Prayer to Saint Mary to obtain the Love of Christ and of Herself

ST. ANSELM

ORATIO AD SANCTAM MARIAM

PRO IMPETRANDO EIUS ET CHRISTI AMORE

Prayer to Saint Mary to obtain the Love of Christ and of Herself
(Oratio VII, written around 1072)

[Introduction: The greatness of Mary in the Mystery of Jesus, the Son of God who became her Son in the Incarnation. To know better in order to love more Jesus and Mary]

MARIA, tu illa magna MARIA, tu illa maior beatarum MARIARUM, tu illa maxima feminarum: te, domina magna et valde magna, te vult cor meum amare, te cupit os meum laudare, te desiderat venerari mens mea,  te affectat exorare anima mea, quia tuitioni tuae se commendat tota substantia mea.            Enitimini, viscera animae meae, enitimini quantum potestis–si quid potestis–omnia interiora mea, ut eius merita laudetis, ut eius beatitudinem ametis, ut eius celsitudinem admiremini, ut eius benignitatem deprecemini, cuius patrocinio cotidie indigetis, indigendo desideratis, desiderando imploratis, implorando impetratis, et si non secundum desiderium vestrum, tamen supra vel certe contra meritum vestrum.            Regina angelorum, domina mundi, mater eius qui mundat mundum,  confiteor quia cor meum nimis est immundum, ut merito erubescat in tam mundam intendere nec digne possit tam mundam intendendo contingere. Te igitur, mater illuminationis cordis mei, te nutrix salutis mentis meae, te obsecrant quantum possunt cuncta praecordia mea. Exaudi, domina, adesto propitia, adiuva potentissima, ut mundentur sordes mentis meae, ut illuminentur tenebrae meae, ut accendatur tepor meus, ut expergiscatur torpor meus, quatenus sicut tua beata sanctitas super omnia post summum omnium, filium tuum, per omnipotentem filium tuum, ob gloriosum filium tuum, a benedicto filio tuo est exaltata: sic super omnia post dominum et deum meum et omnium, filium tuum, te cor meum intelligat et veneretur, amet et deprecetur eo affectu, non quo desidero imperfectus, sed quo debet a filio tuo factus et salvatus, redemptus et resuscitatus

MARY, you Mary the great, you the greatest of all holy Maries, you the greatest of all women; Our Lady, great and most great, my heart longs to love you, my mouth longs to praise you, my mind desires to venerate you, my soul aspires to pray to you, for all my being commends itself to your protection.Make effort, inmost parts of my soul, make effort as much as you are able, if indeed anything is within your power, intimate regions of myself, to praise the merits, to love the felicity, to admire the greatness, to entreat the goodness of her whose patronage you daily need; necessary, you desire it, desired, you implore it, implored, you shall obtain it, if not according to your wishes, then above them, or rather, beyond your merits.Queen of angels, Sovereign of the world, Mother of the One who purifies the world, I confess that my heart is too impure, so much so that it is ashamed to turn to you who are so pure, so pure that my heart is truly unworthy to approach you. You, the Mother of the enlightenment of my heart, you, the nurturer of the salvation of my mind, all that is in me implores you as much as it can. O Our Lady, hear me, be gracious; O most powerful, come to my aid that the defilements of my mind may be purified, my darkness illuminated, my tepidity inflamed, my torpor shaken.Just as your blessed holiness was, through your blessed Son, exalted above all after your Son who is above all, by your almighty Son, for your glorious Son; so also, above all after the Lord my God and Master of all, your Son, may my heart know you, venerate you, love you, and pray to you, not with my imperfect desires, but with the love due to one who, through your Son, has been made and saved, redeemed and resurrected.

