Mary, Our Mother Sctn.:

Mary is Always Ready To Help Us

Also See: Blessed Virgin Mary (Topic Page)

"On the third day there was a wedding in Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, 'They have no wine.' (And) Jesus said to her, 'Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.' His mother said to the servers, 'Do whatever he tells you.' Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings, each holding twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus told them, 'Fill the jars with water.' So they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, 'Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.' So they took it. And when the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine, without knowing where it came from (although the servers who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom and said to him, 'Everyone serves good wine first, and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one; but you have kept the good wine until now.' Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs in Cana in Galilee and so revealed his glory, and his disciples began to believe in him. After this, he and his mother, (his) brothers, and his disciples went down to Capernaum and stayed there only a few days." (Jn. 2:1-12) [Note: Some ancient languages have no word for cousin (and other relatives) so the term "brothers" may be used to refer to relatives other than blood brothers. The use of this terminology does not mean that Jesus had blood brothers, which of course he didn't since Mary is an ever virgin. For more information on this topic, visit the Non-Catholics section.]

"Mary is always ready to pray for all." (Abbot Godfrey, as quoted by St. Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the Church)

"[The Queen] is always vigilant to intercede with the king whom she bore." (Pope Sixtus IV)

"[Mary] is by nature so good and so merciful that inclined to aid spontaneously those who suffer, she is absolutely incapable of refusing her help to those who invoke her." (Pope Benedict XV)

"Our advocate, placed between God and the sinner, takes it upon herself to invoke clemency of the Judge so as to temper his justice, touch the heart of the sinner and overcome his obstinacy." (Pope Pius XII)

"Although she was never subject to the frailty and perversity of our nature, Mary well knows its condition and is the best and most solicitous of mothers. How willingly will she hasten to our aid when we need her; with what love will she refresh us, and with what strength sustain us." (Pope Leo XIII, "Magnae Dei Matris", 1892)

"Thus the Faithful of every age, both in public misfortune and in private need, turn in supplication to Mary...so that she may come to their aid and grant help and remedy against sorrows of body and soul. And never was her most powerful aid hoped for in vain by those who besought it with pious and trustful prayer." (Pope Pius XI, "Ingravescentibus Malis", 1937)

"'And thou, O Mary,' [Abbot Adam] adds, 'who art the Mother of mercy, wilt thou disdain to intercede with thy Son, who is the Judge, for another son, who is a sinner? Wilt thou refuse to interpose in favor of a redeemed soul, with the Redeemer who died on a cross to save sinners?' No, no, thou wilt not reject him, but with all affection thou wilt pray for all who have recourse to thee" (St. Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the Church)

"Who can ever comprehend the solicitude with which Mary constantly stands before God on our behalf? 'She is never weary of defending us,' says St. Germanus; and the remark is beautiful meaning that so great is the compassion excited in Mary by our misery, and such is the love that she bears us, that she prays constantly, and relaxes not her efforts in our behalf: that by her prayers she may effectually defend us from evil, and obtain for us sufficient graces." (St. Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the Church)

"She does not discriminate between noble and princely palaces and the lowly thatched cottage. If she feels at all partial it is toward the poor and miserable, the sorrowful and the unhappy, towards all who in this vale of tears shed also their own; souls whom misfortune casts down, whom sin and remorse humiliate; whom prayer comforts, repentance regenerates and graces make children of Mary in likeness to her own Son." (Pope Pius XII)

"Be comforted then, O you who fear,' will I say with St. Thomas of Villanova; 'breathe freely and take courage, O wretched sinners; this great virgin, who is the Mother of your Son and Judge, is also the advocate of the whole human race; fit for this office, for she can do what she wills with God; most wise, for she knows all the means of appeasing Him; universal, for she welcomes all, and refuses to defend no one.'" (St. Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the Church)

"When we have recourse to Mary in prayer, we are having recourse to the Mother of mercy, who is so well disposed toward us that, whatever the necessity that presses upon us especially in attaining eternal life, she is instantly at our side of her own accord, even though she has not been invoked. She dispenses grace with a generous hand from that treasure with which from the beginning she was divinely endowed in fullest abundance that she might be worthy to be the Mother of God. By the fullness of grace which confers on her the most illustrious of her many titles, the Blessed Virgin is infinitely superior to all the hierarchies of men and angels, the one creature who is closest of all to Christ." (Pope Leo XIII, "Magnae Dei Matris", 1892 A.D.)

