Confidence with which we ought to recommend ourselves to the Mother of God
“And the wine failing, the Mother of Jesus saith to him: They have no wine.”—John 2:3
In this day’s Gospel we read that Jesus Christ, having been invited, went with his holy mother to a marriage at Cana of Galilee. When the wine failed, Mary said to her divine Son, “They have no wine.” By these words she meant to ask her Son to console the bridegroom and his bride, who were distressed because the wine had run short. Jesus answered, “Woman, what is it to me and to thee? my hour is not yet come” (John 2:4). He meant that the time appointed for working miracles was the time when he would go forth to preach through Judea.
But although his answer seemed to be a refusal of Mary’s request, the Son, says St. Chrysostom, resolved to comply with the desire of his mother. “Although he said, my hour is not yet come, he yielded to his mother’s prayers” (Hom. in ii. Joan.). Mary said to the servants, “Whatever he shall say to you, do ye.” Jesus told them to fill the water pots with water, and the water was changed into the most excellent wine. Thus the bridegroom and the whole household were filled with gladness. From the event recorded in this day’s Gospel let us consider, in the first point, the greatness of Mary’s power to obtain from God the graces we need; and in the second, the tenderness of Mary’s compassion, and her readiness to help us all in our wants.
First Point.—The greatness of Mary’s power to obtain from God for us all the graces we need.
1. So great is Mary’s merit in the eyes of God that, according to St. Bonaventure, her prayers cannot fail to be heard. “The merit of Mary is so great before God that her petition cannot be refused” (On Virginity, ch. iii). But why are Mary’s prayers so powerful in the sight of God? It is, says St. Antoninus, because she is his mother. “The prayer of the Mother of God has the force of a command, and therefore it is impossible that she should not be heard” (Par. 4, tit. 13, c. xvii., 4). The prayers of the saints are the prayers of servants; but the prayers of Mary are the prayers of a mother, and therefore, according to the holy doctor, they carry with them a certain force of command before her Son, who loves her so tenderly. It is then impossible that Mary’s prayers should be refused.
2. Hence, according to Cosmas of Jerusalem, the help of this divine Mother is all-powerful. Omnipotens auxilium tuum, Maria—“Omnipotent is your help, O Mary.” It is right, as Richard of St. Lawrence teaches, that the Son should impart his power to the mother. Jesus Christ, who is all-powerful, has made Mary omnipotent, so far as a creature is capable of omnipotence; that is, omnipotent in obtaining from him, her divine Son, whatever she asks. Cum autem eadem sit potestas filii et matris, ab omnipotente filio omnipotens mater facta est—“Since the power of the Son and of the Mother is the same, the omnipotent Son has made the Mother omnipotent” (In Praise of the Virgin Mary, Bk. 4). Hence St. Bernardine of Siena said that all things obey Mary, and in a certain manner even God himself.
3. St. Bridget one day heard our Savior addressing the Virgin in these words: “Ask of me whatever you wish, for your petition cannot be in vain. My mother, ask of me what you please; I cannot refuse any prayer you present to me, because, since you refused me nothing on earth, I will refuse you nothing in heaven” (Revelations, Bk. 1, ch. 4). St. George, Archbishop of Nicomedia, says that Jesus Christ hears all the prayers of his mother, as if he wished thereby to repay the debt he owes her for having given him, by her consent, when she accepted him for her Son, his human nature. Filius, exsolvens debitum, petitiones tuas implet—“The Son, paying his debt, fulfills your petitions” (Orat. de Exitu Mar.).
Hence St. Methodius, martyr, used to say to Mary: Euge, euge, quae debitorem habeas filium; Deo enim universi debemus, tibi autem ille debitor est—“Rejoice, rejoice, for you have your Son as your debtor; for while we are all debtors to God, he is a debtor to you.” Rejoice, rejoice, holy Virgin; for you have for your debtor that Son to whom we are all debtors; to you he owes the human nature he received from you.
4. St. Gregory of Nicomedia gives courage to sinners by assuring them that, if they have recourse to the Virgin with the resolve to amend their lives, she will save them by her intercession. Hence, turning to Mary, he said: “You have unconquerable strength, lest the multitude of our sins should overcome your clemency.” O Mother of God, the sins of a soul, however many they may be, cannot overcome your mercy. “Nothing,” adds the same saint, “resists your power, for the Creator counts your glory as his own.” Nothing is impossible to you, says St. Peter Damian: you can raise even the despairing to the hope of salvation. Nihil tibi impossibile, quae etiam desperatos in spem salutis potes relevare—“Nothing is impossible to you, who can even raise the despairing to the hope of salvation” (Sermon i on the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin).
