IV. Various Devotions in Honor of the Divine Mother, with Their Practices

The Queen of Heaven is so generous and grateful that for small acts of homage from her servants she returns great things: Cum sit magnificentissima, solet maxima pro minimis reddere, says St. Andrew of Crete.

Two things, however, are needed for this. The first is that we offer her our homage with a soul clean from sin; otherwise Mary will say to us what she said to a dissolute soldier who, as St. Peter Celestine relates, used to perform some act of devotion to the Virgin every day. One day, while he was suffering great hunger, the Madonna appeared to him and presented him with certain exquisite foods -- but in a vessel so filthy that he dared not taste them. "I am," Mary then said, "the Mother of God, who have come to relieve your hunger." "But in this vessel," replied the soldier, "I cannot try them." "And how then," replied Mary, "do you want me to accept your devotions, offered to me with a soul so foul?" The soldier thereupon converted, became a hermit, lived thirty years in the desert, and at his death the Virgin appeared to him again and led him to heaven.

We have said in the first part that it is morally impossible for a devoted servant of Mary to be damned. But this is understood with the condition that such a person either lives without sin or at least has the desire to leave it, for then the Madonna will help him. But if someone, on the contrary, should wish to sin with the hope that the Madonna will save him, he by his own fault renders himself unworthy and incapable of the protection of Mary.

The second condition is that he persevere in his devotion to Mary. Perseverantia sola meretur coronam, says St. Bernard. Thomas a Kempis, when he was a young man, used to have recourse to the Virgin every day with certain prayers; one day he omitted them, then he omitted them for some weeks, then he left them off entirely. One night he saw Mary in a dream, embracing his companions; but when she came to him she said: "What do you expect, you who have abandoned your devotions? Depart, for you are unworthy of my embraces." At this Thomas awoke in fright and resumed his accustomed prayers. Whence Richard well said: Qui tenuerit Mariam perseveranter, hic beatus erit in spe, quia omnia optata ei succedent. But since no one can be sure of this perseverance, no one can be assured of his salvation until death. Very memorable, then, was the great counsel that Brother John Berchmans of the Society of Jesus left to his companions at death, when they asked him to tell them what act of homage most dear to the Madonna they could perform to gain her protection. He answered: Quidquid minimum, dummodo sit constans -- "Anything at all, however small, provided it be constant."

I therefore add here at the end, briefly and concisely, the various acts of homage we may offer our Mother to win her grace -- a matter that I consider the most profitable of all I have written in this little work. But I do not so much recommend that my dear reader practice them all, as that he practice those he chooses with perseverance, and with the fear of losing the protection of the divine Mother should he afterwards be negligent in continuing them. Oh, how many who are now in hell would be saved, had they continued the acts of homage to Mary that they had once begun!

Devotion I -- On the Hail Mary

The Most Holy Virgin greatly appreciates this angelic salutation, for it seems to renew in her the joy she felt when she was announced by St. Gabriel to be the Mother of God; and it is with this intention that we should often salute her with the Hail Mary. Salutate eam, says Thomas a Kempis, angelica salutatione, quia vocem hanc audit valde libenter. The divine Mother herself told St. Mechtilde that no one could greet her better than with the Hail Mary. Whoever salutes Mary will also be saluted by her. St. Bernard once heard himself greeted by a statue of the Virgin, which said to him: Ave, Bernarde. And the salutation of Mary, says St. Bonaventure, will be some grace, with which she always responds to those who greet her: Libenter nos salutat cum gratia, si libenter salutamus cum Ave Maria. And Richard adds: Si quis veniat ad Matrem Domini dicens, Ave Maria, numquid poterit ei gratiam denegare? Mary herself promised St. Gertrude as many helps at the hour of death as the number of Hail Marys she had said to her. Blessed Alan asserted that when the Hail Mary is said, heaven rejoices and the devil trembles and flees: Caelum gaudet, Satan fugit cum dico: Ave Maria. As Thomas a Kempis also attested from experience, for at the saying of the Hail Mary the devil who had once appeared to him immediately fled.

