Chapter VIII — Show Unto Us the Blessed Fruit of Thy Womb, Jesus, After This Our Exile

Mary Delivers Her Devoted Servants from Hell

It is impossible that a true servant of Mary, who faithfully honors her and commends himself to her, should be damned. At first sight this proposition may seem to some too bold, but I would ask anyone not to condemn it before reading what I shall here set forth on this point.

To say that a devout servant of the Madonna cannot possibly be damned is not meant of those who abuse their devotion in order to sin with less fear. Hence it is unjust when some seem to disapprove of so highly praising the mercy of Mary toward sinners, saying that they then abuse it to sin the more. For such presumptuous souls, by their reckless confidence, deserve punishment, not mercy. We speak, then, of those servants who, with the desire to amend their lives, are faithful in honoring and commending themselves to the Mother of God. These, I say, it is morally impossible should perish. And I find that this has been affirmed also by Father Crasset in his book on devotion to the Virgin Mary, and before him by Vega in his Marian Theology, by Mendoza, and other theologians. And to show that these authors have not spoken at random, let us see what the Doctors and Saints have said on this subject. Let no one be surprised if I cite here many uniform sayings of various authors, for I wished to record them all so as to demonstrate how unanimous the writers have been on this point.

St. Anselm says that just as it is impossible for one who is not devout to Mary and not protected by her to be saved, so it is impossible for one who commends himself to the Virgin and is regarded by her with love to perish: Virgo benedictissima, sicut impossibile est ut a te aversus et a te despectus salvetur, ita ad te conversus et a te respectus impossibile est ut pereat. St. Antoninus confirms the same in nearly identical words: Sicut impossibile est ut illi a quibus Maria oculos suae misericordiae avertit, salventur; ita necessarium quod hi ad quos convertit oculos suos pro eis advocans, salventur et glorificentur. This saint accordingly adds that the servants of Mary are necessarily saved.

Note well, however, the first part of the proposition of these saints, and let those tremble who make little account of devotion to this divine Mother or who through negligence abandon it altogether. They say it is impossible for those to be saved who are not protected by Mary. And this is asserted also by others, such as Blessed Albert the Great: Gens quae non servierit tibi peribit: All those who are not your servants, O Mary, shall perish. St. Bonaventure: Qui neglexerit illam, morietur in peccatis suis: Whoever neglects the service of the Virgin shall die in his sins. And in another place: Qui te non invocat in hac vita, non perveniet ad regnum Dei: Whoever does not invoke you, my Lady, in this life shall not reach the kingdom of God. And on Psalm 99 the saint goes so far as to say that not only will such a one not be saved, but that there shall not even be hope of salvation for those from whom Mary turns her face: A quibus averteris vultum tuum, non erit spes ad salutem. And before him St. Ignatius the Martyr asserted that a sinner cannot be saved except through the help of the Blessed Virgin, who, by her merciful intercession, saves so many who according to divine justice would be damned: Impossibile est aliquem salvari peccatorem, nisi per tuum, o Virgo, auxilium et favorem; quia quos non salvat Dei iustitia, salvat sua intercessione Mariae misericordia infinita. Some doubt that this saying is from St. Ignatius; at least Father Crasset says that St. John Chrysostom has made it his own. And it is also repeated by the Abbot of Celles. And in this sense Holy Church applies to Mary those words of Proverbs: Omnes qui me oderunt, diligunt mortem (Prov. VIII, 36): All those who do not love me, love eternal death. For — as Richard of St. Lawrence says on the words Facta est quasi navis institoris (Prov. XXXI, 14) — all who are outside this vessel shall be submerged in the sea of this world: In mare mundi submergentur omnes illi, quos non suscipit navis ista. Even the heretic Oecolampadius considered a lack of devotion to the Mother of God a sure sign of reprobation; hence he said: Numquam de me audiatur, quasi averser Mariam, erga quam minus bene affici reprobatae mentis certum existimem indicium.

On the other hand, Mary says: Qui audit me, non confundetur (Ecclus. XXIV, 30): Whoever has recourse to me and heeds what I say shall not be lost. From which St. Bonaventure said to her: My Lady, whoever attends to honoring you shall be far from damnation: Qui praestat in obsequio tuo, procul fiet a perditione. And this shall happen, says St. Hilary, even if in the past the person has greatly offended God: Quantumcumque quis fuerit peccator, si Mariae devotus exstiterit, numquam in aeternum peribit.