"As for our Lord's mother, to whom especially I have entrusted and do entrust you, and shall never fail to entrust you until we see her as we long to do - what am I to say of her whom heaven and earth cease not to praise though they can never do so as she deserves? But this you must hold as certain: as she is higher, holier, more perfect than every other mother, so much the more is she kind and gentle towards her erring but repentant sons and daughters. So make a firm resolution never to commit another sin, prostrate yourself before her, and pour forth your tears from a contrite and humbled heart. You will find her, I can assure you beyond all doubt, more accessible, more tender in the love she bears, you, than any natural mother could be on earth." (Pope St. Gregory VII)

"But should there by chance be a sinner who, though not doubting her power, might doubt the compassion of Mary, fearing perhaps that she might be unwilling to help him on account of the greatness of his sins, let him take courage from the words of St. Bonaventure. 'The great, the special privilege of Mary is, that she is all-powerful with her son.' 'But,' adds the saint, 'to what purpose would Mary have so great power if she cared not for us?' 'No,' he concludes, 'let us not doubt, but be certain, and let us always thank Our Lord and His divine Mother for it, that in proportion as her power with God exceeds that of all the saints, so is she in the same proportion our most loving advocate, and the one who is the most solicitous for our welfare." (St. Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the Church)

"One of the most amazing features of this marriage is that it was not the wine servant, whose business it was to service the wine, who noticed the shortage, but rather Our Blessed Mother. (She notes our needs before we ourselves feel them.) She made a very simple prayer to her Divine Son about the empty wine pots when she said: 'They have no wine.' Hidden in the words was not only a consciousness of the power of her Divine Son but also an expression of her desire to remedy an awkward situation. Perhaps the Blessed Mother had already seen Our Lord work many miracles in secret - although He had not yet worked a single one in public. For if there had not already been a consciousness of the truth that He was the Son of the Omnipotent God, she would not have asked for a miracle." (Archbishop Fulton Sheen)

"Blessed Raymond Jordano, who out of humility, calls himself the Idiot, used to say, 'that Mary knows not how to do otherwise than love those who love her; and that even she does not disdain to serve those who serve her; and in favor of such a one, should he be a sinner, she uses all her power in order to obtain his forgiveness from her blessed Son.' And he adds, 'that her benignity and mercy are so great, that no one, however enormous his sins may be, should fear to cast himself at her feet: for she never can reject any one who has recourse to her.' 'Mary, as our most loving advocate, herself offers the prayers of her servants to God, and especially those who are placed in her hands; for as the Son intercedes for us with the Father, so does she intercede with the Son, and does not cease to make interest with both for the great affair of our salvation, and to obtain for us the graces we ask.'" (St. Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the Church)

"'A great sign,' thus the Apostle St. John describes a vision divinely sent him, appears in the heavens: 'A woman clothed with the sun, and with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars upon her head' (Apoc. xii., 1). Everyone knows that this woman signified the Virgin Mary, the stainless one who brought forth our Head. The Apostle continues: 'And, being with child, she cried travailing in birth, and was in pain to be delivered' (Apoc. xii., 2). John therefore saw the Most Holy Mother of God already in eternal happiness, yet travailing in a mysterious childbirth. What birth was it? Surely it was the birth of us who, still in exile, are yet to be generated to the perfect charity of God, and to eternal happiness. And the birth pains show the love and desire with which the Virgin from heaven above watches over us, and strives with unwearying prayer to bring about the fulfillment of the number of the elect." (Pope St. Pius X, "Ad Diem Illum Laetissimum", 1904)