[FIRST PART: KNOWLEDGE OF THE INCARNATION OF THE SON OF GOD AND THE DIVINE MOTHERHOOD OF MARY]

[— With regard to the man saved by Christ “Magna”]

Genitrix vitae animae meae, altrix reparatoris carnis meae, lactatrix salvatoris totius substantiae meae! Sed quid dicam? Lingua mihi deficit, quia mens non sufficit. Domina, domina, omnia intima mea sollicita sunt, ut tantorum beneficiorum tibi gratias exsolvant, sed nec cogitare possunt dignas, et pudet proferre non dignas. Quid enim digne dicam matri creatoris et salvatoris mei, per cuius sanctitatem peccata mea purgantur, per cuius integritatem mihi incorruptibilitas donatur, per cuius virginitatem anima mea adamatur a domino suo et desponsatur deo suo? Quid, inquam, digne referam genitrici dei et domini mei, per cuius foecunditatem captivus sum redemptus, per cuius partum de morte aeterna sum exemptus, per cuius prolem perditus sum restitutus et de exilio miseriae in patriam beatitudinis reductus?             »Benedicta« »in mulieribus«, haec omnia mihi dedit »benedictus fructus ventris tui« in regeneratione baptismatis sui, alia in spe, alia in re; quamquam haec omnia ego ipse mihi sic peccando abstulerim, ut nec rem habeam et spem vix teneam. Quid enim? Si mea culpa evanuerunt, numquid ingratus ero illi, per quam mihi tanta bona gratis evenerunt? Absit, ne addam hanc iniquitatem super iniquitatem. Immo gratias ago quia habui, doleo quia non habeo, oro ut habeam. Certus enim sum quia sicut per filii gratiam ea potui accipere: sic eadem per matris merita possum recipere. Ergo domina, porta vitae, ianua salutis, via reconciliationis, aditus recuperationis, obsecro te per salvatricem tuam foecunditatem, fac ut et peccatorum meorum mihi venia et bene vivendi gratia concedatur, et usque in finem hic servus tuus sub tua protectione custodiatur.

Mother of the life of my soul, nourisher of the restorer of my flesh, you have nursed the Saviour of my whole being! But what shall I say? My tongue fails, for my mind is inadequate. Our Lady, O Our Lady, all that is most intimate within me longs to give you thanks for so many blessings, yet being unable even to conceive of those that are worthy, it is ashamed to speak those that are unworthy. Indeed, what can I say worthily to the Mother of my Creator and Saviour, when by her holiness my sins are purified; by her integrity, incorruptibility is given to me; by her virginity, my soul is loved by its Lord and espoused by its God? What can I say worthily to the Mother of my God and Lord, when by her fruitfulness I have become, from captive, a redeemed one; by her childbearing, I have been freed from eternal death; by her child, I have been saved, I who was lost, and brought back from the exile of misery to the homeland of happiness?“Blessed among women,” all this is given to me by “the blessed fruit of your womb” in the new birth of baptism, partly in hope, partly in reality; yet, by my sin, I have deprived myself of all this, to the point of losing the reality and almost the hope. But what then? If it is through my faults that these gifts have vanished, shall I therefore be ungrateful to the one from whom so many blessings came to me freely? God forbid that I add this iniquity to all the others! On the contrary, I give thanks for having received these gifts, I lament that I no longer possess them, I pray to receive them again. For I am certain that just as by the grace of the Son I was able to receive them, so too, by the merits of the Mother, I can recover them. Therefore, O Our Lady, gate of Life, gate of salvation, way of reconciliation, path of renewal, I pray to you by your salvific fruitfulness: grant me the pardon of my sins and the grace of a good life, and may your servant be kept under your protection until the end.

[— Par rapport à toute la création restaurée dans le Christ “Maior”]

