Mary Is the Hope of All
Modern heretics cannot bear that we should salute Mary in this way, calling her our hope: “Hail, our hope.” They say that God alone is our hope, and that whoever places his hope in a creature is accursed of God. Mary, they cry, is a creature; and being a creature, how can she be our hope? Thus say the heretics. But despite this, the Church requires all the clergy and all religious to raise their voices daily, and in the name of all the faithful to invoke and call Mary by the sweet name of our hope, the hope of all: “Hail, our hope!”
In two ways, says the angelic St. Thomas, can we place our hope in a person: as the principal cause, and as the intermediate cause. Those who hope for some favor from a king hope for it from the king as sovereign, but they hope for it from his minister or favorite as intercessor. If the favor is granted, it comes in the first place from the king, but it comes through the medium of his favorite; and so the one who asks the favor justly calls that intercessor his hope. The King of heaven, being infinite goodness, greatly desires to enrich us with his graces; but because confidence is necessary on our part, in order to increase our confidence he has given us his own Mother to be our Mother and advocate, and has given her all power to aid us. And so he wishes us to place in her all our hopes of salvation and of every blessing. Those who place all their hope in creatures, independently of God, as sinners do, who to obtain the friendship and favor of men are willing to displease God, are certainly cursed by God, as Isaias says. But those who hope in Mary, as Mother of God, powerful to obtain for them graces and life eternal, are blessed, and please the heart of God, who wishes to see that noble creature honored, who more than all men and angels loved and honored him in this world.
And so we justly call the Virgin our hope, hoping, as Cardinal Bellarmine says, to obtain by her intercession what we could not obtain by our prayers alone. We pray to her, says St. Anselm, in order that the dignity of the intercessor may supply our deficiencies. Therefore, the saint adds, to supplicate the Virgin with such hope is not to distrust the mercy of God, but to fear our own unworthiness.
With reason, then, does the Church apply to Mary the words of Ecclesiasticus, with which it salutes her: “Mother of holy hope” (Ecclus. 24:24)—that Mother who inspires us not with the vain hope of the wretched and passing advantages of this life, but with the holy hope of the immense and eternal good of the blessed life to come. St. Ephrem thus salutes the divine Mother: “Hail, hope of the soul! Hail, sure salvation of Christians! Hail, helper of sinners! Hail, defense of the faithful and salvation of the world!” St. Basil teaches us that, next to God, we have no other hope than Mary, and for this reason he calls her: “After God, our only hope.” And St. Ephrem, reflecting on the order of Providence in this life, by which God has ordained (as St. Bernard says, and as we shall prove hereafter at length) that all who are saved must be saved by means of Mary, says to her: O Lady, do not cease to receive and shelter us under the mantle of your protection, since, after God, we have no hope but you. St. Thomas of Villanova says the same, calling her our only refuge, help, and protection.
St. Bernard assigns the reason for this, saying: Behold, O man, the design of God, a design arranged for our benefit, that he may be able to bestow upon us more abundantly his compassion; for, wishing to redeem the human race, he has placed the price of our redemption in the hands of Mary, that she may dispense it at her pleasure.
God ordered Moses to make a propitiatory of the purest gold, telling him that from it he would speak to him: “Thou shalt make a propitiatory of the purest gold. Thence will I give orders, and will speak to thee.” A certain author explains this propitiatory to be Mary, through whom the Lord speaks to men, and dispenses to them pardon, graces, and favors. And so St. Irenaeus says that the divine Word, before becoming incarnate in the womb of Mary, sent the archangel to obtain her consent, because he would have the world indebted to Mary for the mystery of the Incarnation. The Idiot likewise remarks that every blessing, every help, every grace that men have received or will receive from God, to the end of the world, has come and will come to them through the intercession and by means of Mary. Rightly, then, did the devout Blosius exclaim: O Mary, who are so worthy of love, and so dear to those who love you, who will be so foolish and unhappy as not to love you? In doubt and perplexity you enlighten the minds of those who have recourse to you in their troubles. You are the comfort of those who trust in you in time of danger. You help those who invoke you. You are, Blosius continues, next to your divine Son, the sure salvation of your servants. Hail, then, O hope of the despairing! Hail, helper of the destitute! O Mary, you are all-powerful, since your Son would honor you by immediately doing all that you desire.