Therefore the devil labors so hard with sinners that, after they have lost divine grace, they may lose also their devotion to Mary. Sarah, seeing Isaac sporting with Ishmael, who was teaching him bad habits, told Abraham to send Ishmael away — but to send away his mother Hagar also: Eiice ancillam hanc et filium eius (Gen. XXI, 10). She was not content that the son alone should leave the house unless the mother was also dismissed, thinking that otherwise the son, by coming to see his mother, would continue to frequent the household. In the same way, the devil is not content to see a soul cast out Jesus Christ unless it also casts out his Mother: Eiice ancillam hanc et filium eius. Otherwise he fears that the Mother, through her intercession, will bring the Son back once more into that soul. And he fears with reason, for the learned Father Paciucchelli says that whoever is faithful in honoring the Mother of God will soon receive God himself through Mary: Qui Dei Genitrici perseveranter obsequitur, non multa mora et Deum ipsum in se recipiet. Hence with good reason St. Ephrem called devotion to the Madonna Charta libertatis — a safe-conduct to escape being consigned to hell. And the divine Mother was likewise called by the same saint Patrocinatrix damnatorum — the protectress of the condemned. And indeed, if it is true, as is certain, what St. Bernard says — that Mary can lack neither the power nor the will to save us: Nec facultas nec voluntas illi deesse potest — not the power, because her prayers cannot possibly go unheard, as St. Antoninus asserts: Impossibile est Deiparam non exaudiri; and St. Bernard himself says that her petitions can never remain fruitless but obtain whatever they seek: Quod quaerit invenit, et frustrari non potest; not the will to save us, since Mary is our mother and desires our salvation more than we desire it ourselves — if all this is true, then how can it happen that a servant of Mary should be lost? Though he be a sinner, if he perseveringly and with the will to amend commends himself to this good Mother, it shall be her care to obtain for him the light to leave his evil state, sorrow for his sins, perseverance in good, and finally a happy death. And what mother, who could easily free her child from death by merely praying to the judge of grace, would not do so? And can we think that Mary, the most loving mother that can be found toward her servants, being able to free a child from eternal death and able to do so with such ease, would not do so?

Ah, devout reader, let us thank the Lord if we find that he has given us affection and confidence toward the Queen of Heaven, for God, says St. John Damascene, does not bestow this grace except on those whom he wills to save. Behold the beautiful words of the saint, with which he revives his own hope and ours: O Mother of God, he said, if I place my confidence in you, I shall be saved. If I am under your protection, I have nothing to fear, for to be your devoted servant is to possess certain arms of salvation which God grants only to those whom he wills to save. Hence Erasmus greeted the Virgin thus: Salve, inferorum formido, Christianorum spes, certa est fiducia tua: Hail, O terror of hell, O hope of Christians; confidence in you assures us of salvation.

Oh, how displeasing it is to the devil to see a soul persevering in devotion to the divine Mother! We read in the Life of Father Balthasar Alvarez, who was very devoted to Mary, that while he was in prayer and felt himself oppressed by impure temptations with which the devil afflicted him, the enemy said to him: "Abandon your devotion to Mary, and I will stop tempting you."

The Lord revealed to St. Catherine of Siena, as we read in Blosius, that in his goodness he had granted to Mary, out of regard for his Only-begotten Son whose Mother she is, that no sinner whatsoever who devoutly commends himself to her should become the prey of hell: Mariae Filii mei Genitrici a bonitate mea concessum est propter incarnati Verbi reverentiam, ut quicumque etiam peccator ad eam cum devota veneratione recurrit, nullo modo rapiatur a daemone infernali. The prophet David, too, prayed to be delivered from hell for the love he bore to the honor of Mary: Domine, dilexi decorem domus tuae... ne perdas cum impiis... animam meam (Ps. XXV, 8–9). He says domus tuae, because Mary was that house which God himself built upon this earth as his dwelling and his place of rest when he became man, as is recorded in Proverbs: Sapientia aedificavit sibi domum (Prov. IX, 1). No, surely he shall not perish, said St. Ignatius the Martyr, who strives to be devout to this Virgin Mother: Numquam peribit qui Genitrici Virgini devotus sedulusque exstiterit. And St. Bonaventure confirms it, saying: My Lady, your lovers enjoy great peace in this life, and in the next they shall never see eternal death: Pax multa diligentibus te, Domina; anima eorum non videbit mortem in aeternum. This case has never occurred and never will occur — the devout Blosius assures us — that a humble and attentive servant of Mary should perish eternally: Fieri non potest ut pereat qui Mariae sedulus et humilis cultor exstiterit.

Oh, how many would have been eternally damned or remained obstinate if Mary had not interceded with her Son to have mercy on them! So says Thomas à Kempis: Quanti fuissent aeternaliter condemnati vel permansissent in desperatione obstinati, nisi beatissima Virgo Maria interpellasset ad Filium. And it is the view of many theologians, and especially of St. Thomas, that to many persons who even died in mortal sin the divine Mother has obtained from God the suspension of the sentence and a return to life to do penance. Of this, many examples are given by weighty authors. Among others, Flodoard, who lived around the ninth century, narrates in his Chronicle of a certain deacon named Adelman, who was already believed dead; while he was about to be buried, he revived and said that he had seen the place in hell where he had already been condemned, but that through the prayers of the Blessed Virgin he had been sent back to the world to do penance. Surius likewise relates that a Roman citizen named Andrea had already died impenitent, and that Mary had obtained for him a return to life so that he could be pardoned. Furthermore, Pelbartus recounts that in his day, while Emperor Sigismund was traveling with his army through the Alps, a voice was heard from a corpse in which only the bones remained, begging for confession, saying that the Mother of God, to whom he had been devoted when he was a soldier, had obtained for him that he should remain alive in those bones until he could confess; and after confessing, he died. These and other examples should certainly not serve to encourage any reckless soul to live in sin with the hope that Mary will deliver him from hell even though he dies in sin; for just as it would be utter madness to throw oneself into a well hoping that Mary would preserve one from death — simply because she has preserved someone in some rare case — so it would be even greater madness to risk dying in sin on the presumption that the Blessed Virgin would preserve one from hell. Rather, these examples should serve to revive our confidence, when we reflect that if the intercession of this divine Mother has been able to deliver from hell even those who died in sin, how much more powerfully can she prevent from falling into hell those who in life have recourse to her with the intention of amending and who faithfully serve her.

