Excellence of the Sublime Canticle
Sacred Scripture includes a number of inspired canticles that were composed by saintly women, for example, the canticles of Mary, sister of Moses and Aaron, of Deborah, of Judith, of Anna, mother of the prophet Samuel, all of which give thanks to God for outstanding favors received from His divine bounty. But the holiest and worthiest of all canticles is the Magnificat of the Mother of God, which stands unsurpassed because of the dignity and holiness of its author, as well as because of the great and admirable mysteries it contains. This is to say nothing of the miracles that God has performed by means of this canticle. While there is no record of any miracles having been performed through other canticles, Saint Thomas of Villanova, the Archbishop of Valencia, points out that upon the recitation of this canticle the Holy Spirit wrought a number of wonders on behalf of Saint John the Baptist, the holy precursor of the Son of God, as well as in the person of his parents. Experience also has shown on more than one occasion that the Magnificat is an excellent means of expelling evil spirits from the bodies of those who are possessed by the devil. Several other esteemed writers report various miracles which have taken place through the recitation of this canticle.
“From henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.”
This brings us to the second part of this verse, namely, “From henceforth all generations shall call me Blessed.” We need not be astonished if the most holy Virgin says something here about herself which is highly favorable, and refers to her own glory and praise, for it is the Holy Spirit Who speaks through her lips. Here is one of the greatest, most celebrated and most important prophecies that was ever made or ever will be made, announcing to mankind the infinity of admirable things that God will accomplish everywhere on earth in every age and everlastingly in Heaven on behalf of the Mother of the Redeemer, in order to make her known, loved, served and honored throughout the world.
This great prophecy, informing us that all generations are to acknowledge and acclaim the Mother of the Blessed Saviour, applies to the whole universe, from the highest Heaven to the lowest depths of Hell. For not only has the Most Blessed Trinity sent the Archangel Gabriel, one of the first princes of Its empire, as ambassador, to announce to Mary that she was full of grace, and that the Lord was with her in order to accomplish in her the greatest wonder of all time, and that she is blessed forever among all women; this same Trinity also exalts Mary above all the angels on the highest throne of glory.
The eternal Father honors her as the most blessed of all women, making her eternally the Mother of the only begotten Son Whose Father He is, and granting her a power which surpasses all the powers of Heaven and earth.
The Son of God proclaims her Blessed among all the nations who hear His holy Gospel, which teaches the fullness of the grandeurs that He has bestowed upon Mary in choosing her to be His Mother.
The Holy Spirit renders her supremely blessed and glorious in choosing her as His most worthy spouse and endowing her with His holiness in such a high degree that she is Queen of all the saints.
All the hierarchies of angels acknowledge Mary to be blessed because in contemplating her on the day of her triumph and glorious Assumption they find the glorious Virgin so filled with wonders that they can speak of them only with admiration and transports of delight. Quae est /sra/they ask, Quae est ista? Who is she? Who is she? And after the adoration that they continually render to God in Heaven, their foremost activity is to proclaim incessant praises of their Sovereign Empress.
Do we not hear the voice of holy Church Militant which perpetually sings all over the earth, “Blessed is the womb of the Virgin Mary which bore the Son of the eternal Father, and blessed are the breasts which nourished Him?”
Have we not already heard of the merciful Virgin once declaring to Saint Brigid that there is no pain in Purgatory which is not eased through her mediation? And do we not hear the voice of Holy Mother Church asking God to deliver the poor souls from that prison of divine justice through the intercession of Blessed Mary ever Virgin: Beata Maria semper per Virgine intercedente? It must convince us that the souls of the Church Suffering are not only relieved in their agony but also delivered from it through her mediation.
Is it not also true that the souls who were in Limbo from the beginning of the world until the death of the Son of God profited by the intercession of this incomparable Virgin, since it was she who gave them the Redeemer to free them from captivity?