Aula universalis propitiationis, causa generalis reconciliationis, vas et templum vitae et salutis universorum, nimium contraho merita tua, cum in me homunculo vili singulariter recenseo beneficia tua, quae mundus amans gaudet, gaudens clamat esse sua. Tu namque, domina admirabilis singulari virginitate, amabilis salutari foecunditate, venerabilis inaestimabili sanctitate, tu ostendisti mundo dominum suum et deum suum quem nesciebat, tu visibilem exhibuisti mundo creatorem suum quem prius non videbat, tu genuisti mundo restauratorem quo perditus indigebat, tu peperisti mundo reconciliatorem quem reus non habebat. Per foecunditatem tuam, domina, mundus peccator est iustificatus, damnatus salvatus, exul reductus. Partus tuus, domina, mundum captivum redemit, aegrum sanavit, mortuum resuscitavit. Insidiis et oppressionibus daemonum tenebris obvolutus mundus subiacebat, sed sole de te orto illuminatus eorum et laqueos devitat et vires conculcat.                 Caelum, sidera, terra, flumina, dies, nox et quaecumque humanae potestati vel utilitati sunt obnoxia: in amissum decus sese gratulantur, domina, per te quodam modo resuscitata, et nova quadam ineffabili gratia donata. Quasi enim omnia mortua erant: cum amissa congenita dignitate favendi dominatui vel usibus deum laudantium, ad quod facta erant, obruebantur oppressione et decolorabantur ab usu idolis servientium, propter quos facta non erant. Quasi vero eadem resuscitata laetantur: cum iam deum confitentium et dominatu reguntur et usu decorantur. Nova autem et inaestimabili gratia quasi exultaverunt: cum ipsum deum, ipsum creatorem suum non solum invisibiliter supra se illa regentem senserunt, sed etiam visibiliter intra se eisdem utendo sanctificantem viderunt. Haec tanta bona per benedictum fructum benedicti ventris benedictae MARIAE mundo provenerunt.               Sed cur solum loquor, domina, beneficiis tuis plenum esse mundum? Inferna penetrant, caelos superant. Per plenitudinem enim gratiae tuae et quae in inferno erant se laetantur liberata, et quae supra mundum sunt se gaudent restaurata. Per eundem quippe gloriosum filium gloriosae virginitatis tuae, omnes iusti qui obierunt ante vitalem eius mortem exultant diruptione captivitatis suae, et angeli gratulantur restitutione semirutae civitatis suae.                     O femina mirabiliter singularis et singulariter mirabilis, per quam elementa renovantur, inferna remediantur, daemones conculcantur, homines salvantur, angeli redintegrantur! O femina plena et superplena gratia, de cuius plenitudinis exundantia respersa sic revirescit omnis creatura! O virgo benedicta et superbenedicta, per cuius benedictionem benedicitur omnis natura, non solum creata a creatore, sed et creator a creatura! O nimis exaltata, quam sequi conatur affectus animae meae, quo aufugis aciem mentis meae? O pulchra ad intuendum, amabilis ad contemplandum, delectabilis ad amandum, quo evadis capacitatem cordis mei? Praestolare, domina, infirmam animam te sequentem. Ne abscondas te, domina, parum videnti animae te quaerenti. Miserare, domina, animam post te anhelando languentem.

Sanctuary of universal propitiation, cause of general reconciliation, receptacle and temple of the life and salvation of all, I limit far too much your merits by considering your blessings only in relation to me, a small and vile man, whereas the whole world rejoices in them with love, and in its joy proclaims that all these blessings are for it. For you, Our Lady, admirable through a singular virginity, lovable through a salutary fruitfulness, venerable through an inestimable holiness, have shown the world its Lord and its God whom it did not know, have made visible to the world its Creator whom it had not previously seen; for the lost world you have begotten the restorer it needed, for the guilty world you have borne the reconciler it lacked. Through your fruitfulness, Our Lady, the sinful world has been justified; condemned, it has been saved; exiled, it has been restored. Your childbearing, Our Lady, has redeemed the world while it was captive, healed it while it was sick, raised it while it was dead. The world lay in darkness among snares and under the oppression of demons; but now, through the Sun that has risen from you, it thwarts their traps and tramples upon their power.Heaven, the stars, the earth, the rivers, day, night, and all that obeys or serves man, rejoice, O Our Lady, in being in some way resurrected by you to their lost beauty, and even in being endowed with a new and ineffable grace. All, indeed, were as if dead, for having lost their natural dignity of being in authority or in service to those who praise God (for which they had been made), they were oppressed and degraded by idolatrous worship (for which they had not been made). Being all as if resurrected, they are the same who now rejoice as they are subject to the power and beautified by the service of God’s worshippers. And even, by a new and ineffable grace, they have as it were exulted, since it is God himself, their Creator, whom they have no longer only perceived as above them and invisibly governing them, but have seen as among them, visibly sanctifying them through their service. And it is through the blessed fruit of the blessed womb of Mary, herself blessed, that these so great goods have come into the world.But why should I be content to say, O Our Lady, that the world is filled with your blessings? They penetrate even into hell, surpassing the heavens. Through the fullness of your grace, those beings who were in hell rejoice in being freed, and those above the world, in being restored. For it is by the same glorious Son of your glorious virginity that all the righteous who perished before his life-giving death exult to see the end of their captivity, and that the angels rejoice at the restoration of their half-destroyed city.O woman admirably singular and singularly admirable, through whom the elements are renewed, hells relieved, demons vanquished, men saved, angels completed! O woman full and more than full of grace, through your overflowing fullness all creation is rejuvenated. O blessed and more than blessed Virgin, through your blessing all nature is blessed, not only the nature created by the Creator, but the Creator through the creature! O you, supremely exalted, you whom the love of my soul strives to follow, where do you flee from the keen gaze of my mind? O beautiful to behold, lovely to contemplate, delightful to love, to what extent do you surpass the capacity of my heart? Wait, O Our Lady, for the weak soul that follows you! Do not hide, Our Lady, from the poorly seeing soul that seeks you. Have mercy, Our Lady, on a languishing soul that sighs for you.

