MARY LEADS HER SERVANTS TO HEAVEN
from "The Glories of Mary"
By St. Alphonsus De Liguori - Bishop and Doctor of the Church

Oh, what an evident mark of predestination have the servants of Mary!
The holy Church, for the consolation of Her clients, puts into Her
mouth the words of Ecclesiasticus, In all these I sought rest, and I
shall abide in the inheritance of the Lord. Cardinal Hugo explains
these words, and says, "blessed is he in whose house the most Holy
Virgin finds repose." Mary, out of the love She bears to all,
endeavours to excite in all devotion towards Herself; many either do
not admit it into their souls, or do not preserve it. But blessed is
he that receives and preserves it. And I shall abide in the
inheritance of the Lord. "That is," adds the Cardinal, "Blessed is he
whose interior offers the Blessed Virgin Mary a place of repose."
Devotion towards the Blessed Virgin remains in all who are the
inheritance of our Lord; that is to say, in all who will praise Him
eternally in Heaven. Mary continues, speaking in the words of
Ecclesiasticus: "He that made me rested in my tabernacle, and He said
to me: Let thy dwelling be in Jacob, and thy inheritance in Israel,
and take root in My elect." That is, my Creator has condescended to
come and repose in my bosom, and His will is, that I should dwell in
the hearts of all the elect (of whom Jacob was a figure, and who are
the inheritance of the Blessed Virgin), and that devotion and
confidence in me should take root in all the predestined.

O, how many blessed souls are now in Heaven who would never have been
there had not Mary, by Her powerful intercession, led them thither. "I
made that in the heavens there should rise light that never faileth."
Cardinal Hugo, in his commentary on the above text of Ecclesiasticus,
says in the name of Mary, "I have caused as many saints in Heaven
through Her intercession, who would never have been there but through
Her."

St. Bonaventure says, "that the gates of Heaven will open to all who
confide in the protection of Mary." Hence, St. Ephrem calls devotion
to the divine Mother "the unlocking of the gates of the heavenly
Jerusalem." The devout Blosius also, addressing Our Blessed Lady,
says, "To Thee, O Lady, are committed the keys and the treasures of
the Kingdom of Heaven." And therefore we ought constantly to pray to
Her, in the words of St. Ambrose, "Open to us, O Mary, the gates of
paradise, since Thou hast its keys." Nay more, the Church says, that
"Thou art its gate."

For the same reason, again, is this great Mother called by the Church
the Star of the Sea, "Hail, Star of the Sea!" "For," says the
angelical St. Thomas, "as sailors are guided by a star to the port,
so are Christians guided to Heaven by Mary."

For the same reason, finally, is She called by St. Fulgentius, "the
Heavenly ladder." "For," says the saint, "by Mary, God descended from
Heaven into the world, that by Her men might ascend from earth to
Heaven." "And Thou, O Lady," says St., Athanasius, "wast filled with
grace, that Thou might be the way of our salvation, and the means of
ascent to the Heavenly Kingdom."

St. Bernard calls Our Blessed Lady "the Heavenly chariot." And St.
John Geometra salutes Her, saying, "Hail, resplendent car!"
signifying that She is the car in which Her clients mount to Heaven.
"Blessed are they who know Thee as the high road to everlasting life,
and the publication of Thy virtues is the way of eternal salvation."

Denis the Carthusian asks, "Who is there that is saved / who is there
that reigns in Heaven?" And he answers, "They are certainly saved and
reign in Heaven for whom this Queen of Mercy intercedes." And this
Mary Herself confirms in the book of Proverbs, "By Me kings reign"
through My intercession souls reign, first in this mortal life by
ruling their passions, and so come to reign eternally in Heaven,
where, says St. Augustine, "all are kings." "Mary, in fine," says
Richard of St. Laurence, "is the Mistress of Heaven; for there She
commands as She wills and admits whom She wills." And applying to Her
the words of Ecclesiasticus, "And My power was in Jerusalem," he makes
Her say, "I command what I will, and introduce whom I will." Our
Blessed Lady, being Mother of the Lord of heaven, it is reasonable
that She also should be sovereign Lady of that kingdom, according to
Rupert, who says, "that by right She possesses the whole kingdom of
Her Son."

St. Antoninus tells us "that this divine Mother has already, by Her
assistance and prayers, obtained Heaven for us, provided we put no
obstacle in the way." Hence, says Abbot Guerric, "he who serves Mary,
and for whom She intercedes, is as certain of Heaven as if he was
already there." St. John Damascene also says, "that to serve Mary and
be Her courtier is the greatest honour we can possibly possess; for to
serve the Queen of Heaven is already to reign there, and live under
Her commands is more than to govern." On the other hand, he adds,
"that those who do not serve Mary will not be saved; for those who
are deprived of the help of this great Mother are also deprived of
that of Her Son and of the whole court of heaven."

"May the infinite goodness of Our Lord be ever praised," says St.
Bernard, "for having been pleased to give us Mary as our advocate in
Heaven, that She, being at the same time the Mother of Our Judge and
a Mother of mercy, may be able, by Her intercession, to conduct to a
prosperous issue the great affair of our eternal salvation." St.
James, a Doctor of the Greek Church, says, "that God destined Mary as
a Bridge of salvation, by using which we might with safety pass over
the stormy sea of this world, and reach the happy haven of paradise."
Therefore St. Bonaventure exclaims, "Give ear, O ye nations; and all
you who desire Heaven, serve, honour Mary, and certainly you will
find eternal life."

