Doña Maria

“ Blessed art thou among women: “Benedicta tu in mulieribus.” Oh woman, blessed among all women, obtain for us also the divine benediction. Oh blessed plant which hath given to the world a fruit so noble and so holy: “Et benedictus fructus ventris tui.” Holy Mary, mother of God: “Sancta Maria, mater Dei.” Oh Mary, I confess that thou art the true mother of God, and for this truth I would give my life a thousand times. Pray for us sinners: “Ora pro nobis peccatoribus.” But if thou art the mother of God, thou art also the mother of our salvation, and of us poor sinners ”

“ Ah, most pure Mary! ah, most sweet Mary! make thy name henceforth to be the breath of my life. Oh Lady, do not delay coming to my help when I call upon thee, since in all the temptations which may assail me, in all the necessities I may suffer, I shall never cease calling upon thee, always repeating Mary, Mary. Thus I hope to do in life, thus especially I hope to do in death, that I may afterwards come to praise eternally in heaven thy beloved name: O clemens! O pia! O dulcis Virgo Maria! Ah Mary! Mary most amiable! ”

“ The worship paid to the Virgin Mary in Spain and Italy exceeds that which is given to the Son or the Father. When they pray to Mary, their imagination pictures a beautiful woman, they really feel a passion; while Jesus is only regarded as a Bambino, or infant at the breast, and the Father is hardly ever recollected: but the Madonna la Senhora, la Maria Santa, while she inspires their religious inclinations, is a mistress to those who have none. ”

“ She seemed solicitous to be still farther assured of the happiness I had spoken of as enjoyed by the nuns.
When she touched that subject, I addressed her exactly after the manner directed by the Superior, and speaking rather harshly, inquired of her, "Do you condemn the life of a nun, then?" She instantly answered, "No;" and she easily admitted all I said about the attention paid to the comfort of those in the Convent. But," said she, "my mother is very much opposed to my taking the veil; she is a widow, and you know we are bound to honour and obey our parents—nature teaches us that." ”

“ Bernard exhorts us to ask through Mary for every grace that we wish from God: “Quæramus gratiam, et per Mariam quæramus;” for she is the mother, and is always graciously heard: “Quia mater est, et frustrari non potest.” Oh great mother of God, pray to Jesus for me. Look upon the miseries of my soul, and have pity on me. Pray, and never cease to pray for me until thou seest me safe in paradise. Oh Mary, thou art my hope; do not abandon me. Holy mother of God, pray for us: “Sancta Dei genitrix, ora pro nobis.” ”

“ Poor Lady Mary is run clean mad with jealousy and spite, for 't is not so long since she believed herself on the way to be a Royal Duchess, imagining the late Duke of York to be her lover--a gentleman so passionately in love with himself as to leave no room for another. She wore her blacks when he died, like a widow. But, spitfire as Lady Mary is, 't is too true Maria is playing with fire, and there should be nothing between him and her mother's daughter. She is indeed more indiscreet than becomes her. His chaise is eternally at her door ”

“ May my heart always burn and my soul be consumed with love for you, oh Jesus, my beloved Saviour, oh my dear mother Mary. Grant then, oh Jesus and Mary, since without your grace I cannot love you, grant to my soul, not through my merits, but through yours, that I may love you as you deserve. Oh God! the lover of men, thou hast died for thy enemies, and canst thou deny to him who asks it, the grace of loving thee and thy mother? ”

“ MARIA & THE KING 'Senhora Maria, I hope you are well,' said the King when he entered the room. The doll nodded. 'Now we will reckon up accounts,' continued he, and he began at the beginning, and ended up with the flower-basket, and at each fresh misdeed Maria pulled the string, so that the doll's head nodded assent. 'Whoso mocks at me merits death,' declared the King when he had ended, and drawing his sword, cut off the doll's head. It fell towards him, and as he felt the touch of a kiss, he exclaimed, 'Ah, Maria, Maria, so sweet in death, so hard to me in life! ”