Let us descend still lower to the utmost depths of Hell. If it is true, as Saint Thomas, the Angelic Doctor, says, that the miserable damned are punished citra condign condignum-that is to say, they do not suffer the full torments merited by their sins-it is certain that this is a concession of divine mercy. Now it is also true that for every effect of grace or mercy that proceeds from the adorable bosom of divine bounty our Mother of Mercy prays, and her prayers are effective. Therefore, all the souls in Hell ought to recognize and revere her as the most benign and sweet Mother of Mercy. But because they do not do so, let us compensate for their neglect, praying all the inhabitants of Heaven to do likewise.
What shall we say of the wretched demons? Is it not true that, in spite of the rage they directed against this most bountiful Virgin because of the souls that she frequently snatches from their claws, they are nevertheless constrained to acknowledge her inconceivable charity whenever they are forced to abandon their prey by virtue of her intercession? And that upon the pronunciation of the holy name of Mary they are compelled to leave the bodies in their possession and flee to their infernal dungeon?
Thus it is that all the generations of Heaven, of angels, of saints, of the Church Triumphant, Militant and Suffering, and even of Hell itself, fulfill this prophecy of the glorious Virgin, “All generations shall call me Blessed.”
Finally, there is no country in the world, no nation under the sun, either great or small, rich or poor, no religious or priest, no man or woman, not under the obligation to confess and proclaim that the Mother of the Saviour is the most blessed, powerful, generous, compliant, admirable and amiable of all creatures; for she seems to belong to the world and to think only about doing good to all who love and invoke her and to make them partakers of her own happiness and felicity.
“O many times blessed!” exclaims the holy Doctor John Gerson, “Blessed first of all because thou hast believed. Blessed secondly because thou art full of grace. Blessed thirdly because thou art blessed. Blessed fourthly because the Almighty hath wrought great things in thee. Blessed in the fifth place because thou dost possess the joys of motherhood together with the glory of virginity. Blessed last of all because thou art incomparable, having been and always to be without equal.”{footnote} Super Magnificat, Tract. 4, notula 1. {/footnote}
Let us listen now to Saint Germanus, Archbishop of Constantinople, addressing Mary most admirable. “Who does not admire thee, who does not love thee, O most bountiful Virgin? Thou art our firm hope, our sure protection, our unshakable refuge, our most vigilant guardian, our perpetual safeguard, our most powerful help, our strongest defense, our unconquerable tower, the treasure of our joy, the garden of our delight, our impregnable fortress, our inaccessible bulwark, the port of those who are in danger of shipwreck, the security of sinners, the asylum of the abandoned, the reconciliation of criminals, the salvation of the lost, the blessing of the accursed, the general and public purveyor of every kind of blessing. In short, who could ever comprehend the effects of thy mercy? O Heaven! O Queen of Heaven! Blessed be thou amongst all generations! There is no place in the world where thy praises are not sung; and there is no race or tribe from which God does not receive some tribute and service through thy mediation.” {footnote} Serm. 2 deDormit. B.V {/footnote}
O holy Virgin, my heart is overcome with joy to see thee proclaimed blessed by all generations, past, present and yet to come; and I implore the most Blessed Trinity with all my heart to allow this divine prophecy to be fulfilled even more and more throughout the universe. Oh, would that every breath of mine, every pulsation of my heart and veins every use of the faculties of my soul, and all my interior and exterior senses, were as so many voices continually singing, in company with all the angels and saints, with the whole Church and all creatures; “Blessed is the womb of the Virgin Mary which bore the Son of the eternal Father, and blessed are the breasts which nourished Him. U Blessed Mary, Mother of God, ever Virgin, temple of the Lord, repository of the Holy Spirit, who alone without rival hast been found most pleasing to Our Lord Jesus Christ, pray for thy people, intervene for the clergy, intercede especially for all devout women, and grant the help of thine incomparable goodness to all who honor thee.
“He that is mighty has done great things to me.”
