CHAPTER IV — To You We Cry, Poor Banished Children of Eve

Section 1 — How ready Mary is to help those who invoke her

Poor are we, who being children of unhappy Eve, and therefore guilty before God with the same fault and condemned to the same punishment, wander as exiles through this valley of tears, far from our homeland, weeping and afflicted by so many sorrows in body and spirit! But blessed is he who amid these miseries often turns to the Consoler of the world, the refuge of the wretched, the great Mother of God, and devoutly calls upon her and prays to her! Beatus homo qui audit me et qui vigilat ad fores meas quotidie (Prov. 8:34). Blessed, says Mary, is he who listens to my counsels and does not cease to stand continually at the doors of my mercy, invoking my intercession and help!

The holy Church herself teaches us, her children, with what attentiveness and confidence we ought to make continual recourse to this our loving protectress, ordering that a special worship be given to her: that during the year so many feasts be celebrated in her honor; that one day of the week be specially consecrated to the veneration of Mary; that every day in the Divine Office all clergy and religious 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. To understand this, it would suffice merely to observe that in all public calamities the holy Church always wills that recourse be had to the divine Mother through novenas, prayers, processions, and visits to her churches and images. This is what Mary seeks from us — to be always invoked and asked — not to beg from us these tributes and honors, which are already far too slight for her merit, but so that, as our confidence and devotion grow, she may the more assist and console us: Ipsa tales quaerit, qui ad eam devote et reverenter accedant; hos enim diligit, hos nutrit, hos in filios suscipit, says St. Bonaventure.

The same St. Bonaventure says that Ruth was a figure of Mary, for her name is interpreted videns et festinans — seeing and hastening — since Mary, seeing our miseries, hastens to help us with her mercy: Videns enim nostram miseriam est, et festinans ad impendendam suam misericordiam. To which Novarino adds that Mary, out of her desire to do us good, knows no delay; and not being a stingy guardian of her graces, as the Mother of Mercy she cannot hold back from immediately pouring out upon her servants the treasures of her generosity: Nescit nectere moras benefaciendi cupida, nec gratiarum avara custos est; tarda nescit molimina misericordiae mater, beneficentiae suae thesauros in suos effusura.

Oh, how ready this good Mother is to help whoever invokes her! Duo ubera tua, sicut duo hinnuli capreae (Cant. 4:5). Explaining this passage, Richard of St. Lawrence says that the breasts of Mary are swift to give the milk of mercy to whoever asks for it, as swift as young deer: Compressione levissima angelicae salutationis larga stillabunt stillicidia. The same author assures us that the mercy of Mary flows to everyone who asks, even if no other prayer is offered than a simple Hail Mary. Therefore Novarino attests that the Blessed Virgin not only runs but flies to the aid of whoever invokes her. She, says the author, in exercising mercy does not differ from God's own way: just as the Lord flies at once to relieve those who ask his help, being most faithful to the promise he has made us — Petite et accipietis — so Mary, when invoked, immediately makes herself ready to help whoever prays to her: Alis utitur Deus, ut suis opituletur, statim advolat: alas sumit et Virgo in nostri auxilium advolatura. And by this we understand who is that woman of the Apocalypse, to whom two wings of a great eagle were given that she might fly into the wilderness: Et datae sunt mulieri alae duae aquilae magnae ut volaret in desertum (Rev. 12:14). Ribera explains these wings as the love with which Mary always flew to God: Pennas habet aquilae, quia amore Dei volat. But Blessed Amadeus says, to our purpose, that these eagle's wings signify the swiftness with which Mary, surpassing the swiftness of the Seraphim, always hastens to her children: Motu celerrimo Seraphim alas excedens, ubique suis ut mater occurrit.

Therefore we read in the Gospel of St. Luke that when Mary went to visit St. Elizabeth and to fill that whole family with graces, she was not slow but walked in haste throughout the whole journey: Exsurgens Maria abiit in montana cum festinatione (Lk. 1:39). This, however, is not said of the return she made. Therefore also it is said in the Canticle of Canticles that the hands of Mary are turned on a lathe: Manus illius tornatiles (Cant. 5:14). For, says Richard of St. Lawrence, just as the art of turning on a lathe is the easiest and swiftest, so Mary is swifter than all the other saints in helping her devout servants: Sicut ars tornandi promptior est aliis artibus, sic Maria ad benefaciendum promptior est aliis sanctis. She has the greatest desire to console everyone, and when she hears herself invoked, she immediately and graciously accepts the prayers and gives help: Omnes consolatur, et tenuiter invocata praesto adest. With good reason, then, St. Bonaventure called Mary the salvation of those who invoke her: O salus te invocantium; meaning that to be saved it suffices to invoke this divine Mother, who, as Richard of St. Lawrence says, is always found ready to help whoever prays to her: Invenies semper paratam auxiliari. For Bernardine de Busti says: Plus vult illa facere tibi bonum, quam tu accipere concupiscas. This great Lady desires more to bestow graces on us than we desire to receive them.

