Discourse V — The Visitation of Mary

Mary is the treasurer of all divine graces; therefore whoever desires graces must have recourse to Mary, and whoever has recourse to Mary should be confident of obtaining the graces he desires.

That house considers itself fortunate which is visited by some royal personage, both for the honor it receives and for the advantages it then hopes for. But far more fortunate must that soul be called which is visited by the Queen of the world, Mary most holy, who never fails to fill with blessings and graces those blessed souls she deigns to visit through her favors. The house of Obed-edom was blessed when visited by the Ark of the Lord: Benedixit Dominus domui eius (I Par. XIII, 14). But with how many greater blessings are those persons enriched who receive some loving visit from this living ark of God, which the divine Mother was! Felix illa domus quam Mater Dei visitat, wrote Engelgrave. The house of the Baptist well experienced this, for scarcely had Mary entered it when she filled that entire family with heavenly graces and blessings; hence the present feast of the Visitation is commonly called the feast of Our Lady of Graces.

We shall therefore see today in this discourse how the divine Mother is the treasurer of all graces. And we shall divide the discourse into two points. In the first we shall see that whoever desires graces must have recourse to Mary. In the second, that whoever has recourse to Mary should be confident of obtaining the graces he desires.

Point I

After the Blessed Virgin heard from the Archangel St. Gabriel that her kinswoman Elizabeth was six months with child, she was interiorly enlightened by the Holy Spirit to know that the Word made man, already become her Son, wished to begin manifesting to the world the riches of his mercy through the first graces he wished to bestow upon that entire family. Hence, without any delay, exsurgens, as St. Luke narrates (I, 39), Maria... abiit in montana cum festinatione. Rising from the quiet of her contemplation, to which she was always devoted, and leaving her cherished solitude, she immediately set out for the house of Elizabeth. And because holy charity bears all things — Caritas omnia suffert — and suffers no delay, as indeed St. Ambrose says on this Gospel: Nescit tarda molimina Spiritus Sancti gratia; therefore, heedless of the fatigue of the journey, the tender and delicate maiden promptly set out on her way. Having arrived at that house, she greeted her cousin: Et intravit in domum Zachariae et salutavit Elisabeth. And as St. Ambrose observes, Mary was the first to greet Elizabeth: prior salutavit. But the visit of the Blessed Virgin was not like the visits of worldly persons, which for the most part are reduced to ceremonies and empty courtesies. Mary's visit brought to that house an abundance of graces. For at her first entrance and at that first greeting, Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and John was freed from original sin and sanctified. Therefore he gave that sign of jubilation, leaping in his mother's womb, wishing thus to manifest the grace received through the Blessed Virgin, as Elizabeth herself declared: Ut facta est vox salutationis tuae in auribus meis, exsultavit in gaudio infans in utero meo. Thus, as Bernardine of Busti observes, by virtue of Mary's greeting John received the grace of the Divine Spirit that sanctified him: Cum B. Virgo salutavit Elisabeth, vox salutationis per aures eius ingrediens ad puerum descendit, virtute cuius salutationis puer Spiritum Sanctum accepit.

Now if these first fruits of the Redemption all passed through Mary, and she was the channel through which grace was communicated to the Baptist, the Holy Spirit to Elizabeth, the gift of prophecy to Zechariah, and so many other blessings to that house — which were the first graces we know to have been bestowed on earth by the Word after his Incarnation — it is very just to believe that God, from that time, had constituted Mary as the universal aqueduct, as St. Bernard calls her, through which all the other graces the Lord wishes to dispense to us should henceforth pass, as was discussed in Part I, Chapter V.

With good reason, then, this divine Mother is called the treasure, the treasurer, and the dispenser of divine graces. So she is named by the Venerable Abbot of Celles: Thesaurus Domini et thesauraria gratiarum; so by St. Peter Damian: Thesaurus divinarum gratiarum; by Blessed Albert the Great: Thesauraria Iesu Christi; by St. Bernardine: Dispensatrix gratiarum; by a Greek doctor cited by Petavius: Promptuarium omnium bonorum — storehouse of all blessings; so also by St. Gregory Thaumaturgus, who says: Maria sic gratia plena dicitur, quod in illa gratiae thesaurus reconderetur. And Richard of St. Lawrence says that God has placed in Mary, as in a treasury of mercy, all the gifts of graces, and from this treasure he enriches his servants: Maria est thesaurus, quia in ea, ut in gazophylacio, reposuit Dominus omnia dona gratiarum; et de hoc thesauro largitur ipse larga stipendia suis militibus et operariis.

