She became, therefore, in the Incarnation of the Word, the most true Spouse of the Spirit of God, and by the light of this truth we discover the depth of those words of S. Bernardin of Sienna: At empore quo Virgo Mater concepit in utero Verbum Dei, quamdam, ut sic dicam, jurisdictionem obtinuit in omni Spiritus Sancti processione temporali, ita quod nulla creatura aliquam a Deo obtinuerit gratiam, nisi secundum ipsius pice Matris dispensationem1 (" Since the moment of the Incarnation, in which Mary was raised to the dignity of the Spouse of the Holy Ghost, Who is the substantial Love of the Father and the Son, the supreme Giver, the essential Gift, whence all other gifts flow, she has obtained, so to speak, a certain right over the dispensation of all the gifts of God, so that no creature receives them except through the hands of that Mother of Mercy").

And why? Because the fruits of grace which flow from that Divine union, which rendered Mary the one Spouse of the Holy Ghost, and the Mother of the Word made Flesh, must hereafter depend on the love and the will of the two Spouses. Is it not fitting that the bounty of a husband should be shared by a beloved wife, whose compassionate heart has no sweeter joy than to relieve misery, especially when it is the misery of her own children? But we have seen and understood that Mary is not only the true Mother of God, but the true Mother of men also; the true second Eve; the only Mother of the new life. We have seen that God, who does nothing imperfectly, has given her a Mother's heart. Can we, then, believe that to her who has suffered so much for us all, who at the foot of the cross bore the burden of our redemption, God has refused the consolation of participating by her love, by the prayer of her heart, in the effusion of all His graces, when she has participated in all the sorrows which purchased them for us?

Shall not those words, then, which are addressed to 1 Pro Fest. V.M., s. 5, ch. viii.

God by all faithful souls, be addressed to Him by Mary: "Thy consolations, O Lord, are proportioned to the multitude of my sorrows" (Secundum multitudinem dolorum meorum in corde meo, consolationes tuæ lætificaverunt animam meum)? We must have lost the Christian sense of these words to suppose such a thing possible. Da amantem et sentit quod dico, would St. Augustine exclaim. Give me a heart that loves, give me, above all, a mother's heart, and it will understand.

IV. Yes; and give me a child's heart, and it also will understand.

By predestinating Mary to be the second Eve, the true Mother of mankind in the order of the new life, God, as we have seen, has made us all children of Mary. He wills, therefore, that we should all bear to her the hearts of children full of tender, filial love. And what more likely to increase this love, what more fitting to fulfil His purpose, than to make our Mother the inseparable fellow-worker in all His merciful designs for us? Is it not a sweet thought for a child to know that he has nothing that he does not owe to the love and the prayer of his mother? God, our Father, is the sole Master of His own gifts. He alone is their source; He alone bestows them upon us. But our Mother obtains them for us, and it is through her hands that we receive them. And do not imagine that this thought can in any degree lessen the supreme love which we owe to our Divine Lord alone. No; it will but enkindle it the more; for Jesus alone, who made our hearts, made that Mother's heart for us. Before He died, He gave us the most precious gifts He had to bestow-the Holy Eucharist, and Mary, with the last drops of His Blood, when He said: "Behold thy Mother." He gave us His own Heart in the Sacrament of love, as the inexhaustible source of all blessings; and the heart of His Mother, to encourage ours to approach it with invincible confidence.

1 Psalm xciii. 19.

Prayer.

