious are to invoke her in the name of all Christendom, and three times a day all the faithful are to greet her at the sound of the Angelus bell.

A deeper insight into the mind of the Church is gotten from the fact that in all public calamities the Church wants us to turn to Mary through novenas, special prayers, processions, and visits to her shrines. This is the way Mary wants it. She wants us constantly to seek and invoke her help. Not that she is begging for it, because all the homage we can show her falls far short of what she deserves. But as Saint Bonaventure says, she wants us to increase our confidence and in that way receive greater consolation and help.

Saint Bonaventure also says that Ruth is a figure of Mary because the very name Ruth means seeing and hastening. When Mary sees our miseries, she hastens to help us with her mercy. Novarinus adds that, because of her great desire to do us good, Mary does not delay. She is not a greedy guardian of her graces but the Mother of Mercy, and so she cannot help distributing the treasure of her graces as soon as she can.

Oh, how prompt this good mother is to help those who invoke her: "Your breasts are like twin fawns" (Cant 4:5). In explaining this passage Richard of Saint Lawrence says that, just as fawns are known for the speed with which they run, so also are the breasts of Mary quick to give the milk of mercy to any who ask for it. Richard assures us that Mary dispenses her mercy to everyone who asks for it, even though his prayer be only a simple Hail Mary.

Novarinus claims that the Blessed Virgin not only runs, but actually flies to help whoever calls on her. And he assures us that whenever Mary dispenses mercy she imitates God. Just as Our Lord immediately flies to the rescue of those who ask his help, mindful of his promise, "Ask and you shall receive" (Jn 16:24), so too, whenever Mary is invoked she actually hurries to help the one who prays. "God uses wings and immediately flies to help his servants; and the Blessed Virgin also dons wings to fly to our aid."

From this, we can readily understand how Mary is the woman mentioned in the Apocalypse, of whom it is said: "And there were given to the woman the two wings of the great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness" (Apoc 12:14). Father Ribera, S.J., explains this passage by saying that the two wings are the love wherewith Mary is ever flying toward God. "She has the wings of an eagle, because she flies out of love for God." But Blessed Amadeus has another explanation, one more in accord with our own opinion, and says that the two wings indicate the speed with which Mary always flies to the aid of her children, a speed that surpasses even that of the Seraphim: "At a most rapid speed, surpassing even the Seraphim, Mary, as a mother, flies everywhere to aid her own."

In Luke's Gospel, we read that when Mary went to visit Elizabeth and shower that entire family with grace, she did not tarry but made the whole journey rapidly: "Now in those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country" (Lk 1:39). Nothing is said in the Gospel about her also returning with haste.

From the fifth chapter of the Canticle of Canticles, we get the impression that Mary's hands are used to the lathe. Richard of Saint Lawrence explains that the use of the lathe makes difficult work easy and also enables the artisan to work swiftly. He explains the passage in Canticles (5:14) thus: "As the art of working a lathe is the quickest of all, so is Mary quicker than all the saints in doing good."

Mary has the greatest desire to console everybody. No sooner is she invoked, says Blosius, than she immediately hears the prayers and graciously helps the petitioner