Mary Rescues Her Servants from Hell
It is impossible that a servant of Mary who faithfully honors her and commends himself to her should be lost. At first sight this proposition may appear to some persons extravagant. But I would beg them not to condemn it before reading what will be said hereafter on this point. When it is said that a devoted servant of Mary cannot be lost, this is not understood of those servants who abuse their devotion by sinning with less fear. It is therefore unjust to say, as some do who disapprove of extolling the mercy of Mary to sinners, that by so doing they are encouraged to sin the more; for such presumptuous persons, by their presumption, merit punishment and not mercy. It is understood, then, only of those servants who, with the desire to amend, faithfully honor and commend themselves to the Mother of God. That these should be lost is, I say, morally impossible.
And I find that Father Crasset has affirmed the same thing in his book on devotion to Mary, and before him Vega, Mendoza, and other theologians. And that we may know they have not spoken without due consideration, let us see what the Doctors and Saints have said on this subject. Let no one be surprised if I here quote several sentences from different authors, all containing the same thing; for I have wished to record them all, in order to show how unanimously all writers agree on this point. St. Anselm says that, as he who is not devoted to Mary and protected by her cannot be saved, so it is impossible that he should be condemned who commends himself to the Virgin and is regarded by her with affection. St. Antoninus asserts the same thing in nearly the same words: As it is impossible that those from whom Mary turns away her eyes of compassion should be saved, so it must be that all those toward whom she turns her eyes, and for whom she intercedes, shall be saved and glorified. This saint adds, then, that the servants of Mary must necessarily be saved.
Let us note, however, the first part of the statement of these saints, and let those tremble who little esteem, or abandon through negligence, devotion to this divine Mother. They say that it is impossible for those to be saved who are not protected by Mary. And this is also affirmed by others, as by Blessed Albertus Magnus: All those who are not your servants, O Mary, shall perish. St. Bonaventure, too: He who neglects the service of Mary shall die in his sins. And in another place: He who has not recourse to you, O Lady, will not reach paradise. And on Psalm ninety-nine the saint goes so far as to say that those from whom Mary turns away her face not only will not be saved, but can have no hope of salvation. And before this, St. Ignatius the martyr said the same thing, asserting that a sinner cannot be saved except by means of the holy Virgin, who, on the other hand, saves by her merciful intercession many that would be condemned by the divine justice. Some persons doubt whether this passage is from St. Ignatius; at least Father Crasset says that St. John Chrysostom adopted it as his own. It is also repeated by the Abbot of Celles. And in the same sense the holy Church applies to Mary these words of Proverbs: All that hate me love death (Prov. 8:36). For, as Richard of St. Laurence says, commenting on the words “She is like the merchant’s ship” (Prov. 31:14), all those who are out of this ship shall be submerged in the sea of this world. Even the heretic Œcolampadius esteemed the neglect of devotion to the Mother of God as a certain sign of reprobation; hence he said: Let it never be heard of me that I am averse to Mary, to be ill affected toward whom I should think a certain sign of a reprobate mind.
On the other hand, Mary says: He that hearkeneth to me shall not be confounded (Ecclus. 24:30). He who has recourse to me, and listens to what I say to him, shall not be lost. From which St. Bonaventure said: O Lady, those who are mindful to honor you shall be far from perdition. And this holds even when, as St. Hilary says, they have hitherto deeply offended God.
Hence the devil strives so hard with sinners, in order that, having lost divine grace, they may also lose devotion to Mary. Sarah, seeing Isaac playing with Ishmael, who was teaching him evil habits, asked Abraham to send him away, and his mother Hagar also: “Cast out this bondwoman and her son” (Gen. 21:10). She was not satisfied that the son alone should leave the house without the mother, fearing that the son would come to visit his mother, and thus continue to frequent the house. In like manner, the devil is not satisfied with seeing Jesus cast out from a soul, if he does not see the Mother also cast out: “Cast out this bondwoman and her son.” Otherwise he fears that the Mother, by her intercession, may again obtain the return of her son. And he has cause to fear; for, as the learned Father Paciucchelli remarks: He who is faithful in honoring the Mother of God will, through Mary, soon receive him again. Therefore the devotion to our Lady was rightly called by St. Ephrem the passport of escape from hell. The divine Mother was also named by him the protectress of the condemned. And with truth St. Bernard says that Mary is neither wanting in the power nor in the will to save us. Not in the power, because it is impossible that her prayers should not be heard, as St. Antoninus asserts; and St. Bonaventure says also that her requests cannot be unavailing, but obtain for her what she wishes. Not in the will to save us, for Mary is our Mother, and desires our salvation more than we desire it ourselves.
