Chapter XXI: Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary

1. A true servant of Mary cannot be lost.

Oh! how great the grounds of hope of the soul that trusts in the intercession of this great Mother of God! Behold the words that the holy Church applies to Mary on her festivals: He that shall find me shall find life, and shall have salvation from the Lord.¹ He that shall find me, says Mary, shall find the life of grace here, and eternal glory hereafter. Addressing the divine Mother, St. Anselm goes so far as to say that “as it is impossible for a person not devoted to Mary, and protected by her, to be saved, so, on the other hand, it is impossible for him to be lost who recommends himself to Mary, and is regarded by her with love.² St. Antonine says that all those that are defended by this great Queen are necessarily saved.³ St. Bonaventure writes that they that obtain the protection of Mary shall, even while they live on this earth, be acknowledged as companions by the saints in glory, and that they that carry the badge of servant of Mary shall be written in the book of life.⁴ Thus to be devoted to Mary is a mark of predestination. The angelic Doctor says that Mary is called the Star of the sea; because as navigators are directed to the port by means of the pole star, so Christians are guided to paradise by Mary.¹

Should a person truly devoted to Mary be lost (I will hereafter explain what is meant by a true client of Mary), it would be because she is either unable or unwilling to assist him. “But no,” says St. Bernard, “she can neither want the power nor the will.”² It is impossible for a true and persevering client of Mary to be lost; because she can neither want the power nor the will to assist him.

I. Let us, then, see, in the first place, how great is Mary’s power before God in favor of her clients.

To inspire us with confidence in this great advocate, the holy Church invokes her under the title of Powerful Virgin.³ Yes, that God who is omnipotent has, as she herself has said, given her great power. He that is mighty hath done great things to me.⁴ Hence St. Theophilus, Bishop of Alexandria, has written: “The Son is pleased that the Mother should pray to him because he wishes to grant her whatever she asks in order to repay her for the favor received from her in giving him flesh.”⁵ St. Bridget heard Jesus say to Mary: Ask what you wish from me, for your petition cannot be fruitless.⁶ My mother, ask of me what you wish; you know that I cannot reject any of your petitions. He then added: “Because you refused me nothing on earth, I will refuse nothing to you in heaven.”⁷ You refused me nothing while I lived on earth, it is right that I refuse you nothing now that you are with me in heaven. But what is the principal reason why the prayers of Mary are so powerful before God? St. Antonine says: “The prayer of the Mother of God partakes of the nature of a command; hence it is impossible that she should not be heard.”¹ The prayers of Mary being the prayers of a mother partake, in a certain manner, of the nature of a command, and therefore they cannot be rejected. Hence Blessed Albertus Magnus used to repeat the words of the Church, “Show thyself a mother,”² in this sense: O Lady, show thyself a mother; ask thy Son, as his mother, to have mercy on us.³ Cosmas of Jerusalem asserts that the protection of Mary is omnipotent.⁴ Yes, says Richard of St. Laurence, it is but just that the mother should share in the power of the Son?⁵ The Son is omnipotent by nature, the mother is omnipotent by grace; that is, she obtains by her prayers whatsoever she wishes.

Let a sinner be ever so abandoned, says St. Gregory of Nicomedia, if he has recourse to Mary she will save him by her intercession. “You have insuperable strength lest the multitude of our sins should overcome your clemency. Nothing resists your power; for the Creator regards your glory as his own.”⁶ O mother of God, thou hast invincible power, that thy clemency may not be conquered by the multitude of sins. Nothing can resist thy power, since the Creator regards, as his own, the glory of his mother. Thou, then, says St. Peter Damian, canst do all things, for thou canst inspire even those who are in despair with hopes of salvation.¹ As often, then, as the devil tempts us to diffidence, let us turn to Mary, and say to her, with St. Germanus, “Thou, O Mary, art omnipotent in saving sinners; thy prayers are all-powerful with God because thou art the mother of true life.”²

II. Let us examine, in the second place, how great is Mary’s desire to assist her clients.

Of what use, says St. Bonaventure, would Mary’s power be to us if she had no regard for us? But, adds the saint, let us hold for certain that as the Virgin is the most powerful of all the saints before God, so she is the most solicitous of all for our salvation.³ “And who, O Lady,” says St. Germanus, “after thy Son, feels greater solicitude for us than thou dost? Who defends us so powerfully in our afflictions? Who labors so hard for the conversion of sinners? O Mary, thy protection is so great that we cannot comprehend it.”⁴ St. Andrew Avellino used to call Mary “the agent of paradise.” But what does she do in heaven? She prays continually for us, and obtains for us all the graces that we ask. She said one day to St. Bridget: “I am called, and I really am, the Mother of Mercy; for such the mercy of God has made me.”⁵ “And who but God in his mercy, because he wishes to save all, has given us this great protectress.”¹ Miserable, and miserable for eternity shall be the man who is damned, because when it was in his power in this life to invoke my intercession, neglected to have recourse to me who am so compassionate to all.

