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me, shall have everlasting life." And surely such expressions as these, sufficiently prove that we require the intereession of Mary.

Moreover, we are confirmed in this opinion, by so many theologians and fathers, of whom it is certainly incorrect to say, as the above-named author does, that in exalting Mary, they spoke hyperbolically, and allowed great exaggerations to fall from their lips. To exaggerate and speak hyperbolically, is to exceed the limits of truth; and surely we cannot say, that Saints who were animated by the Spirit of God, which is truth itself, spoke thus. If I may be allowed to make a short digression, and give my own sen→ timent, it is, that when an opinion tends in any way to the honour of the most Blessed Virgin, when it has some foundation, and is repugnant neither to the faith, nor to the decrees of the church, nor to truth, the refusal to hold it, or to oppose it because the reverse may be true, shows little devotion to the Mother of God. Of the number of such as these I do not choose to be, nor do I wish my reader to be so, but rather of the number of those who fully and firmly believe all that can, without error, be believed of the greatness of Mary, according to the Abbot Rupert, who, amongst the acts of homage most pleasing to this good Mother, places that of firmly believing, all that redounds to her honour. If there was nothing else to take away our fear of exceeding in the praises of Mary, Saint Augustine should suffice; for he declares, that whatever we may say in praise of Mary is little in comparison with that which she deserves, on account of her dignity of Mother of God; and, moreover, the church says, in the mass appointed for her festivals, 'Thou art happy, O sacred Virgin Mary, and most worthy of all praise.

But let us return to the point, and examine what the Saints say on the subject. Saint Bernard says, 'that God has filled Mary with all graces, so that men may receive

1 Qui operantur in me, non peccabunt. Qui elucidant me, vitam æternam habebunt. Eccl. xxiv, 30, 31.

2 Ejus magnalia firmiter credere.-De Laud. Virg.

3 Felix namque es, sacra Virgo Maria, et omni laude dignissima.

by her means, as by a channel, every good thing that comes to them. He says, 'that she is a full aqueduct, that others 1 receive of her plenitude.' may On this the Saint makes the following significant remark: Before the birth of the Blessed Virgin, a constant flow of graces was wanting, because this aqueduct did not exist.' But now that Mary has been given to the world, heavenly graces constantly flow through her on all.

The devil, like Holofernes, who, in order to gain possession of the city of Bethulia, ordered the aqueducts to be destroyed, exerts himself to his utmost to destroy devotion to the Mother of God in souls; for if this channel of grace is closed, he easily gains possession of them. And here continues the same Saint Bernard: 'See, O souls, with what tender devotion our Lord wills that we should honour our Queen, by always having recourse to, and relying on her protection; for in Mary he has placed the plenitude of every good, so that, henceforward, we may know and acknowledge, that whatever hope, grace, or other advantage we possess, all come from the hand of Mary.' Saint Antoninus says the same thing: All graces that have ever been bestowed on men, all came by Mary.' And on this account, she is called the Moon, according to the following remark of Saint Bonaventure : 'As the moon, which stands between the sun and the earth, transmits to this latter whatever she receives from the former, so does Mary pour out upon us who are in this world, the heavenly graces that she receives from the Divine sun of justice.'

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1 Plenus equidem aquæductus, ut accipiant cæteri de ejus plenitudine.-Serm. de Aquæd.

2 Propterea tanto tempore humano generi fluenta gratiæ defuerunt, quod necdum intercederet is de quo loquimur tam desiderabilis aquæductus.-Serm. de Aquæd.

3 Intuemini quanto devotionis affectu a nobis eam voluerit honorari, qui totius boni plenitudinem posuit in Maria: ut proinde si quid spei in nobis est, si quid gratiæ, si quid salutis, ab ea noverimus redundare.-Serm. de Aquæd.

Per B. Mariam exivit de coelis ad nos quicquid unquam gratiæ creatum venit in mundum.-P. iv, tit. 15, c. 20.

5 Quia sicut luna inter corpora coelestia et terrena est media, et quod ab illis accipit ad inferiora refundit: sic et Virgo regia inter nos et Deum est media, et gratiam ipsa nobis refundit.Serm. 74, de Nat. Dom. t

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Again, the holy Church calls her the happy gate of heaven;' for as the same Saint Bernard remarks, As every mandate of grace that is sent by a king, passes by the palace gates, so does every grace that comes from heaven to the world, pass through the hands of Mary.' Saint Bonaventure says that Mary is called 'the Gate of heaven, because no one can enter that blessed kingdom without passing by her.' An ancient author, probably Saint Sophronius, in a sermon on the Assumption,' published with the works of Saint Jerome, says 'that the plenitude of grace, which is in Jesus Christ, came into Mary, though in a different way,' ,24 meaning, that it is in our Lord, as in the head from which the vital spirits (that is, Divine help to obtain eternal salvation) flow into us, who are the members of His mystical body, and that the same plenitude is in Mary, as in the neck, through which these vital spirits pass to the members.'4 The same idea is confirmed by Saint Bernardine of Sienna, who explains it more clearly, saying, 'that all graces of the spiritual life that descend from Christ, their head, to the faithful, who are his mystical body, are transmitted by the means of Mary.'5

The same Saint Bernardine endeavours to assign a reason for this, when he says, 'that as God was pleased to dwell in the womb of this holy Virgin, she acquired, so to say, a kind of jurisdiction over all graces; for when Jesus Christ issued forth from her most sacred womb, all the streams of Divine gifts flowed from her as from a celestial ocean. Elsewhere, repeating the same idea in more distinct

1 Felix coeli porta.

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2 Nihil nos Deus habere voluit quod per Mariæ manus non transiret.—Serm. iii, in Vig. Nat. D.