Nor should the multitude of our sins diminish our confidence of being heard by Mary when we have recourse at her feet. She is the Mother of Mercy, and mercy finds no place unless it finds wretches to relieve. Just as a good mother cannot be loath to apply a remedy to a child infected with sores, even though the cure be troublesome and repulsive, so our good Mother cannot abandon us when we have recourse to her, however great the stench of our sins from which she must heal us. The thought is that of Richard of St. Lawrence: Non enim Mater haec dedignatur peccatorem, sicut nec bona mater filium scabiosum. Quia propter hoc factam se recolit misericordiae genitricem. Ubi enim non est miseria, misericordia non habet locum.

And this is precisely what Mary wished to signify when she appeared to St. Gertrude, spreading her mantle to receive all who had recourse to her. And at the same time the saint understood that all the angels attend to defend the devotees of Mary from the attacks of hell.

So great is the compassion this good Mother has for us, and so great is the love she bears us, that she does not wait for our prayers to help us: Praeoccupat qui se concupiscunt, ut illis se prius ostendat (Wis. 6:13). St. Anselm applies these words of Wisdom to Mary and says that she anticipates those who desire her protection. By which we should understand that she obtains many graces for us from God before we even pray to her. For this reason, says Richard of St. Victor, Mary is called the moon — pulchra ut luna — because not only is she swift as the moon to run to the aid of those who invoke her — velocitate praestat — but what is more, she is so loving of our good that in our needs she anticipates our supplications, and her mercy is more ready to help us than we are to invoke her: Velocius occurrit eius pietas, quam invocetur, et causas miserorum anticipat. And this happens, adds the same Richard, because the breast of Mary is so full of compassion that as soon as she knows our miseries, she immediately pours forth the milk of her mercy; nor can this kind Queen learn of the need of any soul and fail to relieve it: Adeo replentur ubera tua misericordia, ut alterius miseriae notitia tacta, lac fundant misericordiae. Nec possis miserias scire et non subvenire.

And this great compassion Mary has for our miseries, which moves her to pity and relieve us even when we do not ask her, she made known to us even while she lived on this earth, in the event of the wedding at Cana, as is written in the second chapter of the Gospel. This compassionate Mother then saw the distress of those spouses who were afflicted with shame at seeing the wine fail at the banquet table; and without being in the least asked, moved solely by her compassionate heart, which cannot see the afflictions of others without having pity on them, she went to pray to her Son to console them, simply telling him the need of that family: Vinum non habent. After which the Son, to console those people and still more to satisfy the compassionate heart of his Mother who desired it, worked the well-known miracle of changing the water stored in certain vessels into wine. Now here Novarino argues and says: Si tam prompta ad auxilium currit non quaesita, quid quaesita praestitura est? If Mary even unasked is so ready to help in time of need, how much more ready will she be to console whoever invokes her and begs her aid?

And if anyone should ever doubt that he would be helped by Mary in having recourse to her, Innocent III reproves him thus: Quis invocavit eam et non est auditus ab ipsa? Who was ever found to have sought aid from this sweet Lady without Mary helping him? Quis umquam, o Beata, exclaims Blessed Eutychian, fideliter omnipotentem tuam rogavit opem, et fuit derelictus? Revera nullus umquam. Who ever, O holy Virgin, has had recourse to your great patronage — which can relieve every wretch and save the most lost sinners — and been left abandoned by you? Revera nullus umquam. No, this case has never happened, and never shall. I am content, said St. Bernard, that whoever has ever invoked you in his needs and remembers having been ignored by you should speak no more of your mercy or praise it: Sileat misericordiam tuam, Virgo beata, qui in necessitatibus te invocatam meminerit defuisse.

