How Great Is the Clemency and Mercy of Mary
St. Bernard, speaking of the great mercy of Mary toward us poor sinners, says that she is the very Land promised by God, flowing with milk and honey. St. Leo says that to the Virgin have been given such depths of compassion that she not only merits to be called merciful, but should be called mercy itself. And St. Bonaventure, considering that Mary was made the Mother of God for the sake of us sinners, and that to her was committed the charge of dispensing mercies—and considering, moreover, the great care she has for all those in misery, which makes her so rich in compassion that she seems to desire nothing else than to relieve the needy—says that when he looked upon Mary, it seemed to him that he no longer beheld the divine justice, but only the divine mercy with which Mary is filled.
In a word, the mercy of Mary is so great that, as Guerric the Abbot says, her heart of love can never for a moment cease to bring forth for us the fruits of mercy. And what, exclaims St. Bernard, can flow but mercy from a fountain of mercy? For this reason Mary was called the olive tree: “As a fair olive tree in the plains” (Ecclus. 24:19). For as the olive tree produces nothing but oil, the symbol of mercy, so from the hands of Mary nothing but graces and mercies proceed. And so, justly, says the venerable Louis da Ponte, is Mary called the Mother of oil, since she is the Mother of mercy. If, then, we have recourse to this Mother, and ask of her the oil of her mercy, we cannot fear that she will refuse us, as the prudent virgins refused the foolish, answering: “Lest perhaps there be not enough for us and for you” (Matt. 25:9). No, for she is indeed rich in that oil of mercy, as St. Bonaventure remarks: Mary abounds in the oil of mercy. She is called by the Church not only prudent, but most prudent; and by this we may understand, as Hugh of St. Victor says, that Mary is so full of grace and mercy that there is enough for all, without ever exhausting her store.
But why, I would ask, is it said that this fair olive is in the midst of the plains, and not rather in a garden surrounded by walls and hedges? Cardinal Hugo answers this question: so that all may easily see her, and thus may easily have recourse to her, to obtain relief in their necessities. St. Antoninus confirms this beautiful thought when he says that, as all may go and gather the fruit of an olive tree that stands exposed in the open fields, so all, both the just and sinners, may have recourse to Mary to obtain mercy. And then the saint adds: Oh, how many sentences of punishment have been revoked through the merciful prayers of this most holy Virgin, in favor of sinners who have had recourse to her! And what more secure refuge can we find, says the devout Thomas à Kempis, than the compassionate heart of Mary? There the poor find shelter; the sick, medicine; the afflicted, consolation; the doubtful, counsel; the abandoned, help.
Wretched should we be, if we had not this Mother of mercy, mindful and solicitous to help us in our miseries! “Where there is no wife,” says the Holy Spirit, “he mourneth that is in want” (Ecclus. 36:27). This wife, remarks St. John Damascene, is certainly Mary, without whom the sick man suffers and mourns. So indeed it is, since God has ordained that all graces should be dispensed by the prayers of Mary; where these are wanting, there is no hope of mercy, as our Lord signified to St. Bridget, saying to her: Unless Mary interposes by her prayers, there is no hope of mercy.
But perhaps we fear that Mary does not see or pity our miseries. Oh, no! She sees them and feels them more than we do ourselves. And who among the saints, asks St. Antoninus, can be found who pities us in our miseries as Mary does? And so, wherever she sees misery, she cannot refrain from hastening to relieve it with her great compassion. Thus Richard of St. Victor remarks, and Mendoza confirms it, saying: Therefore, O blessed Virgin, wherever you see misery, there you pour forth your mercies. And our good Mother, as she herself declares, will never cease to exercise this office of mercy: “And unto the world to come I shall not cease to be; and in the holy dwelling place I have ministered before him” (Ecclus. 24:14). Upon which words Cardinal Hugo remarks: I will not cease, says Mary, even to the end of the world, to succor men in their miseries, and to pray for sinners, that they may be saved and rescued from eternal misery.
Suetonius relates of the Emperor Titus that he was so desirous to grant favors to those who asked them of him that, on those days when he had no opportunity of doing so, he would say sorrowfully, “I have lost a day”—this day has been lost to me, because I have passed it without benefiting anyone. Probably Titus said this more through vanity, or a desire for esteem, than through any movement of charity. But our Empress Mary, if a day should ever pass in which she did not confer some favor, would say it only because she is full of charity and of a desire to do us good; for, as Bernardine de Bustis says, she is more desirous to confer favors on us than we are to receive them from her. And this same author adds that when we have recourse to her, we shall always find her with her hands full of mercy and generosity.