If this is true, then how can it ever happen that a servant of Mary should be lost? He may be a sinner, but if, with perseverance and a desire for amendment, he commends himself to this good Mother, she will take care to obtain for him light to guide him out of his bad state, contrition for his sins, perseverance in goodness, and finally a good death. And is there any mother who would not rescue her child from death, if she could do it by praying his judge for mercy? And can we believe that Mary, the most loving Mother possible to her servants, would fail to rescue one of them from eternal death, when she can do it so easily?
Ah, devout reader, let us thank the Lord if we find that he has given us the love of the Queen of heaven, and confidence in her; for God, as St. John Damascene says, does not grant this grace except to those whom he wishes to save. These are the beautiful words of the saint, with which he would quicken his own hope and ours: O Mother of God, if I place my confidence in you, I shall be saved. If I am under your protection, I have nothing to fear, because to be your servant is to have certain arms of salvation, which God grants only to those whom he will save. Hence Erasmus thus salutes the Virgin: Hail, terror of hell! Hail, hope of Christians! Confidence in you secures salvation.
Oh, how much it grieves the devil to see a soul persevering in its devotion to the divine Mother! We read in the life of Father Alphonsus Alvarez, who had a special devotion to Mary, that while he was at prayer, and finding himself tormented by impure temptations with which the devil afflicted him, the enemy said to him: Give up your devotion to Mary, and I will cease to tempt you.
The Lord revealed to St. Catherine of Siena, as we read in Blosius, that he, in his goodness, had granted to Mary, out of love for his only-begotten Son, whose Mother she is, that not even one sinner who commends himself devoutly to her should be the prey of hell. The prophet David, too, prayed to be rescued from hell for the honor in which he held Mary: “I have loved, O Lord, the beauty of thy house; take not away my soul with the wicked” (Ps. 25:8–9). He says of thy house because Mary was indeed that house of God which he himself, when he became man, built on this earth for his habitation, and for the place of his rest, as we read in Proverbs: “Wisdom hath built herself a house” (Prov. 9:1). No, he surely will not be lost, says St. Ignatius the martyr, who is constant in his devotion to this Virgin Mother. And this is confirmed by St. Bonaventure, who says: O Lady, those who love you enjoy great peace in this life, and in the other they shall not see eternal death. No; for it never did, and never will happen, as the devout Blosius assures us, that a humble and constant servant of Mary will be lost.
Oh, how many would have been eternally condemned, or remained in obstinacy, if Mary had not interceded with her Son to exercise mercy! Thus says Thomas à Kempis. And it is the opinion of many doctors, especially of St. Thomas, that the divine Mother has obtained from God a reprieve for many persons who had even died in mortal sin, and their return to life to do penance. We have many examples of this given by writers of good authority. Among others, Flodoard, who lived about the ninth century, narrates in his chronicles that one Adelman, a deacon, who appeared to be dead, was about to be buried when he returned to life and said that he had seen the place in hell to which he had already been condemned, but that, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin, he had been sent back to earth to do penance. Surius also relates that a Roman citizen named Andrew had died without doing penance, and that Mary had obtained his return to life that he might procure pardon. Pelbart, moreover, relates that in his time, when the Emperor Sigismund was crossing the Alps with his army, a voice was heard proceeding from a dead body, of which only the bones remained, asking for confession and saying that the Mother of God, to whom he had been devoted while he was a soldier, had obtained for him that he should live in those bones until he had made his confession. Having confessed, he died.
These and similar examples must not serve as encouragement to some rash person who would live in sin, in the hope that Mary would free him from hell even if he should die in sin; for as it would be great folly to throw oneself into a well, in the hope that Mary would save us from death because the Virgin has rescued some persons under similar circumstances, so a still greater folly would it be for one to run the risk of dying in sin, on the presumption that the holy Virgin would rescue him from hell. But these examples should serve to strengthen our confidence by the consideration that, if the intercession of this divine Mother could deliver those from hell—even those who had died in sin—how much more will it prevent those from falling into hell who in life have recourse to her with the intention to amend and serve her faithfully.
