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of nothing but God, nothing pleased, me but God;'1 so that her blessed soul being in the almost continual contemplation of God whilst on earth, the acts of love which she formed were innumerable, as Father Suarez writes: The acts of perfect charity formed by the Blessed Virgin in this life, were without number; for nearly the whole of her life was spent in contemplation, and in that state she constantly repeated acts of love.'2 But a remark of Bernardine de Bustis pleases me still more: he says that Mary did not so much repeat acts of love as other saints do, but that her whole life was one continued act of it; for, by a special privilege, she always actually loved God. As a royal eagle, she always kept her eyes fixed on the Divine Sun of Justice; so that,' as Saint Peter Damian says, 'the duties of active life did not prevent her from loving, and love did not prevent her from attending to those duties.'4 Therefore Saint Germanus says, that the altar of propitiation, on which the fire was never extinguished day or night, was a type of Mary.

Neither was sleep an obstacle to Mary's love for God; since, as Saint Augustine asserts, the dreams, when sleeping, of our first parents, in their state of innocence, were as happy as their lives when waking;'5 and if such a privilege were granted them, it certainly cannot be denied that it was also granted to the Divine Mother, as Suarez, the Abbot Rupert, and Saint Bernardine fully admit. Saint Ambrose is also of this opinion; for speaking of Mary, he says, 'While her body rested, her soul watched,' verifying in herself the words of the wise man : "Her lamp

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1 Nihil nisi Deum cogitabam, nihil volebam nisi ipsum.-Rev. lib. i, cap. 10. 2 Actus perfectæ charitatis, quos B. Virgo habuit in hac vita innumerabiles fuerunt, ita ut eorum multitudo possit fortasse cum numero Sanctorum omnium conferri, quia fere totam vitam in perpetua contemplatione transegit, in qua ferventissime Deum amabat, et hunc amoris actum frequentissime repetebat.De Incarnat. P. ii, Q. 37, art. 4, Disp. 18, sect. 4.

3 Tamen ipsa gloriosissima Virgo de privilegio singulari, continue et semper Deum amabat actualiter.-Marial. P. 2, Serm. 5, p. 7.

Adeo ut nec actio contemplationem minueret, et contemplatio non desereret actionem.-Serm. i in Nat. B.M. V.

5 Tam felicia erant somnia dormentium, quam vita vigilantium.-In Jul. lib. v, cap. 2.

Cum quiesceret corpus, vigilaret animus.-De Virg. lib. ii, cap. 2.

shall not be put out in the night."1 Yes, for while her blessed body took its necessary repose in gentle sleep, 'her soul,' says Saint Bernardine, 'freely tended towards God; so much so, that she was then wrapped in more perfect contemplation than any other person ever was when awake.' Therefore, could she well say with the Spouse in the Canticles, " I sleep, and my heart watcheth." 'As happy in sleep as awaking,'4 as Suarez says. In fine, Saint Bernardine asserts, that as long as Mary lived in this world she was continually loving God: "The mind of the Blessed Virgin was always wrapped in the ardour of love.' The Saint moreover adds, that she never did anything which the Divine Wisdom did not show her to be pleasing to Him; and that she loved God as much as she thought He was to be loved by her,'6 so much so, indeed, that, according to blessed Albert the Great, we can well say that Mary was filled with so great charity, that greater was not possible in any pure creature on earth.7 Hence Saint Thomas of Villanova affirms, that by her ardent charity the Blessed Virgin became so beautiful, and so enamoured her God, that, captivated as it were by her love, He descended into her womb and became man. Wherefore Saint Bernardine exclaims, 'Behold the power of the Virgin Mother: she wounded and took captive the heart of God.'9

1 Non extinguetur in nocte lucerna ejus.-Prov. xxxi, 18.

2 Anima sua libere ac meritorio actu tunc tendebat in Deum. Unde illo tempore erat perfectior contemplatrix, quam unquam fuerit aliquis alius dum vigilavit.-Serm. de Concep. B. M. V. art. i, cap. 2.

3 Ego dormio, et cor meum vigilat.-Cant. v, 2.

4 Tam felix dormiendo, quam vigilando. †

5 Mens illius in ardore dilectionis continue tenebatur.-Serm. de Concep, B. M. V. art. iii, cap. 2.

6 Tertius Virginis splendor fuit charitas, scilicet quantum ad voluntatem, in quam tanta plenitudine Divinus amor infusus est, quod nihil elicere vellet, nisi quod Dei sapientia præmonstrabat. Proinde hac sapientia illustrata, tantum Deum diligebat, quantum a se diligendum illum intelligebat.-Serm. de Concep. B. M. V. art. i, cap. 3.

7 Credimus etiam; sine prejudicio melioris sententiæ, Beatam Virginem in conceptione Filii Dei, charitatem Filii talem et tantam accepisse, qualis et quanta percipi poterat a pura creatura in statu viæ.-Sup. Missus Resp. ad Q. xlvi.

8 Hæc Virgo beata nobis Deum protulit et hominem: hæc sua eum pulchritudine et decore a coelis allexit: amore illius captus est, humanitatis nostræe nexibus irretitus.-Conc. viii in Nat. Dom.

9 O incogitabilis virtus Virginis matris... una puella nescio quibus blanditüs, nescio quibus violentiis decepit, et ut ita dicam, vulneravit et rapuit Divinum cor. -Serm. de Nat. B. M. V. cap. iv.

