mother.[1201] Let us conclude this point in the words of Richard of St. Laurence, who says, that if we wish to obtain any grace, we must have recourse to Mary, who cannot but obtain for her servants whatever she demands; since she has found, and always will find, divine grace.[1202] And this he took from St. Bernard, who said: Let us seek grace, and let us seek it through Mary, for what she seeks she finds, and cannot be frustrated.[1203] If, then, we desire graces, we must go to this treasurer and dispensatrix of graces; for this is the sovereign will of the Giver of every good, as St. Bernard himself assures us, that all graces are dispensed by the hand of Mary.[1204] All, all: Totum, totum; he who says all, excludes nothing. But, because confidence is necessary in order to obtain grace, we now will pass on to consider how certain we should be of obtaining graces, if we have recourse to Mary. _Second Point._—And why should Jesus Christ ever have placed in the hands of this his mother all the riches of the mercies which he wishes to use for our benefit, if not that she may enrich with them all her servants who love and honor her, and with confidence recur to her? With me are riches ... that I may enrich them that love me: “Mecum sunt divitiæ ... ut ditem diligentes me.”[1205] Thus the Virgin herself speaks in this passage, which the holy Church applies to her on so many of her festivals. Therefore, for no other use, but for our benefit, says Adam the Abbot, are the riches of eternal life preserved by Mary, in whose bosom the Saviour has deposited the treasure of the wretched, that, supplied from this treasure, the poor may become rich.[1206] And St. Bernard adds, as I learn from another author, that for this purpose Mary has been given to the world, for a channel of mercy, that by her means graces may continually descend from heaven upon men.[1207] From this the holy Father goes on to ask, why St. Gabriel, having found the divine mother already full of grace, according to his salutation: Hail, full of grace: “Ave gratia plena;” afterwards says that the Holy Spirit was to come to her, to fill her still more with grace; if she was already full of this grace, what more could the coming of the Holy Spirit effect? Mary was already full of grace, thus answers St. Bernard, but the Holy Spirit came upon her for our good, that from her superabundance we poor sinners might be provided.[1208] For this reason Mary was called the moon, of which it is said: The moon is full, for herself and others: “Luna plena sibi, et aliis.”