Chapter VI — Eia Ergo Advocata Nostra

Section 1 — Mary is an advocate powerful to save all

So great is the authority of mothers over their children that even though these children be monarchs with absolute dominion over every person in their kingdoms, yet their mothers can never become their subjects.

It is true that Jesus now in heaven, because he sits at the right hand of the Father — that is, as St. Thomas explains, even as man by reason of the hypostatic union with the Person of the Word, he has supreme dominion over all and even over Mary — nevertheless it will always remain true that for a time, when our Redeemer lived on this earth, he willed to humble himself and make himself subject to Mary, as St. Luke attests: Et erat subditus illis (Luke 2:51). Indeed, says St. Ambrose, Jesus Christ, having already honored Mary by making her his Mother, was as her Son truly obliged to obey her. And therefore Richard of St. Lawrence says that of the other saints it is said that they are with God, but of Mary alone can it be said that she had this good fortune: that not only was she subject to the will of God, but God also made himself subject to her will: Cum de ceteris sanctis dicatur eos esse cum Deo, Maria maius aliquid sortita est: ut non solum ipsa subiiceretur voluntati Dei, sed etiam Dominus voluntati ipsius. And whereas of the other holy virgins, as the same author reflects, it is said that they follow the divine Lamb wherever he goes — Sequuntur Agnum quocumque ierit (Rev. 14:4) — of the Virgin Mary it may be said that the Lamb followed her on this earth, having made himself her subject: De virgine autem Maria secure dici potest, quod Agnus sequebatur eam quocumque ivit, ex illo Lucae: Erat subditus illis.

We say therefore that Mary in heaven, although she can no longer command her Son, yet her prayers will always be the prayers of a mother, and therefore most powerful to obtain whatever she asks. Mary, says St. Bonaventure, has this privilege with her Son, of being most powerful to obtain whatever she wills: Grande privilegium Mariae, quod apud Filium sit potentissima. And why? Precisely for the reason we have indicated and which we shall now examine at length: because the prayers of Mary are the prayers of a mother. And for this reason, says St. Peter Damian, the Virgin can do whatever she wills, both in heaven and on earth, being able to raise even the desperate to the hope of salvation; and so he says to her: Data est tibi omnis potestas in caelo et in terra; et nihil tibi impossibile, cui possibile est etiam desperatos in spem salutis relevare. And then he adds that when the Mother goes to seek some grace for us from Jesus Christ — whom the saint calls the altar of mercy, where sinners obtain pardon from God — the Son so esteems the prayers of Mary and so desires to please her that, when she prays, it seems that she rather commands than prays, and appears more a sovereign than a handmaid: Accedis enim ad illud humanae reconciliationis altare, non solum rogans sed imperans, domina non ancilla; nam Filius nihil negans, te honorat. Thus Jesus wills to honor this dear Mother of his, who so greatly honored him in his life, by immediately granting whatever she asks and desires. This is beautifully confirmed by St. Germanus, who says to the Virgin: You, Mother of God, are all-powerful to save sinners, and you have no need of any other recommendation before God, since you are the Mother of the true Life.

St. Bernardine of Siena does not hesitate to say: Imperio Virginis omnia famulantur, etiam Deus — at the commands of the Virgin all things obey, even God — meaning in truth that God hears her prayers as though they were commands. Hence St. Anselm, speaking to Mary, says: Te Deus, o Virgo, sic exaltavit, et omnia tibi secum possibilia esse donavit. The Lord, O holy Virgin, has exalted you to such a degree that by his favor you can obtain all possible graces for your devoted servants, since your protection is all-powerful: Omnipotens auxilium tuum, o Maria, as Cosmas of Jerusalem says to her. Yes, Mary is all-powerful, continues Richard of St. Lawrence, since the queen by every law must enjoy the same privileges as the king: Eisdem privilegiis secundum leges gaudet rex et regina. Cum autem eadem sit potestas filii et matris, ab omnipotente Filio omnipotens Mater facta est. In such manner, says St. Antoninus, God has placed the whole Church not only under the patronage but even under the dominion of Mary: Ecclesia est non tantum sub Virginis patrocinio, verum etiam sub dominatione ac potestate.

Since, then, the mother must have the same power as the son, with good reason from Jesus, who is omnipotent, Mary has been made omnipotent — it being always true, however, that where the Son is omnipotent by nature, the Mother is omnipotent by grace. And this is verified by what happens: that whatever the Mother seeks, the Son refuses her nothing; as was revealed to St. Bridget, who one day heard Jesus speaking to Mary and saying: Pete quod vis a me, non enim potest esse inanis petitio tua. My Mother, you already know how much I love you; therefore ask of me whatever you will, for no request of yours can go unheard by me. And he gave this beautiful reason: Quia tu mihi nihil negasti in terris, ego nihil tibi negabo in caelis. As if to say: Mother, when you were on earth you refused me nothing out of love for me; now that I am in heaven, it is right that I refuse you nothing of what you ask. Mary is therefore called omnipotent in the way that may be understood of a creature, who is not capable of a divine attribute. She is omnipotent because by her prayers she obtains whatever she wills.

With good reason, then, O great advocate of ours, St. Bernard says to you: Velis tu, et omnia fient. And St. Anselm: Quidquid tu Virgo velis, nequaquam fieri non poterit. Will it, and all will be done; will it, and nothing can fail to come to pass. Will to raise the most lost sinner to a high degree of sanctity, and it is yours to do it.

Blessed Albert the Great on this subject makes Mary say: Roganda sum ut velim; quia si volo, necesse est fieri. I must be asked to will it, for if I will it, it must be done. Hence St. Peter Damian, considering this great power of Mary, prays her to have pity on us and says: Moveat te natura, potentia moveat; quia quanto potentior, tanto misericordior esse debebis. O Mary, O dear advocate of ours, since you have a heart so compassionate that it cannot behold the wretched without pitying them, and at the same time you have before God such great power to save all those whom you defend — do not disdain to take up the cause of us wretches who place all our hopes in you. If our prayers do not move you, let your own kind heart move you, let at least your power move you, since God has enriched you with such great power to the end that the more you are able to help us, the more you may be merciful in willing to help us. But of this St. Bernard well assures us, saying that Mary is immensely rich both in power and in mercy; and as her charity is most powerful, so too it is most compassionate toward us, and by its effects she continually makes us see this: Potentissima et piissima caritas Matris Dei et affectu compatiendi et subveniendi abundat effectu: aeque locuples in utroque.

