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Mary in the Sacred Scriptures: the Hope of Sinners (II)
“Mary is the Hope of Sinners”
By St. Alphonsus Liguori
In the first chapter of the Book of Genesis we read the God made two great lights; a greater light
to rule the day; and a lesser light to rule the night (v.16). “Christ is
the greater light to rule the just, and Mary the lesser light to rule the
sinners;” meaning that the sun is a figure of Jesus Christ, Whose light is
enjoyed by the just who live in the clear day of divine grace; and that the
moon is a figure of Mary, by whose means those who are in the night of sin are
enlightened. Since Mary is this auspicious luminary, and is so for the benefit
of poor sinners, should any one have been so unfortunate as to fall into the
night of sin, what is he to do? Pope Innocent III replies, “Whoever is in the
night of sin, let him cast his eyes on the moon, let him implore Mary.” Since
he has lost the light of the sun of justice by losing the grace of God, let him
turn to the moon, and beseech Mary; and She
will certainly give him the light to see the misery of his state, and strength
to leave it without delay.
One of the titles which is the most encouraging to poor
sinners, and under which the Church teaches us to invoke Mary in the Litany of
Lorreto, is that of Refugium peccatorum (“Refuge
of sinners”). In Judea in ancient times there were cities of refuge, in which
criminals who fled there for protection were exempt from the punishments which
they had deserved. Nowadays… there is but one, and that is Mary, of Whom the
Psalmist says Glorious things are said of
thee, O city of God (86.3). But this City
differs from the ancient ones in this respect – that in the latter all kinds of
criminals did not find refuge, nor was the protection extended to every class
of crime; but under the mantle of Mary all sinners, without exception, find
refuge for every sin that they may have committed, provided only that they go
there to seek for this protection. And
it is sufficient to have recourse to Her, for whoever has the good fortune to
enter this city need not speak to be saved. Assemble
yourselves, and let us enter into the fenced city, and let us be silent there (Jer.
8.14). This City, says St. Albert the
Great, is the most Holy Virgin fenced in
with grace and glory. And let us be
silent there, that is, “because we
dare not invoke the Lord, Whom we have offended, She will invoke and ask. For
if we do not presume to ask our Lord to forgive us, it will suffice to enter
this City and be silent, for Mary will speak and ask all that we require. And for
this reason, “Fly, O Adam and Eve, and all you their children, who outraged
God; fly, and take refuge in the bosom of this good Mother; know you not that
She is our only City of refuge?”
St. Ephrem salutes this Blessed Virgin in the following
words: “Hail, refuge and hospital of
sinners!” St. Basil of Seleucia remarks, “that if God granted to some who
were only His servants such power, that not only their touch but even their
shadows healed the sick, who were placed for this purpose in the public
streets, how much greater power must we suppose that He has granted to Her who
was not only His handmaid but His Mother?” We may indeed say that Our Lord has
given us Mary as a public infirmary, in which all who are sick, poor, and
destitute can be received. But now… in hospitals erected expressly for the
poor, who have the greatest claim to admission? Certainly the most infirm, and
those who are in the greatest need.
And for this reason should any one find himself devoid of
merit and overwhelmed with spiritual infirmities, that is to say, sin, he can
thus address Mary: O Lady, thou art the refuge of the sick poor; reject me not;
for as I am the poorest and the most infirm of all, I have the greatest right
to be welcomed by thee.
In the revelation of St. Bridget, Mary is called the
“Star preceding the Sun,” giving us thereby to understand, that when devotion
towards the divine Mother begins to manifest itself in a soul that is in a
state of sin, it is a certain mark that before long God will enrich it with his
grace. The glorious St. Bonaventure, in order to revive the confidence of
sinners in the protection of Mary, place before them the picture of a
tempestuous sea, into which sinners have already fallen from the ship of divine
grace; they are already dashed about on every side by remorse of conscience and
by fear of the judgments of God; they are without light or guide, and are on
the point of losing the last breath of hope and falling into despair; then it
is that Our Lord, pointing out Mary to them, who is commonly called Stella Maris (“Star of the Sea”), raises
His voice and says, “O poor lost sinners, despair not; raise up your eyes, and
cast them on this beautiful star; breathe again with confidence, for it will
save you from this tempest, and will guide you into the port of salvation.” St.
Bernard says the same thing: “If thou wouldst not be lost in the tempest, cast
thine eyes on the star, and invoke Mary.”