5. Richard of St. Lawrence remarks that, in announcing to the Virgin that God had chosen her to be the mother of his Son, the Archangel Gabriel said to her: “Fear not, Mary; for you have found grace with God” (Luke 1:30). From these words the same author concludes: Cupientes invenire gratiam, quaeramus inventricem gratiae—“If we desire to find grace, let us seek the finder of grace.” If we wish to recover the grace we have lost, let us seek Mary, by whom this grace has been found. She never lost the divine grace; she always possessed it. When the angel declared that she had found grace, he meant that she had found it not for herself, but for us miserable sinners, who have lost it.
Hence Cardinal Hugo urges us to go to Mary and say to her: O blessed lady, property must be restored to those who have lost it. The grace you have found is not yours—for you have never lost the grace of God—but ours; we have lost it through our own fault. To us, then, you ought to restore it. “Let sinners, who have forfeited the divine grace by their sins, run, run to the Virgin, and say to her with confidence: Restore to us our property, which you have found.”
6. It was revealed to St. Gertrude that all the graces we ask of God through Mary’s intercession shall be granted to us. She heard Jesus saying to his divine mother: “Through you all who ask mercy with the will to amend their lives shall obtain grace.” If all paradise asked one favor of God, and Mary asked the opposite grace, the Lord would hear Mary and reject the petition of the rest of the celestial host. For, as Father Suarez says, “God loves the Virgin alone more than all the other saints.” Let us, then, conclude this first point in the words of St. Bernard: “Let us seek grace, and let us seek it through Mary; for she is a mother, and her petition cannot fail” (Sermon on the Aqueduct). Let us seek through Mary all the graces we desire to receive from God, and we shall obtain them; for she is a mother, and when she asks her Son for some grace on our behalf, her prayer cannot fail to be heard.
Second Point.—On the tender compassion of Mary, and her readiness to help us in all our wants.
7. The tenderness of Mary’s mercy may be gathered from the very event recorded in this day’s Gospel. The wine fails; the bridegroom and his bride are troubled at the lack of it; no one in that household asks Mary to entreat her Son to console them in their need. But the heart of Mary, which, as St. Bernardine of Siena says, cannot but pity the afflicted, moved her to take up the office of advocate herself and to entreat her Son for the miracle, though no one had asked her. “Unasked, she took up the office of an advocate and a compassionate helper” (Father Segneri, vol. 3, Sermon ix). Hence, adds the same saint, if this good lady did so much unasked, what will she not do for those who beg her intercession? Si hoc non rogata perfecit, quid rogata perficiet?—“If she accomplished this unasked, what will she accomplish when asked?”
8. From the same event St. Bonaventure draws another argument to show the great graces we may hope to obtain through Mary, now that she reigns in heaven. If she was so compassionate on earth, how much greater must her mercy be now that she is in paradise? “Great was the mercy of Mary toward the wretched while she was still in exile in the world; but it is much greater now that she reigns in heaven, because she now sees the misery of men” (St. Bona. in Spec. Virg., cap. viii.). In heaven Mary, in the sight of God, sees our wants far more clearly than when she was on earth; and so, as her compassion for us has grown, so too has her desire to relieve us. How truly Richard of St. Victor said to the Virgin: “So tender is your heart that you cannot know misery and not bring help.” It is not possible for this loving mother to know that anyone is suffering without pitying and relieving him.
9. St. Peter Damian says that the Virgin “loves us with an unconquerable love” (Sermon i on the Nativity of the Virgin). However ardently the saints may have loved this lovable queen, their affection never reached the love that Mary bore them. And it is this love that makes her so concerned for our good. The saints in heaven, says St. Augustine, have great power to obtain grace from God for all who recommend themselves to their prayers; but as Mary is the most powerful of all the saints, so she is of all the most eager to obtain for us the divine mercy: Sicut omnibus sanctis potentior, sic omnibus est pro nobis sollicitior—“Just as she is more powerful than all the saints, so she is more solicitous for us than all.”