St. Bonaventure, speaking of the field in the Gospel where the treasure lies hidden and which must be purchased at any great price, as Jesus Christ said — Simile est regnum caelorum thesauro abscondito in agro, quem qui invenit homo... vadit et vendit universa quae habet et emit agrum illum (Matt. XIII, 44) — says that this field is our Queen Mary, in whom lies the treasure of God the Father, which is Jesus Christ, and with Jesus Christ the source and font of all graces: Ager iste est Maria, in qua thesaurus Dei Patris absconditus est. St. Bernard already affirmed that all the graces the Lord wishes to dispense to us he has placed in the hands of Mary, so that we may know that whatever good we receive, we receive it all from her hands: Totius boni plenitudinem posuit in Maria, ut proinde si quid spei in nobis est, si quid gratiae, si quid salutis, ab ea noverimus redundare. And Mary herself assures us, saying: In me gratia omnis viae et veritatis (Ecclus. XXIV, 25): In me are all the graces of the true blessings you men can desire in your life. Yes, our Mother and hope — St. Peter Damian said to her — we well know that all the treasures of divine mercies are in your hands: In manibus tuis omnes thesauri miserationum Dei. And before Damian, St. Ildephonsus affirmed it with even greater emphasis when, speaking to the Virgin, he said: My Lady, all the graces God has determined to bestow upon men, he has determined to bestow through your hands; therefore all the treasures of graces he has entrusted to you: Omnia bona quae illis summa maiestas decrevit facere, tuis manibus decrevit commendare; commissi quippe tibi sunt thesauri et ornamenta gratiarum. Therefore, O Mary, concluded St. Germanus, there is no grace dispensed to anyone except through your hands: Nemo qui salvus fiet, nisi per te: nemo donum Dei suscipit, nisi per te. Upon the words the Angel spoke to the Blessed Virgin — Ne timeas, Maria, invenisti enim gratiam apud Deum (Luke I, 30) — Blessed Albert the Great adds a beautiful reflection, saying: Ne timeas, quia invenisti. Non rapuisti, ut primus angelus: non perdidisti, ut primus parens: non emisti, ut Simon magus; sed invenisti, quia quaesivisti. Invenisti gratiam increatam, et in illa omnem creaturam: O Mary, you did not seize grace as Lucifer tried to seize it; you did not lose it as Adam lost it; you did not buy it as Simon Magus tried to buy it; but you found it, because you desired it and sought it. You found uncreated grace — God himself, already become your Son — and together with it you found and obtained all created goods. St. Peter Chrysologus confirms this thought, saying that the great Mother found this grace so as then to restore salvation to all men: Hanc gratiam accepit Virgo, salutem saeculis redditura. And elsewhere he says that Mary found a grace so full that it sufficed to save everyone: Invenisti gratiam, quantam? quantam superius dixerat, plenam et vere plenam, quae largo imbre totam infunderet creaturam. In such a way, says Richard of St. Lawrence, as God made the sun so that through it the earth might be illuminated, so he made Mary so that through her all the divine mercies might be dispensed to the world: Sicut sol factus est ut illuminet totum mundum, sic Maria facta est ut misericordiam impetret toti mundo. And St. Bernardine adds that the Virgin, from the time she became Mother of the Redeemer, acquired a kind of jurisdiction over all graces: A tempore quo Virgo Mater concepit in utero Verbum Dei, quamdam, ut sic dicam, iurisdictionem obtinuit in omni Spiritus Sancti processione temporali: ita ut nulla creatura aliquam a Deo obtinuit gratiam, nisi secundum ipsius piae Matris dispensationem.