In the preceding verse the Blessed Virgin prophesied that all generations shall call her Blessed; in this verse she reveals the reasons for this honor, namely the great things that God has done to her.
What are these great things? Let us listen to Saint Augustine. “It is a great thing,” he says, “for a virgin to be a mother without the cooperation of man. It is a great thing for her to have borne in her womb the Word of God the Father, to have clothed Him with her own flesh. It is a great thing for her who characterizes herself as a handmaid to become the Mother of her Creator.” {footnote} In Magnif.{/footnote}
“It is a great thing,” says Saint Antoninus, {footnote} Summa theoi Part 4, titul. 15, cap. 22.{/footnote}”to have created Heaven and earth out of nothing. It is a great thing to have brought manna down from Heaven in order to nourish the Chosen People in the desert for forty years. It is a great thing to have given the Israelites possession of the promised land after having exterminated all the kings and people who inhabited it. All the miracles that our Saviour performed in Judea, giving sight to the blind, driving out devils from the bodies of those who were possessed, curing the sick, restoring the dead to life, are great and marvelous things. But the mystery of the Incarnation, which the infinite power of God wrought in the Blessed Virgin, incomparably surpasses all these other things. It is what prompts her to say, ‘He that is mighty hath done great things.'”
“Here are the great things,” says Saint Thomas of Villanova, {footnote} Concio 2 in Annunt. B. V. {/footnote} “that God wrought in the most holy Virgin. He elevated her to such a high degree of grandeur that all the eyes of men and angels cannot scan that eminence. He transformed this granddaughter of Adam into the Mother of her own Creator, the lady of the world, the Queen of Heaven and the empress of all creatures. A new prodigy appeared in the world, to the great wonderment of Heaven and earth: a God-Man, a Man-God; God become man, and man united with God. Prodigy of prodigies, miracle of miracles, after which there remains nothing on earth worthy to be admired!”
“It is quite true that all the wonders witnessed on earth are as nothing compared with this incomprehensible event. We admire the miracle that God performed when He allowed His people to pass dry shod across the Red Sea. That is a trifle. Here is something far greater: it is the immense ocean of the Divinity confined within the body of a young and mortal virgin. We admire the bush that burned without being consumed. That is a little thing; here is a virgin who brings forth a Child while preserving her virginity intact. We admire the prophet Moses lying in a tiny cradle of rushes. That is insignificant; let us rather admire the King of Heaven lying in a manger. We admire a column of fire and a pillar of cloud which guided the people of God in the desert. That is nothing; instead let us admire the essential fire of Divinity enclosed in a tiny cloud in order to guide and govern the whole world. We admire the manna sent from Heaven. That is a mere nothing; let us admire the Word of the almighty Father Who descends from Heaven into the bosom of the Virgin Mother. We admire the sun halted in its course by the command of Josue, or retreating at the prayer of Ezechias. That is unimportant; let us admire the God who voluntarily annihilates Himself. We admire the prophet Elias restoring a dead child to life. That is a small thing; let us admire the Son of God, co’equal and co-eternal with His Father, restoring Himself to life after having died on the Cross. We admire the same prophet Elias ascending into Heaven. That is nothing wonderful; let us admire the man who ascends to the throne of the Divinity and becomes God.”
It is what Saint Cyprian{footnote} Sean, de Nativ. Christi. {/footnote}extols when he exclaims, “O Lord, how admirable is Thy name! Truly Thou art a God Who dost perform wonders. I no longer admire the marvelous construction of the world, nor the stability of the earth, nor the order and arrangement of the days, nor the course and brilliance of the sun; but I admire a God made man in the womb of a virgin; I admire the Almighty brought down into a cradle; I admire the Word of God united personally with the mortal and perishable body of a man.” {footnote} Serm. de Nativ. Christi. {/footnote}Finally, God wrought such great things to this chosen virgin that He could not have accomplished greater marvels. He could easily make a world larger than the one He did make, a sky more vast, a sun more brilliant; but He cannot make, says Saint Bonaventure, a mothergreater and nobler than the Mother of God. For if He could make a greater mother, He would have to give her a more excellent son. Now is it possible to find a son more worthy than the Son of God, whose Mother is the Blessed Virgin?