The practice of this devotion should be as follows. I. Every morning and evening, on rising and going to bed, say three Hail Marys with your face to the ground, or at least kneeling, adding after each the short prayer: "By your pure and Immaculate Conception, O Mary, make my body pure and my soul holy." Then ask Mary's blessing as our mother, as St. Stanislaus always did; and then place yourself under the mantle of the Madonna, praying her to guard you during the day or night that follows from sins. And for this purpose it is good to keep near your bed a beautiful image of the Virgin. -- II. Say the Angelus Domini, with the three customary Hail Marys, in the morning, at midday, and in the evening. The first to attach an indulgence to this devotion was John XXII, on the occasion, as Father Crasset relates, of a criminal condemned to the fire who, by invoking Mary on the vigil of her Annunciation, remained unharmed in the midst of the flames, even in his clothing. More recently, Benedict XIII granted a hundred days' indulgence to whoever recites it, and at the end of the month a plenary indulgence to whoever recites it after confession and communion. Father Crasset says that Clement X attached other indulgences for whoever adds at the end of each Hail Mary: Deo gratias et Mariae. Formerly, at the sound of the bells, everyone knelt to say the Angelus Domini; now some are ashamed of it; but St. Charles Borromeo was not ashamed to step down from his carriage or horse to recite it in the street, even sometimes in the midst of the mud. It is told that a certain religious, lazy about kneeling at the sign of the Hail Mary, saw the bell tower bow itself three times, with a voice that said: "See, you do not do what insensible creatures do." -- Note that, as Benedict XIV has explained, in the Easter season the antiphon Regina caeli is said instead of the Angelus Domini; and from the Vespers of Saturday throughout Sunday the Angelus Domini is said standing. -- III. Greet the Mother of God with a Hail Mary every time you hear the clock strike. Alphonsus Rodriguez saluted Mary every hour; at night, when the hour passed, the angels would wake him, lest he miss this devotion. -- IV. On leaving and entering your house, greet the Virgin with a Hail Mary, that she may guard you outside and inside from sins, kissing her feet each time, as the Carthusian Fathers do. -- V. Reverence with a Hail Mary every image of Mary that you encounter. And to this end, whoever can do so should place on the walls of his house some beautiful image of the Virgin, so that she may be reverenced by those who pass along the way. In Naples and even more in Rome there are beautiful images of the Madonna along the streets, placed there by the devout. -- VI. Holy Church ordains that the angelic salutation be prefixed to all the canonical Hours of the Office, and with it the Office is concluded; so it will be well at the beginning and end of every action always to say a Hail Mary. I mean every action, whether spiritual -- such as prayer, confession and communion, spiritual reading, hearing a sermon, and the like -- or temporal -- such as study, giving counsel, work, going to table, going to bed, and so on. Happy those actions that are enclosed between two Hail Marys! And likewise on waking in the morning, on closing your eyes to sleep, in every temptation, in every danger, in every impulse of anger, and the like, always say a Hail Mary.

My dear reader, practice this and you will see the immense benefit you will reap from it; note that for every Hail Mary there are twenty days' indulgence. Moreover, Father Auriemma relates that the Holy Virgin promised St. Mechtilde a good death if she recited three Hail Marys each day in honor of her power, wisdom, and goodness. Furthermore, she herself told Blessed Joan of France that the Hail Mary was most dear to her, especially when said ten times in honor of her ten virtues.

Devotion II -- On Novenas

The devoted servants of Mary are all attention and fervor in celebrating the novenas of her feasts; and in these the Holy Virgin is all love in dispensing to them innumerable and most special graces. One day St. Gertrude saw beneath the mantle of Mary a company of souls upon whom the great Lady was gazing with much affection, and she understood them to be those who in the preceding days had prepared themselves with devout exercises for the feast of the Assumption.

The exercises that can be practiced in novenas are the following. I. Make mental prayer in the morning and evening, with a visit to the Blessed Sacrament, adding nine Our Fathers, Hail Marys, and Glory Be's. -- II. Make three visits to Mary at some image of hers, thanking the Lord for the graces granted to her, and each time asking the Virgin for some special grace; and in one of these visits read the prayer that is placed above at the end of each of her feasts. -- III. Make many acts of love, at least a hundred or fifty, to Mary and to Jesus, since we can do nothing more pleasing to her than to love her Son, as she told St. Bridget: Si te mihi vis devincire, ama filium meum Iesum. -- IV. Read every day of the novena, for a quarter of an hour, some book that treats of her glories. -- V. Perform some external mortification of hairshirt, discipline, or the like, with fasting; or at least some abstinence at table from fruit or other agreeable food, at least in part, with the chewing of some bitter herb; and on the vigil of the feast, fast on bread and water. But all these things always with the permission of one's spiritual father.