Nor should those even who have deserved hell be in the least doubtful
as to obtaining Heaven, provided they are faithful in serving this
Queen. "O, how many sinners," says St. Germanus, "have found God and
have been saved by Thy means, O Mary!" Richard of St. Laurence
remarks, that St. John in the Apocalypse says that Mary was crowned
with stars: "And on Her head a crown of twelve stars." On the other
hand, in the sacred Canticles, She is said to be crowned with wild
beasts, lions, and leopards: "Come from Libanus, my spouse, come from
Libanus, come; thou shalt be crowned ... from the dens of the lions,
from the mountains of the leopards." How is this? He answers, that
"these wild beasts are sinners, who by the favour and intercession of
Mary have become stars of paradise, better adapted to the head of this
Queen of mercy than all the material stars of heaven."

We read in the life of the servant of God, Sister Seraphina of Capri,
that once during the novena of the Assumption of Mary she asked our
Blessed Lady for the conversion of a thousand sinners, but afterwards
thought that she had asked too much; and then the Blessed Virgin
appeared to her, and corrected her for her ungrounded anxiety,
saying, "Why dost thou fear? Is it that I am not sufficiently
powerful to obtain from My Son the conversion of a thousand sinners?
See, I have already obtained the favour." With these words, She took
her in spirit to Heaven, and there showed her innumerable souls which
had deserved hell, but had been saved through Her intercession, and
were already enjoying eternal happiness.

It is true that in this world no one can be certain of his salvation:
"Man knoweth not whether he be worthy of love or hatred," says
Ecclesiastes. But St. Bonaventure, on the words of King David, "Lord
who shall dwell in Thy tabernacle?" and on the preceding quotation,
answers, "Sinners, let us follow Mary closely, and casting ourselves
at Her feet, let us not leave them until She has blessed us; for Her
blessing will insure our salvation."

"It suffices, O Lady," says St. Anselm, "that Thou willest it, and
our salvation is certain." And St. Antoninus says that "souls
protected by Mary, and on which She casts Her eyes, are necessarily
justified and saved."

"With reason, therefore," observes St. Ildephonsus, "did the most
Holy Virgin predict that all generations would call Her blessed;"
"for all the elect obtain eternal salvation through the means of
Mary." "And thou, O great Mother" says St. Methodius, "art the
beginning, the middle, and the end of our happiness;" -- the
beginning, for Mary obtains us the pardon of our sins; the middle,
for She obtains us perseverance in divine grace; and the end, for She
finally obtains us Heaven. "By Thee, O Mary, was Heaven opened," says
St. Bernard; "by Thee was hell emptied; by Thee was paradise
restored; and through Thee, in fine, is eternal life given to so many
miserable creatures who deserved eternal death."

But that which above all should encourage us to hope with confidence
for Heaven, is the beautiful promise made by Mary Herself to all who
honour Her, and especially to those who, by word and example,
endeavour to make Her known and honoured by others: "They that work
by Me shall not sin; they that explain Me shall have life
everlasting." "O happy they who obtain the favour of Mary!" exclaims
St. Bonaventure; "they will be recognised by the blessed as their
companions, and whoever bears the stamp of a servant of Mary is
already enrolled in the Book of Life." Why, then, should we trouble
ourselves about the opinions of scholastics as to whether
predestination to glory precedes or follows the prevision of merits?
If we are true servants of Mary, and obtain Her protection, we most
certainly shall be inscribed in the Book of Life; "For," says St.
John Damascene, "God only grants devotion towards His most Holy
Mother to those whom He will save." This is also clearly expressed by
our Lord in St. John: "He that shall overcome ... I will write upon
him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God." "And who
but Mary is this city of God?" observes St. Gregory on the words of
David: "Glorious things are said of Thee, O city of God."

Correctly, then, can we here say with St. Paul, "Having this seal,
the Lord knoweth who are His;" that is to say, whoever carries with
him the mark of devotion to Mary is recognised by God as His. Hence
St. Bernard writes, that "devotion to the Mother of God is a most
certain mark of eternal salvation." Blessed Alan, speaking of the
"Hail Mary," also says, that "whoever often honours Our Blessed Lady
with this angelical salutation has a very great mark of
predestination." He says the same thing of perseverance in the daily
recital of the Rosary, "that those who do so have a very great
assurance of salvation." Father Nieremberg says, in the tenth chapter
of his book on "Affection for Mary", that "the servants of the Mother
of God are not only privileged and favoured in this world, but even
in Heaven they are more particularly honoured." He then adds: "that
in Heaven they will be recognised as servants of its Queen, and as
belonging to Her court, by a distinguishing and richer garment,"
according to the words of the Proverbs, "All Her domestics are
clothed with double garments." St. Mary Magdalen of Pazzi saw a
vessel in the midst of the sea: in it were all the clients of Mary,
and this Blessed Mother Herself steered it safely into the port. By
this the saint understood, that those who live under the protection
of Mary are secure, in the midst of the dangers of this life, from
the shipwreck of sin, and from eternal damnation; for She guides them
safely into the haven of salvation. Let us then enter this blessed
ship of the mantle of Mary and there we can be certain of the Kingdom
of Heaven; for the Church says: "O holy Mother of God, all those who
will be partakers of eternal happiness dwell in Thee, living under
Thy protection."