3 Nullus potest.

cœlum intrare, nisi per Mariam transeat tamquam per portam.-Exposit. in cap. i Luc.

In Mariam vero totius gratiæ quæ in Christo est plenitudo venit, quamquam aliter-Serm. de Assump. B. V.

5 Per Virginem a capite Christi vitales gratiæ in ejus corpus mysticum transfunduntur.-Serm. de Nat. B. M. V. cap. viii.

6 Cum... tota natura Divina. intra Virginis uterum extiterit clausum : non timeo dicere quod omnium gratiarum effluxus quamdam jurisdictionem habuerit hæc Virgo, de cujus utero quasi de quodam Divinitatis oceano, rivi et Alumina emanabant omnium gratiarum.-Serm. de Natie, B. M. V. cap. viii,

terms, he asserts that 'from the moment that this Virgin Mother conceived the Divine Word in her womb, she acquired a special jurisdiction, so to say, over all the gifts of the Holy Ghost, so that no creature has since received any grace from God, otherwise than by the hands of Mary. Another author, in a commentary on a passage of Jeremias, in which the prophet, speaking of the Incarnation of the Eternal Word, and of Mary, His Mother, says, that a woman shall compass a man,' remarks, that as no line can be drawn from the centre of a circle without passing by the circumference, so no grace proceeds from Jesus, who is the centre of every good thing, without passing by Mary, who compassed Him, when she received Him into her womb.' Saint Bernardine says, that for this reason 'all gifts, all virtues, and all graces, are dispensed by the hands of Mary, to whomsoever, when, and as she pleases.' 2 Richard of Saint Lawrence also asserts that God wills, that whatever good things He bestows on his creatures, should pass by the hands of Mary.' And, therefore, the venerable Abbot of Celles exhorts all to have recourse to this treasury of graces,' (for so he calls her); for the world and the whole human race has to receive every good that can be hoped for, through her alone. 'Address yourselves to the Blessed Virgin,' he says; for by her, and in her, and with her, and from her, the world receives, and is to receive, every good.'4 It must be now evident to all, that when these saints and authors tell us, in such terms, that all graces come to us through Mary, they do not simply mean to

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1 A tempore. ... a quo Virgo Mater concepit in utero Verbum Dei, quandam (ut sic dicam) jurisdictionem seu auctoritatem obtinuit in omni Spiritus Sancti processione temporali; ita quod nulla creatura aliquam a Deo obtinuit gratiam, nisi secundum ipsius piæ Matris dispensationem.-Serm. de Nativ. B. M. V. cap p. viii.

Ideo omnia dona, virtutes et gratiæ ipsius Spiritus Sancti, quibus vult, quando vult, quomodo vult, et quantum vult, per manus ipsius administrantur.---Serm. de Nativ. B. M. V. cap. viii.

3 Qui quidquid boni dat creaturis suis, per manus Matris Virginis vult transire. -De Laud. Virg. lib. ii, cap. 3.

Accede ad Virginem, quia per ipsam, et in ipsa, et cum ipsa, et ab ipsa habet mundus et habiturus est omne bonum.-De Contempl. B. V, in Prol.

say, that we received Jesus Christ, the source of every good, through Mary,' as the beforenamed writer pretends; but that they assure us, that God, who gave us Jesus Christ, wills that all graces that have been, that are, and will be dispensed to men, to the end of the world, through the merits of Christ, should be dispensed by the hands, and through the intercession of Mary.

And thus Father Suarez concludes, that it is the sentiment of the universal Church, that the intercession and prayers of Mary are, above those of all others, not only useful, but necessary.' Necessary, in accordance with what we have already said, not with an absolute necessity; for the mediation of Jesus Christ alone is absolutely necessary; but with a moral necessity, for the Church believes with Saint Bernard, that God has determined that no grace shall be granted, otherwise than by the hands of Mary. 'God wills,' says the saint, 'that we should have nothing that has not passed by the hands of Mary;' 2 and before Saint Bernard, Saint Ïldephonsus asserted the same thing, addressing the Blessed Virgin in the following terms: 'O Mary, God has decided on committing all good gifts, that he has provided for men, to thy hands; and, therefore, He has entrusted all treasures and riches of grace to thee.' 3 And, therefore, Saint Peter Damian remarks, that God would not become man, without the consent of Mary; in the first place, that we might feel ourselves under great obligations to her; and in the second, that we might understand that the salvation of all is left to the care of this Blessed Virgin.'

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Saint Bonaventure, on the words of the Prophet Isaias, “And there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root, and the spirit of

1 Sentit... Ecclesia Virginis intercessionem et orationem præ omnibus aliis sibi esse utilem, ac necessariam.-De Incarnat. P. ii, Q. 37, Disp. 23, Sect. 3.

2 Nihil nos Deus habere voluit, quod per Mariæ manus non transiret.-Serm. iii, in Vig. Nat. Dom.

3 Omnia bona quæ illis summa majestas decrevit facere, tuis manibus decrevit commendare: commissi quippe sunt manibus tuis thesauri, et ornamenta gratiarum.-In Cor. Virg. cap. 15. †

4 De Nat. Virg. ap. Pac. Exc. n. 15, †

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