Richard of St. Victor says that Mary is so full of mercy that when she sees our miseries she instantly assists us; she cannot behold a soul in want without coming to her relief.² It was thus she acted when she lived on this earth, as we learn from what happened at the marriage of Cana in Galilee. When the wine failed she did not wait to be asked, but, taking pity on the affliction and shame of the spouses, she besought her Son to console them, saying, they have no wine;³ and induced him to change, by a miracle, water into wine. If, says St. Bonaventure, Mary’s compassion for the afflicted was so great while she lived in this world, her pity for us is certainly far greater now that she reigns in heaven, where she has a better knowledge of our miseries and greater compassion for our afflictions.⁴

Ah! let us not neglect to have recourse, in all our necessities, to the divine mother, who is always prepared to assist all who invoke her intercession. “You will find her,” says Richard of St. Laurence, “always ready to help us.”⁵ Bernardine da Bustis adds that whenever we have recourse to her, we shall find her hands full of mercies and graces.⁶ Richard of St. Victor says, that Mary’s heart is so full of compassion, that as soon as she perceives the wants of the miserable, she anticipates their supplications, and obtains relief for them before they ask it.¹ Why, then, says St. Bernard, should we fear that when we have recourse to Mary she will not console us? She is not austere, she does not inspire terror; she is all sweetness and benignity to those who recommend themselves to her.² And can she be otherwise than beneficent to those who ask her prayers, when she herself goes in search of the miserable to save them? Behold how she invites all, and encourages them to hope for all good if they have recourse to her: In me is all hope of life and of virtue: come over to me all.³ On this passage Pelbart says: “She calls all, the just and sinners.”⁴ The devil, according to St. Peter, goes about seeking whom he may devour,⁵ but this divine mother, says Bernardine da Bustis, goes about seeking whom she may save.⁶

To obtain salvation through her intercession, it is enough to ask the aid of her prayers. A holy soul used to say, that to receive the divine graces it is sufficient to ask Mary to obtain them for us. St. Bonaventure has written that Mary’s desire for our welfare and salvation is so great, that she is offended not only with those who do her a positive injury, but also with those who do not ask favors from her.⁷ Hence the saint used to say, that when he looked at Mary he beheld mercy itself stretching out its hands to raise him up from his miseries.¹ For, he would add, this great Lady knows not, and has never known, how to behold without compassion, or to leave without succor, a person in misery who recommends himself to her.²

Mary’s constant occupation in heaven consists in asking mercy for the miserable. St. Bridget once heard Jesus say to his holy mother: “My mother, ask what you wish from me.”³ And what was Mary’s answer? “I ask mercy for the miserable.”⁴ As if she said: My Son, since thou hast made me Mother of Mercy, and advocate of the miserable, what else shall I ask from Thee than mercy for those who are in misery? And because poor sinners are the most miserable of all, she has her eyes always turned to them in order to assist them. David says that the eyes of the Lord are upon the just,⁵ and according to Richard of St. Laurence, this Mother of mercy has her merciful eyes as well upon the just as upon sinners. This author says that she treats us as a mother treats her child; a mother always keeps her eyes on her child to prevent him from falling, and to raise him up should he fall.⁶

