_The Pilgrimage of St. Francis of Sales to Loreto._
St. Francis of Sales was always thinking of the honour of the Most
Blessed Virgin, and had made a vow from his youth to visit the holy
Chapel of Loreto. In his travels through Italy, made by order of his
father, his great desire was to fulfil the promise he had made to
venerate the Most Holy Virgin in the Sanctuary where she had received
the visit of the Angel and the sublime dignity of becoming the Mother
of God, and he did so with wonderful piety. He was rapt in admiration
in beholding those walls that had enclosed such wonders. He prayed
motionless for a long time before the Altar of the Queen of Heaven,
thanking her devoutly for all she had done for himself, exhorting her
to continue her holy protection, and renewing his promise to imitate
her angelic virtue of purity during his whole life. Ineffable were the
graces and consolations that he then received; his mind was illumined
by celestial light, and his heart was inflamed with such ardent
charity, that from that moment nothing appeared to him impossible,
when there was question of the glory of God and the salvation of
souls.
_Prayer of St. Germanus._--Hail Mary! you are the hope of Christians,
and it is in this quality that I turn myself to you. Receive, O tender
Mother, the prayer addressed to you by a poor sinner, but a penitent
sinner, who honours you, and who, after God, places in you all his
hope for his conversion and salvation. I am indebted to you for so
many graces, but grant me, I beseech you, one grace more. Confirm me
and establish me in the grace and love of your Divine Son. You are the
consolation of the afflicted; deign, then, to intercede in my favour
with your Divine Son, my Saviour, Jesus, that He may deliver me from
the burden of my sins, dissipate the darkness of my understanding,
remove every irregular affection from my heart, and restrain all the
efforts and temptations of my enemies, that, being aided by this
grace, I may henceforth so order my life that, under your protection,
I may arrive at the happy port of eternal life. Amen.
_Ejaculation._--O Holy Virgin! may I always remember you, and have
recourse to you in all my necessities.
_Practice._--Visit the altar of Mary, either in the church or in your
room, to obtain from her sorrow for your sins.