Page:MaryHelpOfChristians.djvu/110

 if he  have  recourse  to  thee,  O  Mary,  virgin  most clement, he  can  not  fail  to  be  softened  and  filled with confidence  if  he  invokes  thy  name;  for  thou wilt inspire  him  with  hope  in  God's  mercy,  pardon, and  grace."

t is,  then,  meet  and  just  that  we  should  devoutly honor  and  praise  the  name  of  Mary. Let us  never  mention  it  except  in  reverence  and devotion. Let us  invoke  Mary  by  it  in  all  dangers of body  and  soul,  mindful  of  the  words  of  St.  Bernard:  "O  sinner,  when  the  floods  and  tempests  of this  earthly  life  overwhelm  thee  so  that  thou  canst not  firmly  set  thy  foot,  turn  not  away  thy  gaze from  the  light  of  this  guiding  star.  When  the storms  of  temptation  assail  thee,  and  the  rocks and  quicksands  of  vexation  and  trial  threaten  to shatter  thy  bark  of  hope,  look  up  to  that  bright star  in  the  heavens,  and  call  on  the  name  of  Mary. When  the  billows  of  pride  and  of  ambition,  when the  floods  of  calumny  are  about  to  submerge  thee, look  up  to  this  star  and  call  on  the  name  of  Mary. When  anger,  avarice,  and  concupiscence  convulse the  peace  of  thy  soul,  look  up  to  this  star  and  call on  Mary.  When  thy  sins  rise  up  like  hideous monsters  before  thy  troubled  vision,  when  thy conscience stings  thee,  when  the  terrors  of  future judgment fill  thee  with  deadly  anguish,  when gloom and  sadness  overpower  thee,  when  thou