The Lord has constituted Mary the universal advocate of all.⁷ “As,” says Idiota, “she is the queen of all, so she is the advocate of all.” Denis the Carthusian says that she is, in a special manner, the advocate of sinners, because the guilty stand in greater need of succor than the innocent; hence he calls her the advocate of all sinners who invoke her intercession.¹ And before him, St. John Damascene called Mary “the city of refuge for all who fly to her.”² Hence St. Bonaventure says: “Poor abandoned sinners, do not despair, raise your eyes to Mary;”³ and be comforted, trusting in the clemency of this good mother, for she will rescue you from the shipwreck you have suffered and will conduct you to the haven of salvation. Let us then say with St. Thomas of Villanova: “O holy Virgin, since thou art the advocate of the miserable, assist us who are the most miserable of all.”⁴ “Let us,” says St. Bernard, “ask grace, and ask it through Mary.”⁵ The grace that we have lost she has found, says Richard of St. Laurence; we, then, should go to her in order to recover it.⁶ When the Archangel Gabriel announced to Mary that God had chosen her to be the mother of the Word, he said to her: Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God.⁷ But how can that be? Mary was never deprived of grace; on the contrary, she was always full of grace; how, then, could the angel say that she had found grace? Cardinal Hugo answers, that she did not find grace for herself, because she always possessed it, but she found it for us who had miserably lost it. Hence he says that in order to recover it, we should go to Mary and say to her: O Lady, property should be restored to him who has lost it; the grace which thou hast found is not thine, for thou hast always possessed it, it is ours, we have lost it; to us, then, thou shouldst restore it. Behold the Cardinal’s words: “Sinners, who by your sins have forfeited the divine grace, run, run to the Virgin, and say to her with confidence: Restore to us our property which you have found.¹ *

Oh! if all sinners had recourse to Mary, with a determination to amend their lives, who should ever be lost? They that have not recourse to Mary are lost. St. Bridget heard our Saviour say to his mother: “You would show mercy even to the devil were he to ask it with humility.² The proud Lucifer will never humble himself so far as to recommend himself to Mary; but were he to humble himself to this divine mother, and ask her aid, she would not cast him off, but would deliver him from hell by her intercession. By these words Jesus gives us to understand that Mary obtains salvation for all that have recourse to her. Hence St. Basil calls her “a public hospital.”³ Public hospitals are established for the poor that are afflicted with sickness, and the greater the poverty of the invalid, the stronger his claim to admission. Hence, according to St. Basil, Mary should receive with the greatest promptness the most abandoned sinners that have recourse to her. Ah! says St. Bernard, this great queen feels no horror for any sinner, however great the stench of his sins; if the miserable man flies to her protection, she disdains not to stretch forth her hand and to rescue him from the state of perdition.¹ Our Lord revealed to St. Catharine of Sienna, that he had chosen Mary to draw men, and particularly sinners, to his love.² Mary herself said to St. Bridget, that there is no sinner, however abandoned by God, for whom, if he invoke her aid, she will not obtain the grace to return to God, and find mercy.³ She also said that as the magnet attracts iron, so she draws to herself and to God the hardest hearts.⁴

The holy Church wishes that we call this divine mother our hope.⁵ The impious Luther said that he could not bear to hear the Church teaching us to call Mary our hope; God only, he said, is our hope; and God himself curses them who place their hopes in any creature. Yes, God curses those that trust in creatures independently of him, but we hope in Mary as a mediatress with God. For, says St. Bernard, God has placed in the hands of Mary all the treasures of the goods that he wishes to dispense to men.⁶ Hence the Lord wishes us to acknowledge that all good comes from Mary; for he has ordained that all the graces that he will give us should pass through the hands of Mary. Hence St. Bernard called her his greatest confidence, and the entire ground of his hope.¹ St. Bonaventure called Mary the salvation of them who invoke her.² Hence according to St. Bonaventure, to be saved it is enough to invoke Mary. Whenever, then, the devil terrifies us with the fear of being lost, let us say to Mary with the same saint: “In thee, O Lady, have I hoped; may I not be confounded forever.”³ In thee, after Jesus, I have placed all my hopes; thou hast to watch over my salvation, and to deliver me from hell. But, says St. Anselm, hell is not the lot of any true client of Mary, for whom she prays even once, and says to her Son that she wishes him to be saved.⁴ 2. What are the True Servants of Mary.

I have said that no one truly devoted to Mary is lost. But in order to escape illusion, let us examine what is necessary in order to be a true client of Mary.