What more shall I say? I quote a great prelate distinguished for learning and piety, Rutilius Benzonius, Bishop of Loreto, who is not afraid to assert that God elevated this incomparable Virgin to such heights and granted her such extraordinary privileges that it may be said that she gave, so to speak, greater things to His divine majesty, in a certain sense, than the gifts granted to her. Everything that Mary received is finite and limited, confined within the bounds of created things, but the Queen of Heaven gave birth to the Son of God, the Creator and Sovereign Lord, the Saviour and Redeemer of the world. From God she received the privilege of being His creature, of being pleasing to Him, of being full of grace, of being blessed among all women. But she made it possible for God to be our Emmanuel, that is to say, God with us; to be the Redeemer of men through the Precious Blood that He received from her; to possess all power in Heaven and on earth as a man; to be the universal Judge of the whole world as a man; to be seated at the right hand of the Father as a man; to be the head of the whole Church as a man; to be the leader of the angels as a man; to forgive sins as a man.
If our Saviour gave His Apostles the power to perform miracles greater than those that He Himself performed, according to the testimony of the Gospel, {footnote} John 14, 12 {/footnote} we need not be astonished that He granted to His most holy Mother the power to give Him gifts even greater than those she received from Him and this power is one of the marvels to which Mary refers when declaring that the Almighty “hath done great things to her.”
After that, who will not admire the great and wonderful accomplishments of almighty God with regard to the glorious Virgin? And who will not acknowledge that it is the Holy Spirit Who was speaking through her: Fecit mihi magna quipotens estl Oh, what a wealth of prodigies and miracles is bound up in these words! Oh, what a great thing it is to be both virgin and mother, and to be a virgin and the Mother of God! Oh, what a great privilege it is to be associated with the eternal Father in His divine fatherhood, to be the Virgin Mother, in the fullness of time, of the very Son generated from all eternity without a mother! Oh, what a great thing it is to be clothed with the virtue of the Most High, to be a partaker of His adorable fecundity in order to be the Mother of the Son, who is consubstantial, co-equal and co-eternal with God His eternal Father! Oh, what a great thing it is to give temporal birth from a virginal bosom to Him who was born before the beginning of time in the bosom of the Father of mercy! Oh, what a great thing it is for a mortal creature to give life to Him from whom she received her own life! Oh, what a great thing it is to be the worthy spouse of the Holy Spirit, associated with Him in the production of His adorable masterpiece, the God-Man.
Such indeed are the great and marvelous things that God wrought upon the Queen of Heaven, but lo! here follows the miracle of miracles. Great, holy and admirable as thou wert, O Virgin Mother, thou didst always look upon, demean and humble thyself as if thou wert the least and most insignificant of all creatures. “It is a great thing for the Queen of Angels to be a virgin,” says a Holy Father of the Church, {footnote} Venerable Bede-Magnum, quia Virgo; magnum quia Mater, majus, quia utrumque; maximum, quia Deiparens; sed majus, quia, cum tanta sit, putat se nihil esse. {/footnote}”it is a great thing for her to be a mother, it is a greater thing for her to be a mother and virgin at the same time, and it is a very great thing for her to be a virgin and the Mother of God; but what surpasses all else is that, great as she is, Mary considers herself as if she were nothing.”