[— In relation to God Himself “Maxima”]

Mira res, in quam sublimi contemplor MARIAM locatam! Nihil aequale MARIAE, nihil nisi deus maius MARIA. Deus filium suum, quem solum de corde suo aequalem sibi genitum tamquam se ipsum diligebat, ipsum dedit MARIAE, et ex MARIA fecit sibi filium, non alium, sed eundem ipsum, ut naturaliter esset unus idemque communis filius dei et MARIAE. Omnis natura a deo est creata, et deus ex MARIA est natus. Deus omnia creavit, et MARIA deum generavit. Deus qui omnia fecit: ipse se ex MARIA fecit,  et sic omnia quae fecerat refecit. Qui potuit omnia de nihilo facere: noluit ea violata, nisi prius fieret MARIAE filius, reficere. Deus igitur est pater rerum creatarum, et MARIA mater rerum recreatarum. Deus est pater constitutionis omnium, et MARIA est mater restitutionis omnium. Deus enim genuit illum per quem omnia sunt facta, et MARIA peperit illum per quem cuncta sunt salvata. Deus genuit illum sine quo penitus nihil est, et MARIA peperit illum sine quo nihil omnino bene est. O vere »dominus tecum«, cui dedit dominus, ut omnis natura tantum tibi deberet secum.

O wonder, I contemplate Mary placed in such a sublime position! Nothing equals Mary, nothing, except God, greater than Mary. God gave to Mary His own Son, this Son equal to Himself, the only begotten of His heart whom He loved as Himself, and from Mary, He became a Son, not another, but absolutely the same, so that by nature He is one and the same Son, common to God and to Mary. All nature was created by God, and God was born of Mary; God created all, and Mary begot God. God, who made everything, made Himself of Mary, and thus He remade all that He had made. He who could make all from nothing did not wish to remake His profaned creation except by first becoming the Son of Mary. God is therefore the Father of created things, and Mary the Mother of recreated things. God is therefore the Father of the establishment of all, and Mary the Mother of the restoration of all. Indeed, God begot the One through whom all things were made, and Mary bore the One through whom all things were saved. God begot the One without whom absolutely nothing exists, and Mary bore the One without whom absolutely nothing exists well. O truly, “the Lord is with you,” for the Lord has granted that all nature owes so much to you, with Him.

[SECOND PART: THE LOVE OF JESUS AND MARY]