I. In the first place, a good intention of changing one’s life, and a will to offend God no more, are necessary. To the Princess Matilda, St. Gregory VII. wrote: “Put an end to the will of sinning, and I promise you that you will find Mary more willing than any carnal mother to assist you.”⁵ The Virgin herself said one day to St. Bridget these consoling and encouraging words to sinners: “Let a sinner be ever so abandoned, if he come to me I am ready to receive him the moment he returns. Nor do I attend to the sins he has committed, but only to the intention with which he comes to me. If he come with a desire to change his life, I will not disdain to apply a remedy and heal his wounds; for I am called, and truly am, the Mother of Mercy.”¹ Mother of Mercy! that is, her clemency and her compassion for our miseries incline her to love and assist us with more than maternal tenderness. But she herself declared to the same St. Bridget, that she is a mother only to those that wish to amend their lives.² Hence Mary is not a mother to obstinate sinners. Should any one find himself bound by any passion, and not as yet resolved to renounce sin,’ but desirous of being delivered from it, let him pray to Mary to obtain aid for him to break the chain of hell, and let him at least endeavor to begin to resist the passion and to remove the occasion; and this good Lady will stretch out her hand and will comfort him. This St. Bridget heard from the mouth of Jesus Christ himself. Addressing Mary he said: “To him that endeavors to emerge from sin in order to return to God, you, my mother, give aid; you do not allow any one to depart from you without consolation.”³

II. In the second place, to be a true client of Mary, it is necessary to secure her protection by prayers and other acts of devotion. It is true that she prays for all; but she always prays most efficaciously for those among her servants that honor her most. And remember, says St. Andrew of Crete, that because she is most grateful and liberal, she repays with great graces every little act of devotion that we perform in her honor.⁴ Let us, then, see the acts of devotion that we may perform in honor of this our most loving mother. 1.

Say every morning at rising, and every evening before going to bed, three “Hail Marys” in honor of the purity of Mary, adding: O Mary, through thy pure and immaculate conception, obtain for me purity of body and-sanctity of soul. And place yourself under her protection, that she may preserve you from sin during the day and during the night. Salute her also with a “Hail Mary” as often as the clock strikes, and whenever you leave or return to the cell, or pass by any of her images; and endeavor at the beginning of every action (whether spiritual or temporal), to salute her. with a “Hail Mary.” Blessed will be the actions that are begun and terminated by a “Hail Mary.” When we salute this great Queen, particularly with the Angelical Salutation, which is so-pleasing to her, she always obtains for us in return some favor from heaven. 2.

Do not omit to say the Rosary every day, or at least five decades of it. This is a devotion practised generally by all the faithful, even by seculars, and has been favored by the sovereign Pontiff with immense indulgences. But observe, that to gain the indulgences of the Rosary, it is necessary to accompany the recital of it with the consideration of the mysteries. Moreover, if your name is inscribed in the Confraternity of the Rosary, you may gain many more indulgences. Some religious also say the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin. You might at least say, along with the Rosary, the Office of the name of Mary, which consists of five psalms. Say also, every day, three “Our Fathers” and “Hail Marys” in honor of the Most Holy Trinity, for the graces bestowed on Mary. The Blessed Virgin once revealed that this devotion is very pleasing to her. 3.

Fast every Saturday, and on the vigils of all the festivals of Mary; and if you cannot fast on bread and water, fast at least in the ordinary way, or eat only of one dish, or abstain from something that you feel a desire to eat. Perform some mortification on Saturday, which is the day dedicated by the Church to the honor of the divine mother. 4.

Make every day a visit to some image of your Queen; and in your visit ask Mary to obtain for you holy perseverance, and the love of Jesus Christ. 5.

Do not let a day pass without reading at least a small portion of a book that treats of Mary. There are many books of this kind—True Devotion towards the Blessed Virgin, by Father Crasset; Mutual Affections between Mary and her Clients, by Father Auriemma; The Devout Servant of Mary, by Segneri; Affections to Mary, by Nieremberg: there are many others that you can read. I, too, have written a work on the Virgin, entitled The Glories of Mary, of which several editions have been published. 6.

