“She is like the merchant’s ship, she bringeth her bread from afar.”[444] Mary is that blessed ship, which brought to us from heaven Jesus Christ, the living bread that came from heaven to give us life eternal, as he has said: “I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever.”[445] Hence Richard of St. Laurence says, that all those will be lost in the sea of this world who are not received into this ship, that is, protected by Mary.[446] He also adds, that whenever we find ourselves in danger of destruction from the temptations or passions of the present life, we ought to flee to Mary, crying quickly, Oh Lady, help us; save us, if thou wouldst not see us lost.[447] And let it be remarked here, in passing, that this writer does not hesitate to say to Mary: Save us, we perish—“Salva nos, perimus;” as the author mentioned several times in the previous section does, who denies that we can ask the Virgin to save us, because, as he says, it belongs only to God to save us. But if a person condemned to death may ask some favorite of the king to save him by interceding for him with his prince, why cannot we implore the mother of God to save us, by obtaining for us through her prayers the grace of eternal life? St. John of Damascus did not hesitate to say to the Virgin: Oh pure and immaculate queen, save me, deliver me from eternal damnation.[448] St. Bonaventure called Mary the salvation of those invoking her.[449] The Church allows us to invoke her: Health of the weak—“Salus infirmorum;” and shall we hesitate to ask her to save us, when, according to a certain author, to no one is the door of salvation open except through her?[450] And before him St. Germanus, speaking of Mary, said: No one can be saved except through thee.[451]