Mary, a mediatrix to the Mediator

God has seen our unworthiness and inability to approach Him, for our heart is so corrupted that in order to please Him, all our labors, undertakings, and plans bear little weight before Him. To gain access to His Majesty, we must appear supported and clothed with the merits of a perfect advocate and a supreme mediator. This advocate, this supreme mediator, is and can only be Our Lord Jesus Christ. But do we not need a mediatrix with the Mediator himself?

Do we think that we are pure enough to be united to Him directly and by ourselves? Is He not God, in all things equal to His Father?

St. Bernard shows us the sure and firm way. He tells us that "it is through Mary that Jesus came to us, and it is through her that we must go to Him. Mary is our Mother, she who receives the divine light and moderates it to adapt it to our small capacity. She is so charitable that she does not turn away any of those who ask for her intercession, no matter how sinful they may be; for, as the Saints say, "it has never been said, since the world began, that anyone had recourse to the Blessed Virgin with confidence and perseverance, and was turned away." She is so powerful that she has never been refused in her requests; she only has to go to her Son to pray to Him: He receives and He grants at once; and He is always won over by the loving prayers of His most dear Mother.

According to St. Bernard and St. Bonaventure, we have three steps to climb in order to go to God: the first one, the closest and the one most suited to our capacity, is Mary, our Mediatrix of intercession; the second one is Jesus Christ, our Mediator of Redemption; and the third one is God the Father.

But why is it so difficult to preserve in ourselves the graces and treasures we have received from God? It is because we hold this treasure in fragile vessels, in a corruptible body, in a weak and changing soul. But, we may ask, where does this strange change come from? Was it for lack of grace? No, but for lack of humility, for believing ourselves to be stronger and more self-sufficient than we really are; or capable of guarding our treasure alone, relying on ourselves. The most just Lord permits that we be robbed of this insignificant support, leaving us to our own devices.

If we had known the admirable devotion to Mary, we would have entrusted our treasure to this powerful and faithful Virgin, who would have kept it for us as her own property, and would even have made it a duty of justice. It is the faithful Virgin, whom the serpent never conquered, who performs this miracle for those who love her in this beautiful way.

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