Then, O our Mother, let us say with St. Germanus: What will become of us who are sinners, but who wish to amend and have recourse to you, who are the life of Christians? Let us, O Lady, hear what St. Anselm says of you: that he will not be lost for whom you have once offered your prayers. Pray, then, for us, and we shall be saved from hell. Who will tell me, says Richard of St. Victor, that when I am presented at the divine tribunal the Judge will not be favorable to me, if I shall have you to defend my cause, O Mother of mercy? And Blessed Henry Suso declared that he had placed his soul in the care of Mary, and he said that if the Judge wished to condemn him, he would have the sentence pass through the hands of Mary. For he hoped that, when the sentence of condemnation should fall into the kind hands of the Virgin, its execution would certainly be prevented. I ask and hope the same for myself, O my most holy Queen. Therefore I will always repeat with St. Bonaventure: O Lady, in you I have placed all my hopes; therefore I securely hope not to be lost, but to be safe in heaven, to praise and love you forever.
Example
In the year 1604 there lived in a city of Flanders two young students who, instead of attending to their studies, gave themselves up to excess and dissipation. One night, having gone to the house of a woman of ill fame, one of them, named Richard, after some time returned home, but the other remained behind. When Richard reached home, he was undressing to go to rest when he remembered that he had not recited that day, as was his custom, some “Hail Marys.” He was heavy with sleep and very weary, yet he roused himself and recited them, though without devotion and only half awake. He then went to bed; and having just fallen asleep, he heard a loud knocking at the door. Immediately after, before he had time to open it, he saw before him his companion, hideous and ghastly to look upon.
“Who are you?” he said to him. “Do you not know me?” answered the other. “But what has so changed you? You seem like a demon.” “Alas!” exclaimed the poor wretch, “I am damned.” “And how is this?” “Know,” he said, “that when I came out of that infamous house, a devil attacked me and strangled me. My body lies in the middle of the street, and my soul is in hell. Know, too, that the same punishment would have been yours, but the Blessed Virgin, on account of those few ‘Hail Marys’ said in her honor, has saved you. Happy will it be for you if you know how to profit by this warning, which the Mother of God sends you through me.”
After these words he opened his cloak, showed the fire and serpents that were consuming him, and then vanished. Then the youth, bursting into a flood of tears, threw himself face down upon the ground to thank Mary, his deliverer; and while he was turning over in his mind a change of life, he heard the matin bell of a neighboring Franciscan monastery. “It is there,” he exclaimed, “that God calls me to do penance.”
He went at once to the convent to beg the fathers to receive him. Knowing how bad his life had been, they objected. But after he had related the event that had brought him there, weeping bitterly all the while, two of the fathers went out to search in the street, and actually found the dead body of his companion, bearing the marks of strangulation and black as a coal. Whereupon the young man was received. From that time Richard led an exemplary life. He went to India to preach the faith; from there he passed to Japan, and finally had the good fortune to receive the grace of dying a martyr for Jesus Christ, being burned alive.
Prayer
O Mary, my most dear Mother, in what an abyss of evil should I now find myself, if you, with your kind hand, had not so often preserved me! How many years should I already have spent in hell, if you, with your powerful prayers, had not rescued me! My grievous sins were hurrying me there; divine justice had already condemned me; the raging demons were waiting to carry out the sentence. But you appeared, O Mother, unsought and uninvoked by me, and saved me. O my dear deliverer, what return can I make you for so much grace and so much love? You have overcome the hardness of my heart, and have drawn me to love you and to trust in you. And into what an abyss of evils should I afterward have fallen, if you, with your kind hand, had not so many times protected me from the dangers on whose brink I stood! Continue, O my hope, continue to save me from hell, but first of all from the sins into which I might again fall. Do not permit that I should ever curse you in hell. My beloved Lady, I love you; and how can your goodness endure to see one of your servants who loves you lost? Ah, obtain for me the grace to be no longer ungrateful to you and to my God, who for love of you has granted me so many favors. O Mary, what do you say to me? Shall I be lost? I shall be lost if I leave you. But who will ever again venture to forsake you? Shall I ever forget your love for me? You, after God, are the love of my soul. I dare live no longer without loving you. I bless you! I love you! And I hope that I shall always love you, in time and in eternity, O creature most beautiful, most holy, most sweet, most amiable of all creatures in this world! Amen.
Mary Assists Her Servants in Purgatory
Too happy are the servants of this most kind Mother, since she aids them not only in this world, but also assists and consoles them by her protection in purgatory. For there her help is the more needed, because the souls are in torment and cannot help themselves; and so much the more does this Mother of mercy strive to relieve them. St. Bernardine of Siena says that in that prison, where the souls who are spouses of Jesus Christ are held, Mary has a certain dominion and fullness of power both to relieve them and to deliver them from their pains.