Even while Mary lived on this earth, her sole thought, after the glory of God, was to help the wretched; and already then we know she enjoyed the privilege of being heard in all that she asked. We know this from what happened at the wedding feast of Cana in Galilee, when the wine failed and the Blessed Virgin, compassionating the distress and embarrassment of that household, asked her Son to console them with a miracle, telling him of the want of wine: Vinum non habent. Jesus answered: Quid mihi et tibi est, mulier? Nondum venit hora mea (John 2:4). Notice: although the Lord seemed to have refused the grace to his Mother, saying, "What does it matter, O woman, to me and to you that the wine has failed? Now is not the time for me to perform any miracle, for the hour has not yet come, which will be the time of my preaching, when by signs I must confirm my doctrine" — yet despite all this, Mary, as if the Son had already granted the favor, said to the servants: Implete hydrias aqua — "Come now, fill the jars with water, and you will soon be consoled" — and in fact Jesus Christ, to please his Mother, changed that water into excellent wine. But how can this be? If the time appointed for miracles was that of his preaching, how could this miracle of the wine be anticipated contrary to the divine decree? No, answers St. Augustine, nothing was done contrary to the divine decrees, for although generally speaking the time of signs had not yet arrived, nevertheless from eternity God had established by another general decree that nothing his divine Mother sought should ever be denied her. And therefore Mary, well aware of this privilege, although her Son seemed then to have dismissed her request, still told them to fill the vessels with water, as though the grace were already obtained. This is what St. John Chrysostom meant to say on the aforesaid passage of St. John — Quid mihi et tibi, mulier — namely, that although Jesus had answered thus, yet out of honor for his Mother he did not fail to comply with her request: Et licet ita responderit, maternis tamen precibus obtemperavit. St. Thomas confirmed the same, saying that by those words, "My hour has not yet come," Jesus Christ wished to show that he would have deferred the miracle had anyone else asked for it, but because it was his Mother who asked, he performed it at once: Per illa verba, nondum venit hora mea, ostendit se dilaturum fuisse miraculum, si alius rogasset; quia tamen rogabat Mater, fecit. Sts. Cyril and Jerome say the same, as Barradas reports. And the same is said by the author of Ghent on the same passage of St. John: Quo Matrem honoraret, praevenit tempus miraculi faciendi.

It is certain, in sum, that there is no creature who can obtain for us wretches as many mercies as this good advocate, who in this way is honored by God not only as his beloved handmaid but also as his true Mother. This is precisely what William of Paris says to her: Nulla creatura tot et tanta impetrare posset apud Filium tuum miseris, quam tu impetras eisdem; in quo procul dubio non tamquam ancillam, sed tamquam Matrem verissimam te honorat. It suffices that Mary speak, and the Son carries out everything. The Lord, speaking with the spouse of the Sacred Canticles, by whom Mary is understood, says to her: Quae habitas in hortis, amici auscultant, fac me audire vocem tuam (Song of Songs 8:13). The friends are the saints, who, whenever they ask some grace for the benefit of their devoted ones, wait for their queen to ask it of God and obtain it, since — as was said above in Chapter V — no grace is dispensed except through the intercession of Mary. And how does Mary obtain it? She need only let her Son hear her voice: Fac me audire vocem tuam. She need only speak, and the Son immediately hears her. Here is how William of Paris, explaining the aforesaid passage in this sense, represents the Son saying to Mary: Quae habitas in hortis caelestibus, fiducialiter pro quibus volueris intercede; non enim possum oblivisci me Filium tuum, ut Matri quidpiam denegandum putem. Tantum ut vocem proferas, quia a Filio audiri exaudiri est. Abbot Geoffrey says that although Mary obtains graces by praying, yet she prays with a certain maternal authority, so that we must not doubt that she obtains whatever she desires and asks for us: Virgo Maria ex eo quod ille homo est et natus ex ea, quasi quodam matris imperio, apud ipsum impetrare quod voluerit pia fiducia non dubitatur.

Valerius Maximus relates of Coriolanus that, when he held Rome under siege, neither the prayers of the citizens nor of his friends were enough to make him withdraw; but when his mother Veturia appeared to plead with him, he could not resist and immediately raised the siege. But far more powerful than those of Veturia are the prayers of Mary with Jesus, inasmuch as this Son is more grateful and loves this dear Mother of his far more. Father Justin of Miechow writes: Unum B. Mariae suspirium plus possit, quam omnium sanctorum simul suffragia. And this same truth the devil himself confessed to St. Dominic, compelled by his commands, through the mouth of a possessed man, as Father Paciuchelli relates, saying that a single sigh of Mary has more power with God than all the supplications of all the saints united together.

St. Antoninus says that the prayers of the Blessed Virgin, being the prayers of a mother, partake of a certain authority of command, and therefore it is impossible that she not be heard when she prays: Oratio Deiparae habet rationem imperii; unde impossibile est eam non exaudiri. Hence St. Germanus speaks to her thus, encouraging the sinners who commend themselves to this advocate: Since you, O Mary, possess the authority of a mother with God, you obtain pardon for the most enormous sinners; since the Lord who in all things recognizes you as his true Mother cannot but grant you all that you ask: Tu autem materna in Deum auctoritate pollens, etiam iis qui enormiter peccant eximiam remissionis gratiam concilias; non enim potes non exaudiri, cum Deus tibi ut verae et intemeratae Matri in omnibus morem gerat. Hence St. Bridget heard the saints in heaven say to the Virgin: Domina benedicta, quid est quod non poteris? Quod enim vis, hoc factum est. What is there that you cannot do? Whatever you will, that is done. To which corresponds that celebrated verse: Quod Deus imperio, tu prece, Virgo, potes. And is it not, says St. Augustine, something worthy of the Lord's goodness to safeguard thereby the honor of his Mother, since he declared that he had come into the world not to break but to fulfill the law, which among other things commands that parents be honored? Numquid non pertinet ad benignitatem Domini Matris honorem servare, qui legem non venit solvere, sed adimplere?

