The Hail Mary
Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. (Lk. 1:28)
After the "Lord's Prayer," there is no vocal prayer more sacred or efficacious than the "Hail Mary." This sublime prayer was first uttered by God's ambassador, the Archangel Gabriel, who was sent from Heaven to obtain Mary's consent to cooperate in the great work of our redemption. The words of the archangel, like the first portion of Saint John's Gospel, deserve to be engraven in letters of gold. They contain a magnificent eulogy of our Blessed Mother. That eulogy was placed on the lips of Gabriel by the Almighty Himself.
The time had arrived for the accomplishment of man's redemption. The earth longed for the coming of the Desired of all nations; the prophets sighed for Him; the prisoners of Limbo earnestly prayed that the heavens would send down the Just One who would lead captivity captive, and, by releasing them from imprisonment, would enable them to behold the face of their God. The angelic hosts longed to behold the vacant thrones of the rebel angels occupied by the ransomed children of Adam. And Mary, the purest of God's creatures, who knew more than any other of His servants how much the world stood in need of a Redeemer, had continually poured forth supplications to her heavenly Father to send on earth the long-expected Deliverer. It was in the midst of her fervent petitions to Heaven that the Angel of the Lord appeared before her, and saluted her with the sublime message, "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women."
Hail, Mary!
Whether we consider the character of the ambassador sent by Heaven, the nature of his message, or the sanctity of the youthful virgin to whom that message was delivered, we cannot but be filled with admiration at the means which God employs for the accomplishment of His designs. For this mystery of the Annunciation, God selects one of the seven resplendent angels that surround His throne of glory; one whom He had earlier employed to make known to His prophet, Daniel, the time and place of the birth of the Messias. Never was such a salutation addressed by Heaven to any other human being.
Prior to this embassy, when an angel appeared to any of God's favored children on earth, the latter were generally overwhelmed with fear and terror at the pure spirit's approach. Thus, we find Abraham falling prostrate in adoration at the approach of his heavenly visitors. Thus, Tobias and his family fell prone upon their faces, remaining so for hours, when the Angel Raphael appeared to them. Thus, again, was Daniel filled with terror when the Angel Gabriel made known to him the will of Heaven. Not in any of these cases did the angel salute them in such terms as Gabriel saluted Mary. His words reveal the awe and reverence, as well as the profound astonishment, with which he was filled upon beholding such ineffable sanctity in a human being.
Though surrounded in Heaven by illustrious companions, seraphs aflame with divine love, cherubs irradiating glory before the supreme majesty of God, yet never did he behold in any of them such spotless holiness as he now discovered in this virgin daughter of Israel. Hence, the words of his salutation not only expressed his admiration for Mary's unrivaled sanctity, but also his congratulations on the signal honor conferred upon her by her heavenly Father. It was as if he had said: "I salute thee, I congratulate thee, O immaculate one, O full of grace, transcending in dignity and holiness all that I have ever beheld among my fellow angels! Thou art full of grace (he declares), with that fullness which only God could bestow on thee!"
Full of Grace
Saint Bernardine tells us that the rest of God's creatures received grace, as it were, drop by drop; but out of the ocean of God's immensity did Mary receive grace in order to fit her for her sublime mission. The other saints have received abundant graces, but Mary has received in a measure surpassing all. The abundance of grace to save all was in Jesus and Mary, but in a different way and in different measure.
Saint Bernardine of Siena declares that God calls no one to any dignity or position in His creation without fitting him for the proper discharge of its duties. Thus, he tells us that Saint Joseph was especially prepared by God to be the foster-father of Our Lord. He was invested with wisdom, prudence, fortitude and justice in order to represent the heavenly Father in that little sanctuary, the home at Nazareth. But how much more wonderfully was Mary gifted for the discharge of the most sublime duties that God could entrust to any woman! She was destined to be the living tabernacle of the Divinity; the nursing mother to Him Who feeds the birds of the air, Who rules stars, and holds the mighty universe in the palm of His hand. She was to bear familiarly in her arms, to cherish intimately in her heart, Him before Whom the highest angels in Heaven prostrate themselves in humble adoration.
The Lord Is With Thee...
