Mary is the Peace-maker between Sinners and God.

STORY
In Braganza there was a young man, who, after giving up the confraternity, abandoned himself to so many crimes that one day, in despair, he went to drown himself in a river; but before doing so, he addressed our Blessed Lady, saying: “O Mary, I once served you in the confraternity; help me.”  The most Blessed Virgin appeared to him and said:  “Yes, and now what are you going to do?  Do you wish to lose yourself both in soul and body?  Go, confess your sins, and rejoin the confraternity.”  The young man, encouraged hereby, thanked the Blessed Virgin, and changed his life.

PRAYER
O my most sweet Lady, since your office is, as William of Paris says, that of a mediatress between God and sinners, I will address you in the words of St Thomas of Villanova; “Fulfil your office in my behalf, O tender advocate; do your work.  Say not that my cause is too difficult to gain; for I know, and all tell me so, that every cause, no matter how desperate, if undertaken by you, is never, and never will be, lost.  And will mine be lost?  Ah no, this I cannot fear.  The only thing that I might fear is, that, on seeing the multitude of my sins, you might not undertake my defence.  But, on seeing your immense mercy, and the very great desire of your most sweet heart to help the most abandoned sinners, even this I cannot fear.  And who was ever lost that had recourse to you?  Therefore I invoke your aid, O my great advocate, my refuge, my hope, my mother Mary.  To your hands do I entrust the cause of my eternal salvation.  To you do I commit my soul; it was lost, but you have to save it.  I will always thank our Lord for having given me this great confidence in you; and which, notwithstanding my unworthiness, I feel is an assurance of salvation.  I have but one fear to afflict me, O beloved Queen, and that is, that I may one day, by my own negligence, lose this confidence in you.  And therefore I implore you, O Mary, by the love you bear to Jesus, yourself to preserve and increase in me more and more this sweet confidence in your intercession, by which I hope most certainly to recover the divine friendship, that I have up to now so madly despised and lost; and having recovered it, I hope, through you, to preserve it; and preserving it by the same means, I hope at length to thank you for it in heaven, and there to sing God’s mercies and yours for all eternity.  Amen.  This is my hope; thus may it be, thus will it be.

To thee do we sigh, mourning and weeping, in this valley of tears.

STORY
A young nobleman who was on a sea-voyage begun to read an obscene book, in which he took much pleasure.  A religious noticed this, and said to him:  “Are you disposed to make a present to our Blessed Lady?”  The young man replied that he was.  “Well,” the other answered, “I wish that, for the love of the most holy Virgin you would give up that book, and throw it into the sea.”  “Here it is, Father,” said the young man.  “No,” replied the religious, “you must yourself make Mary this present.”  He did so; and no sooner had he returned to Genoa, his native place, than the Mother of God so inflamed his heart with divine love that he entered a religious Order.

PRAYER
O my soul, see what a sure hope of salvation and eternal life our Lord has given you, by having in his mercy inspired you with confidence in the patronage of his Mother; and this, notwithstanding that so many times by your sins you have merited his displeasure and hell.  Thank your God, and thank your protectress Mary, who has condescended to take you under her mantle; for of this you may be well convinced, after the many graces that you have received by her means.  O yes, I do thank you, my most loving Mother, for all you have done for me who am deserving of hell.  And from how many dangers have you not delivered me, O Queen!  How many inspirations and mercies have you not obtained for me from God!  What service, what honor, have I ever rendered you, that you should do so much for me?  I know that it is your sole goodness that has impelled you.  Ah, too little would it be in comparison with all that I owe you, did I shed my blood and give my life for you; for you have delivered me from eternal death; you have enabled me, as I hope, to recover divine grace; to you, in fine, I owe all I have.  My most amiable Lady, I, poor wretch that I am, can make you no return but that of always loving and praising you.  Ah, disdain not to accept the tender affection of a poor sinner, who is inflamed with love for your goodness.  If my heart is unworthy to love you, because it is impure and filled with earthly affections it is you who must change it.  Ah, change it, then.  Bind me to my God, and bind me so that I may never more have it in my power to separate myself from his love.  You ask of me that I should love your God, and I ask of you that you should obtain this love for me, to love him always; this is all that I desire.  Amen.

