How Ready Mary Is to Help Those Who Call Upon Her
We poor children of the unhappy Eve, guilty before God of her sin and condemned to the same punishment, go wandering through this valley of tears, exiles from our true country, weeping and afflicted by countless pains of body and soul. But blessed is the one who, in the midst of so many miseries, turns to the consoler of the world, to the refuge of the unhappy, to the great Mother of God, and devoutly invokes her and pleads with her. “Blessed is the man that heareth me, and that watcheth daily at my gates” (Prov. 8:34). Blessed, says Mary, is the one who listens to my counsels and watches continually at the door of my mercy, calling upon my help and intercession. Holy Church instructs us, her children, with how great attention and confidence we should have continual recourse to this our loving protectress. She ordains special devotions to her: that throughout the year many feasts should be celebrated in her honor; that one day of the week should be especially consecrated to her; that every day, in the divine office, all clergy and members of religious orders should invoke her on behalf of the whole Christian people; and that three times a day all the faithful, at the sound of the bell, should salute her. This is enough to show how, in all times of public calamity, holy Church always directs her children to have recourse to the divine Mother with novenas, prayers, processions, and visits to her churches and altars. This is what Mary herself wishes us to do—always to invoke her and plead with her—not because she seeks our homage and praise, which are too poor in comparison with her merit, but so that, as our confidence and devotion to her increase, she may aid and console us all the more. She seeks out those who approach her devoutly and reverently, says St. Bonaventure; these she cherishes, loves, and adopts as her children.
The same St. Bonaventure says that Mary was prefigured by Ruth, whose name, when interpreted, means “seeing and hastening.” For Mary, seeing our miseries, hastens in her compassion to come to our aid. To this Novarino adds that Mary is so eager to do us good that she can bear no delay. She is no miserly keeper of her favors, but the Mother of mercy, and she cannot restrain herself from pouring out among her servants, as soon as possible, the treasures of her generosity.
Oh, how ready is this good Mother to help the one who invokes her! “Thy two breasts are like two young roes” (Cant. 4:5). Richard of St. Laurence, explaining this passage, says that the breasts of Mary readily, like the roe, give the milk of mercy to those who ask it. The same author assures us that the mercy of Mary is bestowed on all who ask it, even if they offer no other prayer than a “Hail Mary.” And so Novarino declares that the Blessed Virgin not only hastens but flies to help those who have recourse to her. In the exercise of mercy, says this author, she cannot but resemble God; for as the Lord hastens to help those who ask his aid, being faithful to the promise he has made us—“Ask, and you shall receive” (John 16:24)—so Mary, when she is invoked, immediately hastens to help those who call upon her. By this is explained who was the woman of the Apocalypse, given “two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the desert” (Apoc. 12:14). Ribeira explains these two wings to signify the love with which Mary always hastens to God. And the blessed Amadeus, commenting on this passage, says that the wings of an eagle signify the swiftness with which Mary, surpassing the seraphim in speed, always comes to the help of her children.
We read in the Gospel of St. Luke that when Mary went to visit St. Elizabeth, and to bestow blessings on all her household, she was not slow but made that whole journey “with haste” (Luke 1:39). Yet we do not read that it was so on her return. For the same reason it is said in the sacred Canticles that the hands of Mary are “turned” (Cant. 5:14). For, as Richard of St. Laurence explains, just as the art of turning on a lathe is easier and quicker than other arts, so Mary is more ready than any other of the saints to aid those who plead with her. She has the greatest desire to console everyone, and she scarcely hears herself invoked before she graciously receives the petition and comes to our aid. Justly, then, does St. Bonaventure call Mary the salvation of those who invoke her—meaning that, to be saved, it is enough to appeal to this divine Mother, who, according to Richard of St. Laurence, is always ready to aid those who pray to her. For, as St. Bernardine de Bustis says, this great Lady is more eager to grant us favors than we are to receive them.
