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before which the infernal dragons take flight; sometimes
they are thereby hurled back into hell, although, not
abating in their fury, they again return to the conflict.
293. The hellish foes also strive with all their force
to induce men to multiply their sins, in order that the
measure of their sins may so much the sooner be com
plete and their time of penance and of life may come to
an end ;
for then the demons would be enabled to carry
them off to eternal torments. But the angels, who are
rejoiced by the repentance of sinners (Luke 8, 12),
even though they may not be able to bring them to re
pentance, labor diligently to do away with occasions of
sin and to lessen the number of sins or prevent them
altogether. And when, with all their efforts, unknown
to mortals, they cannot bring back the souls from sin,
they resort to the intercession of the most holy Mother of
God, asking Her to be their Mediatrix with the Lord
and lend her aid in confounding the demons. In order
to move her merciful kindness the sooner, they induce
the souls of sinners to practice some special devotion or
perform some service in honor of the great Lady. Al
though it is true, that all
good works performed in the
state of sin are dead and very weak weapons against
the devil, yet they always retain some remote appro
priateness, on account of the good end in view; and thus
the sinner is less indisposed toward grace than without
them. Moreover these good works, when presented by
the angels and especially by the heavenly Mother, possess,
in the eyes of the Lord, a certain life, or the resemblance
of it, altogether different from that given to them by
the sinners; and therefore though He does not bind
Himself to respond to them He nevertheless does it on
account of the One so asking.
294. In these different ways an infinite number of
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