It is impossible to study the history of Jesus and Mary without perceiving a uniform law of Providence uniting them in the great events of their lives. Unless Mary had consented to become His Mother, Jesus would not have been born. Divine grace, no doubt, disposed her to give assent, but the act was not the less one of her own free will. As certain as man has been redeemed by the incarnation and Passion of Jesus, so surely did God make the whole depend in the first instance on the co‐operation of Mary. If, therefore, you believe that Jesus Christ came to us through Mary, believe also that the graces which He merited for us must come to us through His Mother. If you believe that without her you were not redeemed, believe also that without her you will not be saved. God wished that Mary should be looked upon and honored as the perpetual help of sinners, to obtain their conversion. O Mother of perpetual help! thou art the dispenser of all those gifts which God granted to us wretched sinners. He has made thee so powerful, so rich, and so beautiful, in order that thou mayest succor us in our misery. In thy hands I place my eternal salvation, and to thee I consign my soul. I wish to be remembered among thy devoted servants. Prayer. O Mother of perpetual help, take me under thy protection and I shall be secure! I shall not fear Jesus Christ, my eternal Judge, for by one prayer of thine He will be appeased. What I fear is that in the hour of temptation, I may neglect to have recourse to thee, and thus be lost. Obtain for me, therefore, the pardon of my sins, final perseverance, and the priceless gift to love Jesus Christ and to have recourse to thee, O Mother of perpetual help. Amen. Eighteenth Day. Confidence in Mary. Let our veneration for Mary be full of confidence. Our first parents had drawn upon us the greatest of miseries, but through the divine mercy a new Adam and Eve have more than repaired our misfortunes. God could have performed the work of redemption by other means; but He preferred the very way by which man had lost his innocence. That is to say, that as Satan first deceived the woman, and through her means deceived all men, so by a woman Satan in his turn should be confounded, and men be saved. Of course Our Lord is the true mediator between God and man, yet it is also true that after having sinned, we dare not appear before God. His presence fills us with fear, so we have need of a mediatrix—and this we have in Mary. If you desire an intercessor with God, have recourse to Mary, all pure, all powerful, and full of mercy. Oh, then, all you who are exposed to the temptations of the world, raise your eyes to this Star of the sea. Call on Mary, and you will soon experience the powerful effects of her intercession. Conducted by her, you will securely reach the port of a blessed eternity. Prayer.