Therefore, O our Mother — let us say to her with St. Germanus — what will become of us who are sinners, but who desire to amend and have recourse to you who are the life of Christians? Quid autem de nobis fiet, o sanctissima Virgo, o vita Christianorum? My Lady, we hear St. Anselm say of you: Aeternum vae non sentiet ille pro quo semel oraverit Maria. He says that whoever for whom you once engage your prayers shall not be damned. Pray, then, for us, and we shall be saved from hell. Who will ever tell me that when I am presented before the divine tribunal I shall not have a favorable judge, if in my cause I have you to defend me, O Mother of Mercy? Si accedam ad iudicium, et Matrem misericordiae in causa habeo mecum, quis iudicium denegabit propitium? says Richard of St. Victor. Blessed Henry Suso declared that he had placed his soul in the hands of Mary, and said that if the Judge wished to condemn him, he wished the sentence to pass through Mary's hands: Si iudex servum suum damnare voluerit, per manus tuas piissimas, o Maria, hoc faciat. He hoped that if the condemnation reached those merciful hands of the Virgin, its execution would surely be prevented. I say the same and hope the same for myself, O my most holy Queen. Hence I will always repeat to you with St. Bonaventure: In te, Domina, speravi, non confundar in aeternum. My Lady, in you I have placed all my hopes: I therefore trust confidently that I shall not see myself lost, but rather saved in heaven, there to praise and love you for all eternity.

Example

In the year 1604, in a city in Flanders, there were two young students who, instead of attending to their studies, gave themselves to nothing but carousing and immorality. One night among others, having been to sin at the house of a wicked woman, one of them named Richard returned home after some time, while the other stayed behind. When Richard arrived home and was undressing to rest, he remembered that he had not recited that day certain Hail Marys to the Blessed Virgin, as was his custom. Weighed down by sleep, he found it tiresome; nevertheless he forced himself and recited them, though without devotion and half asleep. Then, having gone to bed and just fallen into his first slumber, he heard a loud knocking at the door, and immediately afterward — without the door opening — he saw before him that companion of his, disfigured and horrible to behold. "Who are you?" he said. "Don't you recognize me?" the other replied. "But how are you so changed? You look like a demon." "Wretched me!" the poor wretch exclaimed. "I am damned." "And how?" "Know," he said, "that on leaving that infamous house, a demon came and strangled me. My body is lying in the middle of the street, and my soul is in hell. Know also," he added, "that the same punishment would have befallen you, but the Blessed Virgin, for that small tribute of the Hail Marys, has delivered you from it. Happy are you if you profit by this warning, which the Mother of God sends you through me!" Having said this, the damned man opened his cloak and showed him the flames and the serpents that were tormenting him, and vanished. Then the young man, bursting into bitter tears, threw himself face down on the ground to thank his liberator Mary; and while he was thinking of changing his life, he heard the bells sound for Matins at the Franciscan monastery. Then he said: "Here God calls me to do penance." He went at once at that hour to the convent and begged the friars to receive him. They were reluctant, knowing his evil life; but he told them the whole story, weeping profusely; and two friars having gone to that street, they found the dead body of his companion, suffocated and black as a coal, and so they received him. From then on, Richard gave himself to an exemplary life. He went to the Indies to preach the faith; from there he passed to Japan, and finally there he had the fortune and the grace to die a martyr for Jesus Christ, burned alive.

Prayer

O Mary, O my dearest Mother, in what other abyss of evils would I find myself if you had not so often preserved me with your merciful hand? Indeed, for how many years would I already have been in hell, if you had not freed me with your powerful prayers? My grievous sins drove me there; divine justice had already condemned me there; the demons raged, seeking to execute the sentence. You hastened to my aid, O Mother, not even asked or called upon by me, and you saved me. O my dear liberator, what shall I ever render you for so great a grace and for so great a love? You then overcame the hardness of my heart and drew me to love you and to place my confidence in you. And oh, into what an abyss of evils would I afterward have fallen, if you had not so often helped me with your merciful hand in the dangers where I was on the point of falling! Continue, O my hope, O my life, my dear Mother dearer than life itself — continue to save me from hell, and first from sins, into which I can fall again.

Do not allow me to curse you in hell. My beloved Lady, I love you. How can your goodness endure seeing a servant of yours who loves you be damned? Ah, obtain for me that I may never again be ungrateful to you and to my God, who for love of you has bestowed so many graces upon me. O Mary, what do you say to me? Shall I be damned? I shall be damned if I leave you. But who will ever dare to leave you? Who can ever forget the love you have shown me? After God, you are the love of my soul. I can no longer live without loving you. I love you and I wish you well, and I hope that I shall always love you, in time and in eternity, O most beautiful, most holy, sweetest, and most lovable creature in the world. Amen.

Mary Helps Her Devoted Servants in Purgatory

How happy are the devoted servants of this most compassionate Mother, for not only in this world are they helped by her, but also in purgatory they are assisted and consoled by her protection. Indeed, since those souls are in greater need of relief — being more greatly tormented there and unable to help themselves — all the more does this Mother of Mercy devote herself to aiding them. St. Bernardine of Siena says that in that prison of souls espoused to Jesus Christ, Mary exercises a certain dominion and fullness of power, both to relieve and to liberate them from those sufferings: B. Virgo in regno purgatorii dominium habet.