St. Germanus, recognizing Mary to be the source of every blessing and the deliverance from every evil, thus invokes her: O my Lady, you alone are my help, given me by God; you are the guide of my pilgrimage, the support of my weakness, my riches in poverty, my deliverer from bondage, the hope of my salvation. Graciously listen, I pray you, to my supplications; take compassion on my sighs, O you my Queen, my refuge, my life, my help, my hope, my strength.
Justly, then, does St. Antoninus apply to Mary that passage of Wisdom: “Now all good things came to me together with her.” Since Mary is the Mother of God and the dispenser of all good, the world may truly say—and especially those in the world who are devoted to this Queen—that, together with devotion to Mary, they have obtained every good thing. And so the Abbot of Celles said plainly: He who has found Mary finds every good thing. He finds all graces and all virtues, since by her powerful intercession she obtains for him in abundance all that he needs to make him rich in divine grace. She gives us to know that she has with her all the riches of God—that is, the divine mercies—that she may dispense them for the benefit of those who love her: “With me are riches and glory, that I may enrich them that love me.” And so St. Bonaventure says: We should all keep our eyes fixed on the hands of Mary, that through her we may receive the blessings we desire.
Oh, how many of the proud have found humility through devotion to Mary! How many of the violent, meekness! How many blind, light! How many in despair, confidence! How many lost, salvation! And this very thing she herself foretold when she pronounced in the house of Elizabeth that sublime canticle: “Behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed” (Luke 1:48). St. Bernard repeats these words and says: All nations will call you blessed, for to all nations you have given life and glory; in you sinners find pardon, and the just find perseverance in divine grace. And so the devout Lanspergius represents the Lord speaking thus to the world: Venerate my Mother with special veneration. O men, he says, poor children of Adam, who live in the midst of so many enemies and so much misery, strive to honor with particular affection my Mother and yours. I have given her to the world as an example of purity, a refuge and asylum for the afflicted. That is to say: I have given Mary to the world for your example, that from her you may learn to live as you ought; and for your refuge, that you may have recourse to her in your tribulations. This my child, says God, I have created such that no one need fear her, or be unwilling to have recourse to her; for I have created her with so kind and compassionate a nature that she will not despise any who seek her protection, nor deny any favor to those who ask it. She spreads the mantle of her compassion over all, and never permits anyone to go from her feet unconsoled. May the great goodness of our God, then, be ever blessed, who has given us this great Mother and advocate, so loving and tender.
Oh, how tender were the sentiments of confidence that filled the heart of the most loving St. Bonaventure for his dear Redeemer Jesus, and for our loving intercessor Mary! Let the Lord chastise me as much as seems good to him; I know that he will not refuse himself to those who love him and who seek him with an upright heart. I will embrace him with my love, and I will not let him go until he has blessed me; and he will not depart without me. If I can do nothing else, at least I will hide myself in his wounds; there I will remain, and out of himself he shall not be able to find me. Finally, he adds, if my Redeemer, for my sins, drives me from his feet, I will cast myself at the feet of his Mother Mary, and, prostrate there, I will not depart until she has obtained my pardon; for this Mother of mercy has never failed to take pity on misery and console the wretched who seek her aid. And therefore, if not from obligation, at least from compassion, she will not fail to move her Son to pardon me.
Look upon us, then—we will conclude with the words of Euthymius—look upon us with your eyes of compassion, O our most merciful Mother, for we are your servants, and in you we have placed all our hope.
Example
It is related in the Fourth Part of the Treasury of the Rosary, in the eighty-fifth miracle, that a gentleman who was most devoted to the divine Mother had set apart in his palace an oratory where, before a beautiful statue of Mary, he was accustomed often to remain in prayer—not only by day, but also by night, interrupting his rest to go and honor his beloved Lady. But his wife, for he was married, though she was a very devout person, observing that her husband in the deepest silence of the night left his bed, and going from his apartment did not return for a long time, became jealous and suspicious of evil. And so one day, to free herself from this thorn that tormented her, she ventured to ask him whether he ever loved any other woman but herself. Smiling, he answered: “I assure you that I love the most lovely lady in the world; to her I have given my whole heart, and I would rather die than cease to love her. If you knew her, you would say that I ought to love her more than I do.” He meant the most holy Virgin, whom he loved so tenderly. But his wife, conceiving a greater suspicion than before, in order to learn the truth better, questioned him again, and asked him whether he rose from his bed and left the room every night to meet that lady. The gentleman, who did not perceive the great distress of his wife, answered, “Yes.”