Nor should the multitude of our sins lessen our confidence that we shall be graciously heard by Mary, if we cast ourselves at her feet. She is the Mother of mercy, and there would be no occasion for mercy if there were no wretchedness to be relieved. Therefore, as a good mother does not hesitate to tend her child, however loathsome its disease, even though the cure may be troublesome and distasteful, so our good Mother does not abandon us when we turn to her, however great may be the filth of our sins, which she comes to heal. This thought is taken from Richard of St. Laurence. And Mary intended to signify the same thing when she appeared to St. Gertrude, spreading out her mantle to receive all who had recourse to her. At the same time the saint was given to understand that the angels stand ready to defend the devout suppliants of Mary from the assaults of hell.
So great is the love and tenderness this good Mother has for us that she does not wait for our prayers before giving us her aid. “She preventeth them that covet her, so that she first showeth herself unto them” (Wisd. 6:14). These words of Wisdom St. Anselm applies to Mary, saying that she anticipates those who desire her protection. By this we are to understand that she obtains many graces from God for us before we even ask her for them. And so Richard of St. Victor says that Mary is called the moon: not only because she hastens, like the moon, to shine on those who seek her light, but because she so earnestly desires our welfare that in our necessities she anticipates our prayers, and in her compassion is more prompt to help us than we are to have recourse to her. For, the same Richard adds, the heart of Mary is so full of pity that she scarcely knows our miseries before she offers us the milk of her mercy; nor can this gracious Queen perceive the needs of any soul without relieving it.
And truly, while she was still on earth, Mary showed us, at the wedding at Cana, her great compassion for our sufferings, which prompts her to relieve them before we pray to her. This kind Mother saw the distress of that couple, who were mortified to find that their wine had failed at the wedding banquet; and without being asked, moved only by her compassionate heart, which cannot look upon the afflictions of others without pity, she prayed to her Son to console them, simply mentioning to him the need of the family: “They have no wine” (John 2:3). After this, her Son, to comfort that family and still more to satisfy the compassionate heart of his Mother, performed, as she desired, the well-known miracle of changing the water in the jars into wine. Here Novarino observes: if Mary, though unasked, is so ready to help us in our needs, how much more ready will she be when we invoke her and implore her aid!
If anyone doubts that he will be helped by Mary when he has recourse to her, let him listen to the words of Innocent III: Who has ever invoked this sweet Lady and not been heard by her? Who, O holy Virgin, exclaims the blessed Eutychian, has ever sought your powerful protection—which can relieve the most miserable and rescue the most degraded—and been abandoned by you? No, this has never happened, and never will happen. Let him be silent about your mercy, O blessed Virgin, says St. Bernard, who can remember ever having implored your aid in his needs and being neglected by you.
Sooner will heaven and earth be destroyed, says the devout Blosius, than Mary fail to aid those who, with a pure intention, commend themselves to her and place their confidence in her. And to increase our confidence, St. Anselm adds that when we have recourse to this divine Mother, we may not only be sure of her protection, but that sometimes we shall be heard and saved more quickly by invoking her holy name than that of Jesus our Savior. And he gives this reason: because it belongs to Christ, as our judge, to punish, but to Mary, as our advocate, to show pity. By this he means that we sooner find salvation by having recourse to the Mother than to the Son—not because Mary is more powerful than her Son to save us, for we know that Jesus is our only Savior, and that by his merits alone he has obtained and does obtain for us salvation, but because, when we have recourse to Jesus and consider him also as the judge whose office it is to punish the ungrateful, we may lose the confidence necessary to be heard. But going to Mary, who holds no other office than to exercise compassion toward us as Mother of mercy and to defend us as our advocate, our confidence will be more secure and greater. We ask many things of God and do not obtain them; we ask them of Mary and obtain them. How is this? Nicephorus answers: this happens not because Mary is more powerful than God, but because God has seen fit thus to honor his Mother.
How consoling is the promise that our Lord himself made on this subject to St. Bridget! We read in her revelations that one day this saint heard Jesus speaking with his Mother, and that he said to her: “Mother, ask of me whatever you will, for I will refuse nothing that you ask. And be assured,” he added, “that all those who for love of you seek any favor, even though they are sinners, I promise to hear, if only they desire to amend.” The same thing was revealed to St. Gertrude, who heard our Redeemer himself say to Mary that he had, in his omnipotence, granted her to exercise mercy toward sinners who invoke her, in whatever manner it should please her.
