O,therefore,thou only consolation of all sinful hearts,thou only refuge of guilty mortals,to whom so many a wet eye,so many a wounded,miserable heart is raised up,be a gracious mediatrix and channel of reconciliation between me and the Eternal Wisdom.O think,think,thou mild Queen elect,that thou derivest all thy merits from us poor sinners.What was it made thee God's mother,made thee a casket in which the Eternal Wisdom reposed?O Lady,it was the sins of us poor mortals!How couldst thou becalled a mother of graces and compassion,except through our wretchedness,which has need of grace and compassion.Our poverty has made thee rich,our crimes have ennobled thee above all pure creatures.O turn hither then the eyes of thy compassion,which thy gentle heart never turned from a sinner,from a forlorn mortal!Take me under thy protection,for my consolation and confidence are in thee.How many a guilty soul,after having bid farewell to God and all the heavenly host,by denying God and despairing of Him,and being lamentably separated from Him,has,by still clinging to thee,been sweetly detained,till at length,through thy intercession,it has again attained to grace.Who is the sinner,how great soever his crimes,to whom thy overflowing goodness has denied assistance?Lo,when my soul seriously reflects within herself,methinks it were only right,if it were possible,that while my eyes wept for joy,my heart should leap out of my mouth;so does thy name dissolve in my mouth like honey from the comb.Even thou art called the mother,the Queen of Compassion,yes,tender mother,yes,gentle mother of compassion!O what a name!O how unfathomable is the being whose name is so rich in grace!Did ever the melody of song resound as soothingly in an agitated heart as thy pure name in our penitent hearts?At this exalted name all heads in reason ought to incline,all knees to bend.How often hast thou not put to flight the hostile powers of wicked spirits,how often hast thou not allayed the angry justice of the severe judge!How often hast thou not obtained from Him grace and consolation!Yes,poor sinful mortals as we are,what have we to say to it?How shall we ever acknowledge such great goodness?If all angelic tongues,all pure spirits and souls,if heaven and earth and all that is contained in them cannot properly praise her merits,her ravishing beauty,her graciousness and immeasurable dignity,alas!what shall we sinful hearts be able to do?Let us do our best,and express to her our acknowledgements,our thanks;for indeed her great kindness does not look at the smallness of the gift,it looks at the purity of intention.ah,sweet Queen,with what justice may not thy sex rejoice in thy sweet name;for cursed was the first Eve that she ever eat of the bitter fruit of the tree of knowledge;blessed be the second Eve that she brought us again the sweet fruit of heaven!Let no one lament over Paradise;one paradise we lost,and have won two others.For is she not a paradise in whom grew the fruit of the living tree?in whom all delight and joy are contained together?And is not that also a paradise above every paradise in whom the dead again live,if they only taste His fruit from whose hands,feet,and side the living fountains which irrigate all the earth flow,[9]the fountains of inexhaustible mercy,fathomless wisdom,overflowing sweetness,ardent love,the fountains of eternal life?Truly,Lord,whoever tastes of this fruit,whoever has drunk of this fountain,knows that these two gardens of paradise far surpass the earthly paradise.But thou,O Queen elect,art the gate of all grace,the door of compassion,that never yet was shut.
Heaven and earth may pass away,ere thou wilt permit anyone who earnestly seeks thy assistance to depart from thee without obtaining it.Behold,for this very reason art thou the first object my soul sees when I awake,the last when I lie down to sleep.How should anything which thy pure hands present before God and commend unto Him,how small soever in itself,be rejected?Take,O take,therefore,the smallness of my works and present it,so that,in thy hands it may appear something before the eyes of God Almighty.Even thou art the pure vessel of red gold,melted down with graces,inlaid with precious emeralds,and sapphires,and all virtues,whose single aspect,in the sight of the heavenly King,surpasses that of all other creatures.O,thou lovely divine spouse elect,if King Ahasuerus was captivated by the beauty of Esther,if she was found pleasing in his eyes above all women,if she found favour above them all,so that he did for her whatever she desired,O thou,all red roses and lilies,surpassing beauty,how justly may the King of Heaven be captivated by thy spotless purity,thy meek humility,by the sweet smelling nosegay of all thy virtues and graces!
Or,who has ever caught the wild and noble unicorn,if not thou?[10]How infinitely pleasing,above all mortals,in His eyes is thy delicate and love-inspiring beauty,before which all other beauty fades like a glow-worm before the brightness of the sun.What overflowing grace hast thou not found before Him for thyself and us mortals who are without grace!How should,how can,then,the Heavenly King deny thee anything?Truly mayest thou say,My Beloved is mine,and I am His.Ah!thou art God's,and God is thine,and ye two have an eternal and unfathomable reciprocation of love which no duality can divide.Think of us poor needy ones,who continue to wander so wretchedly in sorrowful affliction.Yes,exalted Lady of heaven and earth,arise now and be to us a mediatrix,and an obtainer of grace with thy tender Child,the Eternal Wisdom.Ah,Eternal Wisdom,wilt Thou deny me anything?
