In this there is certainly nothing opposed to the sacred doctrines; on the contrary, it is entirely conformed to the sentiments of the Church, who, in the public prayers, by her approved, teaches us to appeal constantly to this divine mother, and invoke her as the Health of the weak: “Salus infirmorum.” The Refuge of sinners: “Refugium peccatorum.” The Help of Christians: “Auxilium christianorum.” Our life and our hope: “Vita et spes nostra.” The same holy Church, in the office which she requires to be recited on the Festivals of Mary, applying to her the words of Wisdom, gives us to understand that in Mary we shall find every hope: “In me is all hope of life and virtue.”[399] That in Mary we shall find every grace: “In me is all grace of the way and of the truth.”[400] In a word, that we shall find in Mary life and eternal salvation: “He that shall find me shall find life, and shall have salvation from the Lord.”[401] And again: “They that work by me shall not sin. They that explain me shall have life everlasting.”[402] All which passages signify the need we have of the intercession of Mary. This then is the sentiment in which so many theologians and holy fathers concur, of whom we cannot with justice say, as the author quoted above has asserted, that to exalt Mary they have uttered _hyperboles_, and that _excessive exaggerations_ have fallen from their lips. To exaggerate and utter hyperboles, is to exceed the limits of truth, which cannot be said of the saints who have spoken, enlightened by the Spirit of God, who is the Spirit of truth. And here, if I may make a brief digression, let me express a sentiment of mine, namely: when an opinion is in any way honorable to the most holy Virgin, and has some foundation, and is not repugnant to the faith and the decrees of the Church, and to the truth; the rejection of it, and opposition to it, because the contrary may also be true, indicates little devotion to the mother of God. I would not be one of the number of these, nor would I see you, my reader, one of them, but rather of the number of those who fully and firmly believe all that can be believed, without error, concerning the greatness of Mary, as the Abbot Rupert says, who places among the offerings of devotion most pleasing to this mother, that of a firm belief in her great privileges.[403] If no one else, St. Augustine at least might remove from us all fear of exaggeration in the praise of Mary, who asserts that all we may say in her praise is little in comparison with what she merits on account of her dignity as mother of God. The holy Church also, in the Mass of the blessed Virgin, requires these words to be read: “For thou art happy, oh sacred Virgin Mary, and most worthy of all praise.”[404]