The wife was completely deceived, and, blinded by passion, one night when her husband had left the chamber according to his custom, she seized a knife in despair, cut her throat, and very soon died. Her husband, having finished his devotions, returned to his apartment; but on going to bed, he found it wet. He called his wife; she did not answer. He tried to rouse her; she did not stir. At length he took a light, and found the bed full of blood and his wife dead, with her throat cut. Then he perceived that she had destroyed herself through jealousy. What does he do? He locks the door of his apartment, returns to the chapel, prostrates himself before the most blessed Virgin, and, shedding a torrent of tears, said to her: “O my Mother, behold my affliction: if you do not console me, to whom shall I go? See how unfortunate I am, to find my wife dead and lost because I came here to pay you honor. O my Mother, you who help us in all our troubles, help me now.”
How surely does everyone obtain what he wishes if he supplicates with confidence this Mother of mercy! No sooner had he offered this prayer than he heard a servant-maid calling him: “My lord, come to your apartment, for your lady is calling you.” The gentleman could hardly believe these words for joy. “Return,” he said to the servant, “and see whether she really calls me.” She returned, entreating him to go quickly, for her mistress was waiting for him. He went, opened the door, and found his wife living; she threw herself at his feet in tears and begged him to pardon her, saying: “O my husband, the Mother of God, through your prayer, has delivered me from hell.” Weeping for joy, they went to their oratory to thank the blessed Virgin. The next day the husband made a feast for all their relations, to whom the wife herself related what had happened, showing at the same time the marks of the wound; and all were more deeply inflamed with love for the divine Mother.
Prayer
O Mother of holy love, our life, our refuge, and our hope, you know that your Son Jesus Christ, not content with making himself our perpetual intercessor with the eternal Father, would have you also engaged in obtaining for us, by your prayers, the divine mercy. He has ordained that your prayers should aid in our salvation, and has given them such power that they obtain whatever they ask. I, a miserable sinner, turn to you, then, O hope of the wretched. I hope, O Lady, through the merits of Jesus Christ and through your intercession, to secure my salvation. In these I trust; and so entirely do I trust in you, that if my eternal salvation were in my own hands, I would wish to place it in yours; for in your mercy and protection I would trust far more than in my own works. My Mother and my hope, do not abandon me, as I deserve. Behold my misery; pity me, help me, save me. I confess that I have often, by my sins, shut out the light and aid which you have obtained for me from the Lord.
But your compassion for the wretched and your power with God are far greater than the number and malice of my sins. It is known in heaven and on earth that whoever is protected by you will certainly not perish. Let all forget me, but do not forget me, O Mother of the omnipotent God. Say unto God that I am your servant; tell him that I am defended by you, and I shall be saved. O Mary, I trust in you: in this hope I live, and in this hope I wish to die, repeating always: “Jesus is my only hope, and after Jesus, Mary.”
Mary Is the Hope of Sinners
After God had created the earth, he created two lights, the greater and the less: the sun to give light by day, and the moon to give light by night. The sun, says Cardinal Hugo, was the type of Jesus Christ, in whose light the just rejoice who live in the daylight of divine grace; but the moon was the type of Mary, by whom sinners are enlightened who are living in the night of sin. Mary, then, is the moon, so favorable to miserable sinners. If any unhappy person, says Innocent III, finds that he has fallen into this night of sin, what must he do? Since he has lost the light of the sun by losing divine grace, let him turn to the moon, let him pray to Mary, and she will give him light to know the misery of his condition and strength to come forth from it. St. Methodius says that by the prayers of Mary innumerable sinners are continually converted.
One of the titles by which holy Church teaches us to invoke the divine Mother, and which most encourages poor sinners, is the title of “Refuge of Sinners,” with which we invoke her in the Litany. There were anciently, in Judea, cities of refuge, and criminals who sought protection in them were freed from the penalty of their offenses. Now there are not so many cities of refuge, but in their place there is one only, Mary, of whom it was spoken: “Glorious things are said of thee, O city of God” (Ps. 86:3). But with this difference, that not all criminals could find refuge in those ancient cities, nor for all sorts of crime; whereas under the mantle of Mary all offenders may find protection, whatever crimes they have committed. It is enough for anyone to have recourse to her for protection. “I am the city of refuge for all those who flee to me,” as St. John of Damascus says, speaking in her name.
