The sleep of the Saints is a prayer before God.—St. Jerome.
It is great blindness and misery to seek repose where it is impossible to find it.—St. Teresa.
Devotion to the 'Salve Regina.'
St. Bernard is celebrated for his love of the Blessed Virgin and for the praises he has rendered to her. His language is of such sweetness, that it surpasses that of all preceding ages for beauty and tenderness in discoursing of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This saint seems to have gathered together and made his own all the most loving affections of the most fervent servants. Mary was his ruling thought, and he could not restrain the transports of his heart when he spoke of her. The very mention of her name sufficed to render him ecstatic. With good reason, then, did Peter the Abbot of St. Remigius, at Rheims, say to one of St. Bernard's adversaries: 'If you have the courage to touch the pupil of Mary's eye, write against St. Bernard.'
This Saint was commissioned to preach the second general Crusade throughout Europe, and when he had traversed France, Belgium and the Rhenish countries, he retired to the Abbey of Effinghem, to recollect his soul in that pious solitude. One evening the Monks were moved to tears by a discourse of St. Bernard's in praise of Mary, and they begged him to intone the Salve Regina, which they sang every evening before her image. As the Saint could not excuse himself, he devoutly intoned the Salve with his powerful voice, and was accompanied by all the Monks. When the sweet words Et Jesum benedictum fructum ventris tui, nobis post hoc exilium ostende had been sung, all were silent (because at that time the anthem ended with these words). However, the inspired voice of Bernard continued, and he gave expression to the sentiments of his heart in the three invocations with which it is now concluded: O clemens, O pia, O dulcis Virgo Maria! These words were afterwards adopted by the whole Church.
It is in commemoration of this event that the Salve Regina is solemnly sung every evening in the Cathedral of Spire.
St. Vincent de Paul used to say that no prayer is so suitable to us miserable exiles in this valley of tears as this: Salve Regina, Mater misericordiæ . . . Ad te clamamus, exules filii Hevæ.
St. Philip Neri, having heard the confession of a famous criminal, spoke thus to him: 'My son, I shall require but little from you, and if you fulfil it I assure you that you will be saved. Promise me to place all your confidence in the Most Blessed Virgin, the Mother of Divine Grace, and for this purpose recite the Salve Regina seven times every day in her honour, and kiss the ground the same number of times, saying: "I may die this moment."' The penitent made the promise and kept it. He died holily fourteen years after, full of gratitude and love towards his good Mother Mary.
Prayer.—Most amiable Heart of Mary, object of the complacency of the adorable Trinity, and worthy of the veneration of Angels and of men; Heart like unto that of Jesus Christ and its most perfect image; Heart full of goodness and compassion for our miseries! Oh, break the ice of our hearts, turn our affections towards the adorable Heart of Our Saviour, and impress on them the love of your virtues. Watch over Holy Church, protect it, and be to it an impregnable fortress, so that it may be secure amidst all the assaults of its enemies. Be you our way to God, our succour in our trials, our consolation in sufferings, our strength in temptations, and our refuge in persecutions. Above all things assist us at the point of death, when hell will exert all its efforts for our eternal ruin. Let us then, indeed, experience the power you have over the Heart of Jesus, that we may find a secure asylum in the bosom of His Mercy, and then, with you, praise Him throughout ages and ages. Amen.