And better still than all these, to be practiced in these novenas, are internal mortifications, such as abstaining from seeing and hearing out of curiosity, staying withdrawn, keeping silence, obeying, not responding with impatience, bearing contrarieties, and similar things, which can be practiced with less danger of vainglory and greater merit, and for which no permission from a director is needed. And the most useful exercise will be to resolve from the beginning of the novena to amend some defect into which the person most commonly falls. It is therefore good in each of the three visits mentioned above to ask pardon for past falls, to renew the resolution to fall no more, and to implore the help of Mary.

The act of homage most dear to the Virgin is to imitate her virtues; so besides all this, it will be well in each novena to propose some particular virtue of Mary most suited to the mystery -- for example, at the feast of the Conception, purity of intention; at the Nativity, renewal of spirit, with leaving off lukewarmness; at the Presentation, detachment from some thing to which we see ourselves most attached; at the Annunciation, humility by bearing contempt, and so on; at the Visitation, charity toward our neighbor, by giving alms and so forth, or at least by praying for sinners; at the Purification, obedience to superiors; and finally at the Assumption, the practice of detachment, and doing everything as a preparation for death, resolving to live as if each day were the last of one's life. In this way the novenas will prove of great profit.

VI. Besides communion on the day of the feast, it is well to ask one's spiritual father for permission to receive it more often during the days of the novena. Father Segneri used to say that we cannot honor Mary better than with Jesus. And she herself revealed to a holy soul, as Father Crasset relates, that nothing dearer could be offered her than Holy Communion; for therein Jesus Christ gathers in souls the fruit of his Passion. Whence it seems that the Virgin desires nothing more from her servants than communion, saying to them: Venite, comedite panem meum et bibite vinum quod miscui vobis.

VII. Lastly, on the day of the feast, after communion, we should offer ourselves to serve this divine Mother, asking her for the grace of the virtue proposed in the novena, or some other special grace. And it is well each year to set aside, among others, some feast of the Virgin to which we have the greatest devotion and tenderness, and on this day to make a particular preparation to dedicate ourselves anew and in a special way to her service, choosing her as our lady, advocate, and mother. And then we shall ask her pardon for our negligence in serving her during the past year, and promise her greater fidelity for the year to come. We shall pray her, finally, to accept us as servants and to obtain for us a holy death.

Devotion III -- On the Rosary and the Office

The devotion of the Most Holy Rosary is already known to have been revealed to St. Dominic by the divine Mother herself, when the saint, being afflicted and lamenting to his Lady over the Albigensian heretics who in those days were doing great harm to the Church, the Virgin said to him: "This ground will always remain barren until the rain falls upon it." St. Dominic then understood this rain to be the devotion of the Rosary, which he was to spread. As indeed the saint went everywhere preaching it, and this devotion was embraced by all Catholics; so much so that at present there is no devotion more practiced by the faithful of every state of life than this of the Most Holy Rosary. Modern heretics -- Calvin, Bucer, and others -- what have they not said to discredit the use of the rosary? But the great good that this noble devotion has brought to the world is well known. How many through it have been freed from sin! How many led to a holy life! How many have made a good death and are now saved! Let so many books that treat of it be read.

Suffice it to know that this devotion has been approved by Holy Church, and the Supreme Pontiffs have enriched it with indulgences. To whoever recites the third part of the Rosary is granted an indulgence of 70,000 years, and to whoever recites it entire, 80,000 -- and more to whoever recites it before a chapel of the Rosary. And Benedict XIII recently attached to the Rosary -- for whoever recites at least a third part on a rosary blessed by the Dominican Fathers -- all the indulgences that belong to the chaplets of St. Bridget, that is, a hundred days for each Hail Mary and Our Father that is said. And moreover, whoever recites the Rosary gains a plenary indulgence on all the principal feasts of Mary and of Holy Church, and also on the feasts of the Dominican saints, by visiting their churches after confession or communion. But note that all this is understood for those who are enrolled in the book of the Rosary; to whom, on the day they are enrolled after confession and communion, a plenary indulgence is also granted; and a hundred years if they wear the Rosary; and to whoever makes mental prayer for half an hour a day, seven years for each time, and a plenary indulgence at the end of the month.