Moreover, St. George, archbishop of Nicomedia, adds that Jesus Christ even as if to satisfy the obligation he has toward this Mother for having given him, by her consent, his human nature, fulfills all her requests: Filius quasi exsolvens debitum, implet petitiones tuas. Hence the martyr St. Methodius exclaims: Euge, euge, quae debitorem habes Filium qui omnibus mutuatur. Deo enim universi debemus; tibi autem etiam ille debitor est. Rejoice, O Mary, who have the good fortune of having as debtor that Son who gives to all and receives from none. We are all debtors to God for all that we have, since all is his gift; but God himself has chosen to make himself debtor to you, taking from you his flesh and becoming man. Hence St. Augustine says: Virgo quae meruit pro liberandis proferre pretium, potest plus omnibus suffragium libertatis impendere. Having merited to give flesh to the divine Word, and with it to furnish the price of redemption so that we might be freed from eternal death, Mary, says St. Augustine, is more powerful than all others to help us obtain eternal salvation. Hence St. Theophilus, bishop of Alexandria, who lived in the time of St. Jerome, left this written: The Son is pleased to be prayed to by his Mother, because he wills to grant her all that he grants on her account, and thus to repay the favor he received from her in her having given him his flesh. Hence St. John Damascene, turning to the Virgin, says: You then, O Mary, being Mother of God, can save all by your prayers, which are strengthened by your maternal authority: Potes quidem omnes salvare, ut Dei altissimi Mater, precibus materna auctoritate pollentibus.

Let us conclude with St. Bonaventure, who, considering the great benefit the Lord has done us in giving us Mary for our advocate, speaks to her thus: O certe Dei nostri mira benignitas, qui suis reis te Dominam tribuit advocatam, ut auxilio tuo, quod volueris, valeas impetrare. O truly immense and admirable goodness of our God, who to us wretched defendants has been pleased to give you, our Lady, as our advocate, so that you may be able by your powerful intercession to obtain for us whatever good you will.

O mirabilis erga nos, the same saint continues, misericordia Dei nostri, qui, ne fugeremus pro sententia, voluit Matrem ac dominam gratiae, instituere advocatam! O great mercy of the Lord, who, lest we should flee from the sentence that must be passed upon our cause, has appointed as our advocate his own Mother and the mistress of grace.

Example

Father Razzi the Camaldolese relates how a certain young man, on the death of his father, was sent by his mother to the court of a prince. But the mother, in taking leave of him — being most devoted to Mary — made her son promise that every day he would recite a Hail Mary with these words at the end: "Blessed Virgin, help me in the hour of my death."

Having arrived at the court, the young man after some time became so dissolute in his vices that his master was obliged to dismiss him. Desperate then and not knowing how to live, he took to the roads as a highwayman. But during this time he never ceased commending himself to Our Lady as his mother had told him. At last he was seized by justice and condemned to death.

Now being in prison, due to be executed the following day, and thinking of his disgrace, his mother's sorrow, and the death that awaited him, he wept inconsolably. The devil, seeing him oppressed by a great melancholy, appeared to him in the form of a handsome young man and told him that he would free him from death and from prison, if he would do what he said. The condemned man offered to do everything. Then the pretended youth revealed that he was the devil, come to help him. First he demanded that he renounce Jesus Christ and the holy Sacraments, and the young man consented. Next he told him to renounce the Virgin Mary and give up her protection. "This I will never do," replied the young man, and turning to Mary, he repeated the customary prayer his mother had taught him: "Blessed Virgin, help me in the hour of my death." At these words the devil vanished. But the young man was left deeply distressed at the excess he had committed in renouncing Jesus Christ. Having recourse, however, to the Blessed Virgin, she obtained for him a great sorrow for all his sins, so that he confessed with much weeping and contrition.

Having already gone out to go to the scaffold, on the way he came upon a statue of Mary. He greeted her with the usual prayer: "Blessed Virgin, help me in the hour of my death." And the statue, in the sight of all, bowed its head and returned his greeting. Then he, overcome with tenderness, begged to be allowed to kiss the feet of that image. The officers refused, but then yielded because of the commotion the people were making. The young man bent down to kiss the feet, and Mary from that statue stretched out her arm and took him by the hand, and held him so fast that it was impossible to tear him away. At this prodigy all began to cry out, "Mercy! Mercy!" and the pardon was granted. He then returned to his homeland and gave himself to an exemplary life, continuing to live most affectionately devoted to Mary, who had freed him from temporal and eternal death.

Prayer

O great Mother of God, I will say to you with St. Bernard: Loquere, Domina, quia audit Filius tuus, et quaecumque petieris, impetrabis. Your Son readily hears you, and all that you seek he will grant you. Speak, then, speak, O Mary, our advocate, on behalf of us wretches. Remember that it was also for our good that you received such great power and such great dignity. A God willed to make himself your debtor to this end: that by taking from you his human nature, you might at your will dispense to the wretched the riches of divine mercy.

We are your servants, dedicated in a special manner to your service, and among these I trust that I too am numbered. We glory in living under your protection. If you do good to all, even to those who do not know you or honor you, and who even offend and blaspheme you, how much more should we hope from your kindness, which goes about seeking the wretched to relieve them? We who honor you, love you, and confide in you?

We are great sinners, but God has enriched you with compassion and power greater than all our iniquity. You can and you will save us; and we wish to hope for it all the more in proportion as we are unworthy, that we may glorify you the more in heaven when we arrive there by your intercession.

O Mother of Mercy, we present to you our souls, once made beautiful and washed in the blood of Jesus Christ, but afterwards defiled by sin. We present them to you; take thought to purify them. Obtain for us a true amendment, obtain for us the love of God, perseverance, and paradise. We ask great things of you, but can you not obtain all for us? Are they perhaps too much for the love that God bears you? You need but open your mouth to pray to your Son, and he refuses you nothing. Pray, then, pray, O Mary, for us; pray, and you will surely be heard, and we shall assuredly be saved.

Section 2 — Mary is a compassionate advocate who does not refuse to defend the causes of the most wretched

So many are the motives we have to love this loving queen of ours, that if Mary were praised throughout the whole earth, if in every sermon Mary alone were spoken of, and all mankind gave their lives for Mary, it would still be little compared with the homage and gratitude we owe her for the too-tender love she bears to all men, and even to the most wretched sinners who retain toward her some affection of devotion.