"St. John Chrysostom says, 'that another purpose for which the Blessed Virgin Mary was made the Mother of God, was that she might obtain salvation for many who, on account of their wicked lives, could not be saved according to the rigor of divine justice, but might be so with the help of her sweet mercy and powerful intercession.' This is confirmed by St. Anselm, who says, 'that Mary was raised to the dignity of Mother of God rather for sinners than for the just, since Jesus Christ declares that He came to call not the jut, but sinners.' For this reason, the holy Church sings: 'Thou dost not abhor sinners, without whom thou wouldst never have been worthy of such a Son.' For the same reason William of Paris, invoking her, says: 'O Mary, thou art obliged to help sinners for all the gifts, the graces, and high honors which are comprised in the dignity of Mother of God that thou hast received: thou owest all, so to say, to sinners; for on their account thou was made worthy to have a God for thy Son.' 'If then, Mary', concludes St. Anselm, 'was made Mother of God on account of sinners, how can I, however great my sins may be, despair of pardon?'" (St. Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the Church)

"How beautiful is the exclamation put in the mouth of a sinner who has recourse to Mary, by William of Paris! 'O most glorious Mother of God, I, in the miserable state to which I am reduced by my sins, have recourse to thee, full of confidence, and if thou rejectest me, I remind thee that thou art in a way bound to help me, since the whole Church of the faithful calls thee and proclaims thee the Mother of mercy.' 'Thou, O Mary, art that one who, from being so dear to God, art always listened to favorably. Thy great compassion was never wanting to any one; thy most sweet affability never despised any sinner that recommend himself to thee, however great his sins.' And what! perhaps falsely and for nothing the whole Church calls thee its advocate, and the refuge of sinners. 'Never, O my Mother, let my sins prevent thee from fulfilling the great office of charity which is thine, and by which thou art, at the same time, our advocate and a mediatress of peace between man and God, and who art, after thy Son, our only hope, and the secure refuge of the miserable. All that thou possessest of grace and glory, and the dignity even of Mother of God, so to speak, thou owest to sinners, for it was on their account that the divine Word made thee His Mother. Far be it from this divine Mother who brought the source itself of tender compassion into the world, to think that she should ever deny her mercy to any sinner who has recourse to her. Since, then, O Mary, thy office is to be the peace-maker between God and men, let thy tender compassion, which far exceeds all my sins, move thee to succor me.'" (St. Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the Church)

Also See: Powerful Intercession of Mary | Mary, Our Mother | Praise of Mary | Marian Facts | Marian Scriptural References | Some Reasons to Honor the Blessed Virgin Mary | Some Thoughts on the Blessed Virgin Mary  

Note: Categories are subjective and may overlap. For more items related to this topic, please review all applicable categories. For more 'Reflections' and for Scripture topics, see links below.

Top | Reflections: A-Z | Categ. | Scripture: A-Z | Categ. | Help

Powerful Intercession of Mary

Also See: Blessed Virgin Mary (Topic Page)

"On the third day there was a wedding in Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, 'They have no wine.' (And) Jesus said to her, 'Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.' His mother said to the servers, 'Do whatever he tells you.' Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings, each holding twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus told them, 'Fill the jars with water.' So they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, 'Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.' So they took it. And when the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine, without knowing where it came from (although the servers who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom and said to him, 'Everyone serves good wine first, and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one; but you have kept the good wine until now.' Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs in Cana in Galilee and so revealed his glory, and his disciples began to believe in him. After this, he and his mother, (his) brothers, and his disciples went down to Capernaum and stayed there only a few days." (Jn. 2:1-12) [Note: Some ancient languages have no word for cousin (and other relatives) so the term "brothers" may be used to refer to relatives other than blood brothers. The use of this terminology does not mean that Jesus had blood brothers, which of course he didn't since Mary is an ever virgin. For more information on this topic, visit the Non-Catholics section.]