To gain the indulgences attached to the recitation of the Rosary, one must at the same time contemplate the mysteries, which are already recorded in many books; and if someone does not know them, it will suffice to contemplate some of the mysteries of the Passion of Jesus Christ, such as the scourging, the death, and so on. -- One must then recite the Rosary with devotion; on which note what the Holy Virgin told Blessed Eulalia, namely that she preferred five decades recited slowly and with devotion to fifteen said in haste and with less devotion. It is therefore good to say the Rosary kneeling and before some image of Mary, and at the beginning of each decade to make an act of love to Jesus and Mary, asking them for some grace. And note further that it is more profitable to say the Rosary in company with others than to say it alone.

As for the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin, which is said to have been composed by St. Peter Damian, Urban II attached many indulgences to whoever recites it; and the Holy Virgin has many times shown how pleasing this devotion is to her, as may be seen in Father Auriemma.

She is also greatly pleased by the Litanies, to which 200 days' indulgence are granted for each recitation; the hymn Ave Maris Stella, which she commanded St. Bridget to recite every day; and still more the canticle of the Magnificat, since with it we praise her with the same words with which she praised God.

Devotion IV -- On Fasting

Many devoted servants of Mary are accustomed on Saturdays and on the vigils of her feasts to offer her the fast of bread and water. It is known that Saturday is a day dedicated to the honor of the Virgin by Holy Church, because on this day, says St. Bernard, she remained steadfast in faith after the death of her Son: Per illud triste sabbatum stetit in fide, propterea aptissime S. Ecclesia diem sabbati per totum anni circulum celebrare consuevit. Therefore the servants of Mary do not fail on this day to offer her some particular act of homage, and especially the fast of bread and water, as St. Charles Borromeo, Cardinal Toledo, and so many others practiced. Indeed the Bishop of Bamberg, Nittard, and Father Joseph Arriaga of the Society of Jesus tasted no food at all on Saturdays.

The great graces that the Mother of God has then dispensed to those who have offered her this act of homage can be read in Father Auriemma. Let one example suffice for all: the mercy shown to that leader of bandits who, through this devotion, was granted to remain alive even though his head had been cut off -- finding himself, the wretch, in disgrace with God -- so that he might confess before dying; for after confessing he declared that the Holy Virgin, on account of this fast offered to her, had preserved him in life, and then he immediately expired. It would not then be a great thing if someone who claims to be a special devotee of Mary -- and especially one who has already deserved hell -- were to offer her this fast on Saturdays. I say that whoever practices this devotion will hardly be damned; not that, should death overtake him in the state of mortal sin, the Madonna would free him with a miracle, as happened to that bandit -- these are prodigies of divine mercy that happen very rarely, and it would be madness to rely on them for one's eternal salvation -- but I say that to the one who offers her this act of homage, the divine Mother will easily obtain perseverance in divine grace and a good death. -- All the brothers of our little Congregation -- those who are able to do so -- fast on bread and water on Saturday in honor of Mary. I said those who are able, meaning that if someone is prevented by health from practicing it, let him at least on Saturday content himself with one dish, or keep the ordinary fast, or abstain from fruit or other food he likes.

On Saturdays one should offer special acts of homage to the Madonna: receive communion or at least hear Mass, visit some image of the Virgin, wear the hairshirt, and the like. And at least on the vigils of the seven feasts of Mary, let her devoted servant strive to offer her this fast of bread or in some other manner as best he can.

Devotion V -- On Visiting the Images of Mary

Father Segneri says that the devil has found no better way to console himself for the losses he suffered in the destruction of idolaters than by persecuting sacred images through heretics. But Holy Church has defended them even with the blood of martyrs; and the divine Mother has shown, even by miracles, how greatly she appreciates the veneration and visits paid to her images. St. John Damascene had his hand cut off for having defended with his pen the images of Mary, but his Lady miraculously restored it to him. Father Spinelli relates that in Constantinople a veil that hung before an image of Mary used to open of itself every Friday after Vespers, and after the Saturday Vespers it would close again of itself. Similarly, a veil before an image of the Virgin once opened of itself for St. John of God, and when the sacristan, thinking the saint was a thief, gave him a kick, his foot became withered.