Everyone who invokes this Mother of mercy may then say, with St. Augustine: Remember, O most compassionate Lady, that since the beginning of the world there has never been anyone abandoned by you. Therefore pardon me if I say that I do not wish to be the first sinner who has sought your aid in vain.
Example
St. Francis de Sales, as we read in his life, experienced the power of this prayer in a striking way. At seventeen years of age he was living in Paris, engaged in his studies and at the same time wholly devoted to pious exercises and the holy love of God, which gave him a perpetual foretaste of heavenly joy. At this time the Lord, to try his faith and bind him more closely to his love, permitted the devil to suggest to him that all his efforts were in vain, because he was already condemned by the divine decree. The darkness and dryness in which it pleased God to leave him at the time—for he was insensible to every consoling thought of the divine goodness—gave this temptation greater power over the heart of the holy youth, so that through great fear and desolation he lost his appetite, his sleep, his color, and his cheerfulness, and stirred the compassion of all who looked upon him.
While this terrible conflict lasted, the saint could form no other thoughts and utter no other words than those of sorrow and distrust. “Shall I, then,” he said, as it is related in his life, “be deprived of the favor of my God, who until now has shown himself so gracious and so kind to me? O Love! O Beauty, to which I have consecrated all my affections, shall I never more enjoy your consolations? O Virgin Mother of God, the most beautiful of all the daughters of Jerusalem, am I then never to see you in paradise? Ah, my Lady, if I am never to see your lovely face, do not permit me to be forced to blaspheme and curse you in hell.” These were the tender sentiments of that afflicted heart, still so deeply in love with God and the Virgin. This temptation lasted for a month; but at length the Lord was pleased to deliver him from it through the consoler of the world, most holy Mary, to whom the saint had earlier made a vow of chastity, and on whom he used to say he had placed all his hopes.
One evening, on his way home, he entered a church, where he saw a small tablet hanging on the wall; on it he found written the prayer of St. Augustine mentioned above: “Remember, O most merciful Mary, that no one, in any age, was ever known to have fled to you for help and found himself abandoned.” He prostrated himself before the altar of the divine Mother and recited this prayer with deep feeling. He renewed his vow of chastity, promised to recite the rosary daily, and then added: “O my Queen, be my advocate with your Son, whom I dare not approach. My Mother, if in the other world I should be so unhappy as not to be able to love my Lord, whom I know to be so worthy of love, at least obtain for me that I may love him as much as I can in this world. This is the grace I ask of you, and from you I hope for it.” Thus he pleaded with the Virgin, and then abandoned himself to the divine mercy, resigning himself entirely to the will of God. But hardly had he finished his prayer when, through his most sweet Mother, he was suddenly freed from the temptation. He immediately recovered his interior peace, and with it his bodily health, and from that time he continued to live as a most devout servant of Mary, whose praises and mercies he never ceased to proclaim in his preaching and his writings to the end of his life.
Prayer
O Mother of God, O Queen of angels, O hope of men, listen to me, who invoke you and have recourse to you. Behold me this day prostrate at your feet. I, a miserable slave of hell, consecrate myself to you as your servant forever, offering myself to serve and honor you to the utmost of my power all the days of my life. I know that your honor is not increased by the service of so vile and wretched a slave as I am, who have so grievously offended your Son and my Redeemer Jesus. But if you will accept one so unworthy as I for your servant, and by your intercession change me and render me worthy, your own compassion will confer upon you that honor which I, vile as I am, cannot give you. Accept me, then, and do not reject me, O my Mother. The eternal Word came down from heaven to earth to seek the lost sheep, and to save them became your Son. And will you despise a poor sheep who comes to you that you may help him find Jesus? The price has already been paid for my salvation; my Savior has shed his blood, which is enough to save countless worlds. It only remains that this blood be applied to me. And to you it belongs, O blessed Virgin—to you it belongs, as St. Bernard says, to bestow the merits of this blood on whomsoever it may please you. To you it belongs, as St. Bonaventure also says, to save whom you will. O my Queen, help me, then; my Queen, save me! To you this day I commit my soul; secure its safety. O salvation of those who invoke you, I will cry out with the same saint: save me!
