Oh, how many would have failed of being among the blessed in heaven, if Mary, by her powerful intercession, had not conducted them thither! “I made that in the heavens there should rise light that never faileth;”[721] thus Cardinal Hugo puts into her mouth these words of the same chapter of Ecclesiasticus: I have made to shine in heaven as many eternal lights as I have devoted servants. Whence the same author adds, commenting on this text: Many saints are in heaven by her intercession, who never would have been there without it.[722] St. Bonaventure says, that the gate of heaven will be opened to receive all those who trust in the protection of Mary.[723] Hence St. Ephrem called devotion to the divine mother the opening of paradise.[724] And the devout Blosius, addressing the Virgin, says to her: Lady, to thee are committed the keys and the treasures of the heavenly kingdom.[725] And, therefore, we should continually supplicate her in the words of St. Ambrose: Open to us, oh Virgin, heaven, for thou hast the keys of it.[726] Nay, thou art even the gate of it, as the holy Church names thee, “Janua cœli.”
For this reason the great mother is also called by the holy Church: Star of the sea: “Ave, Maris stella.” For as navigators, says the angelic St. Thomas, are guided to port by means of a star, thus Christians are guided to heaven by means of Mary.[727]
She is for this reason, finally, called by St. Peter Damian, the ladder of heaven: “Scala cœlestis;” for, as the saint says, by means of Mary God has descended from heaven to earth, that by the same, or by her, men might merit to ascend from earth to heaven.[728] And for this reason, oh Lady, says St. Anastasius, thou art full of grace, that thou mightest be made the way of our salvation, and the ascent to the celestial country.[729] St. Bernard calls the blessed Virgin: The vehicle to heaven: “Vehiculum ad cœlum.” And St. John the Geometrician salutes her: Hail, most noble chariot: “Salve clarissime currus;” by which her servants are conducted to heaven. And, St. Bonaventure addresses her thus: Blessed are those who know thee, oh mother of God! for to know thee is the path to immortal life, and to publish thy virtues is the way to eternal salvation.[730]
In the Franciscan chronicles[731] it is related of brother Leo, that he once saw a red ladder, upon which Jesus Christ was standing, and a white one, upon which stood his holy mother. He saw persons attempting to ascend the red ladder; they ascended a few steps and then fell; they ascended again, and again fell. Then they were exhorted to ascend the white ladder, and on that he saw them succeed, for the blessed Virgin offered them her hand, and they arrived in that manner safe in paradise. St. Denis the Carthusian asks: Who will ever be saved? Who will ever reign in heaven? They are saved, and will certainly reign, he himself answers, for whom this queen of mercy offers her prayers.[732] And this Mary herself affirms: By me kings reign: “Per me reges regnant.”[733] Through my intercession souls reign first in the mortal life on this earth, by governing their passions, and then they go to reign eternally in heaven, where, as St. Augustine declares, all are kings: “Quot cives, tot reges.” Mary, in a word, as Richard of St. Laurence says, is the mistress of paradise, since there she commands according to her pleasure, and introduces into it whom she will. Therefore, applying to her the words of Ecclesiasticus, he adds: “My power is in Jerusalem:”[734] I command what I will, and introduce whom I will.[735] And as she is the mother of the Lord of paradise, she is with reason, also, says Rupert, the Lady of paradise. She possesses, by right, the whole kingdom of her Son.[736]
This divine mother, with her powerful prayers and assistance, has obtained for us paradise, if we place no obstacle to our entrance there.[737] Wherefore those who are servants of Mary, and for whom Mary intercedes, are as secure of paradise as if they were already there.[738] To serve Mary and to belong to her court, adds St. John of Damascus, is the greatest honor we can attain; for to serve the queen of heaven is to reign already in heaven, and to live in obedience to her commands is more than to reign.[739] On the other hand, he says that those who do not serve Mary will not be saved; whilst those who are deprived of the support of this great mother, are deprived of the succor of the Son, and of all the celestial court.[740]