All the devoted servants of Mary therefore customarily visit her images and churches dedicated in her honor with great affection. These are indeed, in the words of the Damascene, the cities of refuge where we find safety from temptations and from the punishments deserved for our sins. St. Henry the Emperor, on entering any city, would first visit a church of the Madonna. Father Thomas Sanchez would never return home without first visiting some church of Mary. Let us not be reluctant, then, to visit our Queen every day in some church or chapel or in our own home, where it would be well for this purpose to set up in the most secluded spot a little oratory with her image, keeping it adorned with cloths, flowers, candles, or lamps; and before it let the Litanies, the Rosary, and so on be said. -- For this purpose I have written a little book -- which has already been reprinted twenty times -- of Visits both to the Blessed Sacrament and to the Blessed Virgin for every day of the month. Someone devoted to the Madonna might also have celebrated with solemnity, in some church or chapel, one of her feasts, having it preceded by the novena with the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and even with sermons.

But it is well here to note the event related by Father Spinelli in the Miracles of the Madonna. In the year 1611, at the famous sanctuary of Mary at Montevergine, on the vigil of Pentecost, the crowd that had gathered there profaned the feast with dancing, feasting, and immodesty. Suddenly a fire broke out in the wooden building where they were staying, so that in less than an hour and a half it was reduced to ashes, and more than 1,500 persons perished. Five persons who survived deposed under oath that they had seen the Mother of God herself going about with two lit torches, setting fire to the lodging. With this I beg the devoted servants of Mary, as much as I can, to abstain and to see to it that others also abstain from going to such sanctuaries of the Madonna at the time of feasts; for then the harvest reaped by hell is far greater than the honor rendered to the divine Mother. Whoever has this devotion, let him go to visit them at a time when there is no crowd.

Devotion VI -- On the Scapular

Just as men count it an honor to have people wearing their livery, so the Most Holy Mary appreciates that her devoted servants wear her scapular as a sign of being dedicated to her service and belonging to the household of the Mother of God. Modern heretics as usual ridicule this devotion, but Holy Church has approved it with many bulls and indulgences. And Father Crasset and Lezzana relate, speaking of the Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, that around the year 1251 the Holy Virgin appeared to Blessed Simon Stock, an Englishman, and giving him her scapular, said to him that all who wore it would be freed from eternal damnation, with these words: Accipe, fili dilectissime, hoc tui Ordinis scapulare, meae confraternitatis signum, tibi et cunctis Carmelitis privilegium; in quo quis moriens, aeternum non patietur incendium. And moreover, Father Crasset says that Mary, appearing again to Pope John XXII, commanded him to make known to those who wore the aforesaid scapular that they would be freed from purgatory on the Saturday after their death; as indeed the same Pontiff declared in his bull, later confirmed by Alexander V, Clement VII, and others. And as we noted in the first part, Paul V alludes to the same thing and seems to explain the bulls of his predecessor Pontiffs, prescribing in his bull the conditions to be observed to gain the indulgences attached thereto, namely the observance of chastity according to one's state of life and the recitation of the Little Office of the Virgin; and whoever cannot recite it should at least observe the fasts of the Church, abstaining from eating meat on Wednesdays.

The indulgences attached to this Scapular of Mount Carmel, as well as to those of the Sorrows of Mary, of the Mercedarians, and especially to that of the Immaculate Conception, are innumerable, daily, and plenary, both in life and at the hour of death. I for my part have taken care to receive all the aforesaid scapulars. -- In particular, let it be known that to the scapular of the Immaculate Conception, which is blessed by the Theatine Fathers, besides the many particular indulgences, there are attached all the indulgences granted to every religious order, pious place, and person. And especially by reciting six Our Fathers, Hail Marys, and Glory Be's in honor of the Most Holy Trinity and of Mary Immaculate, one gains toties quoties all the indulgences of Rome, of the Portiuncula, of Jerusalem, and of Galicia, which amount to 533 plenary indulgences, besides the temporal ones, which are innumerable. All this is gathered from a printed sheet issued by the Theatine Fathers themselves.

Devotion VII -- On Joining the Congregations of Mary

Some disapprove of Congregations, saying that they sometimes become sources of disputes and that many attend for human motives. But just as neither churches nor sacraments are condemned because many abuse them, neither should Congregations be condemned. The Supreme Pontiffs, instead of condemning them, have approved them with high praise and enriched them with indulgences.