Let us therefore conclude this point with Richard of St. Lawrence, who says that if we wish to obtain any grace we should have recourse to Mary, who cannot fail to obtain for her servants whatever she asks, since she has found divine grace and always finds it: Cupientes invenire gratiam, quaeramus inventricem gratiae, quae quia semper invenit, frustrari non potest. And he drew this from St. Bernard, who said: Quaeramus gratiam et per Mariam quaeramus, quia quod quaerit invenit, et frustrari non potest. If, then, we desire graces, we must go to this treasurer and dispenser of graces, since it is the supreme will of the giver of every good — as the same St. Bernard assures us — that all graces be dispensed through the hands of Mary: Quia sic est voluntas eius, qui totum nos habere voluit per Mariam. Totum, totum: whoever says "all" excludes nothing.

But since confidence is necessary to obtain graces, let us now see how certain we should be of obtaining graces when we have recourse to Mary.

Point II

And why has Jesus Christ placed in the hands of his Mother all the riches of the mercies he wishes to show us, if not so that she may make rich all those devoted servants who love her, honor her, and have recourse to her with confidence? Mecum sunt divitiae... ut ditem diligentes me (Prov. VIII, 17, 21). So the Virgin herself declares in this passage which the holy Church applies to her in so many of her feasts. Thus these riches of eternal life are preserved by Mary for no other use than to benefit us, says Abbot Adam, for in Mary's bosom the Savior has placed the treasure of the wretched, so that from this treasure the poor, being provided for, may become rich: Divitiae salutis penes Virginem nostris usibus reservantur. Christus in Virginis utero pauperum gazophylacium collocavit: inde pauperes locupletati sunt. And St. Bernard adds — as I have found in one author — that to this end Mary was given to the world as a channel of mercy, so that through her graces might continually descend from heaven to men; here are his memorable words: Ad hoc enim data est ipsa mundo quasi aquaeductus, ut per ipsam a Deo ad homines dona caelestia iugiter descenderent.

Hence the same holy Father goes on to inquire why St. Gabriel, having already found the divine Mother full of grace — as he had already greeted her, Ave, gratia plena — then tells her that the Holy Spirit was to come upon her to fill her still more with grace. If she was already full of this grace, what more could the coming of the Divine Spirit accomplish? Ad quid, St. Bernard answers, nisi ut adveniente iam Spiritu plena sibi, eodem superveniente nobis superplena et supereffluens fiat? Mary was already full of grace, says the saint, but the Holy Spirit overfilled her for our benefit, so that from her superabundance we wretched ones might be provided for. Hence Mary was called the moon, of which it is said: Luna plena sibi et aliis.

Qui me invenerit, inveniet vitam et hauriet salutem a Domino (Prov. VIII, 35). Blessed is he who finds me by having recourse to me, says our Mother. He will find life, and will find it easily; for just as it is easy to find and draw as much water as one desires from a great fountain, so it is easy to find graces and eternal salvation by having recourse to Mary. A holy soul once said: "It suffices to ask graces of Our Lady to receive them." And St. Bernard said that before the Virgin was born, so great an abundance of graces as is now seen flowing upon the earth was lacking in the world, because this desirable channel — which is Mary — was absent: Ideo tanto tempore defuerunt omnibus fluenta gratiarum, quia nondum intercesserat hic aquaeductus. But now that we already have this Mother of Mercy, what graces can we fear not to obtain by having recourse at her feet? "I am the city of refuge," St. John Damascene has her say, "for all who fly to me; come then, my children, and you shall obtain graces from me in greater abundance than you think: Ego civitas refugii iis qui ad me confugiunt; accedite et gratiarum dona affluentissime haurite.

It is true that to many there befalls what the Venerable Sister Maria Villani perceived in a heavenly vision. This servant of God once saw the Mother of God in the likeness of a great fountain to which many went and drew much water of graces; but what happened afterward? Those who carried sound vessels preserved the graces they had received; but those who carried broken vessels — that is, souls burdened with sins — received the graces but soon lost them again. Nevertheless, it is certain that through Mary innumerable graces are obtained daily by men — even by the ungrateful, by sinners, by the most wretched. St. Augustine says, speaking to the Virgin: Per te hereditamus misericordiam miseri, ingrati gratiam, veniam peccatores, sublimia infirmi, caelestia terreni, mortales vitam, et patriam peregrini.

