O gracious advocate

I. Since the Mother should have the same power as the Son, rightly has Jesus, Who is Omnipotent, made Mary also Omnipotent; though, of course, it is always true that where the Son is Omnipotent by nature, the Mother is only so by grace. But that she is so, is evident from the fact, that whatever the Mother asks for, the Son never denies her; and this was revealed to St. Bridget, who one day heard Jesus speaking to Mary, and thus address her: "Ask of Me what thou wilt, for no petition of thine can be void." As if He had said, "My Mother, thou knowest how much I love thee; therefore, ask all thou wilt of Me; for it is not possible that I should refuse thee anything." And the reason our Lord gave for this was beautiful: "Because thou never didst deny Me anything on earth, I will deny thee nothing in Heaven." My Mother, when thou wast in the world, thou never didst refuse to do anything for the love of Me; and now that I am in Heaven, it is right that I should deny thee nothing thou askest. Holy Mary, then, is called omnipotent in the sense in which it can be understood of a creature who is incapable of a Divine attribute. She is omnipotent, because by her prayers she obtains whatever she wills.

With good reason, then, O great advocate, does St. Bernard say: "Thou willest, and all things are done." And St. Anselm "Whatever thou, O Virgin, willest can never be otherwise than accomplished." Thou willest, and all is done. If thou art pleased to raise a sinner from the lowest abyss of misery to the highest degree of sanctity, thou canst do it. Blessed Albert the Great, on this subject, makes Mary say: "I have to be asked that I may will; for if I will a thing, it is necessarily done."

II. St. Peter Damian, reflecting on the great power of Mary, and begging her to take compassion on us, addresses her, saying: "O let thy nature move thee, let thy power move thee; for the more thou art powerful, the greater should thy mercy be." O Mary, our own beloved advocate, since thou hast so compassionate a heart that thou canst not even see the wretched without being moved to pity, and since, at the same time, thou hast so great power with God, that thou canst save all whom thou dost protect — disdain not to undertake the cause of us poor miserable creatures who place all our hope in thee. If our prayers cannot move thee, at least let thine own benign heart do so; or, at least, let thy power do so, since God has enriched thee with so great power, in order that the richer thou art in power to help us, the more merciful thou mayest be in the will to assist us. St. Bernard reassures us on this point; for he says that Mary is as immensely rich in mercy as she is in power; and that, as her charity is most powerful, so also it is most clement and compassionate, and its effects continually prove it to be so. He thus expresses himself: "The most powerful and merciful charity of the Mother of God abounds in tender compassion and in effectual succour; it is equally rich in both."