Another peculiar characteristic of his spirit was his great devotion to the Blessed Virgin. He set more value on a Hail Mary than any conceivable form of prayer. He went so far in this, that he had to be reasoned out of its excess afterwards by one of his companions. He did everything by Hail Marys; he would convert England by Hail Marys; and in the year 1850 he obtained a plenary indulgence for the three Hail Marys for the conversion of England. When any one asked him to pray for them, he promised a Hail Mary. This was very praiseworthy in him, as we know how hard it is even for some to go heart and soul into the Catholic instinct of devotion to the Mother of God. They must have their qualifications, and their terms, and their conditions, as if, forsooth, she ought to be obliged to them for acknowledging her privileges at all. The worst of it is, that Catholics often tone down their books of devotion and expressions to suit the morbid tastes of ultra-Protestants, or the fastidiousness of some whitewashed Puseyite. It may be thought prudent to do so; but it is disgraceful, mean, and dishonourable, to say the least of it. These are the most prominent outlines in Father Ignatius's spirit at the time we are writing about, and if we add to them a great devotion to the sacrifice of the mass, we shall have his soul in a fair way before us. He never missed celebrating, if he possibly could; and often he arrived at {385} 11 o'clock in the day at one of our houses, after travelling all night, and would eat nothing until he had first said mass. A month before he died he travelled all night from Glasgow to London, and said mass in Highgate at 11 o'clock. He was jaded, weak in health, but he would not lose one sacrifice: it was of too great a value, and he had received too many favours through it, to omit it on light grounds. This was a life-long devotion of his, and it is the essential one for a priest of God. From what has been said, we can form a fair estimate of his character as a Passionist. One is so obvious that it requires no mention at all, and that was his zeal for the conversion and sanctification of souls. So far did this go, that he seemed led by it blindly and wholly. This was his weak, or, perhaps more properly, his strong point. Go with him in that, and you covered a multitude of sins.