How Powerful Mary Is in Protecting Those Who Invoke Her Against Temptation
Most holy Mary is not only Queen of heaven and of the saints, but also of hell and of the devils; for she has bravely triumphed over them by her virtues. From the beginning of the world God foretold to the infernal serpent the victory and the dominion our Queen would obtain over him, when he announced that a woman would come into the world who should conquer him: “I will put enmities between thee and the woman; she shall crush thy head” (Gen. 3:15). And who was this woman, this enemy, if not Mary, who by her beautiful humility and her holy life always conquered him and destroyed his power? St. Cyprian affirms that the Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ was promised in that woman; and he remarks that God did not use the words “I put,” but “I will put,” lest the prophecy should seem to apply to Eve. He said, “I will put enmities between thee and the woman,” to signify that this his vanquisher was not the living Eve, but was to be another woman descended from her—one who, as St. Vincent Ferrer says, would bring to our first parents greater blessings than those they had lost by their sin. Mary, then, is this great and mighty woman who has conquered the devil and crushed his head, subduing his pride, as the Lord added: “She shall crush thy head.” Some commentators question whether these words refer to Mary or to Jesus Christ, because in the Septuagint version we read, “He shall crush thy head.” But in our Vulgate, which is the only version approved by the Council of Trent, it is “She,” and not “He.” And so St. Ambrose, St. Jerome, St. Augustine, St. John Chrysostom, and many others have understood it. However this may be, it is certain that the Son by means of the Mother, or the Mother by means of the Son, has vanquished Lucifer; so that this proud spirit, as St. Bernard tells us, has been ignominiously overpowered and crushed by this blessed Virgin. Hence, like a slave conquered in war, he is forced always to obey the commands of this Queen. St. Bruno says that Eve, by yielding to the serpent, brought death and darkness into the world; but the blessed Virgin, by conquering the devil, brought us life and light, and has so bound him that he cannot stir to do the least harm to her servants.
Richard of St. Laurence gives a beautiful explanation of these words of Proverbs: “The heart of her husband trusteth in her, and he shall have no need of spoils” (Prov. 31:11). The heart of her husband—that is, Christ—trusts in her, Richard says, and he shall have no need of spoils, for she will endow him with the spoils she has taken from the devil. God has entrusted the heart of Jesus to the care of Mary, as Cornelius a Lapide expresses it, that she may procure for it the love of men; and thus he will have no need of spoils—that is, of the conquest of souls—for she will enrich him with those souls of which she despoils hell, and which she has rescued from the demons by her powerful aid.
It is well known that the palm is the emblem of victory; and for this reason our Queen has been placed upon a high throne in the sight of all rulers, as a palm, the sign of certain victory, which all may promise themselves who have recourse to her: “I was exalted like a palm-tree in Cades” (Ecclus. 24:18)—that is, for a defense, as Blessed Albertus Magnus says. Oh, my children, Mary seems to say to us by these words, when the enemy assails you, lift your eyes to me; behold me, and take courage; for in me, who defends you, you will behold at the same time your victory. So recourse to Mary is the most certain means of overcoming all the assaults of hell; for she, as St. Bernardine of Siena says, is Queen over hell and ruler of the evil spirits, since she controls and conquers them. And therefore Mary is called terrible against the power of hell, as an army set in array: “Terrible as an army set in array” (Cant. 6:3). Set in array, because she knows how to marshal her powers—her compassion and her prayers—to the confusion of the enemy and the benefit of her servants who, in their temptations, invoke her powerful aid.
“As the vine I have brought forth a pleasant odor” (Ecclus. 24:23). I, like the vine—as the Holy Spirit puts it into her mouth to say—have given fruit of sweet odor. “It is said,” adds St. Bernard on this passage, “that every venomous reptile shuns the flowering vines.” As all poisonous serpents flee from vines, so the demons flee from those fortunate souls in whom they perceive the fragrance of devotion to Mary. For this reason she is also called a cedar: “I was exalted like a cedar in Libanus” (Ecclus. 24:17)—not only because, as the cedar is free from corruption, so Mary is free from sin, but also because, as Cardinal Hugo remarks on this passage, as the cedar with its perfume puts serpents to flight, so Mary with her sanctity puts the devils to flight.