Forever praised be the infinite goodness of our God who has constituted Mary our advocate in heaven, that she, as mother of the judge and mother of mercy may efficaciously, by her intercession, order the great affair of our eternal salvation. This sentiment is taken from St. Bernard.[741] And James the Monk, esteemed a doctor among the Greek fathers, says that God has made Mary a bridge of salvation, by which we are enabled to pass over the waves of this world, and reach the blessed port of paradise.[742] Hence St. Bonaventure exclaims: Hear, oh ye people who desire paradise; serve and honor Mary, and you will certainly find life eternal.[743]
Not even those who deserve hell should despair of attaining the kingdom of the blessed, if they faithfully devote themselves to the service of this queen. Sinners, says St. Germanus, have sought to find God by thy means, oh Mary, and have been saved![744] Richard of St. Laurence remarks that Mary is said by St. John to be crowned with stars.[745] On the other hand, in the sacred Canticles, the Virgin is said to be crowned with wild beasts, lions and panthers: “Come from Libanus, my spouse, come from Libanus, come; thou shalt be crowned from the dens of the lions, from the mountains of the leopards.”[746] What does this signify? Richard answers that those wild beasts are those sinners, who, through the favor and intercession of Mary, have become stars of paradise, which are a crown more worthy of this queen of mercy, than all the material stars of heaven.[747] The servant of the Lord, sister Seraphina da Capri, as we read in her life, in her prayers to the most holy Virgin during the Novena of her assumption, asked of her the conversion of a thousand sinners; but as she feared that her demands were too extravagant, the Virgin appeared to her, and reproved her for this her vain fear, saying to her: “Why do you fear? am I not powerful enough to obtain for thee from my Son the salvation of a thousand sinners? Behold them, I have already obtained it.” She then led her in spirit to paradise, and there showed her the souls of innumerable sinners who had merited hell, and had afterwards been saved by her intercession, and were already enjoying eternal bliss.
It is true that in this life no one can be certain of his eternal salvation: “Man knoweth not whether he be worthy of love or hatred, but all things are kept uncertain for the time to come.”[748] David asked of God: Oh Lord, who will be saved? “Who shall dwell in thy tabernacle?”[749] St. Bonaventure, writing on these words, answers: Oh sinners, let us follow the footsteps of Mary, and cast ourselves at her blessed feet, and let us not leave her until she blesses us, for her blessing will secure to us paradise.[750] It is enough, oh Lady, says St. Anselm, that thou dost wish to save us, for then we cannot but be saved.[751] St. Antoninus adds, that souls protected by Mary are necessarily saved; those upon whom she turns her eyes are necessarily justified and glorified.[752]
With reason, says St. Ildephonsus, the most holy Virgin predicted that all generations would call her blessed;[753] for all the elect by means of Mary obtain eternal blessedness.[754] Thou, oh great mother, art the beginning, the middle, and the end of our felicity, says St. Methodius.[755] The beginning, because Mary obtains for us the pardon of our sins; the middle, because she obtains for us perseverance in divine grace; the end, because she finally obtains for us paradise. By thee, St. Bernard continues, heaven has been opened—by thee hell has been emptied—by thee paradise has been restored—by thee, in a word, eternal life has been given to many sinners who have merited eternal death.[756]
But above all, we should be encouraged in the certain hope of paradise, by the rich promise which Mary has herself made to those who honor her, and especially to those who, by their words and their example, strive to make her known and honored among others: “They that work by me shall not sin; they that explain me shall have life everlasting.”[757] Oh happy, then, are they, says St. Bonaventure, who gain the favor of Mary! they will be welcomed by the blessed as being already their companions; and whosoever bears the seal of a servant of Mary, has his name already written in the book of life.[758] Of what avail is it, then, to trouble ourselves with the opinions of the schoolmen, on the question, whether predestination to glory precedes or follows the foreknowledge of merits? Whether or not our names are written in the book of life? If we are true servants of Mary and obtain her protection, we certainly are written there; for, as St. John of Damascus says, God gives the grace of devotion to his holy mother only to those whom he will save; in conformity with this, as the Lord seems to have declared expressly through St. John: “He that shall overcome, I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God.”[759] And who is this city of God but Mary? as St. Gregory explains, commenting on this passage of David: “Glorious things are said of thee, oh city of God.”[760]