Rebecca was a type of Mary, for when the servant of Abraham asked her for a little water, she answered that she would give him water enough not only for himself, but for his camels also. And so the devout St. Bernard, addressing the blessed Virgin, says: O Lady, not to the servant of Abraham only, but also to his camels do you give from your overflowing pitcher. By which he means to say: O Lady, you are more merciful and more generous than Rebecca; therefore you do not rest content with dispensing the favors of your unbounded compassion to the servants of Abraham alone—by whom are meant the faithful servants of God—but you bestow them also on the camels, who represent sinners. And as Rebecca gave more than she was asked, so Mary bestows more than we pray for. The generosity of Mary, says Richard of St. Laurence, resembles the generosity of her Son, who always gives more than is asked, and who is therefore named by St. Paul “rich unto all that call upon him” (Rom. 10:12); that is, giving abundantly his graces to all those who have recourse to him with their prayers. Hear the words of Richard: The bounty of Mary is like the bounty of her Son; she gives more than is asked. Hence a devout author, addressing the Virgin, says: O Lady, pray for me, for you will ask favors for me with greater devotion than I can do; and you will obtain from God graces far greater than I can pray for.
When the Samaritans refused to receive Jesus Christ and his teaching, St. James and St. John said to their Master: “Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” But the Savior answered: “You know not of what spirit you are” (Luke 9:55). As if he had said: I am of so mild and merciful a spirit that I have come from heaven to save, not to punish, sinners; and would you wish to see them lost? What fire? What punishment? Be silent, speak to me no more of punishment, for that is not my spirit. And we cannot doubt that Mary, whose spirit is in everything so like that of her Son, is wholly inclined to exercise mercy; for, as she told St. Bridget, she is called the Mother of mercy, and the mercy of God itself has made her so compassionate and sweet toward all. And so Mary was seen by St. John clothed with the sun: “And a great sign appeared in heaven: A woman clothed with the sun” (Apoc. 12:1). Upon which passage St. Bernard remarks, addressing the Virgin: You have clothed the sun, and are yourself clothed with it. O Lady, you have clothed the sun, the divine Word, with human flesh; but he has clothed you with his power and his mercy.
So compassionate, then, and kind is this Queen, says St. Bernard, that when a sinner commends himself to her mercy, she does not begin to examine his merits, and whether he is worthy or not of being heard, but she graciously hears all and succors them. And so St. Hildebert remarks that Mary is called “fair as the moon” (Cant. 6:9); because, as the moon illuminates and benefits the smallest bodies upon the earth, so Mary enlightens and helps the most unworthy sinners. And although the moon receives all her light from the sun, she moves more quickly than the sun; for, as a certain author remarks, what the sun does in a year, the moon does in a month. Hence, says St. Anselm: Our relief is sometimes more immediate when the name of Mary is invoked than when we invoke the name of Jesus. And so Hugh of St. Victor tells us that if, by reason of our sins, we fear to draw near to God, because he is an infinite majesty whom we have offended, we should not hesitate to have recourse to Mary, because in her we shall find nothing to alarm us. She is indeed holy, immaculate, Queen of the world, and Mother of God; but she is of our flesh, and a child of Adam, like ourselves.
In a word, says St. Bernard, whatever pertains to Mary is full of grace and mercy; for she, as Mother of mercy, has become all things to all, and by her great charity has made herself a debtor to the just and to sinners, and has opened to all the depths of her compassion, that all may share in it. As the devil, according to St. Peter, “goeth about seeking whom he may devour,” so, on the contrary, says Bernardine de Bustis, Mary goes about seeking those to whom she may give life and salvation.
We should understand that the protection of Mary, as St. Germanus says, is greater and more powerful than we can comprehend. And how is it that the same Lord, who under the old law was so severe in punishing, now exercises so great a mercy toward the greatest sinners? Thus asks the author of the Pomerium; and he also answers: He does all this for the love and the merits of Mary. Oh, how long since would the world have been destroyed, says St. Fulgentius, if Mary had not preserved it by her intercession! But we may with confidence go to God, as St. Arnold of Chartres asserts, and hope for every blessing, now that the Son is our mediator with the divine Father, and the Mother our mediatrix with the Son. How can it be that the Father will refuse to hear the Son graciously, when he shows him the wounds he has received for sinners? And how can it be that the Son will not graciously hear the Mother, when she shows him the breasts from which she has nourished him? St. Peter Chrysologus says with great energy that this favored Virgin, having received God into her womb, demands in return peace for the world, salvation for the lost, life for the dead.