Perform devoutly the Novenas of the festivals of the Virgin. You can practise the following devotions in these Novenas: first, an additional meditation of half an hour; secondly, recite the “Hail Mary” and “Glory be to the Father” nine times, in honor of the Virgin. I do not advise many vocal prayers, because I would rather see you make many acts of love, or many petitions to Jesus and Mary. For example, I love Thee, O my Jesus; I love thee, O Mary, my Mother; or, Mary, mother of God, pray to Jesus for me. You can make a hundred, or at least fifty, of these acts or prayers in the day. Thirdly, visit each day the image of the Virgin three times, and at each visit repeat the preceding acts of love, or prayers, and at the end of the visit ask some particular grace for the benefit of your soul. Fourthly, endeavor, but with the advice of your confessor, to communicate more frequently during the Novenas. Fifthly, on these days perform some particular act of mortification, by the use of the discipline or little chains; or by fasting, or at least by abstaining from fruit, or from something else; and on the vigil, fast, if you can, on bread and water. I recommend to you the following excellent devotion. Among the festivals of Mary, select one to which you feel most devoted, such as the Immaculate Conception, the Annunciation, the Assumption, or the Feast of Sorrows (to which all should have a special devotion), and after Communion on the festival you select, offer yourself in a special manner to serve her, choosing her for your mistress and mother, asking pardon of your negligences in honoring her during the past year, and promising to serve her better in the year to come. It would be well, with the permission of the Superior, to procure a public Novena along with the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, but without music, or the usual accompaniments, even on the festival: otherwise all will end in vanity and disturbance of mind, as sometimes happens in the festivals of nuns. Would to God that on such festivals more was not lost than gained! 7.

Be careful to recommend yourself often in the day to the protection of Mary. Know that among all devotions, that which is most pleasing to her consists in having frequent recourse to her, and in frequently asking her to obtain for you the divine graces. Blessed is the man, says the Church in the name of Mary, that heareth me, and that watcheth daily at my gates.¹ Happy the man that watches at the gates of my mercy. Mary is called the mother of mercy, on account of her ardent desire to promote our welfare; hence the greatest pleasure that we can give her is to recommend ourselves to her, and to ask her prayers. She desires to assist us, but she wishes that we pray to her, says Blessed Albertus Magnus,¹ in the name of Mary. That I may wish to obtain grace you must pray to me; for if I wish to ask, what I ask of my Son is necessarily given. Hence, St. Bernard says: “In the dangers of consenting to sin, in afflictions, in doubts, call on Mary for succor.”² The saint adds, “Let her powerful name be always in your mouth, by the constant invocation of it, and in your heart by great confidence in her intercession.”³ St. Bonaventure says that a person cannot mention the name of Mary without obtaining some grace.”⁴ And St. Germanus calls the name of Mary the respiration of the soul. “As,” says the Saint, “respiration in the body is a sign of life, so the name of Mary in the mouth of her servants is a proof of life, for this name at once procures and preserves the life of grace.”⁵ All would do well to ask of God every day the gift of confidence, first, in the blood of Jesus Christ, and afterwards in the intercession of Mary.

If you love Mary, endeavor to induce others to love her. Endeavor, as often as you can, to inspire all with devotion to the Virgin, by relating some devout example, or by proposing some particular exercise to be performed in her honor, or some favor to be asked of her. She promises paradise to all that love her, and seek to inspire others with her love. They that work by me shall not sin. They that explain me shall have life everlasting.⁶ How great the consolation that you will experience at death from all that you have done during life in honor of Mary. Father Binetti relates that he once assisted a dying servant of Mary, who, before death, said: “O my Father, if you knew the happiness I feel on account of having served the most holy mother of God! I could not explain the joy that I experience at this moment.” Endeavor, then, to remain always at the feet of this tender mother. And thank the Lord unceasingly; among the mercies he has shown you, the particular devotion that he has given you to his holy mother is a special grace; this devotion is a great proof that he wishes your salvation in a special manner. In recommending your salvation to her, say to Mary with St. John Damascene: “O Mother of God, if I place my confidence in thee I shall be saved. If I am under thy protection I have nothing to fear; for to be devoted to thee is to have arms of salvation, which God grants only to those whom he specially wishes to be saved.” Prayer.

My Lady, if thou pray for me, I shall be saved; for thou dost obtain by thy prayers whatsoever thou wishest. Pray then for me, O great Mother of God: for thy Son hears thee, and grants whatever thou askest. It is true that I am unworthy of thy protection, but thou hast never abandoned a soul that had recourse to thee. O Mary, I consign my soul to thee; thou hast to save it. Obtain for me perseverance in the divine grace, and the love of thy Son, and of thee. I love thee, O my Queen, and I hope always to love thee. Do thou also love me; take me under thy protection, and have pity on me: grant me this favor through the love that thou bearest thy Son. Behold the confidence that I place in thy clemency, and do not cease to assist me in all my wants. I know that thou wilt not cease to help me as often as I recommend myself to thee; but obtain for me also the grace to have recourse to thee in all my temptations, and in all my dangers of losing God. Assist me, particularly at the hour of my death; obtain for me the grace that with my last breath I may pronounce thy name, and the name of thy Son, saying: Jesus and Mary, to you I recommend my soul.