It is enough that we have recourse to her. He who has been so happy as to enter this city need not even speak in order to secure his safety. “Assemble yourselves and let us enter into the fenced city, and let us be silent there” (Jer. 8:14). This fenced city, as Blessed Albertus Magnus explains it, is the holy Virgin, whose defense is grace and glory. “Let us be silent there”—according to the gloss—since we may not dare to supplicate the Lord for pardon, it is enough that we enter into the city and are silent, for then Mary will speak and will pray for us. And so a devout writer exhorts all sinners to seek shelter under the mantle of Mary, saying: Fly, O Adam, O Eve, and you their children who have offended God; fly and take refuge in the bosom of this good Mother. Do you not know that she is the only city of refuge and the only hope of sinners? As St. Augustine has called her, the only hope of sinners.
Hence St. Ephrem says: You are the only advocate of sinners, and of those who are deprived of every help; and he thus salutes her: Hail, refuge and retreat of sinners, to whom alone they can flee with confidence! And this is what David intended to express, says a certain author, when he said: “He hath protected me in the secret place of his tabernacle” (Ps. 26:5). And what is this tabernacle, if not Mary? As St. Germanus calls her, a tabernacle made by God, into which none but God has entered, in order to accomplish the great mysteries of human redemption. On this subject the great Father St. Basil says: The Lord has given us Mary as a public hospital, where all the infirm who are poor and destitute of every other help may assemble. Now, in hospitals established expressly for the reception of the poor, who, I would ask, have the first claim to be received, if not the poorest and most infirm?
Therefore, let him who finds himself most miserable, because most destitute of merit and most afflicted by the maladies of the soul—namely, sins—say to Mary: O Lady, you are the refuge of the infirm; do not reject me, for, because I am the poorest and most infirm of all, I have the greater claim upon you to receive me. Let us say with St. Thomas of Villanova: O Mary, we poor sinners know no refuge but you. You are our only hope; to you we entrust our salvation. You are our only advocate with Jesus Christ; to you we all have recourse.
In the Revelations of St. Bridget, Mary is called the star going before the sun. By this we are to understand that, when devotion to the divine Mother first dawns in a sinful soul, it is a certain sign that God will soon come to enrich her with his grace. The glorious St. Bonaventure, in order to revive in the hearts of sinners confidence in the protection of Mary, represents to us the sea in a tempest, in which sinners who have fallen from the bark of divine grace, tossed about by remorse of conscience and by the fear of divine justice, without light and without a guide, have almost lost the breath of hope and are nearly sinking in despair. At this critical moment the saint, pointing to Mary, who is commonly called “the star of the sea,” raises his voice and exclaims: O poor, lost sinners, do not despair! Lift your eyes to that beautiful star; take courage and trust, for she will guide you out of the tempest and bring you to the port of safety.
St. Bernard has said the same thing: If you would not be overwhelmed in the tempest, turn to this star, and call Mary to your aid. The devout Blosius also says that she is the only refuge for those who have offended God, the asylum of all those who are tempted and afflicted. This Mother of mercy is all kindness and all sweetness, not only with the just, but also with sinners and those who are in despair; so that when she beholds them turning toward her, and sees that they are with sincerity seeking her help, she at once welcomes them, aids them, and obtains their pardon from her Son. She neglects none, however unworthy they may be, and refuses to none her protection; she consoles all; and no sooner do they call upon her than she hastens to their help. With her gentleness she often wins their devotion, and raises up those sinners who are most averse to God, and who are the most deeply plunged in the lethargy of their vices, that she may dispose them to receive divine grace and at last render them worthy of eternal glory. God has created this his beloved daughter with a disposition so kind and compassionate that no one can hesitate to have recourse to her intercession. The devout writer concludes by saying: It is not possible that anyone can be lost who, with exactness and humility, practices devotion to this divine Mother.
She is called a plane-tree: “As a plane-tree was I exalted” (Ecclus. 24:19). Sinners may understand by this that, as the plane-tree gives shelter to travelers, where they may take refuge from the heat of the sun, so Mary, when she sees the anger of divine justice kindled against them, invites them to resort to the shelter of her protection. St. Bonaventure remarks that Isaias, in his day, lamented and said, “Behold, thou art angry, and we have sinned; there is none that riseth up and taketh hold of thee” (Isa. 64:5, 7), because Mary was not yet born into the world. But now, if God is offended with any sinner, and Mary undertakes to protect him, she restrains the Son from punishing him, and saves him. Also, continues St. Bonaventure, no one can be found more fit than Mary to place her hand upon the sword of divine justice, that it may not descend upon the head of the sinner. Richard of St. Laurence expresses the same thought when he says: God lamented, before the birth of Mary, that there was no one to restrain him from punishing the sinner; but Mary being born, she appeases him.