MARIA, obsecro te per gratiam qua sic dominus esse tecum et te  voluit esse secum: fac propter ipsam, secundum eandem ipsam gratiam, misericordiam tuam mecum. Fac ut amor tui semper sit mecum, et cura mei semper sit tecum. Fac ut clamor necessitatis meae – quamdiu ipsa persistit –  sit tecum, et respectus pietatis tuae – quamdiu ego subsisto – sit mecum. Fac ut congratulatio beatitudinis tuae semper sit mecum, et compassio miseriae meae – quantum mihi expedit – sit tecum. Sicut enim, o beatissima, omnis a te aversus et a te despectus necesse est ut intereat: ita omnis ad te conversus et a te respectus impossibile est ut pereat. Sicut enim, domina, deus genuit illum in quo omnia vivunt: sic o tu flos virginitatis, genuisti eum per quem mortua revivunt. Et sicut deus per filium suum beatos angelos a peccato servavit: ita, o tu decus puritatis, per filium tuum miseros homines ex peccato salvavit. Quemadmodum enim dei filius est beatitudo iustorum: sic, o tu salus foecunditatis, filius tuus est reconciliatio peccatorum. Non est enim reconciliatio nisi quam tu casta concepisti, non est iustificatio nisi quam tu integra in utero fovisti, non est salus nisi quam tu virgo peperisti. Ergo o domina, mater es iustificationis et iustificatorum, genitrix es reconciliationis et reconcialiatorum, parens es salutis et salvatorum.            O beata fiducia, o tutum refugium! Mater dei est mater nostra. Mater eius, in quo solo speramus et quem solum timemus, est mater nostra. Mater, inquam, eius qui solus salvat, solus damnat, est mater nostra.               Sed o benedicta et exaltata non tibi soli sed et nobis, quid est, quam magnum, quam amabile est quod video per te evenire nobis, quod videns gaudeo, quod gaudens dicere non audeo? Si enim tu, domina, es mater eius, nonne et alii filii tui sunt fratres eius? Sed qui fratres, et cuius eius? Loquar unde iucundatur cor meum, an silebo ne elatione arguatur os meum? Sed quod credo amando, cur non confiteor laudando? Dicam igitur, non superbiendo sed gratias agendo.             Qui enim fecit ut ipse per maternam generationem esset naturae nostrae, et nos per vitae restitutionem essemus filii matris eius: ipse nos invitat ut confiteamur nos fratres eius. Ergo iudex noster est frater noster. Salvator mundi est frater noster. Denique deus noster est factus per MARIAM frater noster. Qua igitur certitudine debemus sperare, qua consolatione possumus timere, quorum sive salus sive damnatio de boni fratris et de piae matris pendet arbitrio? Quo etiam affectu hunc fratrem et hanc matrem amare debemus? Qua familiaritate nos illis committemus? Qua securitate ad illos confugiemus? Qua dulcedine fugientes suscipiemur? Bonus igitur frater nobis dimittat quod deliquimus, ipse avertat quod delinquentes meruimus, ipse donet quod paenitentes petimus. Bona mater oret et exoret pro nobis, ipsa postulet et impetret quod expedit nobis. Ipsa roget filium pro filiis, unigenitum pro adoptatis, dominum pro servis. Bonus filius audiat matrem pro fratribus, unigenitus pro iis quos adoptavit, dominus pro iis quos liberavit.                       