And it is this which the holy Church wishes us to understand, when she honors the divine mother by applying to her these passages of Ecclesiasticus: In me is all grace of the way and of the truth: “In me gratia omnis viæ et veritatis.”[1027] It is said: _Of the way_, because through Mary all graces are dispensed to those who are still on the road to heaven: _Of the truth_, because through Mary is given the light of truth. In me is all hope of life and of virtue: “In me omnes spes vitæ et virtutis.”[1028] Of life, because through Mary we hope to attain the life of grace upon earth, and of glory in heaven; and of virtue, because through Mary virtue is obtained, and especially the theological virtues, which are the principal virtues of the saints. I am the mother of fair love, and of fear, and of knowledge, and of holy hope.[1029] Mary by her intercession obtains for her servants the gifts of divine love, of holy fear, of celestial light, and of holy confidence. And St. Bernard infers that it is taught by the Church, that Mary is the universal mediatrix of our salvation. “Extol the finder of grace, the mediatrix of salvation, the restorer of ages.” Thus the Church sings of her to me, and hath taught me to sing the same.[1030] Therefore, as St. Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem, asserts, the archangel Gabriel called her full of grace: “Ave gratia plena;” because whilst to others, as the saint above mentioned remarks, limited grace is given, to Mary it was given in fulness.[1031] And thus it was ordered, as St. Basil attests, that in this way she might become the worthy mediatrix between God and men.[1032] For if the Virgin had not been full of divine grace, as St. Lawrence Justinian adds, how could she be the ladder of paradise, the advocate of the world, and the true mediatrix between God and men?[1033] The second argument is now made perfectly clear: If Mary, even from the beginning, as already destined to be the mother of the common Redeemer, received the office of mediatrix of all men, and consequently also of all the saints, it was requisite that she, from the beginning, should have a greater grace than all the saints had, for whom she was to intercede. To explain myself more clearly, if by means of Mary all men were to render themselves dear to God, it was meet that Mary should be more holy and more dear to God than all men united. Otherwise, how could she intercede for all others? In order that an intercessor may obtain from his prince favor for all his vassals, it is absolutely necessary that he, more than all the other vassals, should be dear to his monarch. And Mary, therefore, concludes St. Anselm, merited to be the worthy restorer of the ruined world, because she was the most holy and most pure of all creatures.[1034]