"What she asks, she obtains. Her pleas can never be unheard." (Bl. Pope Pius IX)

"[Thy] patronage, O Mary, is more powerful and loving than anything of which we can ever form an idea." (St. Germanus)

"Many and well known are the proofs of her solicitude, manifested from time to time even in a miraculous manner." (Pope Leo XIII)

"[T]hat which God can do by His power, that thou canst do by prayer, O sacred Virgin." [a "celebrated saying" (as quoted by St. Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the Church)]

"Her only Son, condescending to His mother's prayer in 'Cana of Galilee', performed the miracle by which 'his disciples believed in him'." (Pope Pius XII, "Mystici Coporis Christi")

"She is associated with him for ever, with power so to speak infinite, in the distribution of the graces which flow from redemption." (Pope Pius XII)

"The clients of Mary will necessarily be saved; the salvation of those who are not protected by Mary is impossible." (St. Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the Church)

"Such is the will of God, Who would have us obtain everything through the hands of Mary." (St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Doctor of the Church)

"Nor can our prayers fail to ascend to Him as a sweet savour, commended by the prayers of the Virgin." (Pope Leo XIII, "Iucunda Semper Expectatione", 1894)

"[T]he Virgin is more powerful than all others as a means for uniting mankind with Christ." (Pope St. Pius X, "Ad Diem Illum Laetissimum", 1904)

"We have the Virgin as universal advocate in all things, for she is more powerful in whatever necessity than are the other Saints in particular needs." (Pope Pius XII)

"Many souls are in heaven through the prayers of Mary who otherwise would not be there." (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and "greatest theologian in the history of the Church")

"She who is associated with him in the work of man's salvation has favor and power with her Son greater than any other human or angelic creature has ever obtained or ever can obtain." (Pope Leo XIII)

"Mary, having merited to give flesh to the divine Word, and thus supply the price of our redemption, that we might be delivered from eternal death; therefore is she more powerful than all others to help us to gain eternal life." (St. Augustine, Doctor of the Church)

"[A]lthough Mary, now in heaven, can no longer command her Son, nevertheless her prayers are always the prayers of a mother, and consequently most powerful to obtain whatever she wills." (St. Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the Church)

"If you consider all the saints, you will see that all of them had a devotion to the Blessed Virgin; her intercession is most powerful, she is the mother of God and the Mother of men." (Bl. Brother Andre Bessette)

"That most glorious Virgin, exalted above the choirs of the Angels and the countless legions of the Saints, never ceases in heaven to make most efficacious intercession with her Son for all the faithful on earth." (Bl. Pope Pius IX)

"Lo! I thy servant, most sinless Virgin! approach thee in deep reverence and love, for I know the power of thy prayer. Great, indeed, with her Son, is the power of the Mother's prayer, and his heart is moved when she asks, O most blessed Mother!" [Euthymius (Liturgical Year)]

"You know well the intimate and wonderful relations existing between her and the Holy Spirit, so that she is justly called his spouse. Her intercession was of great avail both in the mystery of the Incarnation and in the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles." (Pope Leo XIII)

"The recourse we have to Mary in prayer follows upon the office she continually fills by the side of the throne of God as Mediatrix of divine grace, being by worthiness and by merit more acceptable to Him, and for that reason surpassing in power all the angels and saints in heaven." (Pope Leo XIII)

"While the prayers of those in heaven have, it is true, some claim on God's watchful eye, the prayers of Mary place their assurance in a mother's right. For that reason, when she approaches her divine Son's throne, as advocate she begs, as handmaid she prays, but as mother she commands." (Pope Pius VII)

"Since the first public miracle performed by our divine Redeemer in Cana of Galilee was brought about by Mary's merciful intercession...[why] should not we...entrust ourselves and all our interests to her most efficacious intercession? Just as all created things acknowledge and obey the will of God, so may it be stated that Mary's Son ever attends most favorably to the petitions of his Mother." (Pope Pius XII)

"Our hope in Mary, powerful and benign Mother, is daily more confirmed and more sweetly consoling. To her intercession We attribute the many and remarkable gifts We have obtained from God; with thanks still more profuse do we attribute the fact that it has been given Us to reach the fiftieth anniversary of Our episcopal consecration." (Pope Leo XIII, "Magnae Dei Matris", 1892 A.D.)