MARIA, quantum tibi debemus! Domina mater, per quam talem fratrem habemus, quid gratiarum, quid laudis tibi retribuemus? Magne domine, tu noster maior frater, magna domina, tu nostra melior mater, docete cor meum qua reverentia vos debeat cogitare. Bone tu et bona tu, dulcis tu et dulcis tu, dicite et date animae meae, quo affectu vos memorando de vobis delectetur, delectando iucundetur, iucundando impinguetur. Impinguate et succendite eam vestra dilectione. Vestro continuo amore langueat cor meum, liquefiat anima mea, deficiat caro mea. Utinam sic viscera animae meae dulci fervore vestrae dilectionis exardescant, ut viscera carnis meae exarescant! Utinam sic intima spiritus mei dulcedine vestri affectus impinguentur, ut medullae corporis mei exsiccentur!  Domine, fili dominae meae, domina, mater domini mei, si ego non sum dignus qui sic debeam vestro amore beatificari, certe vos non estis indigni qui sic, immo plus debeatis amari. Ergo benignissimi, ne sic denegetis mihi petenti id quo me confiteor indignum, ut auferatur vobis id quo certe vos negare non potestis dignos. Date itaque, piissimi, date obsecro supplicanti animae meae, non propter meritum meum sed propter meritum vestrum, date illi quanto digni estis amorem vestrum. Date, inquam, mihi quo sum indignus, ut reddatur vobis quo estis digni. Si enim non vultis dare ut habeam quod desidero: saltem nolite negare ut reddam vobis quod debeo.             Forsan praesumendo loquar, sed utique bonitas vestra facit me audacem. Loquar ergo adhuc ad dominum meum et dominam meam, »cum sim pulvis et cinis«. Domine et domina, nonne multo melius est, cum vos gratis donatis petenti quod ipse non meretur, quam cum vobis subtrahitur quod vobis iuste debetur? Illud quippe est praedicandae misericordiae, istud est nefandae iniustitiae. Impendite igitur, piissimi, gratiam, ut recipiatis debitum. Facite vos mihi misericordiam vestram quae mihi expedit et vos decet: ne faciam ego vobis iniustitiam meam quae nulli expedit et nullum decet. Estote vos mihi misericordes, quod obsecro: ne sim ego vobis iniustus, quod execror. Date, benigne et benigna, nec sitis exoratu difficiles; date animae meae amorem vestri, quem ipsa non iniuste petit et vos iuste exigitis: ne ipsa bonis vestris sit ingrata, quod ipsa iuste horret et vos non iniuste punitis.               Certe, IESU fili dei et tu MARIA mater eius, et vos vultis et aequum est, ut quidquid vos diligitis diligatur a nobis. Ergo bone fili, rogo te per dilectionem qua diligis matrem tuam, ut sicut tu vere diligis et diligi vis eam: ita mihi des ut vere diligam eum. Bona mater, rogo te per dilectionem qua diligis filium tuum, ut sicut tu vere diligis et diligi vis eum: ita mihi impetres ut vere diligam eum. Ecce enim peto, quod ut fiat vere est in vestra voluntate; cur ergo propter peccata mea non fiet, cum sit et in vestra potestate? Amator et miserator hominum, tu potuisti reos tuos et usque ad mortem amare, et poteris te roganti amorem tui et matris tuae negare? Mater huius amatoris nostri, quae illum in ventre portare et in sinu meruisti lactare, an tu non poteris aut non voles poscenti amorem eius et tuum impetrare?    Veneretur igitur vos sicut digni estis mens mea, amet vos sicut aequum est cor meum, diligat vos sicut sibi expedit anima mea, serviat vobis sicut debet caro mea, et in hoc consummetur vita mea, ut in aeternum psallat tota substantia mea: »Benedictus dominus in aeternum, fiat, fiat«.