St. Francis de Sales, in his Introduction to the Devout Life, earnestly urges the laity to join Congregations. And what did not St. Charles Borromeo do to establish and multiply these Congregations? And in his synods he specifically instructs confessors to see to it that their penitents join them: Confessor pro viribus suadebit ut alicui societati poenitentes adscribantur. And rightly so, for these Congregations, especially those of the Madonna, are like so many arks of Noah, in which the poor laity find refuge from the flood of temptations and sins that inundates the world. We, through the practice of missions, have well recognized the usefulness of Congregations. Generally speaking, more sins are found in one man who does not go to the Congregation than in twenty who attend it. The Congregation may be called the tower of David: Turris David... mille clypei pendent ex ea, omnis armatura fortium (Song 4:4), and this is the reason for the great profit that the Congregations produce, because in them the members acquire many defenses against hell, and they practice those means of preserving themselves in divine grace that outside the Congregation are rarely used by laypeople.

First, one of the means to salvation is to think on the last things: Memorare novissima tua et in aeternum non peccabis (Sir. 7:40); and so many are lost because they do not think of them: Desolatione desolata est omnis terra, quia nullus est qui recogitet corde (Jer. 12:11). But those who go to the Congregation do reflect on them well in the many meditations, readings, and sermons that are given there. Oves meae vocem meam audiunt (John 10:27).

Second, to be saved it is necessary to commend ourselves to God: Petite et accipietis (John 16:24), and in the Congregation the brethren do this continually; and God hears them all the more, since he himself has said that he willingly grants his graces to prayers made in common: Si duo ex vobis consenserint super terram, de omni re quamcumque petierint fiet illis a Patre meo (Matt. 18:19). On which St. Ambrose said: Multi minimi dum congregantur unanimes fiunt magni: et multorum preces impossibile est non audiri.

Third, in the Congregation the sacraments are more easily frequented, both because of the rules and because of the examples of the other brethren. And with this, perseverance in divine grace is more easily obtained, the sacred Council of Trent having declared communion to be Tamquam antidotum quo liberemur a culpis quotidianis et a peccatis mortalibus praeservemur.

Fourth, besides the sacraments, in the Congregations many exercises of mortification, of humility, of charity toward sick brethren and the poor are performed. And it would be well if in every Congregation the holy practice of attending the sick poor of the locality were introduced.

Great profit would also result from introducing in honor of the divine Mother the "secret Congregation" of the more fervent brethren. I wish here briefly to note the exercises usually practiced in the secret Congregations. 1. A half hour of reading is done. 2. Vespers and Compline of the Holy Spirit are said. 3. The Litanies of the Virgin are recited, and at that time the brethren assigned perform some mortification, such as holding the cross on their shoulders, and similar things. 4. A quarter of an hour of meditation on the Passion of Jesus Christ is made. 5. Each one accuses himself of the faults committed against the rules and receives a penance from the Father. 6. A brother appointed reads out the little flowers of mortifications performed during the past week, and then the novenas that are coming are announced, and so on. At the end, the discipline is taken for the space of one Miserere and one Salve, and each one will kiss the feet of the Crucifix placed at the foot of the altar. -- The rules would then be that each brother: 1. Make mental prayer every day. 2. Make a visit to the Blessed Sacrament and to the Madonna. 3. Make an examination of conscience in the evening. 4. Do spiritual reading. 5. Avoid worldly games and conversations. 6. Frequent communion and some mortification of chain, discipline, and so on. 7. Commend to God every day the souls in purgatory and sinners. 8. That when a brother is sick, all the others are bound to visit him. -- But let us return to our point.

Fifth, it has already been said how much serving the Mother of God helps toward salvation; and what else do the brethren do in the Congregation but serve her? There, how much they praise her! How many prayers they present to her! There they consecrate themselves from the beginning to her service, choosing her in a special way as their lady and mother, and they enroll themselves in the book of the children of Mary. Whence, just as they are distinguished servants and children of the Virgin, so she in turn treats and protects them with distinction in life and in death. So that a brother of the Congregation of Mary can say that with the Congregation he has received every good: Venerunt mihi omnia bona pariter cum illa (Wis. 7:11).