Furthermore, Mary uses all these tremendous powers, her immense privileges, her sublime mercies, to help the humble, the wretched and even the most hopeless, if they will simply have recourse to her with humility and confidence. “All power,” says the holy cardinal, Peter Damian, “is given to Mary in Heaven and on earth, and nothing is impossible to her who holds the power to restore the hope of salvation in the most despairing individuals.” {footnote} Serm. 1 de Nativ. B. Virg. {/footnote}”Yes,” exclaims Saint Bonaventure, “because the almighty Lord is most powerfully with thee, O Mary, thou art therefore most powerful with God, most powerful through Him, most powerful in Him.” {footnote} In Spec. Virg. Cap. 8. {/footnote}
O most powerful and benign Virgin, with all my heart do I give infinite thanks to the Almighty for having made thee so great, so powerful and so admirable. With all my heart do I also offer, deliver and abandon myself entirely and irrevocably to the great power that God has granted thee, imploring thee most humbly to exercise it on my behalf for the total destruction of whatever in me is displeasing to Him and to thee, and to establish in its stead the perfect reign of His glory and love.
The Blessed Virgin, having affirmed that the Almighty has wrought great things in her, then adds these words, “And holy is His name,” words which contain six great mysteries. The first is that the mystery of the Incarnation, being a mystery of love, is attributed to the Holy Spirit, who is personal love, as the masterpiece of His love and bounty, in fulfillment of the words of the angel: “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee.” {footnote} Luke 1, 35. {/footnote}
The second mystery indicated in the words, “and holy is his name,” is that the holy humanity of the Divine Infant whom the Blessed Virgin conceived in her womb is sanctified by His most intimate union with essential Holiness, the Divinity. This is further designated by these words of Saint Gabriel, “The Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.” {footnote} Luke 1,35.{/footnote}
The third mystery is that the Infant God is thus sanctified and made the Saint of Saints in order to sanctify and glorify the name of the Thrice Holy One as much as it deserves, as well as to make it sanctified and glorified on earth, in Heaven and throughout the universe, thus fulfilling the proclamation, “Hallowed be thy name.” {footnote} Matt. 6, 9. {/footnote}
The fourth mystery included in the words, “And holy is His name,” is that the Saviour of the world, whom the holy Virgin bears in her most sacred womb, is divinely annointed with the unction of divinity, that is, He is sanctified and consecrated as a Saviour so that He may exercise the functions of Saviour, and of the Sanctifier of all men, a mission He commences at once with regard to His precursor, the Baptist, and His relatives, Saint Zachary and Saint Elizabeth.
The fifth mystery is that the Holy Spirit, by overshadowing Mary in order to accomplish in her the most holy work that ever was or will be done, and the Saint of Saints, holiness itself and the source of all holiness, by being conceived by her, filled and overwhelmed her with an ocean of grace and inconceivable holiness.
The sixth mystery indicated in these words, “And holy is his name,” is that the ineffable mystery of the Incarnation is an inexhaustible source of all the grace and holiness that has ever been, is now and ever will exist in Heaven and upon earth.
Behold and admire how many wonders are contained in these few words pronounced by the hallowed lips of the Mother of the Saint of Saints, Whose holy name be praised, sanctified and glorified for all eternity.
For this intention let us repeat together with the seraphim, with all Paradise and with holy Church, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts. Heaven and earth are full of thy glory.”
“His mercy is from generation unto generations, to them that fear Him.”
We come now to the second part of our divine canticle, the true canticle of the most holy heart of the Mother of tender love, and a very precious relic of her Immaculate Heart.
Having magnified God for the infinite favors bestowed upon her and having made this admirable prophecy, “All generations shall call me Blessed,” which includes a world of wonders which the Almighty has wrought and will continue to accomplish for all time and eternity to render this Virgin Mother glorious and venerable throughout the universe, she makes yet another prophecy that vibrates with rich comfort for all mankind, particularly for those who fear God. In it our peerless Mary affirms to us that the mercy of God extends from generation to generation to all those who fear Him, “And his mercy is from generation unto generations, to them that fear him.”