¹ “Qui me invenerit, inveniet vitam, et hauriet salutem a Domino.”—Prov. viii. 35.

² “Just as, O most Blessed one, everyone turned away from you and despised by you must perish, so it is impossible for everyone turned toward you and regarded by you to perish.”—Orat. 51.

³ “It is necessary that those upon whom she turns her eyes, pleading for them, be justified and glorified.”—P. 4, tit. 15, c. 14, § 7.

⁴ “He who obtains Mary’s grace will be recognized by the citizens of paradise; and he who bears her mark will be enrolled in the Book of Life.”—Ps. B. V. ps. 9.

¹ “Just as sailors are directed to port by the star of the sea, so Christians are directed to glory through Mary.”—Exp. in Sal. Ang.

² “Nec facultas ei deesse poterit, nec voluntas.”—In Assumpt. s. 1.

³ “Virgo potens, ora pro nobis.”

⁴ “Fecit mihi magna, qui potens est.”—Luke, i. 49.

⁵ Salazar, In Prov. viii. 18.

⁶ “Pete quod vis a me; non enim inanis potest esse petitio tua.”

⁷ “Quia tu mihi nihil negasti in terra, ego tibi nihil negabo in cœlo.”—Rev. l. 6, c. 23; l. 1, c. 24.

¹ “Oratio Deiparæ habet rationem imperii; unde impossibile est eam non exaudiri.”—P. 4, t. 15, c. 17, § 4.

² “Monstra te esse Matrem.”

³ De Laud. B. M. l. 2, p. 1.

⁴ “Omnipotens auxilium tuum, o Maria!”—Hymn. 6.

⁵ “But since the power of the Mother and of the Son is the same, the Mother has been made omnipotent by the omnipotent Son.”—De Laud. B. M. l. 1, c. 4.

⁶ “You have unconquerable strength, lest the multitude of sins overcome your clemency; nothing resists your power, for the Creator regards your glory as his own.”—Or. de Ingr. B. V.

¹ “Nihil tibi impossibile, cui possibile est desperatos in spem beatitudinis relevare.”—In Nat. B. V. s. 1.

² In Dorm. V. M.s. 2.

³ Spec. B. V. lect. 6.

⁴ De Zona Deip.

⁵ “I am called by all the Mother of Mercy; truly, the mercy of my Son has made me merciful.”

¹ “Ideo miser erit, qui ad misericordiam, cum possit, non accedit.”—Rev. l. 2, c. 23.

² “Your breasts are filled by God with compassion, so that, touched by knowledge of someone’s misery, they pour forth the milk of mercy; nor can you know miseries and not come to their aid.”—In Cant. c. 23.

³ “Vinum non habent.”—John, ii. 3.

⁴ “Great was Mary’s mercy toward the miserable while she was still an exile in the world; but much greater is that of her reigning in heaven.”—Spec. B. V. lect. 10.

⁵ “Inveniet semper paratam auxiliari.”—De Laud. B. M. l. 2, p. 1.

⁶ “Invenies eam in manibus plenam misericordia et largitate.”—Mar. p. 2, s. 5.

¹ “Velocius occurrit ejus pietas, quam invocetur, et causas miserorum anticipat.”—In Cant. s. 23.

² “Why should human frailty fear to have recourse to Mary? Nothing austere is in her, nothing terrible; she is wholly sweet.”—In Sign. magn.

³ “In me omnis spes vitæ et virtutis; transite ad me omnes.”—Ecclus. xxiv. 25.

⁴ “Omnes, justos et peccatores, invitat.”—Stell. B. V. l. 1, p. 4, a. 7, c. 4.

⁵ “Circuit quærens quem devoret.”—1 Pet. v. 8.

⁶ “Ipsa semper circuit quærens quem salvet.”—Mar. p. 3, s. 1.

⁷ “Against you, O Lady, sin not only those who inflict injury upon you, but also those who do not ask you.”

¹ “Certe, Domina, cum te aspicio, nihil nisi misericordiam cerno.”—Stim. am. p. 3, c. 19.

² “Ipsa enim non misereri ignorat, et miseris non satisfacere nunquam scivit.”—Stim. am. p. 3, c. 13.