Victories were gained in Judea by means of the ark. Thus Moses conquered his enemies: “When the ark was lifted up, Moses said, Arise, O Lord, and let thy enemies be scattered” (Num. 10:35). Thus Jericho was conquered; thus the Philistines were conquered, “for the ark of God was there” (1 Kings 14:18). It is well known that this ark was a type of Mary. As the ark contained the manna, so Mary contained Jesus, whom the manna also prefigured; and by means of this ark victories were gained over the enemies of earth and over hell. Therefore St. Bernardine of Siena says that when Mary, the ark of the New Testament, was crowned Queen of heaven, the power of hell over men was weakened and overthrown.
“Oh, how the devils in hell tremble,” says St. Bonaventure, “at Mary and her great name!” The saint compares these enemies to those of whom Job makes mention when he says: “He diggeth through houses in the dark…. If the morning suddenly appear, it is to them the shadow of death” (Job 24:16–17). Thieves enter houses in the dark to rob them; but when the dawn comes they flee, as if the image of death appeared to them. In the same way, as St. Bonaventure expresses it, the demons enter the soul in times of darkness—that is, when the soul is obscured by ignorance; they dig through the houses of our minds in the darkness of ignorance. But then, he adds, as soon as the grace and mercy of Mary enter the soul, this beautiful dawn scatters the darkness, and the infernal enemies flee as at the approach of death. Oh, blessed is he who, in his conflicts with hell, always invokes the beautiful name of Mary!
In confirmation of this, it was revealed to St. Bridget that God has given Mary such power over all evil spirits that whenever they assail any of her servants who implore her aid, at the slightest sign from her they flee far away in terror, preferring that their pains should be redoubled rather than that Mary should rule over them in this way.
Cornelius a Lapide, commenting on the words with which the divine Spouse praises his beloved bride—calling her the lily, and saying that as the lily is among thorns, so is his beloved among the other daughters (Cant. 2:2)—remarks that, as the lily is a remedy against serpents and poisons, so the invocation of Mary is a special remedy for overcoming all temptations, and particularly those of impurity, as all who have tried it have found.
St. John of Damascus said—and everyone may say the same who is so happy as to be devoted to this great Queen: O Mother of God, if I trust in you, I shall surely not be conquered; for, defended by you, I will pursue my enemies, and opposing your protection and your powerful support to them as a shield, I shall surely overcome them. James the Monk, reputed a doctor among the Greek fathers, speaking of Mary to our Lord, says: Thou, O my Lord, hast given us this Mother as a powerful defense against all our enemies.
It is related in the Old Testament that the Lord guided his people from Egypt to the promised land, by day in a pillar of cloud, by night in a pillar of fire (Exod. 13:21). This pillar, now of cloud and now of fire, says Richard of St. Laurence, was a type of Mary and of the twofold office she continually exercises on our behalf: as a cloud she shields us from the heat of divine justice, and as fire she protects us from the demons. Fire, as St. Bonaventure adds; for as wax melts at the approach of fire, so the evil spirits lose all their power in the presence of those souls who often call upon the name of Mary, devoutly invoke her, and—more than all—strive to imitate her.
Oh, how the devils tremble, exclaims St. Bernard, if they but hear the name of Mary uttered! As men fall to the earth in fear, says Thomas a Kempis, when a thunderbolt strikes near them, so the devils fall prostrate when the name of Mary is heard. How many noble victories have the servants of Mary gained over these enemies by the power of her most holy name! Thus St. Anthony of Padua conquered them; thus the blessed Henry Suso; thus many other lovers of Mary. It is related in the accounts of the missions to Japan that a great number of demons appeared in the form of ferocious animals to a certain Christian of that country, to alarm and threaten him; but he spoke to them in these words: “I have no weapons with which to terrify you; if the Most High permits it, do with me according to your pleasure. Meanwhile I use as my defense the most sweet names of Jesus and Mary.” Hardly had he uttered these words when, at the sound of those fearful names, the earth opened and those proud spirits were swallowed up. St. Anselm also asserts that he had seen and heard of many persons who, at the mention of the name of Mary, were delivered from their dangers.