As for relieving them, the same saint, applying those words of Ecclesiasticus — In fluctibus maris ambulavi (ch. 24) — adds: Scilicet visitans et subveniens necessitatibus et tormentis devotorum meorum, quia filii sunt. St. Bernardine says that the sufferings of purgatory are called "waves" because they are transitory, unlike the pains of hell which never pass. And they are called waves "of the sea" because they are exceedingly bitter. In these sufferings, the devoted servants of Mary are often visited and comforted by her. See, then, says Novarino, how important it is to be a servant of this good Lady, for she does not forget them when they suffer in those flames. And although Mary aids all the souls being purified there, she always obtains more indulgences and relief for her own servants: Vide quam referat Virginem colere, cum cultorum suorum in purgatorii flammis exsistentium non obliviscatur. Et licet omnibus opem et refrigerium ferat, id tamen praecipue erga suos praestat.

This divine Mother revealed to St. Bridget, saying: I am the mother of all souls in purgatory, for all the sufferings they have merited for sins committed in life are, at every hour while they are there, in some measure mitigated through my prayers: Ego mater omnium qui sunt in purgatorio, quia omnes poenae quae debentur illis pro peccatis suis, in qualibet hora propter preces meas quodammodo mitigantur. The compassionate Mother does not disdain at times even to enter that holy prison to visit and console those afflicted daughters of hers. Profundum abyssi penetravi, she says, as recorded in Proverbs at chapter 49, which St. Bonaventure applies, adding: Abyssi, idest purgatorii, adiuvans illas sanctas animas: I penetrated the depths of that abyss — that is, of purgatory — to relieve those holy souls with my presence. St. Vincent Ferrer said: Maria bona exsistentibus in purgatorio; quia per eam habent suffragium. Oh, how gracious and kind is the Blessed Virgin to those who suffer in purgatory, since through her they receive continual comfort and refreshment!

And what other consolation do they have in those sufferings but Mary and the succor of this Mother of Mercy? St. Bridget one day heard Jesus say to his Mother: Tu es mater mea, tu mater misericordiae, tu consolatio eorum, qui sunt in purgatorio. And the Blessed Virgin herself told St. Bridget that just as a poor sick person, lying afflicted and abandoned in bed, feels himself revived by some word of comfort, so those souls feel consoled merely at hearing her name: Qui sunt in purgatorio gaudent, nomine meo audito, quemadmodum aeger iacens in lecto, cum audit verbum solatii. The very name of Mary — name of hope and of salvation — which those beloved daughters of hers often invoke in that prison, is for them a great comfort. But then, says Novarino, the loving Mother, upon hearing herself invoked by them, adds her prayers to God, from whom those souls, being aided, feel their great burning cooled as by a heavenly dew: Virginis nomen illarum poenarum refrigerium est. Addit Virgo preces, quibus veluti supero quodam rore cruciatus illi magni mitigantur.

But Mary not only consoles and assists her devoted servants in purgatory; she also releases and frees them through her intercession. From the very day of her glorious Assumption, on which it is said that the entire prison was emptied — totum purgatorium fuisse evacuatum, as Gerson wrote — and the Novarino confirms, saying that weighty authors report that Mary, about to go to paradise, asked this grace of her Son, to take with her all the souls then in purgatory: Ferunt quippe bonae notae auctores Virginem in caelum ituram a Filio hoc petiisse, ut omnes animas, quae detinebantur in purgatorio, secum ad gloriam ducere posset; from that time, says Gerson, the Blessed Virgin obtained the privilege of freeing her servants from those pains. And this is also affirmed absolutely by St. Bernardine of Siena, who says that the Blessed Virgin has the power, through her prayers and by applying her merits, to free those souls from purgatory, and especially her own devoted servants: Ab his tormentis liberat B. Virgo maxime devotos suos. And the same says Novarino, who holds that through the merits of Mary, not only are the sufferings of those souls made lighter, but also shorter, the time of their purification being shortened by her intercession: Crediderim omnibus qui in flammis purgantur, Mariae meritis non solum leviores fuisse redditas illas poenas, sed et breviores; adeo ut cruciatuum tempus contractum Virginis ope illius sit. It is enough that she present herself to pray.

St. Peter Damian relates that a certain woman named Marozia, having died, appeared to a friend of hers and told her that on the day of the Assumption of Mary she had been freed from purgatory, together with so many other souls that they exceeded the number of the Roman populace. St. Dionysius the Carthusian likewise affirms that on the feasts of the Nativity and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, on those days Mary descends into purgatory accompanied by hosts of angels and frees many souls from those sufferings: Beatissima Virgo singulis annis in festivitate Nativitatis Christi ad purgatorii loca cum multitudine angelorum descendit et multas inde animas eripit. Etiam in nocte Dominicae Resurrectionis solet descendere ad purgatorium pro eductione animarum. And Novarino is inclined to believe that this happens on every solemn feast of the Blessed Virgin: Facile autem crediderim in quocumque Virginis solemni festo plures animas ab illis poenis eximi.