The Greatness of the Power of Mary to defend those who invoke her when tempted by the Devil.

STORY
In Reichersperg, in Bavaria, there was a canon regular of the name of Arnold, surnamed the Pious on account of the sanctity of his life, and who had the most tender devotion to our Blessed Lady.  When at the point of death, and having received the last sacraments, he summoned his religious brethren, and begged that they would not abandon him in his last passage.  Scarcely had he uttered these words, when, in the presence of all, he began to tremble, to roll his eyes, and bathed in a cold sweat, with a faltering voice said, “Ah, do you not see the devils who are endeavouring to drag me to hell?” He then cried out, “Brothers, implore the aid of Mary for me; in her I confide; she will give me the victory.”  On hearing this his brethren recited the Litany of our Blessed Lady, and as they said “Holy Mary, pray for him,” the dying man exclaimed, “Repeat, repeat the name of Mary, for I am already before God’s tribunal.”  He was silent for a moment, and then added, “It is true that I did that, but I have done penance for it.”  And then turning to our Blessed Lady, he said, “O Mary, I shall be delivered if you help me.” Again the devils attacked him; but he defended himself with his crucifix and the name of Mary.  Thus was the night spent; but no sooner did morning dawn than Arnold exclaimed with the greatest calmness, and full of holy joy, “Mary my sovereign Lady, my refuge, has obtained me pardon and salvation.”  Then casting his eyes on that Blessed Virgin who was inviting him to follow her, he said, “I come, O Lady, I come!” and making an effort to do so even with his body, his soul fled after her to the realms of eternal bliss, as we trust, for he sweetly expired.

PRAYER
Behold at your feet, O Mary my hope, a poor sinner, who has so many times been by his own fault the slave of hell.  I know that by neglecting to have recourse to you, my refuge, I allowed myself to be overcome by the devil.  Had I always had recourse to you, had I always invoked you, I certainly should not have fallen.  I trust, O Lady most worthy of all our love, that through you I have already escaped from the hands of the devil, and that God has pardoned me.  But I tremble lest at some future period I may again fall into the same bonds.  I know that my enemies have not lost the hope of again overcoming me, and already they prepare new assaults and temptations for me.  Ah, my Queen and refuge, do you assist me.  Place me under your mantle; permit me not again to become their slave.  I know that you wilt help me and give me the victory, provided I invoke you; but I dread lest in my temptations I may forget you, and neglect to do so.  The favour, then, that I seek of you, and which you must grant me, O most holy Virgin, is that I may never forget you, and especially in time of temptation; grant that I may then repeatedly invoke you, saying, “O Mary, help me; O Mary, help me.”  And when my last struggle with hell comes, at the moment of death, ah then, my Queen, help me more than ever, and you yourself remind me to call on you more frequently either with my lips or in my heart; that, being thus filled with confidence, I may expire with your sweet name and that of your Son Jesus on my lips; that so I may be able to bless you and praise you, and not depart from your feet in Paradise for all eternity.  Amen.

Mary, our Hope.

STORY
St Gregory relates that there was a young woman named Musa, who was very devout to the Mother of God; to whom, when she was in great danger of losing her innocence by the bad example of her companions, Mary appeared one day with many saints, and said:  “Musa, do you also wish to be one of these?”  On her answering “Yes,” she added, “Well, withdraw from your companions, and prepare yourself, for in a month you shall come.”  Musa did so, and related the vision.  On the thirteenth day she was at the point of death, when the most Blessed Virgin again appeared, and invited her to come.  She replied, “Behold, I come, O Lady,”  and sweetly expired.

