In Praise of Mary (II)

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

How can I begin to praise Thee, O my Mother?
We are approaching the Feast of All Saints; and Thou, my Mother, art the greatest and the Queen of all Saints. Yea, Thou art my Queen and the Queen of Heaven crowned. Thou hast greater love in Thine Immaculate Heart than all the love of all the mothers in the world put together. Thou desirest nothing more than that God be loved and that souls be saved.
Grant that I may love Thee, Mary; grant that I may love Thee. Thou dispensest the graces of God. He that loves Thee cannot despair; Thou givest hope to men. He that loves Thee will love Thy Son. How can a man love Thy Son Jesus, when he loves not Thee?
Let all be devoted to Thee, my Mother; let all know and love Thee! How soon the world would be rescued from its deplorable state, if only it knew and loved Thee! Let us love Thee, and let us never faint. Thy children are never lost. Let us be children of Thine, then we shall be brothers to Thy Son. Let us imitate Thy virtues, most especially (1) Thy humility, (2) Thy charity towards God, (3) Thy charity towards Thy neighbour, (4) Thy faith, (5) Thy hope, (6) Thy chastity, (7) Thy poverty, (8) Thine obedience, (9) Thy patience, (10) Thy prayer.
If we knew Thee better, how much the better should we know Thy Son! He Who, though He was God, lived nine months within Thy womb, dependent utterly on Thee, His Mother, for His bodily life. Think, good Mother, that Thine acceptance, Thy Fiat! brought about His Incarnation: indeed, if it is not too much to say, the fate of the world hinged upon Thine answer. Most perfect of all the creatures of God! Greatest of created beings, greater than the Seraphim! With love more ardent than theirs! Ah, Mary, would that we all had a tithe of a tithe of Thy fortitude and Thy willingness to do God’s will; that we all could say to God, Fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum. How reluctant we are, and how resistant, to co-operate with the impulses of grace! How cowardly we are in God’s service! How huge a mountain seems the smallest request God asks of us! Yet all that is evil in us comes from ourselves, and all that is good is a gift of God. All that we have of our own is evil. Every good thing we have, from existence downwards, comes from God. Let that humble us! But, oh! will anything humble us, proud as lions as we are? Alas! how easily we imitate the lion in his pride! But when a difficulty approaches we are as timid as a mouse. Grant us the grace of diligence, O Mary, that we may overcome this coward’s sloth.
Thou art most beautiful, Lady! Would to God that I could love Thee as thou dost deserve! That I might serve Thee as a knight his lady! Thou art my Lady, and I thy servant—but what an inept and miserable servant I am! How lazy and reluctant to obey my mistress! How selfish and proud! Thou knowest that my words are true. Oh, grant that I may love thee more! Let me not allow myself to neglect serving You on account of fatigue, hunger, or thirst! Let me not neglect to say one Ave, though I be ever so exhausted! What excuses do we not have for sloth!
Lady, listen to my supplications when I call upon Thee! Grant me, Mary, for the sake of Thy Son and for my own sake, the grace of holy purity. Grant that I may be constant and fervid in devotion to Thee. And do not let me babble when I pray to Thee. Let me not rattle through rosaries unthinking; let me hear what I am saying when I pray! Grant that I may persevere in the recitation of Thy Rosary until the day of my death; let me never forsake devotion to Thee; rather, let me increase in it until I die. Mary, pray for me. I am Thy slave—but an unfaithful slave deserving of severe punishment. Indeed Roman masters had (in law) power of life and death over their slaves—I am deserving of death at Thy hand. Thou art without sin—therefore Thou canst cast the first stone—yet Thou wilt not, such is Thy mercy.
Teach me how to serve Thy Son: for none has served Him as well as Thou. Thou art the greatest of Saints. Thou art the Mediatrix of all graces. Every grace that comes from God is dispensed through Thy beautiful hands.
Thou art the Cause of our Joy, and, as St Bernard said, “the reason for my hope.” How many souls hast Thou not rescued from hell! How many sinners hast Thou not converted by Thy prayers?

How foolish are they, then, who, knowing the great source of confidence and the great refuge they have in Thee, neglect to call upon Thee! How foolish are they who neglect and despise devotion to Thee, those who look upon Thy Rosary as a devotion for the simple and for old women, and not equally for the learned and for young men. Let us pay no heed to the proud and haughty critics and scholars (who so proud as the scholar, save the heretic?) who sneer at devotion to Thee: let us pay no more attention to them than to those who object that in venerating Thee we are somehow making Thee equal with God. No: let us pay no heed to those who scorn us; and we know how many there are who scorn those who serve Thee, and especially there are those who scorn those who say the Rosary. It is astonishing how widespread this cancer of derision is. It stems from pride and is contagious.—Say the Rosary in public, and see how people mock you, and how the number of people who deride you will grow. It is extraordinary.
O my Mother, I ask of Thee this, that I never shall neglect to call upon Thee. I know that if I call upon Thee I shall be secure; but I fear lest I should abandon Thee. It is my own negligence I fear.
Mary, in my last and darkest hour I pray Thee come to me, and carry me safely over the dread chasm of death. I pray for the grace to spend every moment from this one until the article of death in preparation for that journey. I pray Thee lighten the darkness of this journey. Amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

(30th October, 2010, Vigil of All Saints’ Day)