Page:TheYoungMansGuide.djvu/407

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not be engulfed in the abyss, turn not thine eye away from the sharing star, turn it not away from Mary! If thou wouldst not be tossed hither and thither by the waves of pride and ambition, look up to this star, call upon Mary! If die billows of concupiscence and sensual desires break over thy little bark of life, look up to this star, call upon Mary!

"Keep her in thy heart; let her name be ever on thy lips. If she hold thee up, thou wilt not fall; if she guide thee, thou wilt not go astray; if she protect thee, thou hast no need to fear; if she look favorably upon thee, thou wilt escape the snares of hell, and reach the gate of eternal felicity."

3. Therefore in the battle with the impure spirit, in which your will is apt to become paralyzed, cling fast to the maternal hand of Mary. This hand is strong enough to help, to protect, and to save you.

Innumerable are the instances in which young persons have been delivered from the most furious assaults of the flesh, and have found grace and strength to overcome them, because they have invoked the Mother of God with the fullest confidence.

4. The celebrated Father Succhi of Rome was wont to recommend to young men who were inclined to sins of impurity, the following prayer to our Lady: "My Queen! My Mother! remember I am thine own: keep me, guard me, as thy property and possession." The Sovereign Pontiff, Pius IX, granted to all the faithful an indulgence of forty days