ever. Their perverse will by hating God when they know him to be the supreme good, and worthy of infinite love, will become their greatest torment. So it is, my God; thou art an infinite good and worthy of infinite love, and I have exchanged thee for nothing! Oh that I had died and had not offered thee so grievous an injury! I love thee, my sovereign good. Have pity on me and suffer me not to be again ungrateful to thee. I renounce all the delights of this world, and embrace thee as my only good. I will be for ever thine, be thou for ever mine. This is my hope, my God, my love, and my all. Deus mens et omnia. O Mary, thou art all-powerful with God; obtain for me the grace of leading a holy life.
Meditation Fifteenth.
On devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
I. JESUS is the mediator of justice, Mary obtains for us grace; for as St. Bernard, St. Bonaventure, St. Bemardin of Sienna, St. Germanus, St. Antoninus and others say, it is the will of God to dispense, through the hands of Mary, whatever graces he is pleased to bestow upon us. With God the prayers of the saints are the prayers of his friends, but the prayers of Mary are the prayers of his mother. Happy they who confidently and at all times have recourse to this divine mother! This of all others is the most pleasing devotion to the Blessed Virgin, ever to have recourse to her and to say: O Mary, intercede for me with your Son Jesus.
II. Jesus is omnipotent by nature; Mary is very powerful by grace; she obtains whatever she asks
