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166 CITY OF GOD
as soon as they left the presence of Mary.
The furious
pride of this dragon, as is written in Job (Job 41, 18),
esteems the toughest steel as weak straw, and the hardest
bronze as a stick of rotten wood. He fears not the dart
nor the sling; but he dreaded the protection of the most
he waited
blessed Mary, and in tempting the Apostles,
until they should have left her presence.
158. But her protection failed them not on that ac
count; for the great Lady, from the watch-tower of her
exalted knowledge, reached out in every direction. Like
a most vigilant sentinel She discovered the assaults of
Lucifer and hastened to the relief of her sons and minis
ters of her Lord. When in her absence She could not
She im
speak to the Apostles in any of their afflictions,
mediately sent her holy angels to their assistance in order
to encourage, forewarn and console them ;
and sometimes
also to drive away the assaulting demons. All this the
celestial spirits executed promptly in compliance with the
orders of their Queen. At times they would do it se
cretly by inspirations and interior consolations at
; others,
and more frequently, they manifested themselves visibly,
assuming most beautiful and refulgent bodies and in
forming the Apostles of what was proper for the oc
casion, or what had been ordered by their Mistress. This
happened very often on account of their purity and holi
ness and on account of the necessity of favoring them
with such an abundance of consolation and encourage
ment. In all their difficulties and labors the most loving
Mother thus assisted them, besides offering up for them
her continual prayers and thanksgiving. She was the
strong Woman, whose domestics were sheltered by dou
ble garments the Mother of
;
the family, who supplied all
with nourishment and who by the labors of her hands
planted the vineyard
of the Lord.
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