³ “Mater, pete quod vis.”—Rev. l. 6, c. 23.

⁴ “Misericordiam peto miseris.”—Rev. l. 1, c. 50.

⁵ “Oculi Domini super justos.”—Ps. xxxiii. 16.

⁶ “The eyes of the Lady are upon the just and sinners, like the eyes of a mother upon her child, lest he fall and, if he has fallen, that she may raise him.”—De Laud. B. M. l. 1, p. 2.

⁷ “Sicut est omnium Regina, sic et omnium Advocata.”—Cont. de V. M. in prol.

¹ “Advocata omnium iniquorum ad eam confugientium.”—De Laud. V. l. 2, a. 23.

² “Ego Civitas refugii omnium ad me confugientium.”—De Dorm. B. V. or. 2.

³ “Respirate ad illam, perditi peccatores, et perducet vos ad portum.”—Psalt. B. V. ps. xviii.

⁴ “Eja ergo, Advocata nostra! officium tuum imple.”—In Nat. B. V. conc. 3.

⁵ “Quæramus gratiam, et per Mariam quæramus.”—De Aquæd.

⁶ “Cupientes invenire gratiam, quæramus inventricem gratiæ.”—De Laud. B. M. l. 2, p. 5.

¹ “Let sinners therefore run, let them run to the Virgin; those who have lost grace by sinning may confidently say: Restore to us our property, which you have found.”—In Luc. 1.

² “Etiam diabolo exhiberes misericordiam, si humiliter peteret.”—Rev. extr. c. 50.

³ “Publicum Valetudinarium.”

¹ “You do not shrink from the sinner, however foul-smelling; if he sighs toward you, you draw him back with a tender hand from the abyss of despair.”—Depr. ad B. V.

² “She herself has been chosen by me as the sweetest bait for catching men, and especially the souls of sinners.”—Dial. c. 139.

³ “No one is so estranged from God that, if he invokes me, he will not return to God and obtain mercy.”—Rev. l. 6, c. 10.

⁴ “Sicut magnes attrahit ferrum, sic ego attraho Deo dura corda.”—Rev. l. 3, c. 32.

⁵ “Spes nostra! salve.”

¹ “Hæc mea maxima fiducia, hæc tota ratio spei meæ.”—De Aquæd.

⁴ “Æternum væ non sentiet ille, pro quo semel oraverit Maria.”

¹ “Roganda est ut velit; quia, si vult, necesse est fieri.”—De Laud. B. M. l. 2, c. 1.

² “In periculis, in angustiis, in rebus dubiis, Mariam invoca.”

³ “Non recedat ab ore, non recedat a corde.”—De Laud. V. M. hom. 2.

⁴ “Nomen tuum devote nominari non potest, sine nominantis utilitate.”—Spec. B. V. lect. 9.

⁵ De Zona Deip.

⁶ “Qui operantur in me, non peccabunt; qui elucidant me, vitam æternam habebunt.”—Ecclus. xxiv. 30.

7 “Ne timeas, Maria; invenisti enim gratiam.”—Luke, i. 30.

6 “He placed the fullness of every good in Mary, so that accordingly, if there is any hope in us, any grace, any salvation, we may know that it overflows to us from her.”—De Aquæd.

2 “O Salus te invocantium!”—Cant. post Psalt.

3 “In te, Domina, speravi; non confundar in æternum.”

5 “Put an end to the will of sinning, and you will find Mary—I promise without doubt—more ready than a carnal mother in loving you.”—Lib. 1, ep. 47.

1 “However much a man may sin, if he returns with true amendment, I am immediately ready to receive the one returning; nor do I consider how greatly he has sinned, but with what will he comes; for I do not disdain to anoint and heal his wounds, because I am called (and truly am) the Mother of Mercy.”—Rev. l. 2, c. 23; l. 6, c. 17.

2 “Ego sum quasi Mater se volentium emendare.”—Rev. l. 4, c. 138.

3 “Conanti surgere ad Deum tribuis auxilium, et neminem relinquis vacuum a consolatione.”—Rev. l. 1, c. 19.

4 “Cum sit magnificentissima, solet maxima pro minimis dare.”—In Dorm. B. V. s. 3.

1 “Beatus homo qui audit me, et qui vigilat ad fores meas quotidie.”—Prov. viii. 34.