The Venerable Raymond Jordan, who out of humility called himself "the Idiot," used to say that Mary cannot help but love those who love her; indeed, she does not disdain even to serve those who serve her — and should such a one be a sinner, she employs all her powerful intercession to obtain his pardon from her blessed Son: Maria diligit diligentes se; imo sibi servientibus servit. Ipsa benedicto Filio suo irato potentissime reconciliat servos et amatores suos. So great, he continues, is her kindness and mercy that no one, however lost, need fear to have recourse at her feet, since she turns away no one who comes to her: Tanta est eius benignitas, quod nulli formidandum est ad eam accedere, tantaque misericordia, ut nemo ab ea repellatur. Mary as our most loving advocate herself presents to God the prayers of her servants, especially those that are addressed to her; for just as the Son intercedes for us with the Father, so she intercedes for us with the Son, and never ceases with both to treat the great affair of our salvation and to obtain the graces we ask: Ipsa preces servorum, maxime quae sibi exhibentur, repraesentat in conspectu divinae Maiestatis; quia ipsa est advocata nostra apud Filium, sicut Filius apud Patrem; imo apud Patrem et Filium procurat negotia et preces nostras. With good reason, then, Blessed Denis the Carthusian calls the Blessed Virgin the singular refuge of the lost, the hope of the wretched, and the advocate of all sinners who have recourse to her: Singulare perditorum refugium, miserorum spem, advocatam omnium iniquorum ad se confugientium.

But should there be any sinner who does not doubt her power, yet mistrusts the compassion of Mary, fearing perhaps that she might not be willing to help him on account of the gravity of his sins, St. Bonaventure encourages him, saying: Grande privilegium Mariae, quod apud Filium sit potentissima. Great and singular is the privilege that Mary has with her Son, of obtaining whatever she wills by her prayers. But what would this great power of Mary avail us, the saint continues, if she gave no thought to us? Sed quid tanta Mariae potentia prodesset nobis, si ipsa nihil curaret de nobis? No, let us not doubt; let us rest assured, and let us unceasingly thank the Lord and his divine Mother; for just as she is the most powerful of all the saints before God, so also is she the most loving and solicitous advocate for our good: Carissimi, sciamus indubitanter, et pro hoc gratias agamus incessanter, quia sicut ipsa apud eum omnibus sanctis est potentior, ita pro nobis omnibus est sollicitior. And who, St. Germanus joyfully exclaims, O Mother of Mercy, who after your Jesus has such care of us and of our welfare as you? Quis post Filium tuum curam gerit generis humani, sicut tu? Who ever defends us in the troubles that afflict us, as you defend us? Who, as you do, takes up the cause of sinners, almost fighting on their behalf? Quis ita nos defendit in nostris afflictionibus? quis pugnat pro peccatoribus? Hence he adds: Your patronage, O Mary, is more powerful and more loving than we can ever comprehend: Propterea patrocinium tuum maius est, quam apprehendi possit. For while all the other saints, says the Idiot, can by their patronage benefit their own devotees more than others, the divine Mother, being the queen of all, is also the advocate of all and has care for the salvation of all: Ceteri sancti iure quodam patrocinii pro sibi specialiter commissis plus possunt prodesse, quam pro alienis; beatissima vero Virgo, sicut omnium est regina, sic est omnium patrona et advocata, et cura illi est de omnibus.

She has care of all, even of sinners; indeed, Mary especially glories in being called the advocate of sinners, as she herself declared to the Venerable Sister Maria Villani, saying to her: After the title of Mother of God, I glory in being called the advocate of sinners. Blessed Amadeus says that our queen never leaves off assisting before the divine Majesty, continually interceding for us with her most powerful prayers: Adstat beatissima Virgo vultui Conditoris prece potentissima, semper interpellans pro nobis. And since in heaven she well knows our miseries and necessities, she cannot but compassionate us; hence with a mother's affection, moved with pity for us, compassionate and kind, she is always seeking to succor and save us: Videt enim nostra discrimina, nostrique clemens Domina materno affectu miseretur. Therefore Richard of St. Lawrence encourages everyone, however wretched, to have recourse with confidence to this sweet advocate, holding it for certain that he will always find her ready to help him: Inveniet semper paratam auxiliari. For, says Geoffrey, Mary is always ready to pray for all: Ipsa pro universo mundo paratissima est ad precandum.

And oh, with what efficacy and love, says St. Bernard, does this good advocate treat the affair of our salvation! Maria nobis facta dicitur advocata, quae apud Deum salutis nostrae negotia efficaciter pertractet. St. Augustine, considering the affection and the zeal with which Mary continually applies herself to praying before the divine Majesty, that the Lord may pardon our sins, assist us with his grace, free us from dangers, and relieve us from our miseries, says, speaking with the Blessed Virgin: Unam ac te solam pro nobis in caelo fatemur esse sollicitam. And by this he means: Lady, it is true that all the saints love our salvation and pray for us, but the charity and tenderness that you show us in heaven by obtaining through your prayers so many mercies from God, obliges us to confess that we have in heaven but one advocate, and that is you, and that you alone are the one true lover and promoter of our good. And who can comprehend the solicitude with which Mary always assists before God in our favor? St. Germanus says: Non est satietas defensionis eius. A beautiful expression: so great is the pity Mary has for our miseries, and so great the love she bears us, that she prays and prays again and is never weary of praying for us, and by her prayers of defending us from evil and obtaining graces for us: Non est satietas defensionis eius.

Wretched sinners that we are, if we had not this great advocate who is so powerful, so compassionate, and at the same time so prudent and wise, that the judge her Son cannot, says Richard of St. Lawrence, condemn those defendants whom she defends: Tam prudens et disserta est advocata Maria, quod non potest Filius vindicare in eos, pro quibus ipsa allegat. Hence St. John the Geometer greets her: Salve, ius dirimens lites. For all causes defended by this most wise advocate are won. And therefore Mary is called by St. Bonaventure the wise Abigail: Abigail sapiens. This was that woman — as we read in the first book of Kings, chapter 25 — who knew so well how to appease with her beautiful prayers King David when he was angry with Nabal, that David himself blessed her, as if thanking her for having prevented him with her gentle ways from avenging himself on Nabal with his own hands: Benedicta tu, quae prohibuisti me hodie ne ulciscerer manu mea. This same thing Mary does continually in heaven for the benefit of innumerable sinners: she knows so well how to appease the divine justice with her tender and wise prayers, that God himself blesses her and, as it were, thanks her for thus restraining him from abandoning sinners and punishing them as they deserve. To this end, says St. Bernard, the Eternal Father, because he wills to use toward us every possible mercy, besides the principal advocate Jesus Christ at his side, has given us Mary as our advocate with Jesus Christ.

