Posted by Spiritual Reading
VITA, DULCEDO! HAIL, OUR LIFE, OUR SWEETNESS!
XX.-MARY IS OUR LIFE, BECAUSE SHE OBTAINS FOR US PERSEVERANCE.
Final perseverance is so great a gift of God that, as was declared by the Holy Council of Trent, it
is quite gratuitous on God’s part, and we cannot merit it. Yet we are told by St. Augustine that
all who seek for it obtain it from God; and, according to Father Suarez, they obtain it infallibly,
if only they are diligent in ask ing for it to the end of their lives. For, as Blessed ‘.Bellarmine well remarks, ” that which is daily require< must be asked for every day.” Now, if it
is true (anc I hold it as certain, according to the now generall: received opinion) that all the
graces God dispenses t men pass through the hands of Mary, it will be equall true that it is only
through Mary that we can hope fo this greatest of all graces-perseverance. And we shal obtain it
most certainly, if we always seek it with confi dence through Mary. This grace she herself
promises t all who serve her faithfully during life, in the followin words of Ecclesiasticus, and
which are applied to her b the Church on the Feast of her Immaculate Conception They that work by
me shall not sin. They that explai me shall have life everlasting-(Ecclus. xxiv. 30).
In order that we may be preserved in the life of grace we require spiritual fortitude to resist the
many enemie of our salvation. Now this fortitude can be obtained only by means of Mary, and we
are assured of it in the Book of Proverbs, for the Church applies the passage to this most Blessed
Virgin. Strength is mine; by m kings reign-(Prov. viii. 14); meaning by the word strength is
mine that God has bestowed this precious gift on Mary in order that she may dispense it to her
faithful clients. And by the words By me kint:;s reign she signifies that by her means her
servants reign over and command their senses and passions, and thus become worthy to reign
eternally in Heaven. Oh, wha strength do the servants of this great Lady possess to overcome all
the assaults of hell ! Mary is that tower spoken of in the sacred Canticles : Thy neck is as the
tower of David, which is built with bulwarks; a thousand bucklers hang upon it, all the
armour of valiant men-(Cant. iv. 4). She is as a well defended fortress in defence of her lovers
who, in their wars, have recourse to her. In her do her clients find all shields and arms to
defend themselves against hell.