SERMON I.
ON THE ASSUMPTION OF OUR BLESSED LADY, THE
VIRGIN MARY, MOTHER OF GOD.
Ora pro nobis peccatoribus nunc et in hora mortis. Amen.
Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.
Words of the Holy Ghost, spoken by the mouth of the Catholic Church, and which constitute a portion of the Ave Maria.
From this short prayer, which the Catholic Church utters, it is quite easy for you to understand how great is the confidence which she has in the intercession of the Virgin Mother.
As long as a person is in the vale of tears on this earth the flesh is continually drawing him to evil; the devil and the hosts of infernal spirits daily lay snares for him:
"He goeth about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour."—1 Pet.., c. v. ver. 8.—Man is subject to many wants in regard to his soul and body. It is beyond the power of any person to obtain by his innate strength, mastery over the inclination and the fondness which man with his bodily passions has for the world. There is not on earth any power that can, without the grace of God, obtain victory over the devil. How, then, Christians, is it that we can obtain those graces which are so essentially necessary for us, in working out effectively the spiritual advancement of our souls? We, ourselves are not worthy of obtaining grace; we in whom there is nothing which springs from the fountain of nature but evil and inordinate desire; we who are every day violating God's commandments and His law; we who are covered from head to foot with the leprosy of sin—how can we go and ask those graces of Him whom we are daily exciting to wrath? Oh! what else can be done? Who is the friend or the relative to whom we can turn, since we have made an enemy of our dear friend, Christ? Oh! there is one, my friends, the Virgin