Oh, how many, exclaims the Abbot of Celles, who merit to be condemned by the divine justice, are saved by the mercy of Mary! For she is the treasure of God and the treasury of all graces; and so it is that our salvation is in her hands. Let us always, then, have recourse to this Mother of mercy, and confidently hope to be saved by means of her intercession; since she, as Bernardine de Bustis encourages us to believe, is our salvation, our life, our hope, our counsel, our refuge, our help. Mary is that very throne of grace, says St. Antoninus, to which the Apostle exhorts us to have recourse with confidence, that we may obtain the divine mercy, with all the help needed for our salvation. To the throne of grace—that is, to Mary, as St. Antoninus remarks. And so Mary was called by St. Catherine of Siena the dispenser of divine mercy.
Let us conclude, then, with the beautiful and sweet exclamation of St. Bernard upon the words “O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.” O Mary, you are clement to the unhappy, loving to those who pray to you, sweet to those who love you: clement to the penitent, loving to those who are advancing, sweet to the perfect. You show yourself clement by rescuing us from punishment, loving by bestowing on us graces, and sweet by giving yourself to those who seek you.
Example
Father Charles Bovius relates that at Dormans, in France, there lived a married man who had carried on a sinful relationship with another woman. His wife, unable to endure this, continually besought God to punish the guilty pair. One day in particular she went to an altar of the Blessed Virgin in a certain church, to implore vengeance upon the woman who had drawn her husband away from her. Now this very woman also went every day to the same altar, to repeat a “Hail Mary.”
One night the divine Mother appeared in a dream to the wife, who, on seeing her, began her accustomed petition: “Justice, Mother of God, justice!” But the Blessed Lady answered: “Justice! Do you seek justice from me? Go and find others to execute justice for you. It is not for me to do it. Know this,” she added, “that this very sinner offers a devotion in my honor every day, and I cannot allow any sinner who does this to suffer and be punished for her sins.”
The next day the wife went to hear Mass in that same church of our Lady, and on coming out she met her husband’s companion. At the sight of her she began to reproach her, calling her a sorceress who had even bewitched the Blessed Virgin with her spells. “Be silent,” cried the people. “What are you saying?” “I, be silent?” she answered. “What I say is only too true. This night the Virgin appeared to me, and when I implored justice of her, she answered that she could not grant it on account of a salutation which this wicked woman repeats daily in her honor.”
They asked the woman what salutation she repeated to the Mother of God. She answered that it was the “Hail Mary.” Then, hearing that the Blessed Virgin had dealt with her so mercifully in return for that small act of devotion, she cast herself on the ground before the sacred image, and there, in the presence of all the people, asked pardon for her scandalous life and made a vow of perpetual chastity. Afterward she put on a religious habit, built for herself a little cell near the church, where she withdrew, and persevered in continual penance until the day of her death.
Prayer
O Mother of mercy! Since you are so compassionate, and have so great a desire to do good to us sinners, and to grant our petitions, I, the most wretched of all, have recourse this day to your mercy, that you may grant my requests. Let others ask what they will—health of body, riches, or earthly advantages; I come to ask of you, O Lady, those things which you yourself most desire of me, and which are most pleasing to your sacred heart. You who were so humble, obtain for me humility and the love of being despised. You who were so patient amid the trials of this life, obtain for me patience in all that goes against my wishes. You who overflowed with love for God, obtain for me the gift of a holy and pure love. You who were all charity toward your neighbor, obtain for me charity toward all, and especially toward those who are my enemies. You who were wholly united to the divine will, obtain for me a perfect conformity to the will of God in all his dispositions concerning me. You, in a word, are the most holy of all creatures; O Mary, obtain for me the grace to become a saint. Your love never fails; you can and will obtain all things for me. Nothing, then, can hinder me from receiving your graces but my own neglect to invoke you, or my want of confidence in your intercession. Yet you yourself must obtain for me the grace to seek you, and this very confidence in your intercession. These two greatest gifts I ask of you—from you will I receive them—from you do I confidently hope for them. O Mary! Mary, my Mother, my hope, my love, my life, my refuge, and my consolation. Amen.
Points for Reflection
1. “And what, exclaims St. Bernard, can flow but mercy from a fountain of mercy?”
2. “So indeed it is, since God has ordained that all graces should be dispensed by the prayers of Mary; where these are wanting, there is no hope of mercy, as our Lord signified to St. Bridget.”
3. “So compassionate, then, and kind is this Queen, says St. Bernard, that when a sinner commends himself to her mercy, she does not begin to examine his merits, and whether he is worthy or not of being heard, but she graciously hears all and succors them.”