_Devotion of St. Thomas Aquinas to the 'Ave Maria.'_
The most tender devotion towards Mary was, as we may say, innate in
St. Thomas Aquinas. One day, when he was a little child, his nurse
observed that he kept a piece of paper in his hands, which she wished
to take from him: but the child resisted with loud cries, and made
every effort to retain it. This singular resistance excited the
curiosity of his pious mother, the Countess Theodora. She therefore
took hold of the piece of paper, opened it, and found, to her
surprise, written upon it the Angelical Salutation. Whilst she was
reading it, the infant redoubled his cries and tears, so that she was
obliged to return it to him. Thomas had no sooner received it, than
putting it into his mouth he swallowed it with great eagerness. This
fact foreshadowed the devotion which the Saint ever had for the
Angelical Salutation, on which he has left us a most pious and learned
commentary, full of the praises of Mary.
_Prayer._--Holy Virgin and my tender Mother! You are the channel by
which the graces of God reach us; you are the depositary of all
celestial treasures, and you yourself declare to us that you possess
all the wealth of heaven, to enrich those that love you: _ut ditem
diligentes me_. O Divine Mother! you see that my poverty is great, and
my indigence extreme; but remember, I beseech you, that I trust in
you, and hope that you will be moved to compassionate my miseries, and
to obtain for me a remedy. I love you, O Holy Virgin; you are, after
God, the great object of my affections. Have compassion on me then,
and never abandon me to the snares of the enemies of my salvation, but
succour me during the whole course of my life, and above all at the
moment of my death, so that I may come one day to your feet, in the
abode of eternal happiness. Amen.
_Ejaculation._--O Holy Virgin, help those who groan in misery!
_Practice._--Mortify self-love, by some act of obedience or meekness.