O wonderful Ark of the New Covenant, wonderful Sanctuary of the Divinity! Thou art, indeed, holy and full of grace, for "sanctity," as the Psalmist says, "becometh Thy house, O Lord." The angel declares to Mary that the Lord is with her; and here we are called to reflect upon the different ways whereby God is with all His creatures. God, as we know, is everywhere, supporting and sustaining everything that He has created. Nothing can exist for a moment without God. Saint Paul declares that "in Him we live, and move, and have our being." This is termed by theologians the substantial presence of God, maintaining the existence of all that He creates or has created. In this way, God is with the good and the bad, the saint and the sinner, the beast and the tree. But there is another way in which God is with His servants—when He reigns in their hearts and rules them as His kingdom. In this way He is with all who are in the state of grace. There is still another way, more intimate, more holy, in which He is with His elect—when they are united to and, in a manner, transformed into God, and can say with Saint Paul: "I live now, not I, but Christ lives in me." For, even as the furnace transmutes the dark, solid mass of iron until it emits light and heat like unto the fire, though remaining still distinct from the fire, so it may be said that the souls of God's saints are in a manner transformed by God.
"Hail Mary" of a Protestant
A little six-year-old Protestant boy had often heard his Catholic companions reciting the prayer "Hail Mary." He liked it so much that he copied it, memorized it and would recite it every day. "Look, Mommy, what a beautiful prayer," he said to his mother one day.
"Never again say it," answered the mother. "It is a superstitious prayer of Catholics who adore idols and think Mary a goddess. After all, she is a woman like any other. Come on, take this Bible and read it. It contains everything that we are bound to do and have to do." From that day on the little boy discontinued his daily "Hail Mary" and gave himself more time to reading the Bible instead.
One day, while reading the Gospel, he came across the passage about the Annunciation of the Angel to Our Lady. Full of joy, the little boy ran to his mother and said: "Mommy, I have found the 'Hail Mary' in the Bible which says: 'Hail full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou amongst women.' Why do you call it a superstitious prayer?"
On another occasion he found that beautiful Salutation of St. Elizabeth to the Virgin Mary and the wonderful canticle MAGNIFICAT in which Mary foretold that "the generations would call her blessed."
He said no more about it to his mother but started to recite the "Hail Mary" every day as before. He felt pleasure in addressing those charming words to the Mother of Jesus, our Savior.
When he was fourteen, he one day heard a discussion on Our Lady among the members of his family. Every one said that Mary was a common woman like any other woman. The boy, after listening to their erroneous reasoning could not bear it any longer, and full of indignation, he interrupted them, saying:
"Mary is not like any other children of Adam, stained with sin. No! The Angel called her FULL OF GRACE AND BLESSED AMONGST WOMEN. Mary is the Mother of Jesus Christ and consequently Mother of God. There is no higher dignity to which a creature can be raised. The Gospel says that the generations will proclaim her blessed and you are trying to despise her and look down on her. Your spirit is not the spirit of the Gospel or of the Bible which you proclaim to be the foundation of the Christian religion."
So deep was the impression which the boy's talk had made that his mother many times cried out sorrowfully: "Oh my God! I fear that this son of mine will one day join the Catholic religion, the religion of Popes!" And indeed, not very long afterwards, having made a serious study of both Protestantism and Catholicism, the boy found the latter to be the only true religion and embraced it and became one of its most ardent apostles.
Some time after his conversion, he met his married sister who rebuked him and said indignantly: "You little know how much I love my children. Should any one of them desire to become a Catholic, I would sooner pierce his heart with a dagger than allow him to embrace the religion of the Popes!"
Her anger and temper were as furious as those of St. Paul before his conversion. However, she would change her ways, just as St. Paul did on his way to Damascus. It so happened that one of her sons fell dangerously ill and the doctors gave up hope of recovery. Her brother then approached her and spoke to her affectionately, saying:
"My dear sister, you naturally wish to have your child cured. Very well, then, do what I ask you to do. Follow me, let us pray one 'Hail Mary' and promise God that, if your son recovers his health, you would seriously study the Catholic doctrine, and should you come to the conclusion that Catholicism is the only true religion, you would embrace it no matter what the sacrifices may be."