“ Maria. Curtseyed I low and said
‘Not him, my lord, nor you, nor no man else.
Thou art rich, my lord, and honoured, my lord, and she
Though not so rich is honoured . . .’
Bianca. Fool, you fool,
I never bid you say a word of that.
Maria. Nor did I say a word of that you said;
I said, ‘She loves him not, my lord, nor loves
Any man else. Yet she might like to love,
If she were loved by one who pleased her well;
For she is weary of spinning long alone.
She is not rich and yet she is not poor; but young
She is, my lord, and you are young. ”

“ Yes, my most sweet mother, I also will love thee, love thee much, and do all in my power to make thee loved by others. Accept, then, oh Mary, the desire I have to love thee, and help me to fulfil it: I know that thy lovers are regarded with much favor by thy God. Next to his own glory, he desires nothing more than thy glory, in seeing thee honored and loved by all. From thee, oh Lady, I await all my blessings. Thou must obtain the pardon of all my sins, thou must obtain for me perseverance, succor in death, deliverance from purgatory, in a word, thou must conduct me to paradise. ”

“ Mary, mother is a little, old woman with a wonderfully big, young heart and a grand soul filled with tenderness and grace and love. There's not a joy in all the world she would not share with you. When she shares your sorrows, night changes quickly to the dusk of morning and as the day comes they flit away like shadows on the dewy grass. When she sees you she will kiss you and cry a bit and call you 'John's wife' for a day and then it will be 'Mary dear.' Were you a stranger, whose name had never been mentioned, she would take you in, first for my sake, then love you for your own. ”

“ I trust in her that she will give me the victory.” They immediately began to recite the Litany of our Lady, and at the words, Holy Mary, pray for him, “Sancta Maria, ora pro eo,” the dying man cried: “Repeat, repeat the name of Mary, for I am even now at the tribunal of God.” He stopped for a moment, and then added: “It is true that I did it, but I have done penance for it.” Then turning to the Virgin, he said: “Oh Mary, I shall be delivered if thou wilt help me.” The demons soon after made another attack, but he defended himself by blessing himself with the crucifix, and invoking Mary. ”

“ Mary at the manger, and Mary at the cross, opens a vista to an abyss of joy and of grief such as the world never saw before. Mary stood there not only as the mother, but as the representative of the whole Christian church, for which the eternal Son of God was born an infant in the manger, and for which he suffered the most ignominious death on the cross. ”

“ More than any other prayer, more even than the touching "Memorare" of St. Bernard, it shows the position that the Blessed Virgin has in the Divine Pattern. There is nothing of the idolatrous in the Catholic devotion to Mary. It has often been misunderstood, so I should like to make it crystal clear to our non-Catholic friends and also to refresh the memories of Catholics as well.
Mary is the Mother of God, and Catholics honor her as such. We do not worship her in the sense in which we worship God. Adoration is for God alone. ”

“ Accordingly thy wife Anna will bring forth a daughter to thee, and thou shalt call her name Mary: she shall be, as you have vowed, consecrated to the Lord from her infancy, and she shall be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from her mother’s womb. She shall neither eat nor drink any unclean thing, nor shall she spend her life among the crowds of the people without, but in the temple of the Lord, that it may not be possible either to say, or so much as to suspect, any evil concerning her. ”

“ Maria was her earthly solace—the tie which bound her to life when all its charms had faded—the being who made it desirable to linger yet a little longer on the confines of the grave. But how fleeting and unsubstantial is human hope! ”

“ Oh mother of mercy, extend thy hand to raise a poor fallen creature who implores thy mercy. Oh Mary, defend thou me, or tell me to whom I shall have recourse, and who can protect me better than thou? Can I find an advocate with God more merciful and more powerful than thou, who art his mother? Thou having been created for the mother of the Saviour, [226] art destined to save sinners, and hast been given me for my salvation. Oh Mary, save him who has recourse to thee. I do not merit thy love, but the desire thou hast to save the lost gives me the hope that thou dost love me ”

