CHAPTER VI.
Various Prayers
TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN MOTHER OF GOD.
PRAYER OF S. BERNARD TO MARY THE VIRGIN MOTHER OF GOD.
O Mother of mercy! I pray that, through thee, I may have access to thy Son; and that he, who through thee was given to us, may also receive us through thee. May thy incorruption excuse in his sight the guilt of our corruption; and may thy humility that is so pleasing to God, obtain pardon for our vanity and pride.
May thy abundant charity cover the multitude of our sins, and thy glorious fruitfulness confer on us fruitfulness in merits. O our Lady, recommend us to thy Son! O our Mediatress, reconcile us to thy Son! O our Advocate, plead for us to thy Son!
By the grace, O blessed Lady, which thou hast merited by him who is Mercy, whom thou hast brought forth, obtain for us that he who, by thy mediation, vouchsafed to become partaker of our infirmity and misery, may also, by thy intercession, make us partakers of his goodness and glory, Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who is above all blessed for ever.
PRAYER TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, TOGETHER WITH THE BLESSED EVANGELIST ST. JOHN.
O inviolate and for ever blessed! O illustrious and incomparable Mary, Virgin Mother of God, and most acceptable Temple of God, Shrine of the Holy Ghost, Gate of the Kingdom of Heaven, through whom, next after God, lives all the world! Incline, O Mother of Mercy, thy bountiful ears to my unworthy supplications, and be in all things a kind and gracious helper to me, a most miserable sinner.
O John! most blessed friend and intimate associate of Christ, who by the same our Lord Jesus Christ wert chosen a virgin, both beloved more than the rest, and beyond all others experienced in heavenly mysteries, for thou becamest his most illustrious Apostle and Evangelist; thee, too, I invoke, together with Mary the Mother of the same Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour, that with her thou wouldst vouchsafe to give me thy help.
O Mary and John, ye two celestial gems! O ye two shining lamps, divinely burn-