There is no doubt, says St. Bernard, that Jesus is the sole mediator of justice between men and God, who by virtue of his own merits can and will, according to his promises, obtain for us pardon and divine grace. But because men recognize and fear in Jesus Christ the divine Majesty that resides in him as God, it was therefore necessary to assign us another advocate, to whom we might have recourse with less timidity and more confidence; and this is Mary, than whom we cannot find an advocate more powerful with the divine Majesty, and more merciful toward us. Here are his beautiful words: Fidelis et potens mediator Dei et hominum; sed divinam reverentur in eo homines Maiestatem. Opus est enim mediatore ad mediatorem ipsum: nec alter nobis utilior, quam Maria. But great wrong would be done to the compassion of Mary, the saint continues, if anyone took fright even at the thought of going to the feet of this most sweet advocate, in whom there is nothing severe or terrible, but who is all courtesy, all loveliness, all kindness: Quid ad Mariam accedere trepidat humana fragilitas? Nihil austerum in ea, nihil terribile, tota suavis est. Read and turn over as you will, adds St. Bernard, the whole history recorded in the Gospels, and if you find any act of severity in Mary, then fear to approach her. But never will you find it. So have recourse to her gladly, he says, for she will save you by her intercession: Revolve diligentius Evangelicae historiae seriem, et si quid forte austerum occurrerit in Maria, ad eam accedere verearis.

But exceedingly beautiful is the exclamation that William of Paris puts in the mouth of the sinner who has recourse to Mary: Adibo te, imo etiam conveniam, gloriosissima Dei Genitrix, quam matrem misericordiae vocat, imo clamitat omnis Ecclesia sanctorum. O Mother of my God, in the wretched state to which I am reduced by my sins, I have recourse to you, full of confidence; and if you reject me, I protest that you are in a certain way bound to help me, since the whole Church of the faithful calls you and proclaims you the Mother of Mercy. Tu, inquam, cuius gratiositas numquam repulsam patitur; cuius misericordia nulli umquam defuit; cuius benignissima humanitas nullum umquam deprecantem quantumcumque peccatorem despexit. You, O Mary, are indeed the one who, being so dear to God, are always heard; your great compassion has never failed anyone; your most gentle affability has never disdained any sinner, however great, who commended himself to you. What! Can it be that the whole Church falsely or in vain calls you its advocate and the refuge of the wretched? An falso et inaniter vocat te omnis Ecclesia advocatam suam et miserorum refugium? Let it never be that my sins can prevent you from fulfilling the great office of mercy which is yours, by which you are at once the advocate and the mediatrix of peace between men and God, and after your Son the only hope and the sure refuge of the wretched: Absit ut peccata mea possint suspendere te a tam salubri officio pietatis; quo et advocata es et mediatrix hominum, post Filium tuum spes unica et refugium tutissimum miserorum. All that you possess of grace and of glory, and the very dignity of being Mother of God — if it be permitted to say so — you owe it to sinners; for it was on their account that the divine Word made you his Mother: Totum siquidem quod habes gratiae, totum quod habes gloriae et etiam hoc ipsum quod Mater es Dei, si fas est dicere, peccatoribus debes: omnia enim haec propter peccatores tibi collata sunt. Far be it from this divine Mother who brought forth to the world the fountain of mercy to think that she would deny her compassion to any wretch who has recourse to her: Absit hoc a Matre Dei, quae fontem pietatis toti mundo peperit, ut cuique miserorum suae misericordiae subventionem umquam deneget. Since, then, O Mary, your office is to mediate between God and men, let your great compassion, which is immeasurably greater than all my sins, move you to help me: Officium ergo tuum est te mediam interponere inter ipsum et homines. Moveat te, gloriosa Dei Mater, benignissima misericordia tua, quae maior est incogitabiliter omnibus vitiis meis et peccatis.

Take comfort, then, O faint of heart — I will say with St. Thomas of Villanova — breathe and take courage, O wretched sinners: this great Virgin who is the Mother of your judge and God, she is the advocate of the human race. Capable, for she can do whatever she wills with God; most wise, for she knows every way of appeasing him; universal, for she receives all and does not refuse to defend anyone: Consolamini, pusillanimes; respirate, miserabiles; Virgo Deipara est humani generis advocata idonea, sapientissima, universalis.

Example

How compassionate this advocate of ours is toward wretched sinners was well shown in the case of Beatrice, a nun in the monastery of Fontevraud, as related by Caesarius and by Father Rho.

This unhappy religious, overcome by passion for a certain young man, agreed to run away with him. And indeed one day the wretched woman went before an image of Mary, laid down the keys of the monastery — for she was the portress — and brazenly departed.

Having arrived in another country, she gave herself up to a life of public sin and lived for fifteen years in this miserable state. It happened, then, that in that city she met the steward of the monastery, and she asked him — thinking herself unrecognized — whether he knew Sister Beatrice. "I know her well," he replied, "she is a holy nun, and she is now the mistress of novices." At this she was confused and astonished, unable to understand how this could be. So to learn the truth she disguised herself and went to the monastery. There she asked for Sister Beatrice, and behold, the Blessed Virgin appeared before her in the form of that very image to which, on leaving the monastery, she had entrusted the keys and her religious habit. And the divine Mother then spoke to her: "Beatrice, know that to prevent your disgrace I took your form, and in your place, during these fifteen years that you have lived far from the monastery and from God, I have performed your duties. Daughter, return, do penance, for my Son still waits for you; and strive by a good life to preserve the good name I have gained for you here." So she spoke and disappeared.