"Ancient and modern history and the more sacred annals of the Church bear witness to public and private supplications addressed to the Mother of God, to the help she has granted in return, and to the peace and tranquility which she had obtained from God. Hence her illustrious titles of helper, consoler, mighty in war, victorious, and peace-giver." (Pope Leo XIII, "Supremi Apostolatus Officio", 1883)

"That the Lord may more readily respond to us, let us call as intercessor Her who is always with Him, the most holy Virgin Mary, Immaculate Mother of God. She is the most sweet mother of us all; she is our mediatrix, advocate, firmest hope, and greatest source of confidence. Furthermore, her patronage with God is strongest and most efficacious." (Bl. Pope Pius IX, "Qui Pluribus", 1846 A.D.)

"With a heart that is truly a mother's, does she approach the problem of our salvation, and is solicitous for the whole human race; made Queen of heaven and earth by the Lord, exalted above all choirs of angels and saints, and standing at the right hand of her only a Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, she intercedes powerfully for us with a mother's prayers, obtains what she seeks, and cannot be refused." (Bl. Pope Pius IX)

"Then, O sinner, whoever thou mayest be, imbedded in crime, grown old in sin, despair not; thank the Lord, who that He might show thee mercy, has not only given His Son for thy advocate, but, to encourage thee to greater confidence, has provided thee with a mediatress who by her prayers obtains whatever she wills. Go then, have recourse to Mary, and thou wilt be saved." (St. Bernard, Doctor of the Church)

"Should the sight of our sins ever discourage us, let us address the Mother of mercy in the words of William of Paris: 'O Lady, do not set up my sins against me, for I oppose thy compassion to them. Let it never be said that my sins could contend in judgment against thy mercy, which is far more powerful to obtain me pardon than my sins are to obtain my condemnation.'" (St. Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the Church)

"This is she of whom the Holy Scriptures sing: the woman clothed with the sun, having the moon under her feet, and wearing a crown of twelve stars. This is she who bore in her chaste womb the Creator of Heaven and Earth. She alone crushes all heresies. She stands before the King who reigns in light, pleading for the Christian people as their bold advocate and most vigilant intercessor." (Pope Boniface IX, 1390 A.D.)

"Whenever I behold the image of the Virgin Mary, Mother of God, I cry: O immaculate Mother of God, pray to your Son and my God to have mercy on me in goodness and in mercy, for the prayers of Mary are of great weight in gaining the clemency of the Master. Do not despise the prayer of a sinner, O all-venerable one, for He can save us Who deigned to suffer for us." (St. John of Damascus, Doctor of the Church)

"Great indeed is Our trust in Mary. The resplendent glory of her merits, far exceeding all the choirs of angels, elevates her to the very steps of the throne of God. Her foot has crushed the head of Satan. Set up between Christ and His Church, Mary, ever lovable and full of grace, always has delivered the Christian people from their greatest calamities and from the snares and assaults of all their enemies, ever rescuing them from ruin." (Bl. Pope Pius IX, "Ubi Primum", 1849)

"As a fond mother who sees her child weeping or suffering from a wound, so the tender Mother Mary never desists from her supplications to her Son in favor of the sinner, until the wounds made in his soul by sin are bound up and healed. Who ever invoked Mary without being heard? Who ever craved her patronage and received a refusal? It appears to be an established law of Providence that mercy shall be shown to all those for whom Mary intercedes." (Muller)

"The Catholic Church has always and with justice put all her hope and trust in the Mother of God. She who is associated with him in the work of man's salvation has favor and power with her Son greater than any other human or angelic creature has ever obtained or ever can obtain. And, as it is her greatest pleasure to grant her help and comfort to those who seek her, it cannot be doubted that she will deign, even anxiously, to receive the aspirations of the Universal Church." (Pope Leo XIII)