Well known, moreover, is the promise that Mary made to Pope John XXII, to whom she appeared and ordered him to make known to all who wore the sacred Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel that on the Saturday after their death they would be freed from purgatory. This same Pontiff, as Father Crasset reports, declared this in the Bull which he published, and which was later confirmed by Alexander V, Clement VII, Pius V, Gregory XIII, and Paul V, who in 1612, in a Bull, said: "The Christian people may piously believe that the Blessed Virgin will help with her continual intercession, her merits, and special protection, after death and particularly on Saturday — consecrated by the Church to the same Virgin — the souls of the members of the Confraternity of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, who shall have departed this life in grace and shall have worn the habit, observing chastity according to their state, and shall have recited the Office of the Virgin; and if they could not recite it, shall have observed the fasts of the Church, abstaining from eating meat on Wednesdays, except on Christmas Day." And in the solemn Office of the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, it is read that one may piously believe that the Blessed Virgin, with a mother's love, consoles the members of Carmel in purgatory, and through her intercession soon brings them to the heavenly homeland: Materno plane affectu, dum igne purgatorii expiantur, solari, ac in caelestem patriam obtentu suo quantocius pie creditur efferre.

May we not hope for these same graces and favors if we too are devoted to this good Mother? And if we serve her with a more special love, may we not also hope for the grace of going straight to paradise after death, without entering purgatory? — according to what the Blessed Virgin sent word through Brother Abundus to Blessed Godfrey (as is read in the Book of the Deeds of the Illustrious Men of Villers) with these words: "Tell Brother Godfrey to advance in virtue, and he shall be my Son's and mine; and when his soul departs from the body, I will not let it go to purgatory, but I will take it and offer it to my Son."

And if we wish to bring relief to the holy souls in purgatory, let us be sure to pray to the Blessed Virgin in all our prayers, applying for them especially the Most Holy Rosary, which brings them great relief, as is seen in the following example.

Example

Father Eusebius Nieremberg relates that in the city of Aragon there was a young maiden named Alexandra, who, being noble and exceedingly beautiful, was loved in particular by two young men. These, one day, in a jealous quarrel over Alexandra, set upon each other with weapons and killed each other. The relatives of the slain, enraged, went and killed the poor maiden as the cause of so great a tragedy, cutting off her head and throwing it into a well. After a few days, St. Dominic was passing through that place, and, inspired by the Lord, he leaned over the well and said: "Alexandra, come forth!" And behold, the severed head emerged and placed itself on the rim of the well and asked St. Dominic to hear her confession. The saint heard her confession and then gave her also Holy Communion, in the sight of an immense crowd that had gathered for the marvel. Then St. Dominic asked her to tell them why she had received this grace. Alexandra answered that when her head was cut off she was in mortal sin, but that the Most Holy Mary, because of her devotion to the Rosary, which she had been accustomed to recite, had preserved her in life. For two days the head remained alive on the well in the sight of all, and then the soul went to purgatory. But fifteen days later, the soul of Alexandra appeared to St. Dominic, beautiful and resplendent like a star, and told him that one of the chief sufferings relieved for the souls in purgatory is the Rosary recited for them, and that the souls, as soon as they reach paradise, pray for those who applied this powerful prayer on their behalf. Having said this, St. Dominic saw that fortunate soul ascend, full of joy, to the kingdom of the blessed.

Prayer

O Queen of heaven and earth, O Mother of the Lord of the world, O Mary, greatest, most exalted, and most lovable of all creatures, it is true that many on earth do not love you and do not know you; but there are so many millions of angels and blessed in heaven who love you and praise you continually. Even on this earth, how many happy souls burn with your love and live enamored of your goodness! Oh, that I too might love you, my most lovable Lady! Oh, that I might think always of serving you, praising you, honoring you, and endeavoring to see you loved by all! You have enamored a God, who, captivated by your beauty, was — so to speak — drawn from the bosom of the Eternal Father to earth to become man and your Son; and shall I, a wretched worm, not be enamored of you? No, my sweetest Mother, I too wish to love you and to love you greatly, and I wish to do whatever I can so that you may be loved by others as well. Accept, then, O Mary, the desire I have to love you, and help me to carry it out.

I know that your lovers are regarded with great favor by your God. He, after his own glory, desires nothing more than your glory — to see you honored and loved by all. From you, my Lady, I hope for all my good fortune. You must obtain for me the pardon of all my sins, you must obtain for me perseverance; you must assist me at my death; you must free me from purgatory; and you must finally bring me to paradise. So much do your lovers hope from you, and they are never disappointed; so much do I hope also, who love you with all my affection and above all things after God.

Mary Leads Her Servants to Paradise

Oh, what a beautiful sign of predestination the servants of Mary possess! Holy Church applies to this divine Mother the words of Ecclesiasticus at chapter 24 and has her say, for the comfort of her devoted servants: In omnibus requiem quaesivi et in hereditate Domini morabor. Hugh Cardinal comments: Beatus in cuius domo B. Virgo requiem invenerit.

Mary, out of the love she bears to all, seeks to make devotion to herself reign in every heart. Many either do not receive it or do not preserve it: happy is the one who receives it and keeps it. Et in hereditate Domini morabor. That is, adds the learned Paciucchelli: In illis qui sunt hereditas Domini. Devotion to the Blessed Virgin dwells in all those who are the Lord's inheritance — that is, who will be in heaven praising him eternally. Mary continues to speak in the cited passage of Ecclesiasticus: Qui creavit me, requievit in tabernaculo meo; et dixit mihi: in Iacob inhabita et in Israel hereditare et in electis meis mitte radices: My Creator deigned to come and rest in my womb, and he willed that I should dwell in the hearts of all the elect — of whom Jacob was the figure, and who are the inheritance of the Virgin — and he disposed that in all the predestined the devotion and confidence toward me should be rooted.