Sooner, says the devout Blosius, shall heaven and earth be destroyed than Mary fail to help whoever with a good intention implores her aid and trusts in her: Citius caelum cum terra perierint, quam Maria aliquem serio se implorantem sua ope destituat. And St. Anselm adds, to increase our confidence, that when we have recourse to this divine Mother, we should not only be certain of her protection, but that sometimes we shall be more quickly heard and saved by having recourse to Mary and invoking her holy name than by invoking the name of Jesus our Savior: Velociter nonnumquam est nostra salus, invocato nomine Mariae, quam invocato nomine Iesu. And he gives the reason: Quia ad Christum tamquam iudicem pertinet etiam punire; ad Virginem tamquam patronam, nonnisi misereri. This means that we more quickly find salvation by having recourse to the Mother than to the Son — not, certainly, because Mary is more powerful than the Son to save us, for we know that Jesus is our only Savior, who alone through his merits has obtained and obtains our salvation — but because, when we have recourse to Jesus and consider him also as our Judge, to whom it pertains to punish the ungrateful, we may lack the confidence necessary to be heard; whereas going to Mary, who has no other office than to compassionate us as the Mother of Mercy and to defend us as our advocate, our confidence seems more secure and greater: Multa petuntur a Deo et non obtinentur, multa petuntur a Maria et obtinentur; non quia potentior, sed quia Deus eam decrevit sic honorare. Many things are asked of God and not obtained; they are asked of Mary and are obtained. How is this? Nicephorus answers that this happens not because Mary is more powerful than God, but because God has decreed to thus honor his Mother.

Sweet is the promise that the Lord himself made known to St. Bridget on this subject. We read in Book 1 of her Revelations, chapter 50, that one day this saint heard Jesus speaking with his Mother, and saying to her: Nulla erit petitio tua in me, quae non audietur. My Mother, ask of me whatever you will, for I will never refuse you anything you ask; and know — he then added — that all who for love of you ask me for any grace, even though they be sinners, provided they have the will to amend, I promise to hear them: Et per te omnes qui per te petunt misericordiam, cum voluntate se emendandi, gratiam habebunt.

The same was revealed to St. Gertrude, when she heard our Redeemer himself say to Mary that by his omnipotence he had granted her the power to show mercy to sinners who invoke her, in whatever manner she pleased: Ex omnipotentia mea, Mater, tibi concessi propitiationem omnium peccatorum, qui devote invocant tuae pietatis auxilium, qualicumque modo placeat tibi.

Let each one, then, say with great confidence, invoking this Mother of Mercy, as St. Augustine said when invoking her: Memorare, piissima Maria, a saeculo non esse auditum, quemquam ad tua praesidia confugientem esse derelictum.

Remember, O most gracious Lady, that it has never been heard since the world began that anyone who fled to your protection was abandoned by you. And therefore pardon me if I say that I do not wish to be the first unfortunate one to be abandoned by you after having had recourse to you.

Example

St. Francis de Sales well experienced the power of this prayer, as is related in his Life (Book 1, ch. 4). The saint was about seventeen years of age and was then in Paris, where he was devoted to his studies and at the same time wholly given to devotion and the holy love of God, who kept him in sweet delights of paradise; when the Lord, in order further to test him and bind him more closely to his love, permitted the devil to suggest to him that everything he was doing was in vain, since he was reprobate in the divine decrees. The darkness and aridity in which God willed to leave him at the same time — since he found himself insensible to all the sweetest thoughts of the divine goodness — caused the temptation to have still greater power to afflict the heart of the holy youth; so that through such fears and desolations he lost his appetite, his sleep, his color, and his cheerfulness, in such a way as to move all who observed him to compassion.

While this horrible tempest lasted, the saint could conceive no other thoughts nor utter any other words than those of despondency and sorrow. "Then," he would say, as it is related in his Life, "I shall be deprived of the grace of my God, who in the past has shown himself so lovable and so sweet to me? O love, O beauty, to whom I have consecrated all my affections, I shall no longer enjoy your consolations? O Virgin Mother of God, the most beautiful of all the daughters of Jerusalem, shall I never see you in paradise? Ah, Lady, if I am not to see your fair countenance, at least do not allow me to blaspheme and curse you in hell." Such were the tender sentiments of that heart, afflicted and enamored of God and of the Virgin. The temptation lasted a month, but at length the Lord was pleased to free him from it through the Consoler of the world, Mary Most Holy, to whom the saint had already consecrated his virginity and in whom he said he had placed all his hopes.

