the-glories-of-mary

GLORIES OP MART. 297
them lost? What fire? What punishment? Be
Bilent, speak to me no more of punishment, that
is not my spirit. But we cannot doubt that
Mary, whose spirit is in every thing so like that
of her Son, is wholly inclined to exercise mercy;
for, as she told St. Bridget, she is called the moth
er of mercy, and the mercy of God itself has made
her so compassionate and sweet towards all.*
Wherefore Mary was seen by
St. John clothed
with the sun: "And there appeared a great won
der in heaven, a woman clothed with the
sun."f
Upon which passage St. Bernard remarks, ad
dressing the Virgin: Thou hast clothed the sun,
and art thyself clothed with it.J
Oh Lady, thou
hast clothed the sun, the divine Word, with hu
man flesh, but he hath clothed thee with his
power and his mercy.
So compassionate, then, and kind is this queen,
says St. Bernard, that when a sinner recom
mends himself to her mercy, she does not begin
to examine his merits, and whether he is
worthy
or not of being heard, but she graciously hears
all and succors them. Hence St. Idelbert re
marks, that Mary
is called fair as the moon:
"Pulchra ut Luna:"|| because, as the moon illu
minates and benefits the smallest bodies upon the
* Ego vocor mater misericordiae, et vero misericordia illius misericordem
me fecit. Rev. 1. 1, c. 6.
t Et signum magnum apparuit In ccelo, mulier amicta sole.
XH.1
t Vestis solem, et vestiris ab eo.
Non discutit merita, sed omnibus exorabtiem se pnebet,
in Sign. Magn.
I Cant. 6, 9.
Apoc.
Sena