PRAYER
O Mother of holy love, our life, our refuge, and our hope, you well know that your Son Jesus Christ, not content with being himself our perpetual advocate with the eternal Father, has willed that you also should interest yourself with him, in order to obtain the divine mercies for us.  He has decreed that your prayers should aid our salvation, and has made them so efficacious that they obtain all that they ask.  To you therefore, who are the hope of the miserable, do I, a wretched sinner, turn my eyes.  I trust, O Lady, that in the first place through your intercession, I shall be saved.  Of this I am certain; and my confidence in you is such, that if my eternal salvation were in my own hands, I should place it in yours, for I rely more on your mercy and protection than on all my own works.  My mother and my hope, abandon me not, though I deserve that you should do so.  See my miseries, and, being moved thereby with compassion, help and save me.  I own that I have too often closed my heart, by my sins, against the lights and helps that you have procured for me from the Lord.  But your compassion for the miserable, and your power with God, far surpass the number and malice of my sins.  It is well known to all, both in heaven and on earth, that whosoever is protected by you is certainly saved.  All may forget me, provided only that you do remember me, O Mother of an omnipotent God.  Tell him that I am your servant; say only that you defend me, and I shall be saved.  O Mary, I trust in you; in this hope I live; in it I desire and hope to die, repeating always, “Jesus is my only hope, and after Jesus the most Blessed Virgin Mary.”

Mary, our Life, our Sweetness.

STORY
Father Bovio relates that there was a sinful woman, named Ellen, who entered a church, and by chance heard a sermon on the Rosary.  On leaving the church she purchased a set of beads, but wore them concealed as she did not wish it to be known that she had them. She began to recite them, and though she did so without devotion, our most Blessed Lady poured such sweetness and consolation into her soul during the whole time, that she could not cease repeating the Hail Marys.  At last she was filled with such a horror for her wicked life, that she could no longer find repose, and was obliged to go to confession.  She accomplished this duty with such contrition that the priest was filled with astonishment.  After her confession, she went to the foot of an altar of the most Blessed Virgin, and there, in thanksgiving to her advocate, she said the Rosary.  The divine mother then addressed her from the image in the following words:  “Ellen, you have already too much offended God and me; from this moment change your life, and I will bestow a large share of my graces upon you.”  The poor sinner, in the deepest confusion, replied:  “Ah! Most Holy Virgin, it is true that up to now I have been a wicked sinner; but you can do all, help me; on my part I abandon myself to you, and will spend the remainder of my life in doing penance for my sins.”  With the assistance of Mary, she distributed all her goods among the poor, and began a life of rigorous mortification.  She was tormented with dreadful temptations, but constantly recommended herself to the Mother of God, and thus was always victorious.  She was favored with many extraordinary graces, with visions, revelations, and even the gift of prophecy.  Finally, before her death, which was announced to her by Mary some days before it took place, the most Blessed Virgin came herself, with her divine Son, to visit her; and when she expired, her soul was seen flying towards heaven in the form of a beautiful dove.

PRAYER
Behold, O Mother of my God, my only hope.  Mary, behold at your feet a miserable sinner, who asks you for mercy.  You are proclaimed and called by the whole Church, and by all the faithful, the refuge of sinners.  You are consequently my refuge; you have to save me.  I will say with William of Paris, You know, most sweet Mother of God, how much your Blessed Son desires our salvation.  You know all that Jesus Christ endured for this end.  I present to you, O my Mother, the sufferings of Jesus: the cold that he endured in the stable, his journey into Egypt, his toils, his sweat, the blood that he shed, the anguish which caused his death on the cross, and of which you were yourself a witness.  O, show that you love your beloved Son, and by this love I implore you to assist me.  Extend your hand to a poor creature who has fallen, and asks your help. Were I a saint, I would not need seek your mercy; but because I am a sinner, I fly to you, who are the Mother of Mercies. I know that your compassionate heart finds its consolation in assisting the miserable, when you can do so, and do not find them obstinate.  Console, then, your compassionate heart, and console me this day; for now you have the opportunity of saving a poor creature condemned to hell; and you can do so, for I will not be obstinate.  I abandon myself into your hands, only tell me what you would have me do, and obtain for me strength to execute it, for I am resolved to do all that depends on me to recover the divine grace.  I take refuge under your mantle.  Jesus wills that I should have recourse to you, in order not only that his blood may save me, but also that your prayers may assist me in this great work; for your glory, and for his own, since you are his Mother.  He sends me to you, that you may help me.  O Mary, see, I have recourse to you; in you do I confide.  You pray for so many others, pray also for me; say only a word.  Tell our Lord that you will my salvation, and God will certainly save me.  Say that I am yours, and then I have obtained all that I ask, all that I desire.