Let us, then, ever revive our confidence, O devotees of Mary, whenever we have recourse to her for graces. And to revive this confidence, let us always remember the two great qualities of this good Mother: her desire to do us good, and her power with her Son to obtain whatever she asks. To know Mary's desire to help everyone, it would suffice simply to consider the mystery of the present feast — the visit Mary paid to Elizabeth. The journey from Nazareth, where the Blessed Virgin dwelt, to the city of Hebron — called by St. Luke "a city of Judah" — as Baronius and other authors hold, where Elizabeth dwelt, was quite long, about sixty-nine miles according to the author of the Life of Mary, Father Joseph of Jesus and Mary, a Discalced Carmelite, and according to Bede and Brocard. But notwithstanding this, the Blessed Virgin — tender and delicate maiden as she then was, and unaccustomed to such hardships — did not hesitate to set out immediately on her way, driven by what? Driven by that great charity with which her most tender heart has always been filled, to go and begin even then to exercise her great office as dispenser of graces. Thus St. Ambrose speaks of this journey of hers: Non abiit quasi incredula de oraculo, sed quasi laeta pro voto, festina prae gaudio, religiosa pro officio. Mary did not go, says St. Ambrose, to verify whether the angel's message about Elizabeth's pregnancy was true; rather, rejoicing in the desire to help that household, hastening for the joy she felt in doing good to others, and wholly intent upon that work of charity, exsurgens abiit cum festinatione. Note here: the Evangelist, when speaking of Mary's journey to Elizabeth's house, said she went in haste — abiit cum festinatione; but speaking then of her return from that house, he makes no further mention of haste but simply says: Mansit autem Maria cum illa quasi mensibus tribus, et reversa est in domum suam (Luke I, 56). What other purpose, then, says St. Bonaventure, impelled the Mother of God to hasten to visit the house of the Baptist, if not the desire to do good to that family? Quid eam ad officium caritatis festinare cogebat, nisi caritas quae in corde fervebat?

This affection of charity toward men has not diminished in Mary with her going to heaven; on the contrary, it has grown there, because there she knows our needs better and compassionates our miseries more. Bernardine of Busti wrote that Mary yearns to do us good more than we desire it from her: Plus vult illa bonum tibi facere et largiri gratiam, quam tu accipere concupiscas. To such an extent that St. Bonaventure says she considers herself offended by those who do not ask her for graces: In te, Domina, peccant non solum qui tibi iniuriam irrogant, sed etiam qui te non rogant. For this is the disposition of Mary — to enrich everyone with graces, as, according to the Idiota, she superabundantly enriches her servants: Maria thesaurus Domini est et thesauraria gratiarum ipsius. Donis specialibus ditat copiosissime servientes sibi.

Hence the same author says that whoever finds Mary finds every good: Inventa Maria, invenitur omne bonum. And he adds that everyone can find her, even the most wretched sinner in the world, since she is so benign that she rejects no one who has recourse to her: Tanta est eius benignitas; quod nulli formidandum est ad eam accedere; tantaque misericordia, quod ab ea nemo repellitur. "I invite all to have recourse to me," Thomas a Kempis has her say. "I await all, I desire all; nor do I ever despise any sinner, however unworthy, who comes to seek my help: Omnes invito, omnes exspecto, omnes desidero, nullum peccatorem despicio." Whoever goes to ask for graces, says Richard, inveniet semper paratam auxiliari: he will always find her ready and inclined to help him and to obtain for him every grace of eternal salvation through her powerful prayers.