And first, as to relieving them, the same saint, applying the words of Ecclesiasticus, “I have walked in the waves of the sea” (Ecclus. 24:8), adds that Mary speaks them as one who visits and relieves the necessities and sufferings of her servants, who are her children. St. Bernardine says that the pains of purgatory are called waves, because they are transitory, unlike the pains of hell, which never end; and they are called waves of the sea, because they are very bitter pains. The servants of Mary, tormented by those pains, are often visited and succored by her. See, then, how important it is, says Novarino, to be a servant of this good Lady; for she never forgets such as these when they are suffering in those flames. And although Mary succors all the souls in purgatory, yet she always obtains more indulgences and relief for those who have been especially devoted to her.
This divine Mother, in her revelations to St. Bridget, said: “I am the Mother of all the souls in purgatory; for all the sufferings they merit for the sins committed in life are, every hour while they remain there, alleviated in some measure by my prayers.” This kind Mother sometimes condescends even to enter into that holy prison, to visit and console these her afflicted children. “I have penetrated into the bottom of the deep” (Ecclus. 24:8), we read in Ecclesiasticus; and St. Bonaventure, applying these words, adds: I have penetrated the depth of this abyss, that is, of purgatory, to relieve by my presence those holy souls. Oh, how kind and gracious is the holy Virgin to those who are suffering in purgatory! says St. Vincent Ferrer; through her they receive continual consolation and refreshment.
And what other consolation have they in their sufferings than Mary, and the help of this Mother of mercy? St. Bridget one day heard Jesus saying to his Mother: “You are my Mother, you are the Mother of mercy, you are the consoler of those who are in purgatory.” And the Blessed Virgin herself said to St. Bridget that, as a poor sick person, suffering and deserted on his bed, feels himself refreshed by some word of consolation, so those souls feel themselves consoled in hearing only her name. The very name of Mary—a name of hope and salvation, which these beloved children often invoke in that prison—is for them a great comfort. And then, says Novarino, the loving Mother, hearing herself invoked by them, adds her prayers to God, by which these souls receive comfort, and find their burning pains cooled as if by dew from heaven.
But Mary does not only console and succor her servants in purgatory; she also releases them from that prison, and delivers them by her intercession. From the day of her glorious assumption, in which that prison is said to have been emptied, as Gerson writes—and Novarino confirms this, saying that many weighty authors relate that Mary, when about to ascend to paradise, asked this favor of her Son, that she might take with her all the souls that were then in purgatory—from that time, says Gerson, the Blessed Virgin has possessed the privilege of freeing her servants from those pains. And this also is positively asserted by St. Bernardine, who says that the Blessed Virgin has the power of delivering souls from purgatory by her prayers and the application of her merits, especially if they have been devoted to her. And Novarino says the same thing, believing that by the merits of Mary the torments of these souls are not only assuaged, but also abridged, the time of their purgation being shortened by her intercession; and for this it is enough that she presents herself to pray for them.
St. Peter Damian relates that a certain lady named Marozia, after death, appeared to her godmother, and told her that on the day of the Assumption of Mary she had been released by her from purgatory, together with a multitude of souls exceeding in number the whole population of Rome. St. Denis the Carthusian relates that on the festivals of the birth and resurrection of Jesus Christ, Mary descends into purgatory, accompanied by troops of angels, and releases many souls from their torments. And Novarino believes that the same thing happens on every solemn festival of the holy Virgin.
Everyone has heard of the promise made by Mary to Pope John XXII, to whom she appeared, and whom she charged to make known to all those who should wear the sacred scapular of Carmel, that on the Saturday after their death they should be released from purgatory. And this was proclaimed by the same pontiff, as Father Crasset relates, in a bull which he published. It was confirmed also by Alexander V, Clement VII, Pius V, Gregory XIII, and Paul V, who, in 1612, said in a bull: “That Christians may piously believe that the Blessed Virgin will aid, by her continual intercession, by her merits and special protection, after death—and principally on Saturday, which is a day consecrated by the Church to the Blessed Virgin—the souls of the members of the confraternity of holy Mary of Mount Carmel, who shall have departed this life in the state of grace, worn the scapular, observed chastity according to their state of life, recited the office of the Virgin, and, if they have not been able to recite it, shall have observed the fasts of the Church, abstaining from meat on Wednesdays, except on Christmas Day.” And in the solemn office of the feast of holy Mary of Mount Carmel, we read that it is piously believed that the holy Virgin, with a mother’s love, consoles the members of the confraternity of Mount Carmel in purgatory, and by her intercession conducts them to their heavenly country.