But since Mary loves God so much, there can be nothing which she so much requires of her clients as, that they also should love Him to their utmost. This precisely she one day told blessed Angela of Foligno after communion, saying, Angela, be thou blessed by my Son, and endeavour to love Him as much as thou canst.' She also said to Saint Bridget, Daughter, if thou desirest to bind me to thee, love my Son.' Mary desires nothing more, than to see her beloved, who is God, loved. Novarinus asks why the Blessed Virgin, with the Spouse in the Canticles, begged the angels to make the great love she bore Him known to her Lord, saying: "I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my beloved, that you tell Him that I languish with love."1 Did not God know how much she loved Him? Why did she seek to show the wound to her beloved, since He it was who had inflicted it?' The same author answers, that the Divine Mother thereby wished to make her love known to us, not to God; that as she was herself wounded, so might she also be enabled to wound us with Divine love." And because Mary was all on fire with the love of God, all who love and approach her are inflamed by her with this same love; for she renders them like unto herself.'3 For this reason Saint Catherine of Sienna called Mary 'the bearer of fire,' the bearer of the flame of Divine love. If we also desire to burn with these blessed flames, let us endeavour always to draw nearer to our Mother by our prayers and the affections of our souls. Ah Mary, thou

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Queen of love, of all creatures the most amiable, the most beloved, and the most loving, as Saint Francis of Sales addressed thee,--my own sweet Mother, thou. wast always and in all things inflamed with love towards God; deign then to bestow, at least, a spark of it on me. Thou didst pray thy Son for the spouses whose wine had failed: "They

1 Adjuro vos filiæ Jerusalem, si inveneritis dilectum meum, ut nuntietis ei quia amore langueo.-Cant. v, 8.

2 Ut vulnerata vulneret.

3 Quia tota ardens fuit, omnes se amantes, eamque tangentes incendit, et sibi assimilat.

have no wine."1

And wilt thou not pray for us, in whom the love of God, whom we are under such obligations to love, is wanting? Say also, "They have no love,' and obtain us this love. This is the only grace for which we ask. O Mother, by the love thou bearest to Jesus, graciously hear and pray for us. Amen.

SECTION III-Of Mary's Charity towards her Neighbour.

Love towards God, and love towards our neighbour are commanded by the same precept: "And this commandment we have from God, that he who loveth God, love also his brother." 2 Saint Thomas says that the reason for this is, that he who loves God loves all that God loves. Saint Catharine of Genoa one day said, ‘Lord, Thou willest that I should love my neighbour, and I can love none but thee.' God answered her in these words: All who love Me love what I love.' But as there never was, and never will be, any one who loved God as much as Mary loved him, so there never was, and never will be, any one who loved her neighbour as much as she did. Father Cornelius à Lapide, on these words of the Canticles: "King Solomon hath made him a litter of the wood of Libanus . . . the midst he covered with charity for the daughters of Jerusalem," says, that this litter was Mary's womb, in which the Incarnate Word dwelt, filling it with charity for the daughters of Jerusalem ; for Christ, who is love itself, inspired the Blessed Virgin with charity in its highest degree, that she might succour all who had recourse to her.'4 So great was Mary's charity when on earth, that she succoured the needy without even

1 Joan. ii, 3.

2 Et hoc mandatum habemus a Deo; ut qui diligit Deum, diligat et fratrem suum.-1 Joan. iv, 21.

3 Ferculum fecit sibi rex Salomon de lignis Libani.-Cant. iii, 9.

4 Beatæ Virginis utero et sinus fuit ferculum augustissimum, ferens et bajulans Verbum incarnatum, ideoque media charitate constratum propter filias Jerusalem; quia Christus, qui est ipsa charitas, maximam gratiam et charitatem B. Virgini aspiravit, ut ipsa filiabus Jerusalem, id est, animabus devotis, ad illam in quavis difficultate recurrentibus opem ferret.-In Cant. cap. iii.

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being asked, as was the case at the marriage feast of Cana, when she told her Son that family's distress: They have no wine," and asked Him to work a miracle. Oh, with what speed did she fly when there was question of relieving her neighbour! When she went, to the house of Elizabeth to fulfil an office of charity "She went into the hill country with haste."2 She could not, however, more fully display the greatness of her charity than she did in the offering which she made of her Son to death for our salvation. On this subject Saint Bonaventure says, Mary so loved the world as to give her only-begotten Son.' Hence, Saint Anselm exclaims: O blessed amongst women, thy purity surpasses that of the angels, and thy compassion that of the Saints !'3 Nor has this love of Mary for us,' says Saint Bonaventure, diminished, now that she is in heaven, but it has increased; for now she better sees the miseries of men.' And therefore the Saint goes on to say: Great was the mercy of Mary towards the wretched when she was still in exile on earth; but far greater is it now that she reigns in heaven.'4 Saint Agnes assured Saint Bridget, that there was no one who prayed without receiving graces through the charity of the Blessed Virgin.'5 Unfortunate indeed should we be, did not Mary intercede for us! Jesus Himself, addressing the same Saint, said, 'Were it not for the prayers of My Mother, there would be no hope of mercy.'6

Blessed is he, says the Divine Mother, who listens to my instructions, pays attention to my charity, and in imitation of me, exercises it himself towards others: "Blessed is the man that heareth me, and that watcheth daily at my gates, and waiteth at the posts of my doors."7 Saint

1 Joan. ii, 3.

2 Luc. i, 39.

3 O tu benedicta super mulieres, quæ angelos vincis puritate; sanctos superas pietate. Inroc. B. V. et Filii.

Spec. B. M. V. lect.-See page 176, note 3.

5 Ex dulcedine Marie, nullus est, qui non per cam, si petitur, sentiat pietatem. Rec. lib. iii, c. 30.

6 Nisi preces Matris meæ intervenirent, non esset spes misericordiæ.-Rev. hib. vi. c. 26.

7 Beatus homo qui audit me, et qui vigilat ad fores meas quotidie, et observat ad postes ostii mei.--Pror. viii. 34.