10. And, as this our great advocate once said to St. Bridget, when a sinner has recourse to her she does not look at the sins he brings, but at the intention with which he comes. If he comes with the will to amend, she receives him, and by her intercession heals his wounds and saves him. “However great a man’s sins may be, if he turns back to me, I am ready at once to receive him who returns. Nor do I consider how much he has sinned, but the will with which he comes to me; for I do not disdain to anoint and heal his wounds, because I am called, and truly am, the mother of mercy.” Richard of St. Lawrence says that, if the Lord keeps his eyes upon the just—Oculi Domini super iustos—the holy Virgin keeps her eyes upon the just and upon sinners alike, and deals with each of us as a mother who keeps her eyes always upon her little child, lest he fall, and, if he should fall, lifts him up again.
11. In Scripture the blessed Virgin is called a “fair olive tree in the plains”: Quasi oliva speciosa in campis—“As a fair olive tree in the plains” (Ecclus. 24:19). From the olive comes nothing but oil; and from the hands of Mary come nothing but graces and mercies. She is said to stand in the plains, says Cardinal Hugo, that we may understand she is ready to be found by all who have recourse to her: Speciosa in campis ut omnes ad eam confugiant—“Fair in the plains, that all may flee to her.”
Under the Old Law there were five cities of refuge, in which not all, but only those who had committed certain crimes, could find asylum; but in Mary, says St. John Damascene, all the guilty may take refuge, whatever their crimes. Hence he calls her “the city of refuge for all who have recourse to her.” Why, then, says St. Bernard, should we be afraid to go to Mary, who has nothing austere or terrible about her, but is all sweetness and clemency? Quid ad Mariam accedere trepidat humana fragilitas? Nihil austerum in ea, nihil terribile, tota suavis est—“Why does human frailty tremble to approach Mary? There is nothing austere in her, nothing terrible; she is all sweetness.”
12. St. Bonaventure used to say that, when he looked upon Mary, he seemed to behold mercy itself receiving him. “When I look upon you, O my lady, I see nothing but mercy.” The Virgin said one day to St. Bridget: Miser erit, qui ad misericordiam cum possit, non accedit—“Miserable will he be who, when he is able, does not approach mercy.” Miserable, and miserable for eternity, shall that sinner be who, though in this life he is able to come to me, who can and long to help him, does not come, and is lost.
The devil, as St. Peter says, “as a roaring lion goeth about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Pet. 5:8). But this merciful Mother, says Bernardine de Bustis, goes about continually seeking sinners, to save them. “She continually goes about, seeking whom she may save” (Maril. par. 3, Sermon iii.). So merciful is this queen, adds Richard of St. Victor, that she forestalls our petitions, and sets about helping us before we pray to her: Velocius occurrit ejus pietas quam invocetur, et causas miserorum anticipat—“Her mercy hastens to us more swiftly than it is invoked, and anticipates the causes of the wretched” (In Can., c. xxiii.). For, as the same author says, Mary’s heart is so tender toward us that she cannot see our miseries and not pity us. Nec possis miserias scire, et non subvenire—“Nor can you know miseries and not bring help.”
13. Let us, then, in all our wants, be careful to have recourse to this mother of mercy, who is always ready to help those who pray to her. Invenies semper paratam auxiliari—“You will always find her ready to help,” says Richard of St. Lawrence. She stands ready to come to our aid, and often forestalls our prayers; but ordinarily she wishes to be asked, and when she is not asked she counts herself slighted. In te, domina, peccant—“They sin against you,” O Lady, says St. Bonaventure, non solum qui tibi injuriam irrogant, sed etiam qui te non rogant—“not only those who do you injury, but also those who do not ask of you.”
You are slighted, blessed lady, not only by those who do you injury, but also by those who ask no favors of you. Hence, as the same holy doctor teaches, it is not possible that Mary, when anyone prays to her, should fail to help him; for she neither does, nor ever has, failed to pity and console the wretched who have recourse to her. Ipsa enim non misereri ignorat et miseris non satisfacere—“For she knows not how to withhold mercy, or to fail the wretched.”
14. But to win greater favor with this good lady, we must offer her certain particular acts of homage practiced by her devout servants: first, to recite every day at least five decades of the Rosary; secondly, to fast every Saturday in her honor. Many fast every Saturday on bread and water; you should fast in this manner at least on the vigils of her seven principal feasts. Thirdly, to greet her with the customary three Aves when the bell rings for the Angelus Domini, and to salute her throughout the day with an Ave Maria, especially whenever a clock strikes, and at every image of the Virgin you meet along the way; and likewise to say an Ave Maria when you leave or return to your house.