Why should we not also hope for the same graces and favors, if we are devoted to this good Mother? And if we serve her with more special love, why can we not hope to obtain the grace of going immediately after death to paradise, without entering purgatory at all? For we read that the holy Virgin said to the blessed Godfrey, through brother Abondo, in these words: “Go and tell brother Godfrey to advance in virtue, for thus he will be a child of my Son, and mine also; and when his soul quits the body, I will not permit it to go to purgatory, but I will take it and present it to my Son.” And if we would assist the holy souls in purgatory, let us endeavor to remember them in all our prayers to the Blessed Virgin, applying to them especially the holy rosary, which procures for them great relief, as we read in the following example.
Example
Father Eusebius Nieremberg relates that there once lived in the city of Aragona a girl named Alexandra, who, being of noble birth and very beautiful, was greatly loved by two young men. Through jealousy, they one day fought and killed each other. Their enraged relatives, in revenge, killed the poor young girl as the cause of so much trouble, cut off her head, and threw her into a well.
A few days afterward, St. Dominic was passing through that place, and, inspired by the Lord, he approached the well and said: “Alexandra, come forth.” Immediately the head of the dead girl rose, placed itself upon the edge of the well, and begged St. Dominic to hear its confession. The saint heard its confession and also gave it Communion, in the presence of a great crowd who had gathered to witness the miracle. Then St. Dominic commanded her to speak and tell why she had received that grace. Alexandra answered that when she was beheaded she was in a state of mortal sin, but that the most holy Mary, on account of the rosary which she was in the habit of reciting, had preserved her in life.
For two days the head retained its life upon the edge of the well, in the presence of all, and then the soul went to purgatory. But fifteen days later the soul of Alexandra appeared to St. Dominic, beautiful and radiant as a star, and told him that one of the chief sources of relief to the souls in purgatory is the rosary that is recited for them; and that, as soon as those souls arrive in paradise, they pray for all who have offered these powerful prayers on their behalf. Having said this, St. Dominic saw that happy soul ascending in triumph to the kingdom of the blessed.
Prayer
O Queen of heaven and of earth, O Mother of the Lord of the world, O Mary, creature most great, most exalted, most lovable! It is true that many on this earth do not love you and do not know you; but there are countless angels and saints in heaven who love and praise you without ceasing. On this earth, too, how many souls burn with love of you and live enamored of your goodness! Ah, if only I, too, might love you, my most lovely Lady! Oh, that I might always be engaged in serving you, in praising you, in honoring you, and in striving to awaken in others a love of you! A God has been enamored of you, who, by your beauty, if I may so speak, was drawn from the bosom of the eternal Father to come upon this earth and become man and your Son; and shall I, a miserable worm, not be enamored of you? Yes, my most sweet Mother, I also will love you—love you much—and do all in my power to make you loved by others. Accept, then, O Mary, the desire I have to love you, and help me to fulfill it. I know that those who love you are regarded with much favor by your God. Next to his own glory, he desires nothing more than your glory, in seeing you honored and loved by all. From you, O Lady, I await all my blessings. You must obtain the pardon of all my sins; you must obtain for me perseverance, help in death, deliverance from purgatory; in a word, you must lead me to paradise. All this your lovers hope from you, and they are not deceived. This I also hope, who love you with all my heart, and above all things next to God.
Mary Conducts Her Servants to Paradise
Oh, what a clear sign of predestination the servants of Mary have! Holy Church applies to this divine Mother the words of Ecclesiasticus, and makes her say, for the comfort of her servants: “In all these I sought rest, and I shall abide in the inheritance of the Lord” (Ecclus. 24:11). Cardinal Hugo, commenting on this, remarks: Blessed is he in whose dwelling the holy Virgin has found rest. Mary, through the love she bears toward all, seeks to make devotion to her prevail in every heart. Many do not receive it, or do not preserve it; but blessed is he who receives it and preserves it. “I shall abide in the inheritance of the Lord,” that is, adds the learned Paciucchelli, in those who are the inheritance of the Lord. Devotion to the Virgin abides in all those who are the inheritance of the Lord—that is, who will be in heaven praising him eternally. Mary continues, in the passage cited above: “He that made me rested in my tabernacle, and he said to me: Let thy dwelling be in Jacob, and thy inheritance in Israel, and take root in my elect” (Ecclus. 24:12–13). My Creator has condescended to come and rest in my bosom, and has willed that I should dwell in the hearts of all the elect, whom Jacob prefigured, and who are the inheritance of the Virgin; and he has ordained that devotion to me and confidence in me should take root in the hearts of the elect.
