After God, the
object most worthy of our devotion is the glorious Virgin Mary. Enriched from
the first moment of her existence with the most precious favors, she is the
most holy and perfect of creatures, the masterpiece of the Almighty Creator,
the queen of heaven and earth, the sovereign dispensatrix of God's graces, and,
' what surpasses all her other prerogatives and elevates her far above all
other created beings, she is the Mother of God. Such are the titles which this
august queen has to our respect and veneration. Oh, how interest herself in
behalf of those who are solicitous to honor her, to love and serve her! No one
ever invoked her, says St. Bernard, without experiencing the effect of her
tender mercy. Heaven and earth shall perish, says the holy Louis de Blois,
sooner than she shall fail to succor those who sincerely invoke her. Her ear is
ever attentive to our prayers; her
maternal heart is ever accessible to our miseries and moved by our wants, she
knows to what danger we are exposed, she knows also our weakness; she sees how
the devil assails us, the snares he lays for us, and the efforts he makes in
order to ruin us and drag us into the abyss, and she is ever ready to aid us in
overcoming those dangers if we only implore her assistance. Let us then
cast ourselves with confidence into the arms of this tender mother, invoking
her in all trials and temptations, and laying all our wants before her, and she
will console us in our miseries and fortify us against our own weakness and the
dangers by which we are surrounded. Are we in sin? Let us pray to her to obtain
pardon for us and she will speedily reconcile us with her Divine Son; are we in
the state of grace ? let us appeal through her for perseverance, and we shall be
strengthened in our good resolutions and fortified in the paths of justice and
sanctity; in fine, if we are faithful in honoring Mary, in loving and serving
her, she will guide us in safety to the haven of a happy eternity, for it is
impossible, say the Holy Fathers, that a true, devoted servant of Mary should
be lost.
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