Oh, how many blessed ones would not now be in heaven if Mary had not led them there by her powerful intercession! Ego feci in caelis ut oriretur lumen indeficiens. So Hugh Cardinal has her speak in the aforesaid words of the same chapter 24 of Ecclesiasticus: I have made eternal lights shine in heaven — as many as are my devoted servants. Hence the same author adds on this text: Multi sancti sunt in caelis intercessione eius, qui numquam ibi fuissent nisi per eam. St. Bonaventure says that for all who trust in the protection of Mary, the gate of heaven shall open to receive them: Qui speraverit in illa, porta caeli reserabitur ei. Hence St. Ephrem called devotion to the divine Mother the opening of paradise: Reseramentum caelestis Ierusalem. And the devout Blosius, speaking to the Virgin, says to her: My Lady, to you are entrusted the keys and the treasures of the blessed kingdom: Tibi regni caelestis claves thesaurique commissi sunt. And therefore we should continually pray to her in the words of St. Ambrose: Aperi nobis, o Virgo, caelum, cuius claves habes: Open for us, O Mary, the gates of paradise, since you hold its keys — or rather, since you yourself are its gate, as Holy Church calls you: Ianua caeli.

For this reason, too, the great Mother is called by Holy Church the star of the sea: Ave, maris stella. For just as sailors, says St. Thomas Aquinas, are directed to port by means of the star, so Christians are guided to paradise by means of Mary: Dicitur stella maris, quia sicut navigantes ad portum diriguntur per stellam maris, ita Christiani diriguntur ad gloriam per Mariam.

Similarly, she is called by St. Peter Damian the ladder of heaven, for, says the saint, through Mary God descended from heaven to earth, so that through her men might merit ascending from earth to heaven: Scala caelestis, quia per ipsam Deus descendit ad terram, ut per ipsam homines mererentur ascendere ad caelum. And for this end, O my Lady — says St. Anastasius to her — you were filled with grace: so that you might become the way of our salvation and the ascent to the heavenly homeland: Ave gratia plena, quod facta sis salutis via ascensusque ad superos. Hence St. Bernard calls the Virgin Vehiculum ad caelum — a vehicle to heaven. And St. John Geometra greets her: Salve, clarissime currus — most noble chariot by which her devoted servants are led to heaven. Therefore St. Bonaventure says to her: Blessed are those who know you, O Mother of God! for to know you is the road to immortal life, and to proclaim your virtues is the way of eternal salvation: Scire et cognoscere te, o Virgo Deipara, est via immortalitatis; et narrare virtutes tuas est via salutis.

It is related in the Franciscan Chronicles that Brother Leo once saw a red ladder at the top of which stood Jesus Christ, and a white ladder at the top of which stood his holy Mother. He saw that some went up the red ladder, climbed a few steps, and then fell; they tried again to climb and fell again. Whereupon they were encouraged to go to the white ladder, and by that one he saw them ascend happily, for the Blessed Virgin extended her hand to them, and so they arrived safely in paradise. St. Dionysius the Carthusian asks: Who ever is saved? Who reaches the kingdom of heaven? Those are surely saved and reign, he himself replies, for whom this Queen of Mercy engages her prayers: Quis salvatur? quis regnat in caelo? illi sane pro quibus regina misericordiae interpellat. And Mary herself affirms: Per me reges regnant (Prov. VIII, 15). Through my intercession, souls reign first in this mortal life on earth by dominating their passions, and then come to reign eternally in heaven, where St. Augustine says all are kings: Quot cives, tot reges. Mary, in short — says Richard of St. Lawrence — is the mistress of paradise, for there she commands as she wills and introduces whom she wills. Hence, applying to her the words of Ecclesiasticus — In Ierusalem potestas mea (ch. XXIV, 15) — he adds: Imperando scilicet quod volo, et quos volo introducendo. And since she is the Mother of the Lord of paradise, with good reason, says Rupert, she is also the Lady of paradise: Totum iure possidet Filii regnum.

This divine Mother, with her powerful prayers and help, has indeed obtained paradise for us, if we do not place any obstacle: Caeleste nobis regnum suo interventu, auxiliis et precibus impetravit. Hence, whoever serves Mary and for whom Mary intercedes is as sure of paradise as if he were already there: Qui Virgini famulatur, ita securus est de paradiso, ac si esset in paradiso, says Abbot Guerric. To serve Mary and belong to her court, adds St. John Damascene, is the greatest honor we can have; for to serve the Queen of Heaven is already to reign in heaven, and to live under her commands is more than to reign: Summus honor servire Mariae et de eius esse familia. Etenim ei servire regnare est, et eius agi frenis plusquam regium. On the other hand, he says that those who do not serve Mary will not be saved, since those who are deprived of the help of this great Mother are abandoned by the aid of the Son and of the entire heavenly court: Gens quae non servierit illi, peribit. Gentes destitutae tantae Matris auxilio, destituuntur auxilio Filii et totius curiae caelestis.

Let the infinite goodness of our God be ever praised, who has arranged to establish Mary in heaven as our advocate, so that she, as the mother of the Judge and mother of mercy, may effectively treat through her intercession the great business of our eternal salvation. This is the thought of St. Bernard: Advocatam praemisit peregrinatio nostra, quae tamquam iudicis mater et mater misericordiae suppliciter et efficaciter salutis nostrae negotia pertractabit.