St. Basil encourages sinners with the same thought, and says: O sinner, be not timid, but in all your necessities flee to Mary; invoke her aid, and you will always find her ready to assist you, for it is the divine will that she should aid all men in all their necessities. This Mother of mercy has such a desire to save the most abandoned sinners that she even goes to seek them; and if they have recourse to her, she will surely find a way of rendering them dear to God.
Isaac, being desirous to eat the flesh of some venison, promised to give his blessing in exchange for it to Esau; but Rebecca, wishing that her other son Jacob should receive this blessing, ordered him to bring her two kids, for she would prepare the food that Isaac loved. “Go thy way to the flock, bring me two kids” (Gen. 27:9). St. Antoninus says that Rebecca was the type of Mary, who says to the angels: Bring me sinners, who are typified by the kids, that I may prepare them in such a manner—by obtaining for them sorrow and good resolutions—as to render them dear and acceptable to my Lord. The Abbot Francone, pursuing the same thought, says that Mary so well understands how to prepare these kids that they not only equal, but sometimes even surpass, the flavor of venison.
The Blessed Virgin herself revealed to St. Bridget that no sinner in the world is so great an enemy to God that, if he has recourse to her and invokes her aid, he does not return to God and is not restored to his favor. And the same St. Bridget heard one day Jesus Christ saying to his Mother that she could obtain the divine favor even for Lucifer, if he would humble himself so far as to ask her help. That proud spirit would never stoop to implore the protection of Mary; but if such a thing could happen, Mary would take pity upon him, and the power of her prayers would obtain from God his pardon and salvation. But what cannot happen to the devil may well happen to sinners who seek the help of this Mother of mercy.
Noe’s ark also prefigured Mary; because, as in it all the animal creation found refuge, so under the mantle of Mary all sinners find protection who have made themselves like the brutes by their vices and sensuality. With this difference, however, says a certain author: The brutes entered into the ark and remained brutes still; the wolf remained a wolf, the tiger a tiger. But under the mantle of Mary the wolf becomes a lamb, the tiger a dove. St. Gertrude once saw Mary with her mantle outspread, and under it wild beasts of various kinds—leopards, lions, and bears; and the Virgin not only did not drive them from her, but with her hand kindly received them and caressed them. The saint understood that these wild beasts were miserable sinners, who, when they take refuge with Mary, are received by her with sweetness and love.
Justly, then, did St. Bernard say to the Virgin: O Lady, you abhor no sinner, however abandoned and vile he may be, when he turns to you; rather, you extend your kind hand to draw him from the depths of despair. O Mary, most worthy of love, who made you so merciful and kind toward the most miserable sinners? Oh, wretched are those who do not love you, and who, having it in their power to seek help of you, do not trust in you! He who does not implore the aid of Mary is lost; but who was ever lost that had recourse to her?
It is related in Scripture that Boaz permitted the woman named Ruth to glean the ears that the reapers dropped and left behind them. St. Bonaventure adds that, as Ruth found favor in the eyes of Boaz, so Mary has found favor in the eyes of the Lord, and is permitted to glean after the reapers. The reapers are the apostolic laborers—missionaries, preachers, and confessors—who toil through the day to gather and win souls to God. But there are some rebellious and obdurate souls who are left behind even by these reapers, and it is granted to Mary alone, by her powerful intercession, to save these abandoned ears. But unhappy are those who do not yield themselves to this sweet Lady, for they will be entirely lost and accursed! Blessed, on the other hand, are those who have recourse to this good Mother! There is no sinner in the world, says the devout Blosius, so lost and sunk in sin that Mary would abhor him and reject him. Ah, if such would but seek her aid, this good Mother could and would reconcile them to her Son and obtain for them pardon.
