St. Robert Bellarmine: The Seven Words on the Cross

[Stone]

CHAPTER XII: The fourth fruit to be drawn from the consideration of the third Word spoken by Christ upon the Cross.

The burden and yoke our Lord imposed on St. John, in entrusting to his care the protection of His Virgin Mother, was indeed a yoke that was sweet, and a burden that was light Who indeed would not esteem it a happiness to dwell under the same roof with her, who for nine months had borne in her womb the Incarnate Word, and for thirty years enjoyed the most sweet and happy communication of sentiments with Him? Who does not envy the chosen disciple of our Lord, whose heart in the absence of the Son of God was gladdened by the constant presence of the Mother of God? Yet if I mistake not it is in our power to obtain by our prayers that our most kind Lord, Who became Man for our sakes and was crucified for love of us, should say to us in reference to His Mother, “Behold thy Mother,” and should say to His Mother for each one of us “Behold thy son!” Our good Lord is not avaricious of His graces, provided we approach the throne of grace with faith and confidence, with true and open but not dissembling hearts He Who wishes to have us coheirs in the kingdom of His Father, will not disdain to have us coheirs in the love of His Mother Nor will our most benign Lady take it amiss to have a countless host of children, since she has a heart capable of embracing us all, and ardently desires that not one of those sons should perish whom her Divine Son redeemed with His precious Blood and His still more precious Death Let us therefore with confidence approach the throne of the grace of Christ, and with tears humbly beg of Him to say to His Mother for each of us, “Behold thy son,” and to us in reference to His Mother, “Behold thy Mother.” How secure should we be under the protection of such a Mother! Who would dare to drag us from beneath her mantle? What temptations, what tribulations could overcome us if we confide in the protection of the Mother of God and of our Mother? Nor should we be the first who had secured such powerful patronage. Many have preceded us, many I say have placed themselves under the singular and maternal protection of so powerful a Virgin, and no one has been cast off by her with his soul in a perplexed and despondent state, but all who confide in the love of such a Mother are happy and contented. Of her it is written “She shall crush thy head.”[1] Those who trust in her will safely “walk upon the asp and the basilisk, and will trample under foot the lion and the dragon.”[2] Let us, however, listen to the words of a few distinguished men out of the vast array who acknowledged that they had placed their hope of salvation in the Virgin, and to whom we may believe our Lord had said “Behold thy Mother,” and of whom He had said to His Mother, “Behold thy son.”