Mary, I implore thee by that grace through which the Lord willed thus to be with thee, as thou with him; by reason of this grace and through it, grant that thy mercy may be with me. Grant that the love of thee may always be with me and that the care of me may always be with thee. Grant that the cry of my need, for as long as it lasts, may be with thee, and that the gaze of thy goodness, for as long as I exist, may be with me. Grant that joy for thy happiness may always be with me, and that compassion for my misery may be with thee, for as long as I shall need it.O most blessed one, just as it is necessary that whoever lives turned away from thee and forsaken by thee should perish, so it is impossible that whoever is turned towards thee and regarded by thee should be lost. O Our Lady, just as God begot him in whom all things have life, so thou, O flower of virginity, hast begotten him by whom what is dead comes back to life. And just as God, through his Son, preserved from sin the blessed angels, so thou, O splendour of purity, through thy Son, hast saved unhappy men from sin. As the Son of God is the beatitude of the just, so thou, O salvation of fruitfulness, thy Son is the reconciliation of sinners. For there is no reconciliation except that which thou hast conceived in thy chastity; no justification except that which thou hast formed in thy womb, in thy integrity; no salvation except that which, a virgin, thou hast brought forth. Therefore, O Our Lady, thou art the Mother of justification and of the justified, Mother of reconciliation and of the reconciled, Mother of salvation and of the saved. O blessed certainty, O sure refuge! The Mother of God is our Mother. The Mother of him in whom alone we hope and whom alone we fear, is our Mother. The Mother of him who alone saves or condemns, is our Mother.But, O blessed and exalted not for thyself alone, but also for us, what then do I see so great and so lovable coming to us through thee, such that in seeing it I rejoice, but in my joy I dare not express it? Indeed, if thou, Our Lady, art his Mother, are not thy other sons his brothers? But what brothers, and of whom? Shall I speak according to what brings joy to my heart, or shall I be silent, lest I be accused of pride in my speech? But what I believe with love, why should I not confess in praise? I shall speak, therefore, not with pride, but in thanksgiving.He who arranged to be himself of our nature by his maternal generation, and who made us sons of his Mother by our return to life, he himself invites us to confess that we are his brothers. Therefore, our judge is our Brother. The Saviour of the world is our Brother. In short, our God has been made, through Mary, our Brother. With what certainty must we hope, with what consolation may we fear, we whose salvation or condemnation depends on the judgement of a good Brother or a tender Mother? With what love must we love this Brother and this Mother? With what familiarity shall we entrust ourselves to them? With what security shall we take refuge near them? Refugees, with what sweetness shall we be welcomed? May our good Brother remit our faults, remove from us what we had deserved because of them, grant what we ask of him in repentance. May the good Mother pray and intercede for us, ask and obtain what is fitting for us. May she pray to her Son for her sons, the only-begotten for the adopted, the Lord for the servants. May the good Son hear his Mother on behalf of his brothers, he, the only-begotten, on behalf of those whom he has made adopted sons, he, the Lord, on behalf of those whom he has freed.O Mary, how great is our debt to thee! Our Lady, Mother through whom we have such a Brother, what thanksgiving, what praises can we give thee in return?Our Lord, thou who art great, our eldest Brother, Our Lady, thou who art great, our best Mother, teach my heart with what reverence we must think of you. Thou who art good, and thou who art good, thou who art gentle, and thou who art gentle, say and grant to my soul the love that shall rejoice in your memory and that, in rejoicing, shall satisfy it. Satisfy it and burn it with your love. May my heart always languish with love for you, may my soul melt and my flesh fail because of it. May the depths of my soul be inflamed with the sweet ardour of your love; may the depths of my flesh be dried up because of it. May the depths of my spirit be satisfied with the sweetness of your love so as to dry out the very marrow of my body.  Lord, Son of my Sovereign, Sovereign, Mother of my Lord, if, for my part, I am not worthy to be thus beatified by your love, you, at least, are not unworthy to be thus loved and to be loved still far more. Therefore, in your benevolence, do not refuse me what I confess myself unworthy of; you would lose what you cannot claim to be unworthy of. Grant then, in your goodness, grant to my suppliant soul, not by virtue of my merits but of yours, grant it to love you as much as you are worthy of it. Yes, give me what I am unworthy of, so that there may be rendered to you what you are worthy of. For if you do not wish to give it to me to satisfy my desire, at least do not refuse it to me to allow me to acquit my debt. Perhaps I shall speak presumptuously, but it is your goodness that gives me boldness. Therefore I shall speak again to my Lord and to my Sovereign, “although I am dust and ashes”. Our Lord, Our Lady, is it not far more fitting for you to give willingly to one who asks what he does not deserve, than to be deprived of what is due to you in strict justice? On the one hand, it is praiseworthy mercy; on the other, abominable injustice. In your charity, therefore, pour forth your grace, in order to receive your due. Grant me that mercy I need and that befits you, lest I inflict upon you an injustice which no one needs and which befits no one. Be therefore merciful, I beg you, lest I be unjust towards you, which I abhor. Thou who art good, and thou who art good, give, allow yourselves to be moved; give my soul the love of you, so that it may not unjustly demand what you rightly require: thus it shall not be ungrateful for your benefits, which it rightly abhors and which you do not unjustly chastise. Assuredly, O Jesus, Son of God, and thou, Mary, his Mother, such is your will, such also is justice: that all that you love, we too should love. Therefore, O good Son, I pray thee, by the love with which thou lovest thy Mother as thou truly lovest her and as thou wilt that she be loved, grant me to love her truly. O good Mother, I pray thee, by the love with which thou lovest thy Son: as thou truly lovest him and as thou wilt that he be loved, obtain for me to love him truly. What I ask thus, it is in your will to fulfil, since it is also in your power; why then should my sins hinder it? Thou who lovest men and hast pity on them, thou who hast been able to love the guilty even unto death itself, wilt thou refuse love of thee and of thy Mother to one who asks it of thee? And thou, Mother of him who loves us, thou who hast merited to bear him in thy womb and to nourish him with thy milk, wilt thou not be able, or wilt thou not consent, to obtain for one who asks it the love of him and of thee? May my spirit venerate you as you are worthy, may my heart love you as is just, may my soul love you as is fitting for it, may my flesh serve you as it ought, and thus may my life be consumed, so that my whole being may sing for ever: “Blessed be the Lord eternally, amen, amen!”

[Latin text of the critical edition of F.S. SCHMITT]