y Ghost, a
shrine and dwelling-place of the Holy Trinity, the Throne of God, the
City of God, the Altar of God, the Temple of God, and the World of God.
And he walked in that garden, in its shade, its sunlight, beneath its
enchanting greenery; he sighed after the water of that Fountain; he
dwelt within Mary's beauteous precincts--resting, hiding, heedlessly
straying there, drinking in the milk of infinite love that fell drop by
drop from her virginal bosom.

Every morning, on rising at the seminary, he greeted Mary with a hundred
bows, his face turned towards the strip of sky visible from his window.
And at night in like fashion he bade her farewell with his eyes fixed
upon the stars. Often, when he thus gazed out on fine bright nights,
when Venus gleamed golden and dreamy through the warm atmosphere, he
forgot himself, and then, like a soft song, would fall from his lips the
_Ave maris Stella_, that tender hymn which set before his eyes a distant
azure land, and a tranquil sea, scarce wrinkled by a caressing quiver,
and illuminated by a smiling star, a very sun in size. He recited, too,
the _Salve Regina_, the _Regina Coeli_, the _O gloriosa Domina_, all the
prayers and all the canticles. He would read the Office of the Virgin,
the holy books written in her honour, the little Psalter of St.
Bonaventura, with such devout tenderness, that he could not turn the
leaves for tears. He fasted and mortified himself, that he might offer
up to her his bruised and wounded flesh. Ever since the age of ten he
had worn her livery--the holy scapular, the twofold image of Mary sewn
on squares of cloth, whose warmth upon his chest and back thrilled him
with delight. Later on, he also took to wearing the little chain in
token of his loving slavery. But his greatest act of love was ever the
Angelic Salutation, the _Ave Maria_, his heart's perfect prayer. 'Hail,
Mary----' and he saw her advancing towards him, full of grace, blessed
amongst women; and he cast his heart at her feet for her to tread on it
in sweetness. He multiplied and repeated that salutation in a hundred
different ways, ever seeking some more efficacious one. He would say
twelve _Aves_ to commemorate the crown of twelve stars that encircled
Mary's brow; he would say fourteen in remembrance of her fourteen joys;
at another time he would recite seven decades of them in honour of the
years she lived on earth. For hours the beads of his Rosary would
glide between his fingers.