Very glorious, O Mary, and wonderful is your great name, exclaims St. Bonaventure. Those who are mindful to utter it at the hour of death have nothing to fear from hell, for the devils at once abandon the soul when they hear the name of Mary. And the saint adds that an earthly enemy does not so greatly fear a powerful army as the powers of hell fear the name and protection of Mary. You, O Lady, says St. Germanus, by the invocation alone of your most powerful name, render your servants secure from all the assaults of the enemy. Oh, if Christians were but mindful in temptation to invoke the name of Mary with confidence, it is certain they would never fall; for, as Blessed Alanus remarks, at the thunder of that great name the devil flees and hell trembles. This heavenly Queen herself revealed to St. Bridget that even from the most abandoned sinners, who had wandered farthest from God and were most fully possessed by the devil, the enemy departs as soon as he hears her most powerful name invoked by them, if they do it with a true intention of amending. But the Virgin added that, if the soul does not amend and with contrition forsake its sins, the demons immediately return and hold it in their possession.
Example
In Reisberg there lived a Canon regular named Arnold, who was very devoted to the Blessed Virgin. Being at the point of death, he received the sacraments, and calling his brethren to him, begged them not to leave him at the last moment. Scarcely had he said this when he began to tremble violently and roll his eyes; cold sweat fell from him, and with an agitated voice he exclaimed: “Do you not see those demons who would seize me and carry me to hell?” Then he cried: “My brothers, invoke for me the help of Mary; I trust in her that she will give me the victory.” They immediately began to recite the Litany of our Lady, and at the words, Holy Mary, pray for him, the dying man cried: “Repeat, repeat the name of Mary, for I am even now at the tribunal of God.” He stopped for a moment, and then added: “It is true that I did it, but I have done penance for it.” Then turning to the Virgin, he said: “O Mary, I shall be delivered if you will help me.” The demons soon after made another attack, but he defended himself by blessing himself with the crucifix, and invoking Mary. Thus he passed the whole night; but when morning dawned, Arnold, restored to serenity, joyfully said: “Mary, my Lady, and my refuge, has obtained for me pardon and salvation.” Then, beholding the Virgin, who summoned him to follow her, he said: “I come, O Lady, I come.” He made an effort to rise, but not being able to follow her with the body, gently expiring, he followed her with his soul, as we hope, to the blessed kingdom of glory.
Prayer
Behold at your feet, O Mary my hope, a poor sinner who many times, through his own fault, has been the slave of hell. I know that I have often been conquered by the devil, because I have neglected to have recourse to you, O my refuge. If I had always sought your protection, if I had invoked you, I should never have fallen. I hope, O my Lady, most worthy of love, that by your help I have escaped the powers of hell, and that God has pardoned me. But I tremble for the future, lest I again fall into their power. I know that these enemies of mine have not lost all hope of reconquering me, and at this moment they are preparing new assaults and temptations. O my Queen and refuge, aid me. Shelter me beneath your mantle; let me not become again their slave. I know that you will succor me and give me victory whenever I invoke you. I fear only that in my temptations I may forget you, and neglect to call upon you. This, then, is the grace, O most holy Virgin, that I seek and wish from you: that I may always remember you, and especially when I find myself in conflict with the enemy; let me not then fail to invoke you often with the words: “O Mary, help me, help me, O Mary.” And when at length the day of my last conflict with hell, the day of my death, arrives, O my Queen, powerfully assist me then, and remind me yourself to invoke you more frequently, with the voice or with the heart, that, expiring with your most sweet name, and that of your Son Jesus, on my lips, I may go to bless and praise you, and never leave your feet in paradise through all eternity. Amen.
Points for Reflection
1. “This is what Mary herself wishes us to do—always to invoke her and plead with her—not because she seeks our homage and praise, which are too poor in comparison with her merit, but so that, as our confidence and devotion to her increase, she may aid and console us all the more.”
2. “Nor should the multitude of our sins lessen our confidence that we shall be graciously heard by Mary, if we cast ourselves at her feet.”
3. “So recourse to Mary is the most certain means of overcoming all the assaults of hell.”