A devout writer declares that “She is the only refuge of
those who have offended God, the asylum of all who are oppressed by temptation,
calamity, or persecution. The Mother is all mercy, benignity, and sweetness,
not only to the just, but also to despairing sinners; so that no sooner does
She perceive them coming to Her, and seeking Her health from their hearts, than
She aids them, welcomes them, and obtains their pardon from Her Son. She knows
not how to despise any one, however unworthy he may be of mercy, and therefore
denies Her protection to none; She consoles all, and is no sooner called upon
than She helps whoever it may be that invokes Her. She by Her sweetness often
awakens and draws sinners to Her devotion who are the most at enmity with God
ad the most deeply plunged in the lethargy of sin; and then, by the same means,
She excites them effectually, and prepares them for grace, and thus renders
them fit for the kingdom of heaven… It is impossible for any one to perish who
attentively, and with humility, cultivates devotion towards this divine
Mother.”
In the Book of Ecclesiasticus, May is called a plane-tree: As a plane-tree I was exalted (24.19). And She is so-called that
sinners may understand that as the plane-tree gives shelter to travelers from
the heat of the sun, so does Mary invite them to take shelter under Her
protection from the wrath of God, justly enkindled against them. St.
Bonaventure remarks that the Prophet Isaias complained of the times in which he
lived, saying, Behold Thou art angry, and
we have sinned… there is none… that riseth up and taketh hold of thee (64.5).
And then he makes the following commentary: “It is true, O Lord, that at the
time there was none to raise up sinners and withhold Thy wrath, for Mary was
not yet born; before Mary there was no one who could thus dare to restrain the
arm of God. But now, if God is angry with a sinner, and Mary takes him under
Her protection, She withholds the avenging arm of Her Son, and saves him. Richard of St. Laurence says that “God,
before the birth of Mary, complained by the mouth of the Prophet Ezechiel that
there was no one to rise up and withhold Him from chastising sinners, but that
He could find no one, for this office was reserved for Our Blessed Lady, who
withholds His arm until He is pacified [so to speak].”
This Mother of mercy has so great a desire to save the
most abandoned sinners, that She Herself goes in search of them, in order to
help them; and if they have recourse to Her, She knows how to find the means to
render them acceptable to God. The Patriarch Isaac, desiring to eat of some
wild animal, promised his blessing to his son Esau on his procuring this food
for him; but Rebecca, who was anxious that her other son Jacob should receive
the blessing, called him and said, Go thy way to the flock, bring me two kids
of the best, that I may make of them meat for thy father, such as he gladly
eateth (Gen. 27.9). St. Antoninus says, “that Rebecca was a figure of Mary,
who commands the angels to bring Her sinners (meant by kids), that She may
adorn them in such a way (by obtaining for them sorrow and purpose of
amendment) as to render them dear and acceptable to the Lord.”
The Blessed Virgin Herself revealed to St. Bridget “that
there is no sinner in the world, however much he may at enmity with God, who
does not return to Him and recover His grace, if he has recourse to Her and
asks Her assistance.” The same St. Bridget one day heard Jesus Christ address
His Mother, and say the “She would be ready to obtain the grace of God for
Lucifer himself, if only he humbles himself
so far as to seek Her aid.” That proud spirit will never humble himself
so far as to implore the protection of Mary.
Noah’s ark was a true figure of Mary; for as in it all
kinds of beasts were saved, so under the mantle of Mary all sinners, who by
their vices and sensuality are already like beasts, find refuge; but with this
difference… that “while the brutes that entered the Ark remained brutes, the
wolf remaining a wolf, and a tiger a tiger, under the mantle of Mary, on the
other hand, the wolf becomes a lamb, and the tiger a dove.”
It is related also in the Sacred Scriptures that Booz
allowed Ruth to gather the ears of corn,
after the reapers (Ruth 2.3). St. Bonaventure says, “that as Ruth found
favor with Booz, so has Mary found favor with Our Lord, and is also allowed to
gather the ears of corn after the reapers. The reapers followed by Mary are all
evangelical laborers, missionaries, preachers, and confessors, who are
constantly reaping souls for God. But there are some hardened and rebellious
souls which are abandoned even by these. To Mary alone it is granted to save
them by Her powerful intercession.” Truly unfortunate are they if they do not
allow themselves to be gathered, even by this most sweet Lady. They will indeed
be most certainly lost and accursed.
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