the-glories-of-mary

106 GLORIES OF MARY.
of her servants when they are at the point of
death: "Then I, their most loving Lady and
mother, hasten to them in death, that they may
have consolation and comfort."* St. Vincent of
Ferrer adds: The blessed Virgin receives the
souls of the dying. The loving queen receives
their souls under her protection, and she her*
self presents them to the judge her Son, and
thus certainly procures their salvation, f
This
happened to Charles, son of St. Bridget, who,
dying in the perilous profession of a soldier,
and far from his mother, the saint feared for his
salvation; but the blessed Virgin revealed to her
that Charles was saved for the love he bore her, in
recompense of which she had assisted him in
death, and had suggested to him the Christian
acts necessary to be made at that moment. The
saint saw at the same time Jesus upon a throne,
and the devil bringing two accusations against
the most holy Virgin: the that first, Mary had
prevented him from tempting Charles at the
moment of death; the second, that Mary herself
had presented his soul to its judge, and thus
had saved without even giving him an opportu
nity to expose the reasons why he claimed it as his
own. She then saw him driven from the pres
ence of the judge, and the soul of Charles taken
to heaven.
* Tune ego carisslma eorum domina et mater occurram eis in
ruorte, ut Ipsl consolationem et refrigerium habeant. Rev. lib. 1,
C.9C,
t Beata virgo anlmas morientlum suscipit, Sena, de Ass,