O my Mother, how often do I need that heart to save me from losing this confidence! When I remember the chain of mercies which thou hast obtained for me, and the chain of infidelities by which I have requited them, I am tempted to fear that by my sins I have dried up the fountain of Divine grace. Thy name then revives my hope, for I know that thou art more merciful than I am miserable; more powerful to obtain pardon for me than I to draw down justice on myself; more invincible in thy love than I in my ingratitude. I take refuge, then, in thy Mother's heart; and I hope from thy compassionate prayers for still greater graces than I have yet received; and, above all, for the continuation of thy prayers, even to the last moment of my life, that I may die in the love of Him whom I have so deeply offended, and to accomplish that Divine Will which I have so long resisted. But obtain for me before my death, and even now, my Mother, a deep repentance for my sins, a true change of life, and fidelity to grace even to the end. Grant that I may rather die than fill up, it may be, the measure of my sins by some new fall, which may separate me from God. Never, I implore thee, suffer me again to lose Jesus. By the union of thy heart with His adorable Will thou hast given Him to me as a Brother in the manger; as a Victim on the cross; as my nourishment in the Holy Eucharist. Thou wilt give Him to me one day as my reward in heaven, and He will not know how to refuse thy prayer, nor even mine; for I will then say to Him with all my heart: "Look upon me, O Lord, and have pity on me, and receive Thy Mother's poor child into thy kingdom" (Respice in me, et miserere mei, da imperium tuum puero tuo, et salvum fac filium ancillæ tuæ).1

1 Psalm lxxxv. 16.

CHAPTER XIII.

MARY THE UNIVERSAL MEDIATRIX (continued).

We have seen in what sense Mary is called the Universal Mediatrix, and how perfectly the universality of her mediation with regard to all men and all graces harmonises with the whole design of the work of redemption, how worthy it is of the wisdom of God, how beautiful as a scientific theory, and how consoling to the

heart of the Christian.

This consolation, however, would not be perfect if it rested upon science alone; because science here, without authority, cannot give certainty. God has not left the science of salvation at the mercy of men's disputations, as He has left the science of this world; we must therefore inquire whether the authority which He has established to lead us safely to Himself,-whether the mother which he has given to the great human family, to nourish it with the pure milk of the truths of salvation, authorises, embraces, and professes this belief in the universal mediation of Mary.

Now, she assuredly does authorise, embrace, and profess it.

Her

I. She authorises it; for the most celebrated theologians of all ages have held it and taught it, which they could not have done with impunity had it been tainted with error. For the Church is never silent when error speaks to her children, though it be but by a single mouth. She protests, she warns, she threatens, and, if the error prove obstinate, she condemns its author. silence alone, then, would suffice to give authority to the teaching of a long chain of great men and great Saints. Nevertheless, after having examined some of the principal links of this chain, we shall see that the Church not only authorises their teaching by her silence, but has declared it to be free from error.

II. We shall see hereafter that she herself expresses

this belief in her public ritual, that she embraces and professes it in her admirable prayers.

1. The belief in the universal mediation of Mary has been the belief of the most faithful guardians of tradition in all ages of the Church; it is the common opinion of her doctors.

To attempt to enumerate them all would be too large an undertaking; but the children of Mary will rejoice and exult to hear the opinions of some of these great men, at every period of Christianity.

We will, then, read their names, as we ascend the course of ages; we will afterwards listen to their testimony.

In the last century, I choose as my witness my own father, S. Alphonsus Liguori; not because he is my father, but because the Sovereign Pontiffs who have governed the Church since the end of the 18th century have vied with each other in extolling the faith and the learning of that great Saint; and because one of them has pronounced him to be one of the brightest lights of the Church (Fulget inter maxima Ecclesia lumina).1

In the 17th century, I choose Bossuet. Though he sometimes failed in firmness in resisting the powers of the world, his piety was equal to his learning, and his genius was perhaps unparalleled.

In the 16th century, I choose Suarez, whose name is so great in theology, and of whom it was said that he would have given all his learning for the grace of a single "Hail Mary."

In the 15th century, I choose Gerson, the Chancellor of the University of Paris, and S. Bernardin of Sienna, the great apostle of his day.

In the 14th, S. Antoninus of Florence, the great theologian, who was so justly named the " Angel of the Counsels."

In the 13th, S. Bonaventure and S. Thomas of

1 Gregory XVI., Brief of Jan. 13, 1840.