"Let us in all confidence choose as advocate before God the Immaculate and Most Holy Mother of God, the Virgin Mary. She has destroyed all the heresies of the world. She is our most loving Mother, all mild and merciful she shows herself within reach of every prayer; most kind, she takes to herself all our needs with profound love and tender pity. In heaven as Queen at the right hand of her only Son, clothed in golden raiment and all manner of jewels, there is nothing she cannot obtain from him." (Bl. Pope Pius IX)

"Her do we greet who found favor with God, and who was in a signal manner filled with grace by Him so that the superabundance thereof might overflow upon all men; her, united with the Lord by the most intimate of all conjunction; her who was blessed among women, and who 'alone took away the curse and bore the blessing' (St. Thomas) - that fruit of her womb, that happy fruit, in which all the nations of the earth are blessed. Her do we invoke, finally, as Mother of God; and in virtue of a dignity so sublime what graces from her may we not promise to ourselves, sinners, in life and in the agonies of the end?" (Pope Leo XIII, "Iucunda Semper Expectatione", 1894 A.D.)

"This is why the blessed Virgin is called powerful - nay, sometimes, all-powerful, because she has, more than anyone else, more than all the angels and saints, this great, prevailing gift of prayer. No one has access to the Almighty as His Mother has; none has merit such as hers. Her Son will deny her nothing that she asks; and herein lies her power. While she defends the Church, neither height nor depth, neither men nor evil spirits, neither great monarchs, nor craft of man, nor popular violence, can avail to harm us; for human life is short, but Mary reigns above, a Queen forever." (Cardinal Newman)

"The intercession of the Blessed Virgin was of great avail both in the mystery of the Incarnation and in the coming of the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles. May she continue to strengthen our prayers with her suffrages, that, in the midst of all the stress and trouble of the nations, those divine prodigies may be happily revived by the Holy Ghost, which were foretold in the words of David: 'Send forth Thy Spirit and they shall be created, and Thou shalt renew the face of the earth' (Ps. ciii., 30)." (Pope Leo XIII, "Divinum Illud Munus", 1897 A.D.)

"However, anyone who studies with diligence the records of the Catholic Church will easily recognize that the true patronage of the Virgin Mother of God is linked with all the annals of the Christian name. When, in fact, errors everywhere diffused were bent upon rending the seamless robe of the Church and upon throwing the Catholic world into confusion, our fathers turned with confident soul to her 'alone who destroys all heresies in the world' (Rmn. Brv.), and the victory won through her brought the return of tranquility." (Pope Pius XI, "Ingravescentibus Malis", 1937)

"But what is the use of multiplying examples? Here is a fact which is under the eyes of all. Today, amongst us, thousands of young girls, even amid the perils of poverty, of ignorance, of destitution, resist all the assaults of hell, and not only keep their reputation untouched, but their heart pure. Whence comes this prodigy? It is that they are children of Mary! And their triumph is entirely the work of the tutelary Virgin that no sooner do they willfully give up their pious assemblies, than these poor children forget God, duty, virtue, and fall like others." (Fr. Delaporte)

"There is no question here of confusing our Lady and our Lord; we venerate our Mother, we worship our Lord. We ask of Jesus those things which only God can give: mercy, grace, forgiveness. We ask that Mary should intercede for us with Him, and especially at the hour of our death. Because of her nearness to Jesus which her vocation involves, we know our Lord listens especially to her appeal. To no other saint can we ask as a child to its mother: no other virgin, or martyr, or mother, or confessor has ever suffered as much for us as she has; no one has ever established better claim to our love and patronage than she." (Archbishop Fulton Sheen)