And the monk James, a Doctor among the Greek Fathers, says that God has destined Mary as a bridge of salvation, by which, making us pass over the waves of this world, we may arrive at the blessed port of paradise: Eam tu pontem fecisti, quo a mundi fluctibus traiicientes, ad tranquillum portum tuum deveniamus. Hence St. Bonaventure exclaims: Hear, O peoples, you who desire paradise — serve and honor Mary, and you shall surely find eternal life: Audite gentes qui cupitis regnum Dei, Virginem Mariam honorate, et invenietis vitam aeternam.

Nor should even those who have merited hell lose confidence of obtaining the blessed kingdom, if they faithfully resolve to serve this Queen. How many sinners, says St. Germanus, have sought to find God through you, O Mary, and have been saved! Peccatores per te Deum exquisierunt, et salvi facti sunt. Richard of St. Lawrence reflects that St. John says Mary is crowned with stars: Et in capite eius corona stellarum duodecim (Apoc. XII, 1); on the other hand, in the Canticle of Canticles the Virgin is called crowned with wild beasts, with lions and leopards: Veni de Libano, sponsa mea, veni de Libano, veni; coronaberis... de cubilibus leonum, de montibus pardorum (Cant. IV, 8). How is this to be understood? Richard answers that these wild beasts are sinners who, through the favor and intercession of Mary, become stars of paradise — stars that better befit the head of this Queen of Mercy, to crown her, than all the material stars of the sky: Et quid est hoc? nisi quia ferae per gratiam et orationes Mariae sunt stellae, quae conveniunt tantae reginae. One day, during the novena of her Assumption, when the servant of the Lord, the virgin Sister Serafina of Capri, was praying to the Blessed Virgin, she asked her for the conversion of a thousand sinners. But then, fearing the request was too bold, the Virgin appeared to her and corrected this vain fear, saying to her: "Why do you fear? Am I not powerful enough to obtain from my Son the salvation of a thousand sinners? Here they are — I have already obtained them for you." Then she led her in spirit to paradise, and there showed her innumerable souls of sinners who had merited hell but who, through her intercession, had been saved and already enjoyed eternal blessedness.

It is true that in this life no one can be certain of eternal salvation: Nescit homo utrum odio vel amore dignus sit, sed omnia in futurum servantur incerta (Eccl. IX, 1). But when David asked God: Lord, who shall be saved? — Domine, quis habitabit in tabernaculo tuo? (Ps. XIV, 1); St. Bonaventure comments on these words: Amplectamur Mariae vestigia, peccatores, et eius beatis pedibus provolvamur. Teneamus eam fortiter, nec dimittamus, donec ab ea mereamur benedici. That is to say: Sinners, let us follow the footsteps of Mary and cast ourselves at her blessed feet. Let us hold her tightly and not let her go until she blesses us, for her blessing will assure us of paradise.

It is enough, my Lady — says St. Anselm — that you should will our salvation, and then we cannot but be saved: Tantummodo velis salutem nostram, et vere nequaquam salvi esse non poterimus. St. Antoninus adds that the souls protected by Mary are necessarily saved: Necessarium est quod hi ad quos Maria convertit oculos suos, iustificentur et glorificentur.

With good reason, says St. Ildephonsus, the Blessed Virgin foretold that all generations would call her blessed: Beatam me dicent omnes generationes (Lk. I, 48); for all the elect, through Mary, obtain eternal blessedness: Beata iure dicitur, quia omnes ex ea beatificantur. You, O great Mother, are the beginning, the middle, and the end of our happiness, says St. Methodius: Tu festivitatis nostrae principium, medium et finis: the beginning, because Mary obtains for us the pardon of our sins; the middle, because she obtains for us perseverance in divine grace; the end, because she finally obtains for us paradise. Through you, St. Bernard continues, heaven has been opened, hell has been emptied, the heavenly Jerusalem has been restored, and eternal life has been given to so many wretches who deserved eternal death: Per te caelum apertum est, infernus evacuatus, instaurata caelestis Ierusalem, miseris damnationem exspectantibus vita data est.

But above all, what should encourage us to hope confidently for paradise is the beautiful promise that Mary herself makes to those who honor her, and especially to those who by word and example strive to make her known and honored by others: Qui operantur in me, non peccabunt. Qui elucidant me, vitam aeternam habebunt (Ecclus. XXIV, 30–31). Oh happy, then — says St. Bonaventure — are those who win the favor of Mary! They shall be recognized by the blessed as their companions; and whoever bears the mark of a servant of Mary shall already be enrolled in the book of life: Qui acquirunt gratiam Mariae, agnoscentur a civibus paradisi, et qui habuerit characterem eius, adnotabitur in libro vitae. What use is it, then, to trouble ourselves with the debates of the Schools over whether predestination to glory comes before or after the foresight of merits? Over whether we are written or not in the book of life? If we are true servants of Mary and obtain her protection, we shall surely be written in it; for, as St. John Damascene says, God does not grant devotion to his holy Mother except to those whom he wills to save. This the Lord seems to have expressly declared through St. John: Qui vicerit... scribam super eum nomen Dei mei et nomen civitatis Dei mei (Apoc. III, 12). Whoever conquers and is saved shall bear written on his heart the name of the city of God. And who is this city of God if not Mary, as St. Gregory explains on the passage of David: Gloriosa dicta sunt de te, civitas Dei? (Ps. LXXXVI, 3).