One evening as he was returning home, he entered a church and there saw a tablet hanging on the wall; he read it and found the following prayer of St. Augustine: Memorare, piissima Maria, a saeculo non esse auditum, quemquam ad tua praesidia confugientem esse derelictum. There, prostrate before the altar of the divine Mother, he recited this prayer with devotion, renewed the vow of his virginity, promised to recite her Rosary every day, and then added: "My Queen, be my advocate before your Son, to whom I have not the courage to have recourse. My Mother, if in the next world, unhappy as I am, I cannot love my Lord, whom I know to be so worthy of love, at least obtain for me that I may love him in this world as much as I can. This is the grace I ask of you, and from you I hope for it." Thus he prayed to the Virgin, and then abandoned himself entirely to the arms of divine mercy, resigning himself wholly to the will of God. But scarcely had the prayer ended when, in an instant, by his most sweet Mother he was delivered from the temptation: he immediately recovered his interior peace, and with it also the health of his body; and from then on he continued to live most devoutly toward Mary, whose praises and mercies he never ceased to proclaim in his preaching and writings throughout his whole life.

Prayer

O Mother of God, O Queen of the angels, O hope of mankind, hear me who call upon you and have recourse to you. Behold me today, prostrate at your feet — I, a wretched slave of hell, dedicate myself to you as your perpetual servant, offering to serve and honor you as much as I can for all my life. I know well that the service of so vile and wicked a slave as I am, who have so offended your Son and my Redeemer Jesus, does you no honor. But if you will accept one who is unworthy as your servant, and through your intercession change him and make him worthy, this very mercy of yours will give you the honor I, wretch that I am, cannot render you. Accept me, then, and do not reject me, O my Mother. The Eternal Word came from heaven to earth to seek these lost sheep, and to save them he became your Son. And would you despise one of these sheep that has recourse to you to find Jesus? The price has already been paid for my salvation: my Savior has already shed his blood, which suffices to save an infinity of worlds. It remains only that this blood be applied to me as well. And this depends on you, O blessed Virgin; on you, St. Bernard tells me, it depends to dispense the merits of this blood to whomever you please. On you, too, St. Bonaventure tells you, it depends to save whomever you will: Quem ipsa vis, salvus erit. Then, my Queen, help me; my Queen, save me. To you I entrust today my whole soul: think of saving it. O salvation of those who invoke you — I close with the same saint — O salus te invocantium, save me.

Section 2 — How powerful Mary is in defending those who invoke her in the temptations of the devil

Not only is the Most Holy Mary Queen of heaven and of the saints, but she is also Queen of hell and of the demons, having valiantly defeated them by her virtues. From the very beginning of the world God foretold to the infernal serpent the victory and the dominion that our Queen would obtain over him, when he announced that a woman would come into the world who would conquer him: Inimicitias ponam inter te et mulierem... ipsa conteret caput tuum (Gen. 3:15). And who was this woman, his enemy, if not Mary, who by her beautiful humility and holy life always conquered him and crushed his power? Mater Domini Iesu Christi in illa muliere promissa est, attests St. Cyprian. And therefore he reflects that God did not say pono but ponam — "I will put" — ne ad Hevam pertinere videatur: lest it should seem to refer to Eve, the woman then living; but rather to another woman descended from her, who, says St. Vincent Ferrer, was to bring our first parents a greater good than the one they had lost by their sin: Parentibus primis Virginem ab ipsis processuram, quae afferret maius bonum, quam ipsi perdiderunt. Mary, then, has been this great and valiant woman who conquered the devil and crushed his head by casting down his pride, as the Lord added: Ipsa conteret caput tuum. Some question whether these words refer to Mary or to Jesus Christ, since the Septuagint renders it Ipse conteret caput tuum. But in our Vulgate — which alone we hold as approved in faith by the Council of Trent — it reads Ipsa and not Ipse; and so it has been understood by St. Ambrose, St. Jerome, St. Augustine, St. John Chrysostom, and very many others. Be that as it may, it is certain that either the Son through the Mother, or the Mother by the power of the Son, has destroyed Lucifer; so that the proud one, in spite of himself, has been trampled underfoot and cast down by this blessed Virgin, says St. Bernard. Hence, as a slave vanquished in war, he is forced ever to obey the commands of this Queen: Sub Mariae pedibus conculcatus et contritus miseram patitur servitutem.