Oh, how many would have failed to be among the blessed in heaven if Mary, by her powerful intercession, had not led them there! “I made that in the heavens there should rise light that never faileth”; thus Cardinal Hugo puts into her mouth these words from the same chapter of Ecclesiasticus: I have made to shine in heaven as many eternal lights as I have devoted servants. So the same author adds, commenting on this text: Many saints are in heaven by her intercession who would never have been there without it. St. Bonaventure says that the gate of heaven will be opened to receive all those who trust in the protection of Mary. Hence St. Ephrem called devotion to the divine Mother the opening of paradise. And the devout Blosius, addressing the Virgin, says to her: Lady, to you are committed the keys and the treasure of the heavenly kingdom. Therefore we should continually entreat her in the words of St. Ambrose: Open heaven to us, O Virgin, for you have its keys. Indeed, you are even its gate, as holy Church names you, the Gate of Heaven.
For this reason the great Mother is also called by holy Church the Star of the Sea. For as sailors, says the angelic St. Thomas, are guided to port by means of a star, so Christians are guided to heaven by means of Mary.
For this reason, finally, she is called by St. Peter Damian the ladder of heaven; for, as the saint says, by means of Mary God descended from heaven to earth, that by her means men might merit to ascend from earth to heaven. And for this reason, O Lady, says St. Anastasius, you are full of grace, that you might be made the way of our salvation and the ascent to the heavenly country. St. Bernard calls the blessed Virgin the vehicle to heaven. And St. John the Geometrician salutes her: Hail, most noble chariot, by which her servants are conducted to heaven. And St. Bonaventure addresses her thus: Blessed are those who know you, O Mother of God! for to know you is the path to immortal life, and to publish your virtues is the way to eternal salvation.
In the Franciscan chronicles it is related of Brother Leo that he once saw a red ladder, upon which Jesus Christ was standing, and a white one, upon which stood his holy Mother. He saw persons attempting to ascend the red ladder; they climbed a few steps and then fell; they climbed again, and again fell. Then they were urged to ascend the white ladder, and on that he saw them succeed, for the blessed Virgin offered them her hand, and in that way they arrived safe in paradise. St. Denis the Carthusian asks: Who will ever be saved? Who will ever reign in heaven? They are saved, and will certainly reign, he himself answers, for whom this Queen of mercy offers her prayers. And this Mary herself affirms: “By me kings reign” (Prov. 8:15). Through my intercession souls reign first in this mortal life on earth, by governing their passions, and then they go to reign eternally in heaven, where, as St. Augustine declares, all are kings. Mary, in a word, as Richard of St. Laurence says, is the Lady of paradise, since there she commands according to her pleasure and brings into it whom she will. Therefore, applying to her the words of Ecclesiasticus, he adds: “My power was in Jerusalem” (Ecclus. 24:15)—I command what I will, and bring in whom I will. And since she is the Mother of the Lord of paradise, she is with reason, says Rupert, also the Lady of paradise. She possesses by right the whole kingdom of her Son.
This divine Mother, with her powerful prayers and assistance, has obtained paradise for us, if we place no obstacle to our entrance there. So those who are servants of Mary, and for whom Mary intercedes, have paradise as secure as if they were already there. To serve Mary and to belong to her court, adds St. John of Damascus, is the greatest honor we can attain; for to serve the Queen of heaven is to reign already in heaven, and to live in obedience to her commands is more than to reign. On the other hand, he says that those who do not serve Mary will not be saved; for those who are deprived of the support of this great Mother are deprived of the help of the Son and of all the heavenly court.
Forever praised be the infinite goodness of our God, who has made Mary our advocate in heaven, that she, as Mother of the Judge and Mother of mercy, may by her intercession efficaciously manage the great affair of our eternal salvation. This thought is taken from St. Bernard. And James the Monk, esteemed a doctor among the Greek fathers, says that God has made Mary a bridge of salvation, by which we are able to pass over the waves of this world and reach the blessed port of paradise. Hence St. Bonaventure exclaims: Hear, O you people who desire paradise; serve and honor Mary, and you will certainly find life eternal.