Well, then, may it here be said with St. Paul: Habens signaculum hoc, cognovit Dominus qui sunt eius (II Tim. II, 19): Whoever bears this seal of being devoted to Mary is recognized by God as his own. Hence St. Bernard wrote that devotion to the Mother of God is certissimum signum salutis aeternae consequendae. And Blessed Alan, speaking of the Hail Mary, said that whoever often honors the Virgin with this angelic salutation has a very great sign of predestination: Habentes devotionem hanc, signum est praedestinationis permagnum ad gloriam. And he said the same of the persevering daily recitation of the Most Holy Rosary: Signum sit tibi probabilissimum aeternae salutis, si perseveranter in die Beatam Virginem in psalterio salutaveris.

Father Nieremberg further says — in his booklet on Affection to Mary, chapter 10 — that the servants of the Mother of God will not only be more privileged and favored on this earth, but also in heaven they will be more distinguished. And he adds that they will have in heaven a particular badge and livery, richer than the rest, by which they will be recognized as members of the household of the Queen of Heaven and as people of her court, according to that saying of Proverbs: Omnes domestici eius vestiti sunt duplicibus (XXXI, 21).

St. Mary Magdalene de' Pazzi saw in the midst of the sea a little ship in which all the devoted servants of Mary had taken refuge, and she, performing the office of pilot, safely conducted them to port. By this the saint understood that those who live under Mary's protection, amid all the dangers of this life, are kept from the shipwreck of sin and damnation, for they are safely guided by her to the port of paradise.

Let us therefore strive to enter this blessed ship of Mary's mantle, and there let us be assured of the blessed kingdom, for the Church sings: Sicut laetantium omnium habitatio est in te, Sancta Dei Genitrix. Holy Mother of God, all who shall share in eternal joy dwell in you, living under your protection.

Example

Caesarius relates that a certain Cistercian monk, very devoted to the Madonna, who longed for a visit from his dear Lady and continually prayed for one, went out one night into the garden, and while he stood gazing at the sky and sending warm sighs to his Queen out of a desire to see her, behold, he saw a beautiful and luminous virgin descending from heaven, who asked him: "Thomas, would you like to hear me sing?" "Certainly," he replied. Then that virgin sang with such sweetness that the devout religious thought himself in paradise. When the song was ended, she vanished and left him with a great longing to know who she was. But behold, before him appeared another very beautiful virgin, who also let him hear her song. He could not refrain from asking her who she was, and she replied: "The one you saw just now was Catherine; I am Agnes — both martyrs of Jesus Christ, sent by our Lady to console you. Give thanks to Mary and prepare yourself to receive an even greater grace." And having said this, she vanished; but the religious was left with even greater hope of finally seeing his Queen. Nor was he disappointed; for shortly after, he saw a great light, felt his heart fill with a new joy, and behold, in the midst of that light the Mother of God appeared to him, surrounded by angels and with a beauty immensely greater than that of the other two saints who had appeared to him, and she said to him: "My dear servant and son, I have appreciated the service you have rendered me, and I have heard your prayers; you desired to see me — here I am; and I wish you to hear my song as well." And the Blessed Virgin began to sing, and so great was the sweetness that the devout religious lost his senses and fell with his face to the ground. The bell for Matins sounded; the monks assembled and, not seeing Thomas, went to look for him in his cell and in other places; finally going to the garden, they found him there as if dead. The superior commanded him under obedience to tell what had happened to him, and then, coming to himself by virtue of obedience, he recounted all the favors of the divine Mother.

Prayer

O Queen of Paradise, Mother of Holy Love, since you are among all creatures the most lovable, the most loved by God and his first lover, deign to accept the love of a sinner — the most ungrateful and wretched on earth — who, seeing himself freed from hell through you and so greatly favored by you without any merit, has fallen in love with your goodness and has placed in you all his hopes. I love you, my Lady, and I would wish to love you more than the saints most enamored of you have loved you.

I would wish, if I could, to make known to all who do not know you how worthy you are of being loved, so that all might love and honor you. I would even wish to die for your love, in defense of your virginity, your dignity as Mother of God, and your Immaculate Conception, if for the defense of these great prerogatives of yours it were necessary for me to die.

Ah, my most beloved Mother, accept this affection of mine, and do not permit that a servant of yours who loves you should ever become the enemy of your God whom you love so greatly. Wretched me! I was such a one once, when I offended my Lord. But then, O Mary, I did not love you, and I cared little for being loved by you. But now I desire nothing more, after the grace of God, than to love you and to be loved by you. I am not discouraged by my past sins, for I know that you, most kind and gracious Lady, do not disdain to love even the most miserable sinners who love you; indeed, you never allow yourself to be surpassed by anyone in love.

Ah, most lovable Queen, I wish to come and love you in paradise. There, at your feet, I shall better know how lovable you are and how much you have done to save me; and there I shall love you with a greater love and shall love you eternally, without fear of ever ceasing to love you. O Mary, I confidently hope to be saved through you. Pray to Jesus for me. Nothing more is needed — you must save me; you are my hope. I shall therefore go ever singing:

O Mary, my hope,

You must save me.