"Although He had said, Mine hour is not yet come, He afterwards did what His mother told Him, in order to show plainly, that He was not under subjection to the hour. For if He was, how could He have done this miracle before the hour appointed for it? In the next place, He wished to show honor to His mother, and make it appear that He did not go counter to her eventually. He would not put her to shame in the presence of so many; especially as she had sent the servants to Him, that the petition might come from a number, and not from herself only; His mother said to the servants, Whatsoever He says to you, do it." (St. John Chrysostom, Doctor of the Church)

"Mary [is] called, by St. Bonaventure, 'the wise Abigail.' This is the woman we read of in the First Book of Kings, who by her beautiful supplications knew so well how to appease King David when he was indignant against Nabal; and indeed so far as to induce him to bless her, in gratitude for having prevented him, by her sweet manners, from avenging himself on Nabal with his own hand. This is exactly what Mary constantly does in heaven, in favor of innumerable sinners: by her tender and unctuous prayers she knows so well how to appease the divine justice, that God Himself blesses her for it, and, as it were, thanks her for having withheld Him from abandoning and chastising them as they deserved." (St. Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the Church)

"When we have recourse to Mary in prayer, we are having recourse to the Mother of mercy, who is so well disposed toward us that, whatever the necessity that presses upon us especially in attaining eternal life, she is instantly at our side of her own accord, even though she has not been invoked. She dispenses grace with a generous hand from that treasure with which from the beginning she was divinely endowed in fullest abundance that she might be worthy to be the Mother of God. By the fullness of grace which confers on her the most illustrious of her many titles, the Blessed Virgin is infinitely superior to all the hierarchies of men and angels, the one creature who is closest of all to Christ. 'It is a great thing in any saint to have grace sufficient for the salvation of many souls; but to have enough to suffice for the salvation of everybody in the world, is the greatest of all; and this is found in Christ and in the Blessed Virgin.'" (Pope Leo XIII, "Magnae Dei Matris, 1892 A.D.) [Note: Of course, salvation wouldn't be possible without Christ - however, Christ made his coming to earth dependent upon the fiat of Mary. Furthermore, it is given to Mary to dispense graces: "To Mary, who reigns in heaven, humble yet higher than any creature, near his throne, God grants the custody of the treasures of his manifold graces. She is, moreover, their minister and generous dispenser." (Pope Pius XII)] 

"'There is no doubt', the saint (Bernard) adds, 'that Jesus Christ is the only mediator of justice between men and God; that, by virtue of His own merits and promises, He will and can obtain us pardon and the divine favors; but because men acknowledge and fear the divine majesty, which is in Him as God, for this reason it was necessary to assign us another advocate, to whom we might have recourse with less fear and more confidence, and this advocate is Mary, to whom we cannot find one more powerful with His divine Majesty, or one more merciful towards ourselves.' The saint says, 'Christ is a faithful and powerful mediator between God and men, but in Him men fear the majesty of God. A mediator, then, was needed with the mediator Himself; nor could a more fitting one be found that Mary.' ' But,' continues the same saint, 'should any one who fear to go to the feet of this most sweet advocate, who has nothing in her of severity, nothing terrible, but who is all courteous, amiable, and benign, he would indeed be offering an insult to the tender compassion of Mary.' And he adds, 'Read, and read again, as often as you please, all that is said of her in the Gospels, and if you can find the least trait of severity recorded of her, then fear to approach her. But no, this you can never find; and therefore go to her with a joyful heart, and she will save you by her intercession.'" (St. Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the Church)

Also See: Mary is Always Ready To Help Us | Mary, the Mother of God | Mary as Mediatrix / Co-Redemptrix | Praise of Mary | The Queenship of Mary | Jesus & Mary [Pg.] | Devotion to Mary / Devotion to Mary is Recommended | Marian Facts | Marian Scriptural References | Some Reasons to Honor the Blessed Virgin Mary | Some Thoughts on the Blessed Virgin Mary

Note: Categories are subjective and may overlap. For more items related to this topic, please review all applicable categories. For more 'Reflections' and for Scripture topics, see links below.

Top | Reflections: A-Z | Categ. | Scripture: A-Z | Categ. | Help