Fourthly, to say the Litany of the Blessed Virgin every evening before you go to bed; and for this purpose let everyone procure some beautiful image of Mary and keep it near the bed. Fifthly, to wear the scapular of our Lady of Sorrows and of Mount Carmel. There are many other devotions practiced by the servants of Mary; but the most useful of all is to recommend yourself often to this divine Mother. Never fail to say three Aves every morning, begging her to keep you from sin that day. And when temptations come, have recourse to her at once, saying, “Mary, help me.” It is enough to pronounce the names of Jesus and Mary to overcome every temptation; and if the temptation does not cease, let us go on invoking Jesus and Mary, and we shall never be overcome by the devil.
15. St. Bonaventure calls Mary the salvation of those who invoke her: salus te invocantium—“the salvation of those who invoke you.” And in truth, if a true servant of Mary were to be lost (I mean one truly devoted to her, who sincerely wishes to amend his life and who has recourse with confidence to this advocate of sinners), it would have to be either because Mary was unable or unwilling to help him. But this, says St. Bernard, cannot be: being the mother of omnipotence and the mother of mercy, Mary can lack neither the power nor the will to save him. With reason, then, is she called the salvation of all who call upon her for aid.
Of this truth there are countless examples; let that of St. Mary of Egypt serve for all. After many years of a dissolute and sinful life, she wished to enter the church of Jerusalem, where the feast of the holy Cross was being celebrated. To bring her to her senses, God ordained that, though the church stood open to all, it should be closed to her: as often as she tried to enter, an invisible force drove her back. Then she came to herself, and remained in sorrow outside the church. Her good fortune was that over the porch of that church there was an image of the most holy Mary. To her the poor sinner recommended herself, promising to change her life; and with that she felt encouraged to enter the church. And behold, the door, which before had been closed against her, she now found open: she went in, made her confession, came out again, and, inspired by God, went into the desert, where she lived for forty-seven years and became a saint.
Points for Reflection
1. “Never fail to say three Aves every morning, begging her to keep you from sin that day” (§14)
2. “And when temptations come, have recourse to her at once, saying, ‘Mary, help me.’” (§14)
3. “Let us seek through Mary all the graces we desire to receive from God, and we shall obtain them; for she is a mother, and when she asks her Son for some grace on our behalf, her prayer cannot fail to be heard” (§6)
Translator’s Note
In a notice to the reader, prefixed to the Glories of Mary, St. Alphonsus explains the sense in which he wished his doctrine regarding the privileges of the Blessed Virgin to be understood. He concludes this explanation in the following words: “Then, to say all in a few words, the God of all holiness, in order to glorify the Mother of the Redeemer, has decreed and ordained, that her great charity should pray for all those for whom her Divine Son has paid and offered the most superabundant price of his precious blood, in which alone is our salvation, life, and resurrection. And on the foundation of this doctrine, and inasmuch as they accord with it, I have intended to lay down my propositions, which the saints, in their affectionate colloquies with Mary, and in their fervent discourses upon her, have not hesitated to assert.” Glories of Mary. Monza Edition, vol. i., pp. 11, 12.
In the third chapter of the first volume (pp. 123, 124), St. Alphonsus compares the hope which we place in the Blessed Virgin to the confidence which a person has in a minister of state whom he asks to procure a favor from his sovereign. “Whatsoever Mary obtains for us, she obtains it through the merits of Jesus Christ, and because she prays in the name of Jesus Christ” (Glories of Mary, vol. i., p. 188). “Mary, then, is said to be omnipotent in the manner in which omnipotence can be understood of a creature; for a creature is incapable of a divine attribute. Thus she is omnipotent, inasmuch as she obtains by her prayers whatever she asks.” Ibid., p. 223. To obtain favors through the intercession of Mary, by practicing devout exercises in her honor, “the first condition is, that we perform our devotions with a soul free from sin, or, at least, with a desire to give up sin.” “If a person wish to commit sin with the hope of being saved by the Blessed Virgin, he shall thus render himself unworthy and incapable of her protection” (Glories of Mary, vol. ii., pp. 325, 326).