St. Bruno says that Eve, by allowing herself to be conquered by the serpent, brought us death and darkness; but the Blessed Virgin, by conquering the devil, brought us life and light: In Heva mors et caligo; in Maria vita consistit et lux. Illa a diabolo victa est, haec diabolum vicit et ligavit. And she bound him in such a way that the enemy cannot make the slightest harm to her devout servants.

Richard of St. Lawrence gives a beautiful explanation of the words of Proverbs: Confidit in ea cor viri sui, et spoliis non indigebit (Prov. 31:11). Richard explains: Confidit in ea cor viri sui, scilicet Christi. Et spoliis non indigebit; ipsa enim quasi ditat sponsum suum, quibus spoliat diabolum. God has entrusted to the hands of Mary the Heart of Jesus, so that it may be her care to make him loved by men. And in this way he shall not lack spoils — that is, conquests of souls — for she enriches him with souls whom she strips from hell, saving them from the demons by her powerful help.

It is well known that the palm is the sign of victory; therefore our Queen has been placed on a high throne in the sight of all the powers, like a palm as a sign of the sure victory that all may promise themselves who place themselves under her patronage: Quasi palma exaltata sum in Cades (Ecclus. 24:18). Scilicet ad defendendum, as Blessed Albert the Great adds. My children, Mary seems to say to us with these words, when the enemy assails you, have recourse to me; look to me and take courage; for in me, who defend you, you will see at the same time your victory. So that to have recourse to Mary is a most sure means of conquering all the attacks of hell. For she, says St. Bernardine of Siena, is also Queen of hell and mistress of the demons, being the one who tames and crushes them: Beata Virgo dominatur in regno inferni. Dicitur igitur Domina daemonum, quasi domans daemones. And therefore Mary is called terrible against the powers of hell, like an army drawn up in battle array: Terribilis ut castrorum acies ordinata (Cant. 6:3). Acies ordinata, for she well knows how to marshal her power, her mercy, and her prayers for the confusion of the enemy and the benefit of her servants, who in temptations invoke her most powerful aid.

Ego quasi vitis fructificavi suavitatem odoris (Ecclus. 24:23). I as the vine, the Holy Spirit has her say, have brought forth fruits of sweet fragrance. St. Bernard adds on this passage: Aiunt de florescentibus vitibus omne reptile venenatum excedere loco. Just as poisonous serpents flee from flowering vines, so the demons flee from those fortunate souls in whom they perceive the fragrance of devotion to Mary. Therefore she is also called the cedar: Quasi cedrus exaltata sum in Libano (Ecclus. 24:17). Not only because, as the cedar is free from corruption, so Mary was free from sin; but also because, says Cardinal Hugh on this passage, just as the cedar puts serpents to flight by its fragrance, so Mary puts the demons to flight by her sanctity: Cedrus odore suo fugat serpentes, et B. Virgo daemones.

In Judea, victories were obtained through the ark. Thus Moses conquered his enemies: Cumque elevaretur arca, dicebat Moyses: Surge, Domine, et dissipentur inimici tui (Num. 10:35). Thus was Jericho conquered, thus the Philistines defeated: Erat enim ibi arca Dei (1 Sam. 14:18). It is well known that this ark was a figure of Mary: Arca continens manna, idest Christum, est B. Virgo, quae victoriam contra homines et daemones largitur. Just as the manna was found in the ark, so Jesus is found in Mary — of whom the manna was likewise a figure — and through this ark victory is given against the enemies of earth and of hell. Hence St. Bernardine of Siena says that when Mary, the ark of the New Testament, was raised up to be Queen of heaven, the power of hell over mankind was then weakened and destroyed: Quando elevata fuit Virgo gloriosa ad caelestia regna, daemonis potentia imminuta est et dissipata.

Oh, how the demons of hell tremble before Mary and her great name, says St. Bonaventure: O quam tremenda est Maria daemonibus! The saint compares these enemies to those of whom Job speaks: Perfodit in tenebris domos... Si subito apparuerit aurora, arbitrantur umbram mortis (Job 24:16-17). Thieves in the darkness go to rob houses, but if the dawn appears there, they flee as though the image of death appeared to them. So, says St. Bonaventure, the demons enter the soul when it is darkened by ignorance: Perfodiunt in tenebris ignorantiae domos mentium nostrarum. But then he adds: Si subito supervenerit aurora, idest Mariae gratia et misericordia, sic fugiunt, sicut omnes fugiunt mortem. As soon as the grace and mercy of Mary enter the soul, this beautiful dawn drives away the darkness and puts the infernal enemies to flight as from death itself. Oh, blessed is he who in his battles with hell always invokes the fair name of Mary!

