the-glories-of-mary

GLOBIES OF MART. 511
that most beautiful queen: Sim? ma gloria est
post Deura tevidere."* And St. Bonaventure:
Next to God, our greatest glory and our greatest
joy is from Mary.f
Let us rejoice, then, with Mary,
in the exalted
throne to which God has elevated her in heaven.
And let us rejoice also for our own sake, since if
our mother has ceased to be present with us, by
ascending in glory to heaven, she has not
ceased to be present with us in her affection.
Nay, being there nearer and more united to God,
fihe better knows our miseries, and therefore
pities them more, and is better able to relieve us.
And wilt thou, as St. Peter Damian asks, oh
blessed Virgin, because tbou hast been so exalt
ed in heaven, be forgetful of us miserable
us from
creatures ?J No, may God preserve
the thought; a heart so merciful cannot but pity
our miseries which are so great. If the pity
of Mary for us was so great when she lived upon
earth, much greater, says St. Bonaventure,
is it
in heaven, where she reigns.]
Meanwhile let us dedicate ourselves to the
service of this queen, to honor and love her as
much as we can; for she is not, as Richard of St.
*Serm. l,deNat.
t Post Deum major noetra gloria et majns nostrum gaudinm ex
Maria.
$ Nunquid, O beata Virgo, quia Ita glorificata ea, ideo nostr hamilitatis
oblita esf Senn. 1, de Nat. V.
Absit non convenit tantae mieericordise tante miseri
oblivisci.
| Magna fuit erga miseros raisericordia Mariae exnlantia in mundo,
ad multo major est wgn&ntia in ccslo. Spec. c. 8.