Then Beatrice re-entered the monastery, resumed the religious habit, and grateful for so great a mercy of Mary, she lived as a saint; and at death she revealed all, to the glory of this great queen.

Prayer

O great Mother of my Lord, I see well that the ingratitude I have shown for so many years to God and to you would deserve that you justly cease to have any care of me, since the ungrateful are no longer worthy of favors. But I, my Lady, have a high esteem for your goodness; I hold it to be far greater than my ingratitude. Continue, then, O refuge of sinners, and do not cease to succor a wretched sinner who confides in you. O Mother of Mercy, deign to stretch out your hand to raise up a poor wretch who has fallen and who asks your compassion.

O Mary, either you defend me, or tell me to whom I must have recourse, who can defend me better than you. But where can I find before God an advocate more compassionate and more powerful than you who are his Mother? You, having been made the Mother of the Savior, were born to save sinners, and to me you have been given for my salvation. O Mary, save him who has recourse to you. I do not deserve your love, but the desire you have of saving the lost — this gives me hope that you love me. And if you love me, how shall I be lost?

O my beloved Mother, if through you I am saved, as I hope, I will no longer be ungrateful; I will compensate with perpetual praises and with all the affections of my soul for my past thanklessness and for the love you have shown me. In heaven, where you reign and will reign for all eternity, I shall happily sing forever your mercies, and I shall eternally kiss those loving hands that have so many times delivered me from hell, as often as I have deserved it by my sins.

O Mary, O my deliverer, O my hope, O my queen, O my advocate, O my mother, I love you, I wish you well, and I will always love you. Amen, amen. So I hope, so be it.

Section 3 — Mary is the peacemaker of sinners with God

The grace of God is a treasure too great and too desirable for every soul. It is called by the Holy Spirit an infinite treasure, since by means of divine grace we are raised to the honor of being made friends of God: Infinitus est thesaurus, quo qui usi sunt participes facti sunt amicitiae Dei (Wisdom 7:14). Hence Jesus our Redeemer and God did not hesitate to call his friends those who are in grace: Vos amici mei estis (John 15:14). O accursed sin that dissolves this beautiful friendship! Peccata vestra diviserunt inter vos et Deum vestrum (Isaiah 59:2). And making the soul hateful to God — Odio sunt Deo impius et impietas eius (Wisdom 14:9) — it causes her to pass from being a friend to being an enemy of her Lord. What, then, must the sinner do who has the misfortune to find himself made an enemy of God? He must find a mediator who will obtain his pardon and help him recover the lost divine friendship. Take comfort, says St. Bernard, O wretch who have lost God; the Lord himself has given you a mediator, and he is his Son Jesus, who can obtain for you all that you desire: Iesum tibi dedit mediatorem; quid non apud Patrem talis Filius obtineat?

But, O God, the saint here exclaims, why do men consider so severe this Savior who is so compassionate, who gave his life to save us? Why should they think terrible him who is all lovable? Discouraged sinners, he says, what do you fear? If you fear because you have offended God, know that your sins Jesus has nailed to the cross with his own pierced hands, and having already satisfied the divine justice by his death, he has taken them from your souls. Here are his beautiful words: Severum imaginantur qui pius est; terribilem qui amabilis est. Quid timetis modicae fidei? peccata affixit cruci suis manibus. But if, the saint continues, you fear to have recourse to Jesus Christ because the divine Majesty frightens you — since, though made man, he has not ceased to be God — do you want another advocate with this mediator? Have recourse to Mary, for she will intercede for you with the Son, who will certainly hear her, and the Son will intercede with the Father, who can refuse nothing to this Son: Sed forsitan et in ipso Maiestatem vereare divinam, quod licet factus sit homo, manserit tamen Deus. Advocatum habere vis apud ipsum? recurre ad Mariam. Exaudiet Filium Pater. Then St. Bernard concludes: Filioli, haec peccatorum scala, haec maxima mea fiducia, haec tota ratio spei meae. This divine Mother, O my children, is the ladder of sinners, by which they ascend once again to the height of divine grace; this is my greatest confidence; this is the entire reason for my hope.

Here is how the Holy Spirit in the Sacred Canticles makes the Blessed Virgin say: Ego murus, et ubera mea sicut turris, ex quo facta sum coram eo quasi pacem reperiens (Song of Songs 8:10). I am, says Mary, the defense of those who have recourse to me, and my mercy is for their benefit like a tower of refuge; and therefore I have been appointed by my Lord the mediatrix of peace between sinners and God. Mary indeed, says Cardinal Hugh on this text, is the great peacemaker who obtains from God and brings peace to his enemies, salvation to the lost, pardon to sinners, mercy to the desperate: Ipsa reperit pacem inimicis, salutem perditis, indulgentiam reis, misericordiam desperatis. And therefore she was called by her divine Spouse beautiful as the curtains of Solomon: Formosa... sicut pelles Salomonis (Song of Songs 1:4). In the pavilions of David nothing was treated of but war; but in the pavilions of Solomon nothing was treated of but peace. By which the Holy Spirit gives us to understand that this mother of mercy does not treat of war and vengeance against sinners, but only of peace and pardon for their sins.

Hence Mary was prefigured by the dove of Noah, which, going forth from the ark, carried in its beak the olive branch as a sign of the peace that God was granting to men. Hence St. Bonaventure says to her: Tu enim es illa fidelissima columba Noë, quae inter Deum et mundum diluvio spirituali submersum, mediatrix fidelissima exstitisti. You are the most faithful dove who, interposing yourself with God, obtained for the lost world peace and salvation. Mary, then, was the heavenly dove that brought to the lost world the olive branch, the sign of mercy, since she gave us Jesus Christ, who is the fountain of mercy, and through him obtained for us by the value of his merits all the graces that God bestows on us: Nam ipsa Christum nobis detulit fontem misericordiae. And just as through Mary the peace of heaven was given to the world — Per te pax caelestis donata est, as St. Epiphanius says — so through Mary sinners continue to be reconciled with God. Hence Blessed Albert the Great makes her say: I am that dove of Noah that brought to the Church universal peace: Ego sum columba Noë, Ecclesiae ramum olivae et pacis inferens universalis.