What is this mercy? “It is our most bountiful Saviour,” explains Saint Augustine.{footnote} Exposit. Sup. Magnif.{/footnote} The eternal Father is called the Father of mercy, because He is the Father of the Word Incarnate who is uncreated Mercy itself. It is this Mercy which the royal prophet David begged God, in the name of the whole human race, to send into the world through the mystery of the Incarnation, when he prayed: “Show us, O Lord, Thy Mercy, and grant us Thy salvation.” {footnote} Ps. 84, 8.{/footnote} The Word Incarnate is all love and charity; therefore He must be all mercy. God is naturally and essentially all-merciful, says Saint Jerome, and
always ready to save by His clemency those whom He cannot save according to His justice. But we are so wretched and so inimical to ourselves that when mercy is offered to us for our salvation, we turn our backs on it in scorn.
It is through the Incarnation that the Son of God exercised His mercy on our behalf, and His great mercy, according to these words of the prince of the Apostles, “According to his great mercy (He) hath regenerated us.”{footnote}1 Pet. 1,3.{/footnote} All the effects of the mercy which our Saviour has wrought in men from the beginning of the world up to this moment, and will continue to produce for all eternity, have proceeded and will proceed from the adorable mystery of His Incarnation, as from their source and primary origin. That is why David, in asking pardon for his sins, prays in this fashion; “Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy great mercy.”{footnote}Ps. 50,3.{/footnote}
Three elements are necessary for mercy: the first is that it take pity on the miseries of others, for he is merciful who bears in his heart, through compassion, the miseries of the wretched; the second, that it possess the greatest will to help the outcast in their miseries; the third, that it pass from thought and will into effect. Now our most benign Redeemer became man that He might manifest His great mercy. First of all, having become man and assumed a body and a heart capable of suffering and sorrow, like ours, Our Lord was so filled with pity at the sight of our troubles and rendered so sad by carrying them in His heart that no words can express his suffering; because on one hand, He bore an infinite love for us, like the very best father for his children, and on the other hand, He kept constantly before His eyes all the misfortunes of body and spirit, all the anguish, tribulations, martyrdoms and torments which all His children would have to endure until the end of the world. His most tender and loving heart would have caused Him countless deaths had not His love, stronger than death itself, preserved His human life so that He might sacrifice it on the cross for our sake.
Secondly, all our tribulations were present to our most merciful Saviour at the very first moment of His life and He resolved so firmly, ardently and steadfastly at that time to help us free ourselves from them and He so faithfully preserved this intention in His heart from the first to the last instant of His life, that all the most atrocious cruelties and tortures that wretched men, to whom Christ was so wonderfully good, caused Him to suffer while He was on earth, as well as all His prescience of the ingratitude, outrages and crimes with which we would repay H adorable mercy, were not capable of cooling even slightly the ardor and strength of His will to show mercy to mankind.
Thirdly, what did He not do and suffer in order to deliver us effectively from all the temporal and eternal miseries into which our sin had plunged us? All the actions of His life-of a life of thirty-four years-of a life divinely human and humanly divine-all the virtues that n practiced, all His steps and travels here on earth, all the labors that r endured, all the humiliations, privations and mortifications that underwent, all His fasts, vigils, prayers and sermons, all His sufferings, wounds and sorrows, His most cruel and shameful death, His Precious Blood shed to the last drop-were not all these things, I repeat, employed not only to rid us of every kind of evil, but also to grant us possession of an eternal empire, filled with an immensity of glory, grandeur, joy, felicity, and inconceivable and inexpressible blessings? O bounty! O love! O superabundance! O incomprehensible and inexplicable mercy! O my Saviour, how well indeed art Thou called the God of mercy! O human heart, how frightful is thy hardness and stupidity if thou dost not love this God of love! Oh, what shalt thou love if thou dost not love Him Who has so much love and kindness for thee?
