OF the many who by their writings have laboured to celebrate the
sublime prerogatives and virtues of the Mother of God, there is not
one whose language is more adapted to the devotions of the month of
Mary than St. Francis of Sales. Everything, says a pious author, in
this admirable Saint enchants and fascinates us; whoever reads his
writings attentively, feels constrained, not only to honour and
venerate him, but also to love him. With him there is a peculiar grace
to console, as well as to perfect, the soul. He adapts himself to the
capacities of humble minds, whilst no one has more knowledge than he
of the most exalted perfection.
The sweet mildness of this Saint sprang from the meekness of which his
soul was full. It is a difficult task to preserve peace in the soul,
and well he knew it, declaring that he 'lived in a continual fear of
losing, in one quarter of an hour, all that meekness which he had
acquired by twenty years of combat.' St. Bonaventure learnt all his
science at the foot of the Crucifix, and it was there, also, that St.
Francis acquired all his benignity, fighting for it, we may say, hand-
to-hand against his natural impetuosity. This virtue by degrees
penetrated the inmost parts of his soul, so that it was not only
manifested in all the actions of his life, but it directed also his
pen, and enabled him to make use of the most delicate comparisons and
ingenious images. All that is sweet, and pure, and amiable in Nature--
doves, bees, flowers, all took hold of his imagination. From his lips,
as well as from his pen, issued loving invitations to perfection. His
singular privilege, however, is that this meekness and grace appear
always fresh to the devout reader, and are ever pleasing, even when he
lays open the festering wounds of the heart. The great Fenelon, whose
spirit and heart so vividly retraced the holy Bishop of Geneva, thus
wrote to a lady: 'The books most useful for you are those of St.
Francis of Sales. Everything in them is amiable and consoling;
everything is solid experience, simple practice, and the feeling and
light of grace. _To have become accustomed to this kind of food is a
mark of great perfection._' Bishop Parisis also says: 'Everything that
can contribute to make this most amiable of Saints more known to the
world, is of the greatest utility to the cause of religion.'
For this reason we have composed this little work. It is a sort of
resume of the doctrine of St. Francis of Sales upon the prerogatives
and virtues of the august Queen of Heaven, and we may gather a
delicious bouquet for her month of May. Hence the devout reader will
always meet with the genuine text of the Saint without any paraphrase,
though not always in consecutive order. In each of the thirty-one
considerations we have been obliged to discard those matters which did
not relate to our subject. However, such suppressions only produce
greater clearness in the whole work. We must say two words upon the
manner in which this exercise can be rendered fruitful:
1. If you are not able to assist at the public services or devotions
in honour of the Blessed Virgin in your own church, erect a little
altar to Mary in your house, and adorn her picture, or statue, with
flowers, and there, every day, either alone or with others of your
household, meditate upon her virtues, and implore her powerful
intercession.
2. It will be an excellent preparation to spend the last day of April
in holy recollection, and to examine what is the principal passion
that you will sacrifice to Mary during the course of the month, and
the grace or virtue that you propose to obtain from God by recurring
to her intercession. Do not fear to ask too much, she is the Mother of
God, and our Mother also.
3. Read every day the appointed meditation, with tranquillity and
recollection, that your soul may relish the subject, and apply what is
read to its own necessities. After your lecture, follow this advice of
St. Francis of Sales: 'When you have concluded your prayer, take a
little walk and gather a small nosegay of devotion from the
considerations you have made, that you may inhale its spiritual odour
throughout the day.'
4. You should consider it a duty to approach the holy Sacraments more
frequently than usual during the month, and never leave the Altar of
Mary without having made a spiritual communion.
5. Let no day pass, or, at least, no Saturday, without practising some
mortification, sanctified and directed by obedience. 'Our devotion,
however small,' said St. John Berchmans, 'is always pleasing to Mary,
provided it be constant.' But let us not forget that interior
mortifications are the most perfect; such as to abstain from speaking
or looking about without necessity, etc., because in such
mortifications there is less danger of vainglory, and they attack our
passions in the innermost depths of the heart.
6. Endeavour also to become familiar with ejaculatory prayers to Mary.
'This kind of prayer,' says St. Francis of Sales, 'may supply for
every other kind, but no other kind of prayer can supply for this.
Spiritual exercises without aspirations are like a firmament without
stars, or a tree without leaves.'
7. The month should be concluded by an offering of the heart to Jesus
and Mary, after Holy Communion. And that you may more securely
persevere in the service of the best of all Mothers, let it be your
care to renew your resolutions every Saturday, to examine in what
manner you have kept them, and by a protestation of sorrow for past
omissions, and a determination of greater fidelity for the future, to
repair the failings of the week.
The sovereign Pontiff Pius VII. has granted to all who shall say some
public or private prayers in honour of the most holy Virgin Mary
during the course of the month of May, three hundred days Indulgence
each day, and a Plenary Indulgence once in the month if, having
confessed and Communicated, they pray for the holy Church.
The same sovereign Pontiff has granted to all the faithful who, with a
contrite heart, shall recite the Litany of Loreto, three hundred days
Indulgence each time. All these Indulgences are applicable to the
souls in Purgatory.