Furthermore, Mary was also prefigured by the rainbow seen by St. John encircling the throne of God: Et iris erat in circuitu sedis (Rev. 4:3). Cardinal Vitalis explains: Iris in circuitu sedis est Maria, quae mitigat Dei iudicium et sententiam contra peccatores. Mary is she who always assists at the divine tribunal to mitigate the sentences and punishments due to sinners. And it was precisely of this rainbow, says St. Bernardine of Siena, that the Lord spoke when he told Noah that he would place in the clouds the bow of peace, so that in looking upon it he would remember the perpetual peace he was establishing with men: Arcum... ponam in nubibus et erit signum foederis inter me et inter terram... Videbo illum et recordabor foederis sempiterni (Genesis 9:13, 16). Mary, says St. Bernardine, is precisely this bow of perpetual peace: Ipsa est arcus foederis sempiterni. For just as God at the sight of the bow remembers the peace promised to the earth, so at the prayers of Mary he remits to sinners the offenses committed against him and establishes peace with them: Fructus iridis est recordatio divini foederis: sic per Virginem gloriosam offensa eis remittitur, foedus stringitur.

For this reason also Mary is compared to the moon: Pulchra ut luna (Song of Songs 6:9). For, says St. Bonaventure, just as the moon stands between heaven and earth, so Mary continually interposes herself between God and sinners in order to appease the Lord toward them and to enlighten sinners to return to God: Sicut luna est media inter corpora caelestia et terrena, et quod ab illis accipit ad inferiora refundit; sic et Virgo regia inter nos et Deum est media et gratiam ipsa nobis refundit.

And this was the principal office given to Mary when she was placed upon the earth: to raise up souls fallen from divine grace and reconcile them with God. Pasce haedos tuos (Song of Songs 1:7). So the Lord said to her when he created her. It is well known that sinners are represented by goats, and that just as the elect — represented by the sheep — will in the valley of judgment be placed on the right, so sinners will be placed on the left. Now these goats, says William of Paris, are entrusted to you, O great Mother, that you may convert them into sheep, and that those who for their sins deserved to be cast to the left may by your intercession be placed on the right: Pasce haedos tuos quos convertis in oves, et qui a sinistris in iudicio erant collocandi, tua intercessione collocentur a dextris. Hence the Lord revealed to St. Catherine of Siena that he had created this beloved daughter of his as a most sweet bait to catch men, and especially sinners, and draw them to God: Haec est a me electa tamquam esca dulcissima ad capiendos homines, potissimum peccatores. But here we should note the fine reflection of William the Englishman on the aforesaid passage of the Canticle, who says that God commends to Mary her goats — haedos tuos — for, adds the author, the Virgin does not save all sinners, but only those who serve and honor her. Those, on the contrary, who live in sin and do not honor her with any special devotion, nor commend themselves to her in order to escape from sin — they are not goats of Mary, but at the judgment will miserably be placed on the left with the damned: Suos vocat, quia non omnes haedi vocantur Mariae, sed qui Mariam colunt ac venerantur, licet sceleribus contaminati. Qui vero peccatis irretiti sunt, nec B. Virginem speciali obsequio prosequuntur, nec preces fundunt in eius cultum ut aliquando resipiscant, haedi profecto sunt, non Mariae, sed ad sinistram iudicis sistendi.

A certain nobleman, standing one day in despair of his salvation on account of the weight of his sins, was encouraged by a religious to have recourse to the Blessed Virgin by going to visit a devout image of hers in a certain church. The nobleman went to the church, and on seeing the image of Mary, felt himself as if invited by her to throw himself at her feet and to trust. He ran, threw himself down, and went to kiss her feet; and Mary from that image — which was a sculpture — stretched out her hand for him to kiss, and on Mary's hand he saw written these words: Ego eripiam te de affligentibus te. As if she had said: "My son, do not despair, for I will deliver you from your sins and from the fears that oppress you." It is then related that on reading those sweet words, the sinner felt such sorrow for his sins and conceived such love for God and for his sweet Mother, that he died right there at the feet of Mary.

Oh, how many obstinate sinners this magnet of hearts draws to God every day! She herself so called herself, saying to St. Bridget: Sicut magnes attrahit ferrum, sic ego attraho dura corda. As the magnet draws iron to itself, so I draw to me the most hardened hearts in order to reconcile them with God. And this prodigy is not a rare occurrence but is experienced daily. I myself could attest to many cases that happened in our missions alone, where some sinners who remained harder than iron through all the other sermons, on simply hearing a sermon on the mercy of Mary, were moved to compunction and returned to God. St. Gregory relates that the unicorn is a beast so fierce that no hunter can succeed in catching it; only at the voice of a virgin who cries out does this wild creature surrender, approach, and without resistance let itself be bound. Oh, how many sinners, fiercer than the beasts themselves, who flee from God, at the voice of this great little Virgin Mary come running and by her are gently bound to God!

To this end also, says St. John Chrysostom, the Virgin Mary was made Mother of God: so that those wretches who on account of their evil lives could not be saved according to divine justice, might by her sweet mercy and her powerful intercession obtain salvation: Ideo Mater Dei praeelecta es ab aeterno, ut quos iustitia Filii salvare non potest, tu per tuam salvares pietatem. Yes, St. Anselm confirms, for Mary was raised to be the Mother of God more for sinners than for the just, since Jesus Christ declared that he had come to call not the just but sinners: Scio illam magis propter peccatores quam propter iustos factam esse Dei Matrem; dicit enim eius bonus Filius se non venisse vocare iustos, sed peccatores. And therefore the holy Church sings:

Peccatores non abhorres, sine quibus numquam fores tanto digna Filio.

Hence William of Paris addresses her, saying: O Mary, you are bound to help sinners, since all that you possess of gifts, of graces, and of greatness — all of which are comprised in the dignity you have received of being Mother of God — all this, if it be permitted to say so, you owe to sinners, since it was on their account that you were made worthy to have a God for your Son: Totum quod habes, si fas est dicere, peccatoribus debes; omnia enim propter peccatores tibi collata sunt. If, then, St. Anselm concludes, Mary was made Mother of God on account of sinners, how can I, however great my sins may be, despair of pardon? Si ipsa propter peccatores facta est Dei Mater, quomodo immanitas peccatorum meorum cogere poterit desperare veniam?