But what is the meaning of the following phrase, “From generation unto generations, to them that fear Him?” According to the explanation of holy Doctors, these words mean that, since our Saviour was made flesh and died for all men, He also pours the treasures of His mercy upon all those who do not oppose but rather fear Him. Being the inexhaustible fountain of grace and mercies, God also derives a sovereign pleasure from bestowing them continually upon His children, everywhere and at all times. Although, according to Saint Bernard, divine mercy is equally shared by the three divine Persons, together with all the other divine attributes, it is nevertheless attributed particularly to the person of the Son, as power is to the Father and bounty to the Holy Spirit. It is particularly the Incarnate Word who, through His great mercy, delivered us from the tyranny of sin, from the power of the devil, from eternal death, from the torments of Hell and infinity of evils and miseries, and acquired for us, at the cost of His Precious Blood and His divine life, the same eternal empire which His eternal Father had given to Him.
But Our Lord did not will to accomplish this great work by Himself. In addition to doing all things in union with the heavenly Father and the Holy Ghost, Christ also willed to associate His most holy Mother with Him in the great work of His mercy. “It is not good for man to be alone,” {footnote} Gen 2, 18{/footnote}said God when He willed to give the first woman to the first man; “let us make him a helpmate like unto himself.” So also does the new Man, who is Jesus Christ, choose to have a helpmate in Mary, and the eternal Father gives the Blessed Mother to the beloved on to assist Him and cooperate with Him in the great work of the salvation of the world, which is the work of His great mercy.
When Saint Catherine of Siena was in Rome, she pronounced several magnificent eulogies in honor of the Mother of God on the east of the Annunciation in 1379-eulogies motivated and inspired by the Holy Spirit-of which these four invocations are most worthy, “O Mary, Bearer of Fire! O Mary, Peaceful Ocean! O Mary, Fiery Chariot! O Mary, Administrator of Mercy!”
Mary is called “Bearer of Fire” because she carried in her virginal body Him who is all-enkindled with love and charity toward mankind, who said that He came to bring fire to the earth, and proclaimed that His greatest desire was to inflame all hearts with love. {footnote} Luke 12, 49.{/footnote}
Mary is called a “Peaceful Ocean” because she is an immense sea of grace, virtue and perfection, an ocean that is always calm and peaceful, that sustains and transports everyone to the port of eternal salvation without trouble or difficulty.
Mary is a “Fiery Chariot” completely inflamed with love, charity, goodness and meekness on behalf of true Israelites . . . “the Chariot of Israel,” {footnote} Luke 12, 49.{/footnote}that is, of the true children (of God); but she is equally as terrifying to all the demons as she is meek and kind to men. Whoever honors, loves, serves and invokes Mary with humility and confidence will ascend to Paradise in a fiery chariot.
She is the “Administrator of Mercy” because God has endowed her with extraordinary goodness, meekness, generosity and kindness, with unparalleled power, that she may desire and be capable of helping, protecting, sustaining and comforting all the afflicted, the miserable, and those who have recourse to her in their needs and necessities.
Mary does this continually with regard to individuals, kingdoms, provinces, cities, houses and even the whole world, according to these words of one of the holiest and most learned Fathers of the Church, Saint Fulgentius, who lived almost twelve centuries ago. “Heaven and earth,” he says, “would long since have been reduced to the nothingness out of which they were created, had not the prayers of Mary sustained them.” These words must be understood to include not only the firmament but also the other skies which contain the sun, the stars and the moon. {footnote} Caelum et terra jamdudum ruissent, se Maria precibus non susrenrasset. Mythohgia, lib. 4{/footnote}
Let us, then, acknowledge and honor the Mother of the Saviour as the Mother of Mercy, with whom her beloved son willed to share His great mercy to associate her in the works of His clemency and benignity-Infinite and eternal thanks be rendered to Thee for this partnership! O my Saviour! O Mother of Mercy, may all the angels, saints and creatures forever sing the mercy of Thy son Jesus and His divine Mother! “The mercies of the Lord I will sing forever.”{footnote} Ps. 88, 2.{/footnote}”Let the mercies of the Lord give glory to him: and his wonderful works to the children of men.”{footnote} Ps. 106, 8.{/footnote}
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