In confirmation of this, it was revealed to St. Bridget that God has made Mary so powerful over all the demons that, whenever they assail a devotee of the Virgin who asks her help, at a sign from her they are instantly terrified and flee far away, preferring rather that their punishments be doubled than to see themselves so dominated by Mary's power: Super omnes etiam malignos spiritus ipsam sic potentem effecit, quod quotiescumque ipsi hominem Virginis auxilium implorantem impugnaverint, ad ipsius Virginis nutum illico pavidi procul diflugiunt; volentes potius suas poenas multiplicari, quam eiusdem Virginis potentiam super se taliter dominari.

On the words with which the divine Spouse praised his beloved Bride, when he called her a lily and said that as the lily is among thorns, so was his beloved among all other maidens — Sicut lilium inter spinas, sic amica mea inter filias (Cant. 2:2) — Cornelius reflects and says: Sicut lilium valet inter serpentes et venena, sic B. Virginis invocatio singulare est remedium in omni tentatione, praesertim libidinis, ut experientia constat. As the lily is a remedy against serpents and poisons, so the invocation of Mary is a singular remedy for overcoming all temptations, especially those against purity, as all who practice it commonly experience.

St. John Damascene said: Insuperabilem spem tuam habens, o Deipara, servabor. Persequar inimicos meos, solam habens ut thoracem protectionem tuam et omnipotens auxilium tuum. And the same may be said by everyone who has the good fortune of being a servant of this great Queen: O Mother of God, if I hope in you, I shall certainly not be conquered; for, defended by you, I will pursue my enemies, opposing to them as a shield your protection and your omnipotent help, and I shall surely conquer them. For James the monk, a doctor among the Greek Fathers, says, speaking of Mary to the Lord: Tu arma omni vi belli potentiora, trophaeumque invictum praestitisti. You, my Lord, have given us this Mother as an arm most powerful, to conquer surely all our enemies.

We read in the Old Testament that the Lord led his people from Egypt to the promised land by day with a pillar of cloud and by night with a pillar of fire: Per diem in columna nubis et per noctem in columna ignis (Ex. 13:21). In this pillar, now of cloud, now of fire, Richard of St. Lawrence says that Mary was prefigured, and the two offices she continually exercises for our good: as a cloud she protects us from the heat of divine justice, and as fire she protects us from the demons: Ecce duo officia ad quae data est nobis Maria; scilicet ut nos protegat a calore solis iustitiae, tamquam nubes, et tamquam ignis, ut omnes nos protegat contra diabolum. Fire, because, as St. Bonaventure adds, just as wax melts before fire, so the demons lose their power against those souls who often recall the name of Mary and devoutly invoke it, and all the more if they strive to imitate her: Fluunt sicut cera a facie ignis, ubi inveniunt crebram huius nominis recordationem, devotam invocationem, sollicitam imitationem.

Oh, how the demons tremble, affirms St. Bernard, at merely hearing the name of Mary pronounced: In nomine Mariae omne genu flectitur; et daemones non solum pertimescunt, sed, audita hac voce, contremiscunt. Just as men, adds Thomas a Kempis, fall to the ground with fear when a thunderbolt from heaven strikes near them, so the demons fall crushed at hearing Mary named: Expavescunt caeli reginam spiritus maligni et diffugiunt, audito nomine eius, velut ab igne. Tamquam tonitruum de caelo factum sit, prosternuntur ad sanctae Mariae vocabulum. And oh, how many beautiful victories over these enemies the devotees of Mary have won through her most holy name! Thus did St. Anthony of Padua conquer them, thus Blessed Henry Suso, thus so many other lovers of Mary. We know from the accounts of the missions in Japan that once a certain Christian there was beset by many demons in the form of fierce animals to frighten and threaten him; but he said to them: "I have no weapons that you might fear; if the Most High permits it, do with me as you please. For the rest, I use in my defense the sweetest names of Jesus and Mary." Scarcely had he spoken when, at the sound of those tremendous names, the earth opened and those proud spirits fell headlong. And St. Anselm attests from his own experience that he has seen and heard of many who, upon naming Mary, were immediately freed from dangers: Saepe vidimus et audivimus plurimos homines in suis periculis nominis recordari Mariae, et illico omnis periculi malum evasisse.