With reason, then, O my sweetest Queen, does St. John of Damascus salute you and call you “the hope of the despairing.” Justly does St. Laurence Justinian name you “the hope of evildoers”; St. Augustine, “the only refuge of sinners”; St. Ephrem, “the secure haven for the shipwrecked.” The same saint calls you even by another title: “the protectress of the condemned.” Finally, St. Bernard, with reason, exhorts the desperate not to despair; and, full of joy and tenderness toward this his most dear Mother, he asks her lovingly: O Lady, who would not trust in you, if you thus relieve even the despairing? I do not doubt in the least, he adds, that if we always applied to you, we should obtain what we wish. In you, then, let the despairing hope. St. Antoninus relates that a sinner, finding himself in disgrace before God, imagined himself standing before the tribunal of Jesus Christ; the devil was accusing him, and Mary defending him. The enemy presented against this poor criminal the catalogue of his offenses, which, placed in the balance of divine justice, far outweighed his good works. But what then did his great advocate do? She extended her kind hand and placed it in the other scale; it descended in favor of her suppliant, and thus it was given him to understand that she would obtain his pardon if he would change his life. And, indeed, after that vision he was converted and changed his life.
Example
The blessed John Herolt, who through humility called himself “the Disciple,” relates that there was once a married man who lived in disgrace in the sight of God. His wife, a virtuous woman, was not able to persuade him to abandon his vicious ways; so she entreated him that, at least while he remained in so miserable a condition, he would offer this one devotion to the Mother of God—namely, to say a “Hail Mary” every time he passed before her altar. He accordingly began to practice this devotion.
One night, when he was about to commit a sin, he saw a light, and on looking more closely he perceived that it was a lamp burning before a holy image of the Blessed Virgin, who held the infant Jesus in her arms. He said a “Hail Mary,” as usual; but then what did he see? He saw the child covered with wounds, and fresh blood flowing from them. Both terrified and moved to the heart, he remembered that he too had wounded his Redeemer by his sins, and he began to weep. But he noticed that the child turned away from him.
In deep confusion he had recourse to the most holy Virgin, saying: “Mother of mercy, your Son rejects me; I can find no advocate more kind or more powerful than you, who are his Mother. My Queen, help me, and pray to him on my behalf.” The divine Mother answered him from that image: “You sinners call me Mother of mercy, yet you do not cease to make me a Mother of misery, renewing the passion of my Son and my own sorrows.”
But because Mary never sends away unconsoled those who cast themselves at her feet, she began to entreat her Son to pardon that miserable sinner. Jesus continued to show himself unwilling to grant such a pardon; but the holy Virgin placed the infant in the niche, prostrated herself before him, and said: “My Son, I will not leave your feet until you have pardoned this sinner.” “My Mother,” answered Jesus, “I can deny you nothing. Do you wish his pardon? For love of you I will pardon him. Let him come and kiss my wounds.” The sinner approached, weeping bitterly, and as he kissed the wounds of the child, they were healed. Then Jesus embraced him as a sign of pardon. He changed his conduct, led a holy life, and was ever full of love for the Blessed Virgin, who had obtained for him so great a favor.
Prayer
I venerate, O most pure Virgin Mary, your most sacred heart, which was the delight and repose of God—a heart filled with humility, purity, and divine love. I, an unhappy sinner, come to you with a heart filled with uncleanness and wounds. O Mother of mercy, do not despise me on this account, but let it move you to greater compassion, and come to my help. Do not look for virtue or merits in me before you grant me your aid; I am lost, and I deserve only hell. Look at nothing, I pray you, but the confidence I have in you and the desire I cherish of amending my life. Look at what Jesus has done and suffered for me, and then abandon me if you can. I offer to you all the afflictions of his life: the cold that he suffered in the stable, his journey into Egypt, the blood that he shed, his poverty, toil, sweat, and sadness, and the death he endured in your presence, for love of me; and for the love of Jesus, promise to save me. Ah, my Mother, I will not and I cannot fear that you will cast me from you when I flee to you and implore your help. To fear this would be to wrong your mercy, which seeks out the miserable in order to relieve them. O Lady, do not refuse your compassion to him to whom Jesus has not refused his blood; but the merits of this blood will not be applied to me unless you recommend me to God. From you I hope for salvation. I do not ask of you riches, honors, or the other goods of earth; I ask of you only the grace of God, love for your Son, the fulfillment of his will, and paradise, where I may love him eternally. Is it possible that you will not hear me? No; already you hear me, as I hope; already you are praying for me; already you are obtaining for me the favors I ask; already you are receiving me under your protection. My Mother, do not leave me; continue, continue to pray for me, until you see me safe in heaven at your feet, to bless and thank you through all eternity. Amen.
Points for Reflection
1. “He who has found Mary finds every good thing.”
2. “It is enough for anyone to have recourse to her for protection.”
3. “He who does not implore the aid of Mary is lost; but who was ever lost that had recourse to her?”