Once, in a certain boarding school for boys, there was a particularly noticeable lad named Paul. At just sixteen years old, he stood out among all the other boys for his gentleness, his piety, and his good behavior. Everyone loved him, and it was natural to presume that such a good-natured boy would have never committed any evil. But this, sadly, was not the case.

Paul, like all of us, had a fallen human nature, prone to evil. And for as good and pious as he became, there was a time when that boy had fallen, not only into sin, but serious sin.

The following is taken from Paul’s own words, when he told the truth about himself and his past to one of his masters:

“I was once a good boy, so long as I was near my good mother; and until I was about eleven years old, I did not know what mortal sin was.

“One day when I was in the fields playing with a companion who was a little older than myself, he taught me to do something that was a mortal sin. From that moment I became most unhappy: I could find no peace night or day, because I knew that if I died in that state I should be sent to hell for all eternity.

“What made my state even more awful was this: that I also went and made two other innocent companions commit a grievous sin.

“When I came into this school, I was quite as bad. I committed sin after sin, and I gave up all hope of ever becoming good again. I was perfectly miserable, and when I saw others who were so pious and so good, I wondered if it was possible that I could ever be like them. The devil whispered to me: ‘No, no, you can never be like them.’

“However, I always preserved a pleasant face, and people used to think I was a very good boy.

“Some of my companions came and asked me to become a member of one of the sodalities established in the school under the protection of Our Blessed Lady. I joined it just for appearance sake, and so that others would not think I was bad or careless.

“It was then for the first time I heard of that little prayer, ‘O my Queen and my Mother, protect me, help me, for I am Yours’. I read the examples of Mary’s protection given to those who said it devoutly. I began to say it every day, and it was not long before I went to my Confession. I made a good Confession; and oh, how happy I felt then! I said my little prayer every day, and I felt it so easy to keep being good.

“But I began to think of the terrible things I did in making the two children commit sin. So I am going to become a brother of that religious community which has especially for its purpose the pious, religious education of the young, that I may be the means of saving more souls than I have caused to be lost.

“Temptations often come back to me; but when they come I immediately remember the little aspiration, ‘O my Queen and my Mother’. I say it at once, and then the temptation soon goes away.”

How swiftly Our Blessed Mother comes to those in need! But She needs us to ask - not only for ourselves, but also for everyone else, even those who don’t seem like they need it. We cannot see the real needs of everyone, but God does, and so does His Mother. She is very loving, wise and powerful. How truthfully St. Bernard says of Her: “Never was it known, that anyone who fled to Your protection, implored Your Aid, or sought Your intercession, was left unaided!”