Gloriosum et admirabile est nomen tuum, o Maria; qui illud retinent non expavescunt in puncto mortis; nam daemones audientes hoc nomen Mariae, statim relinquunt animam. Most glorious and admirable, O Mary, is your great name: those who remember to invoke it at the point of death have no fear of all hell; for the demons, on hearing the name of Mary, immediately abandon the soul. And the saint adds that the enemies on earth do not fear a great army of soldiers so much as the powers of hell fear the name of Mary and her protection: Non sic timent hostes visibiles castrorum multitudinem copiosam, sicut aereae potestates Mariae vocabulum et patrocinium. Lady, says St. Germanus, by the sole invocation of your most powerful name you keep your servants safe from all the assaults of the enemy: Tu hostis contra servos tuos invasiones, sola tui nominis invocatione tutos servas. Oh, if Christians were attentive in temptations to invoke the name of Mary with confidence, it is certain that they would never fall. Yes, for Blessed Alan says that at the thunder of this great name the devil flees and all hell trembles: Satan fugit, infernus contremiscit, cum dico: Ave Maria. Moreover, the same Queen revealed to St. Bridget that even from the most lost sinners, the most distant from God and the most possessed by the devil, the enemy immediately departs when he hears them invoke her most powerful name in their aid, with a sincere desire to amend: Omnes daemones audientes hoc nomen, Maria, statim relinquunt animam quasi territi. But the Virgin added that if the soul does not amend and does not remove its sin with sorrow, the demons immediately return and continue to possess it: Et revertuntur ad eam, nisi aliqua emendatio subsequatur.

Example

At Reichersberg there was Arnold, a canon regular, very devoted to the Blessed Virgin. When he came to die, he received the sacraments, and having called his religious brethren, begged them not to abandon him in that last step. Scarcely had he said this when, behold, in their presence he began to tremble all over, his eyes rolled, cold sweat broke out, and with a trembling voice he said: Do you not see those demons who want to drag me to hell? And then he cried out: My brethren, invoke the help of Mary for me; in her I trust that she will give me victory. At these words they recited the litanies of Our Lady, and when they said Sancta Maria, ora pro eo, the dying man spoke up: Repeat, repeat the name of Mary, for I am already at the tribunal of God. He paused a little, and then added: It is true that I committed it, but I have done penance for it. And turning to the Virgin, he said: O Mary, I shall be freed if you help me.

Then the demons gave him another assault, but he defended himself by signing himself with the crucifix and invoking Mary. So the whole night passed. Finally, when morning came, Arnold, entirely serene, exclaimed with joy: Mary, my Lady, my refuge, has obtained for me pardon and salvation. Then, gazing upon the Virgin who invited him to follow her, he said: I am coming, Lady, I am coming. And making an effort to rise, unable to follow her with his body, gently breathing his last, he followed her with his soul, as we hope, to the kingdom of blessed glory.

Prayer

Behold at your feet, O my hope Mary, a poor sinner who has been so many times, through his own fault, a slave of hell. I know that I have let myself be conquered by the demons because I did not have recourse to you, my refuge. If I had always had recourse to you, if I had invoked you, no, I would never have fallen. I hope, my most lovable Lady, that through you I have already escaped from the hands of the demons, and that God has already forgiven me. But I tremble lest in the future I should fall again into their chains. I know the enemies have not lost hope of conquering me again, and already they prepare new assaults and temptations against me. Ah, my Queen and my refuge, help me. Place me under your mantle; do not allow me to become their slave once more.

I know that you will help me and give me victory, whenever I invoke you. But this is what I fear: I fear that in temptations I may forget you and fail to call upon you. This, then, is the grace I seek and desire from you, O Most Holy Virgin: that I may always remember you, and especially when I find myself in battle. Grant that I may never cease to invoke you, saying: Mary, help me; help me, Mary.

And when at last the day shall come of my final struggle with hell, at the moment of my death, ah, my Queen, assist me then above all, and remind me yourself to invoke you then more often, either with my lips or in my heart, so that, breathing my last with your most sweet name on my lips, and that of your Son Jesus, I may come to bless and praise you and never again depart from your feet for all eternity in paradise. Amen.