Every brother, then, should attend to two things: first, to his purpose -- that is, to go to the Congregation for no other end than to serve God and his Holy Mother and to save his soul; second, not to leave the Congregation on the appointed days for worldly affairs, for he must go there to transact the most important business he has on this earth, which is his eternal salvation. And let him also take care to bring as many others as he can to the Congregation, and especially to bring back those brethren who have left it. -- Oh, the terrible punishments with which the Lord has chastised those who have abandoned the Congregation of the Madonna! In Naples a certain brother left the Congregation, and being urged to return, he replied: "I will return when my legs are broken and my head cut off." And he was a prophet; not long after, his enemies did indeed break his legs and cut off his head. -- On the other hand, the persevering brethren are provided by Mary with temporal and spiritual goods: Omnes... domestici eius vestiti sunt duplicibus (Prov. 31:21). Let one read in Father Auriemma the special graces bestowed by Mary on the members of Congregations in life and in death, but especially in death. Father Crasset relates that in 1586 a young man at the point of death fell asleep, but then, awakening, said to his confessor: "Oh, Father, I have been in great danger of damnation, but my Lady has freed me. The demons presented my sins before the tribunal of the Lord, and were already preparing to drag me to hell, when the Holy Virgin came and said to them: 'Where are you taking this young man? What right have you over one of my servants, who has served me so long in my Congregation?' The demons fled, and so I was saved from their hands." -- The same author relates there that another member of a Congregation, also at the point of death, had a great battle with hell, but then, having conquered, exclaimed in triumph: "Oh, what a good thing it is to serve the Blessed Mother in her Congregation!" And so, all consoled, he died. Then he adds that in Naples the Duke of Popoli, dying, said to his son: "My son, know that whatever little good I have done in life I owe to my Congregation; therefore I have no greater good to leave you than the Congregation of Mary. I esteem having been a member of the Congregation more than being Duke of Popoli."

Devotion VIII -- On Almsgiving in Honor of Mary

The devoted servants of the Virgin are accustomed, especially on Saturdays, to give alms in honor of the divine Mother. That holy cobbler, as St. Gregory relates in his Dialogues, called St. Deusdedit, would distribute to the poor on Saturday everything he had earned during the week; whence a holy soul was shown in a vision a magnificent palace that God was preparing in heaven for this servant of Mary, and which was being built only on Saturdays. St. Gerard, then, would at all times refuse nothing that was asked of him in the name of Mary. The same was done by Father Martin Gutierrez of the Society of Jesus; who later confessed that he had never asked a grace of Mary that she had not obtained it for him. And when this her servant was killed by the Huguenots, the divine Mother appeared to his companions with certain virgins, by whom she had his body wrapped in a sheet and carried away. The same was practiced by St. Eberhard, Bishop of Salzburg, and for this a holy monk saw him as a child in the arms of Mary, who said: Hic est filius meus Eberardus, qui nihil mihi umquam negavit. The same was done by Alexander of Hales, who, when asked in the name of Mary by a lay brother of St. Francis to become a Franciscan, left the world and entered the Order. -- Let it not then be burdensome for the devoted servants of the Virgin to give some small alms in her honor every day, and to increase it on Saturdays. And if one can give nothing else, at least out of love for Mary let him do some other work of charity: attend the sick, pray for sinners, pray for the souls in purgatory, and so on. Works of mercy are very pleasing to the heart of this Mother of Mercy.

Devotion IX -- On Having Frequent Recourse to Mary

I say that among all the acts of devotion none so pleases this our Mother as to have frequent recourse to her intercession, seeking her help in all our particular needs -- whether of taking or giving counsel, of danger, of affliction, or of temptation, especially in temptations against purity. Then the divine Mother will certainly deliver us, if we have recourse to her with the antiphon Sub tuum praesidium, or with the Hail Mary, or by merely invoking the Most Holy name of Mary, which has a special power against the demons. Blessed Santi, a Franciscan, in a temptation against chastity had recourse to Mary, and she, appearing to him, placed her hand on his breast and freed him. It is also helpful in such moments to kiss or clasp the rosary or the scapular, or to gaze upon some image of the Virgin. And in this regard let it be known that to whoever pronounces the names of Jesus and Mary, Benedict XIII granted 50 days' indulgence.

As a TENTH AND FINAL devotion, I gather here various other acts of homage that can be practiced in honor of Mary.

