Bees suck honey from the lily, the iris and the rose; but they draw it also from the smallest flowers, such as rosemary and thyme. Indeed, they gather more honey from the latter, and it is of a better quality; because more closely confined in the smaller flowers and better preserved. Thus is charity practised, both more frequently and with more humility, in lowly exercises of devotion, and consequently with greater perfection and holiness.--_Francis of Sales._ EXAMPLE. _The Pilgrimage of St. Francis of Sales to Loreto._ St. Francis of Sales was always thinking of the honour of the Most Blessed Virgin, and had made a vow from his youth to visit the holy Chapel of Loreto. In his travels through Italy, made by order of his father, his great desire was to fulfil the promise he had made to venerate the Most Holy Virgin in the Sanctuary where she had received the visit of the Angel and the sublime dignity of becoming the Mother of God, and he did so with wonderful piety. He was rapt in admiration in beholding those walls that had enclosed such wonders. He prayed motionless for a long time before the Altar of the Queen of Heaven, thanking her devoutly for all she had done for himself, exhorting her to continue her holy protection, and renewing his promise to imitate her angelic virtue of purity during his whole life. Ineffable were the graces and consolations that he then received; his mind was illumined by celestial light, and his heart was inflamed with such ardent charity, that from that moment nothing appeared to him impossible, when there was question of the glory of God and the salvation of souls. _Prayer of St. Germanus._--Hail Mary! you are the hope of Christians, and it is in this quality that I turn myself to you. Receive, O tender Mother, the prayer addressed to you by a poor sinner, but a penitent sinner, who honours you, and who, after God, places in you all his hope for his conversion and salvation. I am indebted to you for so many graces, but grant me, I beseech you, one grace more. Confirm me and establish me in the grace and love of your Divine Son. You are the consolation of the afflicted; deign, then, to intercede in my favour with your Divine Son, my Saviour, Jesus, that He may deliver me from the burden of my sins, dissipate the darkness of my understanding, remove every irregular affection from my heart, and restrain all the efforts and temptations of my enemies, that, being aided by this grace, I may henceforth so order my life that, under your protection, I may arrive at the happy port of eternal life. Amen. _Ejaculation._--O Holy Virgin! may I always remember you, and have recourse to you in all my necessities. _Practice._--Visit the altar of Mary, either in the church or in your room, to obtain from her sorrow for your sins. NINTH DAY. THE CHARITY OF MARY IN THE VISITATION.