I said through her powerful prayers, because this is the other consideration that should increase our confidence: knowing that she obtains from God whatever she asks in favor of her devoted servants. Observe, says St. Bonaventure, in this very visit Mary made to Elizabeth, the great power her words possessed; for at her voice, the grace of the Holy Spirit was conferred on both Elizabeth and her son John, as the Evangelist noted: Et factum est, ut audivit salutationem Mariae Elisabeth, exsultavit infans in utero eius, et repleta est Spiritu Sancto (Luke I, 41). To which St. Bonaventure adds: Vide quanta virtus sit verbis Dominae, quia ad eorum pronuntiationem confertur Spiritus Sanctus. Theophilus of Alexandria says that Jesus takes great pleasure when Mary prays to him for us, because all the graces he bestows on us through the prayers of Mary he regards not so much as given to us but rather to his own Mother: Gaudet Filius, orante Matre, quia omnia quae nobis precibus suae Genitricis evictus donat, ipsi Matri se donasse putat. And note those words, precibus suae Genitricis evictus donat. Yes, because Jesus, as St. Germanus attests, cannot but hear Mary in all she asks of him, wishing in this to obey her as his true Mother; hence the saint says that the prayers of this Mother have a certain authority with Jesus Christ, so that she obtains pardon even for the greatest sinners who commend themselves to her: 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. This is well confirmed, as St. John Chrysostom observes, by the event at the wedding at Cana, where Mary, asking her Son for the wine that was wanting — Vinum non habent — Jesus replied: Quid mihi et tibi est, mulier? nondum venit hora mea (John II, 4). But although the time destined for miracles had not yet arrived, as Chrysostom and Theophylact explain, nevertheless, says the same Chrysostom, the Savior, to obey his Mother, performed the miracle she requested, converting the water into wine: Et licet ita responderit, maternis tamen precibus obtemperavit.

Adeamus ergo, the Apostle exhorts us, cum fiducia ad thronum gratiae, ut misericordiam consequamur et gratiam inveniamus in auxilio opportuno (Heb. IV, 16). Thronus gratiae est B. Virgo Maria, says Blessed Albert the Great. If, then, we desire graces, let us go to the throne of grace, which is Mary; and let us go with the hope of being certainly heard, since we have the intercession of Mary, who obtains from her Son everything she asks. Quaeramus gratiam, I repeat with St. Bernard, et per Mariam quaeramus; adhering to what the Virgin Mother herself said to St. Mechtilde: that the Holy Spirit, filling her with all his sweetness, had made her so dear to God that everyone who sought graces through her would certainly obtain them: Spiritus Sanctus tota sua dulcedine me penetrando, tam gratiosam effecit, ut omnis qui per me gratiam quaerit, ipsam inveniat.

And if we give credence to that renowned saying of St. Anselm — Velocior est nonnumquam salus nostra, invocato nomine Mariae, quam invocato nomine Iesu — we shall find, as this saint says, sometimes more quickly the graces we seek by having recourse to Mary than by having recourse to our Savior Jesus himself: not because he is not the font and lord of all graces, but because when we have recourse to the Mother and she then prays for us, her prayers, as the prayers of a mother, will have more power than ours. Let us, then, never depart from the feet of this treasurer of graces, always saying to her with St. John Damascene: Misericordiae ianuam aperi nobis, benedicta Deipara; tu enim es salus generis humani: O Mother of God, open to us the door of your mercy by always praying for us, since your prayers are the salvation of all mankind.

And when we have recourse to Mary, the best thing will be to ask her to request and obtain for us those graces she knows to be most expedient for our salvation — as Brother Reginald, a Dominican, did, as is narrated in the Chronicles of the Order (Book 1, part 1, ch. 5). This servant of Mary lay ill and asked her for the grace of bodily health. His Lady appeared to him, accompanied by St. Cecilia and St. Catherine, and then said to him with the greatest sweetness: "My son, what do you want me to do for you?" The religious, at this gracious offer from Mary, was confused and knew not what to answer. Then one of these saints gave him this counsel: "Reginald, do you know what you should do? Do not ask for anything yourself; place yourself entirely in her hands, for Mary will know how to grant you a grace better than any you could ask for." The sick man did so, and the divine Mother obtained for him the grace of his recovery.

But if we desire also the happy visits of this Queen of Heaven, it will be of great benefit that we too often visit her in some image of hers or in some church dedicated to her. Let the following example be read, and let it be understood with what special favors she rewards the devout visits of her servants.