I. Celebrate, or have celebrated, or at least attend Mass in honor of the Holy Virgin. It is not denied that the holy sacrifice of the Mass can be offered only to God, to whom it is principally offered in acknowledgment of his supreme dominion; but this does not prevent, says the sacred Council of Trent, its being also offered to God in thanksgiving for the graces bestowed on the saints and on his Most Holy Mother, and so that, by commemorating them, they may deign to intercede for us. And therefore it is said in the Mass: Ut illis proficiat ad honorem, nobis autem ad salutem. This act of devotion of the Mass, as well as the saying of three Our Fathers, Hail Marys, and Glory Be's to the Most Holy Trinity in thanksgiving for the graces bestowed on Mary, she herself revealed to a soul to be most pleasing to her; for since the Virgin cannot fully thank the Lord for all the favors granted to her, she greatly rejoices that her children help her to thank God.

II. Reverence the saints most closely united to Mary, such as St. Joseph, St. Joachim, and St. Anne. The Virgin herself recommended to a nobleman devotion to St. Anne, her mother. And likewise honor the saints most devoted to the divine Mother, such as St. John the Evangelist, St. John the Baptist, St. Bernard, St. John Damascene the defender of her images, St. Ildephonsus the defender of her virginity, and others.

III. Read every day some book that speaks of the glories of Mary. Preach, or at least instill in all -- especially one's relatives -- devotion to the divine Mother. The Virgin one day said to St. Bridget: "See that your children be my children." Pray every day for the living and the dead who are most devoted to Mary.

Note then the many other indulgences granted by the Pontiffs to those who honor this Queen of Heaven in various ways: 1. To whoever says: "Blessed be the holy and Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary," a hundred years' indulgence is granted; and when after the word "Immaculate" one adds "and most pure," Father Crasset says there are other indulgences for the souls in purgatory. -- 2. To the Salve Regina, 40 days. -- 3. To the Litanies, 200 days. -- 4. To whoever bows the head at the names of Jesus and Mary, 20 days. -- 5. To whoever says five Our Fathers and Hail Marys for the Passion of Jesus and the sorrows of Mary, ten thousand years. -- And for the benefit of devout souls, I wish here to note other indulgences granted by the Supreme Pontiffs to other devotions: 1. To whoever hears Mass, 3,800 years. -- 2. To whoever makes the Acts of a Christian with the resolution to receive the holy sacraments in life and in death, Benedict XIII granted 7 years; and on continuing them for a month, a plenary indulgence applicable for purgatory and for oneself at the hour of death. -- 3. To whoever recites 15 Our Fathers and Hail Marys for sinners, the remission of the third part of one's sins. -- 4. To whoever makes mental prayer for half an hour a day, Pope Benedict XIV granted several indulgences, and a plenary one once a month after confession and communion. -- 5. To whoever recites the prayer Anima Christi, 300 days. -- 6. To whoever accompanies the Viaticum, five years; and if with a light, six years; and whoever cannot, by reciting one Our Father and Hail Mary, gains 100 days. -- 7. To whoever genuflects before the Blessed Sacrament, 200 days. -- 8. To whoever kisses the cross, one year and 40 days. -- 9. To whoever bows the head at the Glory Be, 30 days. -- 10. To priests who before Mass recite the Ego volo celebrare Missam, 50 days. -- 11. To whoever kisses the religious habit, 5 years. -- Other indulgences may be read in Father Viva. Let everyone, in seeking to gain the aforesaid indulgences, make an act of contrition, so as to dispose himself to gain them.

I leave aside other devotions that can be found in other books, such as those of the seven joys, the twelve privileges of Mary, and the like, and I close this work with the beautiful words of St. Bernardine: "O woman, blessed among all women, you are the honor of the human race, the salvation of our people. You have a merit that knows no bounds and an entire authority over all creatures. You are the Mother of God, the Lady of the world, the Queen of Heaven. You are the dispenser of all graces, the ornament of Holy Church. You are the example of the just, the consolation of the saints, and the root of our salvation. You are the joy of paradise, the gate of heaven, the glory of God. Behold, we have published your praises. We therefore beseech you, O Mother of goodness, to supply our weaknesses, to excuse our boldness, to accept our service, and to bless our labors, by impressing your love upon the hearts of all, so that after having honored and loved your Son on earth, we may praise and bless him eternally in heaven. Amen."