“ O Mary, most sweet, most amiable, and most glorious, thy name cannot be uttered in the secret of the heart without inflaming it with thy love; and they who love thee cannot think of thee without feeling themselves animated to love thee move and more, and putting all their confidence in thee. O Mary, O my Mother, thou seest my trouble, look upon me with an eye of pity; thou art the consolation of all who call upon thee in affliction, be thou, then, mine. Hearken to the sighs, graciously hear the prayers of my poor heart; forsake me not, but support me in affliction, and strengthen me in danger. ”

“ Oh most holy, immaculate Virgin, and my mother Mary, to thee who art the mother of my Lord, the [333] queen of the world, the advocate, the hope, the refuge of sinners, I, the most miserable of all, have recourse to-day. I adore thee, oh great queen, and thank thee for all the favors thou hast hitherto granted me, especially for having delivered me from hell, which I have so often deserved. I love thee, oh most amiable Lady, and through the love I bear thee promise that I will always serve thee, and do all that I can that thou mayest also be loved by others. ”

“ I salute thee, oh temple of the glory of God, sacred house of the King of Heaven. Thou art the reconciliation of God with men. I salute thee, oh mother of our joy. In truth thou art blessed, for thou alone, among all women, hast been found worthy of being the mother of thy Creator. All nations call thee blessed.
Oh Mary, if I put my confidence in thee I shall be saved; if I am under thy protection I have nothing to fear, for to be thy servant is to have the secure armor of salvation, which God does not grant except to those whom he will save. ”

“ Oh Queen and Mother of Mercy! who dost dispense graces to all those who have recourse to thee, so liberally because thou art queen, and with so much love because thou art our most loving mother; to thee I [199] commend myself to-day, destitute of merits and virtues as I am, and laden with debts to the divine justice. Oh Mary, thou hast the keys of all the divine mercies, do not forget my miseries, and do not leave me in my great poverty. Thou who art so liberal with all, and who givest more than is asked of thee, do so with me. ”

“ Mary's devotion to the catholic religion—the religion of her mother—was the central feature of her life and character. Filial piety forbade, in her view, any wavering in her adherence to the pope, who had identified himself with her mother's cause. Similar sentiments underlay her regard for her cousin Charles V, on whose advice she relied in the chief crises of her life. Only half an Englishwoman, she did not recognise the imprudence of identifying herself with her Spanish kinsmen, and to her blindness in that regard must be attributed her marriage—the great error of her life. ”

“ On the 22nd of February, 1639, Mother Mary of the Incarnation bade a last farewell to the convent at Tours. It is easy to picture the grief of the Sisters at losing the beloved Mother whose example had been to all a perpetual stimulus to perfection, and whose counsels had encouraged so many to tread bravely the narrow path that leads to sanctity. The regret of the pupils for their saintly teacher, was the highest tribute to the gentleness and charity which, had so greatly endeared her to them. ”

“ The holy Virgin promises paradise to him who endeavors to make her known and loved. [1872] Richard [735] of St. Lawrence says that Mary will honor in eternity those who honor her in this life. [1873] St. Anselm says, that as Mary, by being mother of God, was the means of saving sinners, so sinners receive salvation by proclaiming the praises of Mary. Not all can be preachers; but all can praise her, and tell others, when speaking familiarly with relatives and friends, of the merits of Mary, of her power and her mercy, and thus induce them to become servants of this divine mother. ”

“ The years passed by to find Maria every day more beautiful, and her father every day more blind and more desirous to see, until his affliction and trouble took such forcible possession of his breast and mind that Maria saw as clear as daylight that if her father did not recover his sight, he would die of grief. ”

“ If thou hast suffered much upon earth, far greater is the glory that I have prepared for thee in heaven. Come there to sit near me; come to receive the crown that I will give thee as queen of the universe. Now, behold, Mary leaves the earth, and calling to mind the many graces she had there received from her Lord, she looks at it at the same time both with affection and compassion, leaving in it so many poor children, in the midst of so many miseries and dangers. And now Jesus offers her his hand, and the blessed mother rises in the air and passes beyond the clouds and spheres. ”