Example

It is narrated in the Franciscan Chronicles that two religious of the Order, on their way to visit a shrine of the Virgin, found that, being in a great forest, night fell upon them. Confused and distressed, they knew not what to do. But walking a little further on, it seemed to them, in the darkness, that they saw a house. They felt their way with their hands, touched the walls, found the door, knocked, and at once heard a voice from within asking who they were. They answered that they were two poor religious who had lost their way by chance in that forest that night, and were seeking a little shelter, at least so as not to be devoured by wolves. But behold, at once they heard the door open and saw two pages richly dressed, who received them with great courtesy. The religious asked them who lived in that palace. The pages answered that a very pious lady lived there. "We wish to pay our respects to her," said the religious, "and thank her for her charity." And the pages replied: "We are taking you to her right now, for she wishes to speak with you." They climbed the stairs, found the rooms all illuminated and decorated, with a fragrance that seemed the fragrance of paradise. They finally entered the room where the mistress was, and found a majestic and most beautiful lady, who received them with the greatest kindness and then asked them where they were traveling. They answered that they were going to visit a certain church of the Blessed Virgin. "If that is the case," said the lady, "when you leave I wish to give you a letter of mine that will be of great benefit to you." And while this lady spoke to them, they felt themselves all inflamed with the love of God, enjoying a joy they had never before experienced.

They then went to sleep — if indeed they could sleep amid such gladness — and in the morning they returned once more to take their leave from the mistress, to thank her, and at the same time to receive the letter, which they indeed received, and then they departed. But having gone a short distance from the house, they noticed that the letter had no address; so they turned back to have the address written on it. But they looked and looked again and no longer saw the house. At last they opened the letter to see to whom it was directed and what it said, and they found that the letter was from the Blessed Virgin Mary, who had written to them, and informed them that she had been the lady seen that night, and that because of the devotion they cherished toward her, she had provided them in that forest with a house and refreshment; that they should continue to serve and love her, and she would always reward their homage and would help them in life and in death. And at the bottom of the letter they read the signature, which said: "I, Mary the Virgin."

Let each one consider the thanks those good religious must then have given the divine Mother, and how much more ardently they burned with the desire to love and serve her for their entire lives.

Prayer

O immaculate and blessed Virgin, since you are the universal dispenser of all divine graces, you are therefore the hope of all and my hope. I always thank my Lord for having made you known to me and for having made me understand the means I must use to obtain graces and to save myself — and that means is you, O great Mother of God; for I already understand that primarily through the merits of Jesus Christ and then through your intercession I must attain my salvation.

Ah, my Queen, you hastened so eagerly to visit and sanctify with your presence the house of Elizabeth; visit, and visit quickly, the poor house of my soul. Make haste; you already know better than I how poor it is and how sick with many ills: disordered affections, bad habits, and sins committed — all pestilential evils that are leading it to eternal death. You can make it rich, O treasurer of God, and you can cure it of all its infirmities. Visit me, then, in life, and visit me especially at the moment of death, for then your assistance will be most necessary to me. I do not presume, nor am I worthy, that you should visit me in this life with your visible presence, as you have done for so many of your servants — but servants not unworthy and ungrateful as I am. I am content to see you afterward in your kingdom of heaven, there to love you more and thank you more for all the good you have done me. For now I am content that you visit me with your mercy; it is enough for me that you pray for me.

Pray, then, O Mary, and commend me to your Son. You know my miseries and my needs better than I do. What more shall I say to you? Have pity on me. I am so wretched and ignorant that I do not even know how to recognize and seek the graces I most need. My Queen and sweetest Mother, seek for me and obtain from your Son those graces that you know to be most expedient and necessary for my soul. I abandon myself entirely into your hands, and I ask only the divine Majesty that, through the merits of my Savior Jesus, he grant me those graces that you ask of him for me. Seek, then, seek for me, O most holy Virgin, whatever you deem best. Your prayers are never rejected; they are the prayers of a mother to a son who loves you so much and delights in doing whatever you ask of him, in order to honor you all the more and to show you at the same time the great love he bears you. My Lady, so let it be settled between us. I live trusting in you. You must think of saving me. Amen.