The holy Church informs us in the prayer of the Mass on the vigil of Mary's Assumption that the divine Mother was taken from this earth so that she might intercede before God for us with confident assurance of being heard: Quam idcirco de hoc saeculo transtulisti, ut apud te pro peccatis nostris fiducialiter intercedat. Hence by St. Justin Mary is called Sequestra — the guarantor: Verbum usum est Virgine sequestra. The word sequester means the same as an arbiter, to whom two contending parties remit all their claims. So the saint means that as Jesus is the mediator with the Eternal Father, so Mary is our mediatrix with Jesus, to whom the Son remits all the claims he has as judge against us.

By St. Andrew of Crete, Mary is then called the pledge, the guarantee of our reconciliation with God: Divinarum reconciliationum, quae pignore accepto fit, fideiussio. And by this the saint wishes to signify that God goes about seeking to be reconciled with sinners by pardoning them; and lest they lose confidence in his pardon, he has given them Mary, as it were, for a pledge. Hence he greets her: Salve, divina hominibus reconciliatio. God save you, O peace of God with men. From which St. Bonaventure takes up and encourages every sinner, saying: Si propter tuas nequitias Dominum videris indignatum, ad spem peccatorum confugias; sibi pro miseris satisfacere ex officio commissum est. If you fear because of your sins that God in his anger will punish you, what must you do? Go, have recourse to the hope of sinners, who is Mary; and if you then fear that she will refuse to take up your cause, know that she cannot refuse to defend you, since God himself has assigned to her the office of succouring the wretched.

And can it be, says Abbot Adam: Timerene debet ut pereat, cui Maria se matrem exhibet et advocatam? Should that sinner fear to perish to whom the very mother of the judge offers herself as mother and advocate? And you, the same continues, O Mary, who are the mother of mercy, will you disdain to pray to your Son, who is the judge, for another child, who is the sinner? Will you refuse to intercede with the Redeemer on behalf of a redeemed soul — the Redeemer who died on the cross to this very end, to save sinners? Tu misericordiae mater non rogabis pro filio Filium, pro redempto Redemptorem? No, you will not refuse; you will employ yourself with all your affection in praying for all who have recourse to you, knowing full well that the Lord who constituted your Son mediator of peace between God and man has likewise made you mediatrix between the judge and the sinner: Rogabis plane, quia qui Filium tuum inter Deum et hominem posuit mediatorem, te quoque inter reum et iudicem posuit mediatricem. Therefore, continues St. Bernard: Age gratias ei qui talem tibi mediatricem providit. Whoever you may be, O sinner, mired in sin, grown old in iniquity, do not lose confidence. Thank your Lord, who in order to show you mercy has not only given you the Son as your advocate, but to give you greater courage and confidence has provided you with such a mediatrix who obtains whatever she wills by her prayers. Go, have recourse to Mary, and you will be saved.

Example

It is related by the Rupensis and by Boniface that in Florence there was a young woman named Benedetta, who might better have been called "maledetta" — accursed — for the scandalous and dishonest life she then led. St. Dominic happened to come to preach in that city, and she, out of mere curiosity, went one day to hear him. But the Lord touched her heart through that sermon, so that she, weeping copiously, went to confess to the saint. St. Dominic confessed her, absolved her, and imposed on her the recitation of the rosary. But the unhappy woman, because of her deeply ingrained habits, returned to her wicked life. The saint learned of it and, going to find her, obtained her consent to confess again. And God, to confirm her in the good life, one day showed her a vision of hell, and there he showed her some souls that had already been damned on her account. Then, opening a book, he made her read in it the frightful record of her sins. The penitent was horrified at the sight, and full of confidence had recourse to Mary to help her; and she understood that this divine Mother was already obtaining from God time for her to bewail her many crimes.

The vision ended, and Benedetta gave herself to living well; but seeing always before her eyes that dreadful record that had been shown her, one day she began to pray to her consoler: "Mother," she said, "it is true that for my excesses I should now be in the depths of hell; but since you by your intercession have delivered me from it by obtaining for me time for penance, O most compassionate Lady, this other grace I ask of you: I never want to cease weeping for my sins, but bring it about that they may be erased from that book." At this prayer, Mary appeared to her and told her that to obtain what she sought, she must henceforth keep continual remembrance of her sins and of the mercy God had shown her; moreover, she must remember the Passion her Son had suffered for love of her; and she must consider how many had been damned for fewer sins than hers; and she revealed that a child of eight years was to be sent to hell that very day for a single sin. And when Benedetta had faithfully obeyed the Blessed Virgin, behold, one day Jesus Christ appeared to her and, showing her that book, said to her: "See, your sins are erased; the book is blank. Now write in it acts of love and virtue." And so doing, Benedetta lived from then on a holy life and died a holy death.

Prayer

So then, O my most sweet Lady, since your office is, as William of Paris tells you, to interpose yourself as mediatrix between sinners and God — Officium tuum est te mediam interponere inter Deum et homines — come then, I will say to you with St. Thomas of Villanova: Advocata nostra, officium tuum imple. Come, fulfill your office also for me. Do not tell me that my cause is too difficult to win, for I know — so everyone tells me — that every cause, however desperate, defended by you has never been lost. And shall mine be lost? No, I do not fear that. I should only fear, if I looked solely at the multitude of my sins, that you would not accept my defense; but looking at your immense mercy and at the ardent desire that lives in your most sweet heart to help the most lost sinners, neither do I fear this. And who has ever been lost who had recourse to you? Therefore I call upon you to succor me, O my great advocate, O my refuge, my hope, and my mother Mary. Into your hands I entrust the cause of my eternal salvation. To you I commit my soul: it was lost, but you must save it. I forever thank the Lord who gives me this great confidence in you, which, notwithstanding my unworthiness, I feel assures me of my salvation.

One fear alone remains to afflict me, O my beloved queen: that I may one day through my negligence lose this confidence in you. Therefore I beg you, O Mary, by the love you bear your Jesus, preserve and ever increase within me this most sweet confidence in your intercession, through which I hope surely to recover the divine friendship, which in the past I foolishly despised and lost. Having recovered it, I hope through you to keep it; and keeping it, I hope finally through you to come one day to thank you for it in paradise, and there to sing the mercies of God and yours for all eternity. Amen. So I hope, so be it, so shall it be.