Not even those who deserve hell should despair of attaining the kingdom of the blessed, if they faithfully devote themselves to the service of this Queen. Sinners, says St. Germanus, have sought to find God by your means, O Mary, and have been saved! Richard of St. Laurence remarks that Mary is said by St. John to be crowned with stars. On the other hand, in the sacred Canticles the Virgin is said to be crowned with wild beasts, lions, and panthers: “Come from Libanus, my spouse, come from Libanus, come; thou shalt be crowned from the dens of the lions, from the mountains of the leopards” (Cant. 4:8). What does this signify? Richard answers that those wild beasts are the sinners who, through the favor and intercession of Mary, have become stars of paradise—a crown more worthy of this Queen of mercy than all the material stars of heaven. The servant of the Lord, Sister Seraphina of Capri, as we read in her life, in her prayers to the most holy Virgin during the novena of her Assumption, asked of her the conversion of a thousand sinners; but as she feared that her request was too extravagant, the Virgin appeared to her and reproved her for this vain fear, saying to her: “Why do you fear? Am I not powerful enough to obtain for you from my Son the salvation of a thousand sinners? Behold them, I have already obtained it.” And she showed her the souls of innumerable sinners who had merited hell, and had afterward been saved by her intercession, and were already enjoying eternal bliss.
It is true that in this life no one can be certain of his eternal salvation: “Man knoweth not whether he be worthy of love or hatred, but all things are kept uncertain for the time to come” (Eccl. 9:1–2). David asked of God: O Lord, who will be saved? “Who shall dwell in thy tabernacle?” (Ps. 14:1). St. Bonaventure, writing on these words, answers: O sinners, let us follow the footsteps of Mary, and cast ourselves at her blessed feet, and let us not leave her until she blesses us, for her blessing will secure paradise for us. It is enough, O Lady, says St. Anselm, that you wish to save us, for then we cannot but be saved. St. Antoninus adds that souls protected by Mary are necessarily saved; those upon whom she turns her eyes are necessarily justified and glorified.
With reason, says St. Ildephonsus, the most holy Virgin foretold that all generations would call her blessed (Luke 1:48); for all the elect obtain eternal blessedness by means of Mary. You, O great Mother, are the beginning, the middle, and the end of our happiness, says St. Methodius. The beginning, because Mary obtains for us the pardon of our sins; the middle, because she obtains for us perseverance in divine grace; the end, because she finally obtains paradise for us. By you, St. Bernard continues, heaven has been opened; by you hell has been emptied; by you paradise has been restored; by you, in a word, eternal life has been given to many sinners who had merited eternal death.
But above all, we should be encouraged in the certain hope of paradise by the rich promise which Mary has herself made to those who honor her, and especially to those who, by their words and their example, strive to make her known and honored among others: “They that work by me shall not sin; they that explain me shall have life everlasting” (Ecclus. 24:30–31). Oh, happy, then, says St. Bonaventure, are they who gain the favor of Mary! They will be welcomed by the blessed as being already their companions; and whoever bears the seal of a servant of Mary has his name already written in the book of life. Of what use is it, then, to trouble ourselves with the opinions of the schoolmen on the question whether predestination to glory precedes or follows the foreknowledge of merits? Whether or not our names are written in the book of life? If we are true servants of Mary and obtain her protection, we certainly are written there; for, as St. John of Damascus says, God gives the grace of devotion to his holy Mother only to those whom he will save—in conformity with which the Lord seems to have declared expressly through St. John: “He that shall overcome, I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God” (Apoc. 3:12). And who is this city of God but Mary? as St. Gregory explains, commenting on this passage of David: “Glorious things are said of thee, O city of God” (Ps. 86:3).
We may, then, well say with St. Paul: “Having this seal, the Lord knoweth who are his” (2 Tim. 2:19). Whoever carries the seal of a servant of Mary is acknowledged by God as his own. We read in St. Bernard that devotion to the Mother of God is the most certain sign that we shall obtain eternal salvation. And Blessed Alanus, speaking of the “Hail Mary,” says that he who often invokes the Virgin with this angelic salutation has a very certain sign of predestination. And again he says, of perseverance in the daily recitation of the holy rosary: Let it be to you a most probable sign of eternal salvation, if you perseveringly honor the blessed Virgin by daily reciting her rosary. Father Nieremberg further remarks that the servants of the Mother of God are not only more privileged and favored in this world, but will also be more especially honored in heaven. And he adds that in heaven they will have a peculiarly rich dress and livery, by which they will be known as servants of the Queen of heaven and as the people of her court, according to those words of Proverbs: “All her domestics are clothed with double garments” (Prov. 31:21).