The first shall be the Syrian, St. Ephrem, an ancient Father of such renown that St. Jerome informs us his works were publicly read in the churches after the Holy Scriptures. In one of his sermons on the praises of the Mother of God, he says, “The undefiled and pure Virgin Mother of God, the Queen of all, and the hope of those in despair.” And again “Thou art a harbour for those who are tossed by storms, the comfort of the world, the liberator of those in prison; thou art the mother of orphans, the redeemer of captives, the joy of the sick, and the star of safety for all.” And again “Under thy wing, guard and protect me, have mercy on me who am defiled with sin. I have confidence in none other but thee, O Virgin most sincere. Hail peace, joy, and safety of the world!” We will next quote St. John Damascene, who was one of the first to show the greatest honour and place the greatest confidence in the protection of the most holy Virgin. He thus discourses in a sermon on the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin: “O daughter of Joachim and Anne, O Lady, receive the prayers of a sinner who ardently loves and honours you, and looks up to you as his only hope of joy, as the priestess of life, and the leader of sinners back to grace and favour with your Son, and the secure depositary of safety, lighten the burden of my sins, overcome my temptations, make my life pious and holy, and grant that under thy guidance I may come to the happiness of heaven.” We will now select a few passages from two Latin Fathers. St. Anselm, in his work on the “Excellence of the Virgin,” somewhere says: “I consider it a great sign of predestination for any one to have had the favour granted him of frequently thinking of Mary.” And again: “Remember that we sometimes obtain help by invoking the name of the Virgin Mother sooner than if we had invoked the Name of the Lord Jesus, her only Son, and this not because she is greater or more powerful than He, nor because He is great and powerful through her, but she is so through Him. How is it then that we obtain assistance sooner by invoking her than by invoking her Son? I say that I think this is so, and my reason is that her Son is the Lord and Judge of all, and is able to discern the merits of each. Consequently when His Name is invoked by any one, He may justly turn a deaf ear to the entreaty, but if the name of His Mother is invoked, even supposing that the merits of the supplicant do not entitle him to be heard, still the merits of the Mother of God are such that her Son cannot refuse to listen to her prayer.” But St. Bernard, in language which is truly wonderful, describes on the one hand the holy and maternal affection with which the Blessed Virgin cherishes those who are devout to her, and on the other hand the tender and filial love of those who regard her as their Mother. In his second sermon on the text, “The Angel was sent,” he exclaims: “O thou, whoever thou art, that knowest thou art exposed to the dangers of the tempestuous sea of this world more than thou enjoyest the security of dry land, do not withdraw thy eyes from the splendour of this Star, from Mary the Star of the Sea, unless thou wishest to be swallowed up in the tempest. If the winds of temptations arise, if thou art thrown upon the rocks of tribulations, look up to this Star, call upon Mary. If thou art tossed hither and thither on the billows of pride, ambition, detraction, or envy, look up to this Star, call on Mary. If thou, terrified at the enormity of thy crimes, perplexed at the unclean state of thy conscience, and stricken with awe for thy Judge, beginnest to be engulphed in the abyss of sadness or the pit of despair, think of Mary; in all thy dangers, in all thy difficulties, in all thy doubts think of Mary, call upon Mary. Thou wilt not go astray if thou followest her, thou wilt not despair if thou prayest to her, thou wilt not err if thou thinkest of her.” The same Saint in his sermon on the Nativity of the Virgin, speaks as follows. “Raise your thoughts and judge with what affection He wishes us to honour Mary, Who has filled her soul with the plenitude of His goodness, so that whatever hope, whatever grace, whatever preservation from sin is ours we may recognize as flowing from her hands.” “Let us then venerate Mary with our whole hearts and all our votive offerings, for such is His will Who would have us receive everything through Mary.” “My children, she is the ladder for sinners, she is my greatest confidence, she is the whole foundation of my hope.” To these extracts from the writings of two holy Fathers, I will add some quotations from two holy theologians. St. Thomas, in his essay on the Angelical salutation, says: “She is blessed among women because she alone has removed the curse of Adam, brought blessings to mankind, and opened the gates of Paradise. Hence she is called Mary, which name signifies ‘Star of the Sea,’ for as sailors steer their ship to port by watching the stars, so Christians are brought to glory by the intercession of Mary.” St. Bonaventure in his Pharetra writes: “O most Blessed Virgin, as every one that hates you and is forgotten by you must necessarily perish, so every one that loves you and is loved by you must necessarily be saved.” The same Saint in his Life of St. Francis speaks of that Saint’s confidence in the Blessed Virgin in the following terms. “He loved the Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ with an unspeakable love, by her our Lord Jesus Christ became our brother, and by her we have obtained mercy. Next to Christ he placed all his confidence in her, he regarded her as his own and his Order’s advocate, and in her honour devoutly fasted from the feast of St. Peter and Paul to the Assumption.” With these saints we will couple the name of Pope Innocent III, who was eminently distinguished for his devotion to the Virgin, and not only extolled her in his sermons, but built a monastery in her honour, and what is more admirable, in an exhortation he made to his flock to induce them to trust in her, he used words the truth of which was afterwards exemplified in his own person. Thus he spoke in his second sermon on the Assumption: “Let the man who is sitting in the darkness of sin look up to the moon, let him invoke Mary that she may intercede with her Son, and bring him to compunction of heart. For who has ever called upon her in his distress and has not been heard?” The reader should consult cap. ix. book 2, on the “Tears of the Dove,” and see what we have there written about Pope Innocent III. From these extracts, and from these signs of predestination, it is abundantly evident that a hearty devotion to the Virgin Mother of God is not a modern introduction. For it seems incredible that that man should perish in whose favour Christ had said to His Mother, “Behold thy son,” provided that he has not turned a deaf ear to the words which Christ had addressed to himself, “Behold thy Mother.”


ENDNOTES

1. Gen. iii. 15.
2. Psalm xc. 13.