The protestants do not believe in the real presence either, should we water it down for them? I know the difference between Latria and Dulia and cannot “accidentally” worship Mary.
Saint Alphonsus Liguori The Glories of Mary
CHAPTER 8
AND AFTER THIS OUR EXILE SHOW UNTO US THE BLESSED FRUIT OF THY WOMB, JESUS
Mary Saves Her Clients from Hell
… I say it is morally impossible for such people to be lost. I find that Father Crasset says the same thing in his book on devotion to the Mother of God. And before Crasset, Vega puts it down in his Marian Theology, along with Mendoza and other theologians. To show that these were justified in what they said, I will set down what some of the Doctors and Saints have said on the subject. St. Anselm, for instance: “Just as it is impossible for persons to be saved who have no devotion to Mary and are not protected by her, so it is impossible for any who recommend themselves to her, and are therefore watched over by her, to be lost.” St. Antonine repeats this idea in practically the same words.
Pay particular attention to the first part of this opinion, and let all tremble for their salvation who make but small account of their devotion to the Mother of God, or grow careless and give it up: it is impossible for anyone not protected by Mary to be saved. Many others say the same thing — for example, St. Albert the Great: All those who are not your servants, O Mary, shall perish. Or St. Bonaventure: Those who neglect our Lady will die in their sins. And in another place: Those who do not call on you in life will never get to Heaven. Long before him, St. Ignatius the Martyr said this: No sinner can be saved except through your help and favor, O Virgin Mary; for those who would otherwise be damned through God’s justice are shown mercy and are saved through your intercession.
Some doubt whether St. Ignatius is the real author in this case, but at any rate St. John Chrysostom adopted the opinion as his own. Even the heretic Oecolampadius considered little devotion to the Mother of God a sure sign of reprobation; and therefore he said: Let it never be said of me that I reject Mary. So it is that the devil does his utmost to make sinners give up their devotion to Mary after they have lost the grace of God. When Sarah saw Isaac playing with Ishmael, who was teaching him evil ways, she asked Abraham to banish both Ishmael and his mother Hagar: Drive out that slave and her son (Gn. 21:10).
She was not satisfied with having the son driven out of the house without also driving out the mother, because she feared the boy would keep returning to the house as long as his mother was there. In the same way, the devil is not content with a soul banishing Jesus Christ, unless it banishes His mother too. He fears that the Mother will bring back the Son by her intercession. And he has good reason to fear, because those who continue their devotion to the Mother of God will soon get back to God Himself. She has the will to save us, for she is our Mother and desires our salvation more than we can desire it ourselves. If this is so, then how can clients of Mary ever be lost? They may be sinners, but if they recommend themselves to this good Mother with perseverance and purpose of amendment, she will obtain for them the necessary help to get back to the state of grace, to have true sorrow for their sins, to persevere in virtue, and at the end of all to die a happy death. Is there any mother who would not save her child from death, if all she had to do was ask the favor from the judge? And can we imagine that Mary, who loves her clients with the tenderest love a mother ever had, would not save her children from eternal death, when she can do it so easily?
Hence St. Ephrem was right in calling devotion to our Blessed Lady the charter (or passport) to liberty, and Mary herself the protectress of the damned. Mary has both the power and the will to save us. She has the power — it is impossible for a Mother of God to pray in vain. Her requests can never be refused; she obtains whatever she wills. What rage fills the devil when he sees a soul persevering in devotion to the Mother of God! We read in the life of Father Alfonso Alvarez, who had great devotion to Mary, that once, when he was praying and was troubled by the devil with impure thoughts, the devil said to him: “Give up your devotion to Mary, and I will leave you alone.” God revealed to St. Catherine of Siena that, out of His infinite goodness and the love He bore to the Incarnate Word, He had granted this favor to the Mother of His Son: no one, not even sinners, who devoutly recommend themselves to her, would ever fall into Hell. No one for whom Mary has once prayed will taste the sorrows of Hell.
If I have the Mother of Mercy to defend me, who will dare to say that the Judge will refuse me mercy when I come before Him? Blessed Henry Suso used to say that he had put his soul in Mary’s hands. Therefore, if his Judge wished to condemn him to Hell, her most loving hands would have to handle the sentence. I will hope for the same kindness for myself, O most holy Queen. And I will repeat the words of St. Bonaventure: “In you, O Lady, I have placed all my hopes.” I have therefore the utmost assurance that I shall never be lost, but shall praise and love you forever in Heaven.
Peace