St. Mary Magdalen of Pazzi saw a small vessel in the midst of the sea, in which all the servants of Mary had taken shelter; and she herself, steering it, safely conducted them to port. By this the saint understood that those who live under the protection of Mary are rescued, in the midst of all the dangers of this life, from the shipwreck of sin and from damnation, for by her they are guided in safety to the port of paradise. Let us, then, strive to enter this blessed little vessel of the mantle of Mary, and there let us dwell, secure in our hope of the kingdom of heaven; for the Church sings: “Holy Mother of God, all those who are to be partakers of eternal joy dwell with you, and live under your protection.”
Example
Caesarius relates that a certain Cistercian monk, a devoted servant of our blessed Lady, earnestly longed for a visit from his dear Mother, and prayed to her continually to grant him this favor. One night he went out into the garden, and as he stood there gazing up to heaven, breathing forth to his Queen in ardent sighs his desire to see her, a beautiful and radiant virgin came down to him and said: “Thomas, would you like to hear me sing?” “Indeed I would,” he answered. Then she sang so sweetly that it seemed to the devout religious that he was already in paradise. When she had finished her song, she vanished, leaving him filled with an ardent desire to know who she could have been.
Soon afterward another virgin of surpassing beauty appeared to him, and she too gave him the pleasure of hearing her sing. He could not refrain from asking who she was, and the virgin answered: “She whom you saw a little while ago was Catherine, and I am Agnes—both of us martyrs for Jesus Christ, sent by our Lady to console you. Give thanks to Mary, and prepare yourself for a greater favor.” Having said this, she disappeared, but left him with a stronger hope of seeing his Queen at last. Nor was he disappointed. Shortly after, he beheld a great light and felt a new joy flowing into his heart, for in the midst of that light the Mother of God appeared to him, surrounded by angels, and of a beauty far surpassing that of the two saints who had come before. She said to him: “My dear servant and son, I have been pleased with the devotion you have offered me, and I have graciously heard your prayers. You have desired to see me; look on me, and I too will sing to you.” Then the most holy Virgin began to sing with such great sweetness that the devout religious lost his senses and fell with his face to the ground.
The bell rang for matins, and the monks assembled; but not seeing Thomas, they searched for him in his cell and in other parts of the convent. At last, going into the garden, they found him lying there as though lifeless. The superior commanded him to tell what had happened to him, and coming to himself by the power of obedience, he related all the favors that the divine Mother had bestowed upon him.
Prayer
O Queen of paradise, Mother of holy love! Since you are of all creatures the most lovely, the most beloved of God and his first lover, ah, suffer the vilest and most ungrateful sinner on earth to love you—one who sees himself released from hell by your intercession, and without any merit of his own so blessed by you that he is enamored of your goodness. I wish, if I could, to make known to all who do not know you how worthy you are to be loved, that all might love and honor you. I would willingly die for love of you, in defense of your virginity, your dignity as Mother of God, and your immaculate conception, if it were ever needful for me to die in defense of these your great privileges. O my most beloved Mother, graciously accept this my affection, and never permit that one of your servants, who loves you, should ever become an enemy of your God, whom you love so much.
Ah, unhappy me! Such once was I, when I offended my Lord. But then, O Mary, I did not love you, and I cared little to be loved by you. Now, after the grace of God, I desire nothing else than to love you and to be loved by you. I do not despair of this on account of my past offenses, for I know that you, O most kind and grateful Lady, do not disdain to love even the most miserable sinners who love you, and never allow yourself to be outdone in love by anyone. O most lovely Queen, I long to go to you in paradise, there to love you. There, at your feet, I shall better know how worthy of love you are, and how much you have done to save me; and so I shall love you there with greater love, and shall love you eternally, without the fear that I shall ever cease to love you. O Mary, I have the sure hope of being saved through you. Pray to Jesus for me. I have no other wish. It is yours to save me; you are my hope. I will always cry out: O Mary, my hope, you must save me.
Points for Reflection
1. “It is impossible that a servant of Mary who faithfully honors her and commends himself to her should be lost.”
2. “And with truth St. Bernard says that Mary is neither wanting in the power nor in the will to save us.”
3. “So those who are servants of Mary, and for whom Mary intercedes, have paradise as secure as if they were already there.”