The mercy of the blessed virgin Mary

"Oh, how many who deserved to be condemned by the justice of the Son, are saved by the mercy of the Mother! For she is God's treasure and the treasurer of all graces, and thus our salvation is in her hands and depends on her." (Abbot of Celles).

I. The Blessed Virgin said one day to St. Bridget: I am called, and I truly am, the Mother of Mercy; for such God has made me. And who, but God in His mercy, because He desires our salvation, has given us this advocate to defend us? "Therefore," adds Mary, "miserable will he be, who, while it is in his power, has not recourse to me, who am merciful." Miserable is the man, and miserable for eternity, who, though he could, during life, have recommended himself to me, who am so benign and merciful to all, has neglected to have recourse to me, and is lost.

Perhaps, says Bonaventure, we are afraid that in asking Mary's intercession she will refuse it to us? No, says the Saint: "Mary does not refuse, and never has refused pity and aid to any sinner who has invoked her intercession." She has not done so, and she cannot do so, because God has made her the Queen and the Mother of Mercy; and as Queen of Mercy she is bound to attend to the care of the miserable. "Thou," says St. Bernard, "art the Queen of Mercy; and who but the miserable are the subjects of mercy?" Hence the Saint through humility adds: "Since, then, O Mother of God, thou art the Queen of Mercy, thou must have a special care of me, who am the most miserable of sinners." As Motherof Mercy it is her duty to deliver from death her sick children, to whom her mercy makes her a Mother. Hence, St. Basil calls her a public hospital. Public hospitals are erected for the poor; and they who are in the greatest poverty have the best claims to be admitted into them. Hence, according to St. Basil, Mary ought to receive with the greatest tenderness and care the greatest sinners who have recourse to her.

O great Mother of God, behold at thy feet a miserable sinner, who has not once, but several times, voluntarily lost Divine grace, which thy Son purchased for him by His death. O Mother of Mercy, I come to thee with a soul covered with wounds and sores; be not angry with me on this account, but have the greater pity on me and assist me. I do not ask of thee earthly goods; I ask thee to obtain for me the grace of God and love of thy Son.

II. But let us not doubt of the Mercy of Mary. One day St. Bridget heard the Saviour saying to His Mother: "Thou wouldst show compassion to the devil, should he ask it with humility." The haughty Lucifer will never humble himself to ask her prayers; but if he humbled himself to this Divine Mother, and invoked her help, she, by her intercession, would deliver him from hell. By those words, Jesus Christ wished to give us to understand what Mary herself afterwards said to the same St. Bridget—that when a sinner has recourse to her, however enormous his guilt may be, she regards not the sins with which he is charged, but the intention with which he comes. If he come with a sincere desire to amend, she receives him and heals all his wounds. Hence St. Bonaventure says: "Poor sinners, do not despair! Raise your eyes to Mary, and trust in the Mercy of this good Mother." Let us, then, says St. Bernard, ask the grace we have lost, and let us ask it through Mary. The grace which we have lost, she has found, says Richard of St. Laurence; we therefore ought to go to her in order to recover it. When the Archangel Gabriel announced to the Most Holy Virgin the Divine maternity, he said to her: Fear not, Mary, thou hast found grace (Luke i. 30). But, since Mary was never deprived of grace, but was, on the contrary, always full of grace, how could he say that she had found it? In answer to this question, Cardinal Hugo says that Mary found grace, not for herself, because she had always possessed it, but for us, who have lost it. Hence the same author says that we ought to go to her and say: O Lady, property ought to be restored to him who has lost it; the grace which thou hast found is not thine, for thou hast always possessed it; it is ours, we have lost it through our own fault; thou shouldst then restore it to us. Let sinners, then, who have lost grace by their sins, run—let them run to the Virgin, and say with confidence: Restore to us our property, which thou hast found."

My Mother Mary, pray for me, and never cease to pray for me. It is through the merits of Jesus Christ and thy intercession that I am to be saved. Thy office is to intercede for sinners: I will, then, say with St. Thomas of Villanova "O Mary, our advocate, fulfil thy office!" Recommend me to God and defend me. No cause, however desperate, is lost, when defended by thee. Thou, after Jesus, art the hope of sinners; thou art my hope. O Mary, I will not cease to serve thee, to love thee, and to have recourse to thee always. Do not, then, ever cease to pray for me, particularly when thou seest me in danger of again losing the grace of God. O Mary, O great Mother of God, have pity on me.