His sister was somewhat reluctant at the beginning, but as she wished for her son's recovery, she accepted her brother's proposal and recited the "Hail Mary" together with him. The next day her son was completely cured. The mother fulfilled her promise and she studied the Catholic doctrine. After long preparation she received Baptism together with her whole family, thanking her brother for being an apostle to her.
The story was related during a sermon given by the Rev. Fr. Tuckwell. "Brethren," he went on and said, "the boy who became a Catholic and converted his sister to Catholicism dedicated his whole life to the service of God. He is the priest who is speaking to you now! What I am I owe to Our Lady. You, too, my dear brethren, be entirely dedicated also to Our Lady and never let a day pass without saying the beautiful prayer, 'Hail Mary', and your Rosary. Ask her to enlighten the minds of Protestants who are separated from the true Church of Christ founded on the Rock (Peter) and 'against whom the gates of hell shall never prevail.'"
The prince of the heavenly hosts— the leader of the angelic choir, Michael—was said to resemble God; so also was Mary, the Immaculate, intimately united with God by her holiness even before the Incarnation, thus partaking in a measure of the divine nature, as Saint Peter has said. Even before Gabriel received Mary's consent, before that moment to which the angels looked forward, and for which the patriarchs and prophets sighed, when "the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us," God, in the measureless ages of eternity, had possessed her whole being. He had gazed from the beginning on that masterpiece of His work, and ever guarded her not only from every stain that could sully her spotless soul, but from every snare and temptation of the archenemy.
The Lord possessed me in the beginning of His ways, before He made anything from the beginning; I was set up from eternity and of old before the earth was made; the depths were not as yet, and I was already conceived.
Thus was the Lord with Mary in a most sublime and exceptional manner, filling her whole soul with His grace, occupying her mind and her heart. She lived exclusively for Him and in Him; and He dwelt in her as in His most pure and holy tabernacle.
Blessed Art Thou Among Women.
These words proclaim the super-eminent dignity of the Virgin of virgins. Foretold from the fall of Adam as the Woman who would crush the serpent's head, Mary was blessed far above the rest of her sex, that her blessing might descend upon all the daughters of Eve, her dignity elevate them, her glory enhance the honor and respect which was to be truly their inheritance.
Up to the days of our Blessed Mother, the condition of woman was generally a most debased and defenseless one. She was the slave of her lordly keeper, pandering to his passions, subject to his whims and fancies. She was condemned to till the fields, dig the ramparts, build the fortresses of dominating masters, or forced to live a life more degraded still in oriental seraglios or harems. Even among the chosen people she was degraded through concubinage and polygamy. But through Mary woman has been placed on an equal footing with man, who was compelled by Christianity to respect her dignity, to maintain her honor, and to acknowledge her equality. From the establishment of Christianity, it has been the aim of our Holy Mother the Church to elevate woman, and to safeguard her dignity by maintaining inviolate the sanctity and stability of the bond of marriage. For centuries she contended against the royal monsters of Europe, in order to protect helpless woman. Wherever her sons carried the glad tidings of salvation, there was woman exalted and protected. The chivalrous heroes of the Middle Ages, in vowing themselves Knights of the Blessed Virgin, at the same time bound themselves everywhere to protect and defend woman. Ah, how little do the non-Catholic women of today realize that the universal respect and homage they now enjoy has come down to them through the grand old Church of Rome! They do not know that they owe their treasured privileges to the honor and love that Catholic Christendom has ever entertained for the holy Mother of God, the Immaculate Virgin who was blessed among all women.
When Mary heard the sublime words of the angel, the Evangelist tells us that "she was troubled." In her humility and complete self-effacement, she could not understand why such language should be addressed to her. She regarded herself, as she later declared to Gabriel, as a humble handmaid of the Lord. The very fact that she had long since made a vow of virginity was a proof that she had never dreamed of being the mother of the Messias, a traditional dignity to which many of Israel's maiden daughters did not fear to aspire.
The archangel then made known the object of his visit. "Fear not, Mary," he said, "for thou hast found favor with God; behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call His name Jesus." (Luke 1:31)
Filled with astonishment at this manifestation of the will of Heaven, the thought of her vow presented itself to her. "How shall this be done, because I know not man?" It was then that the angel removed her doubt and her fear by making known to her that the transcendent mystery of the Incarnation would be accomplished by the power of the Holy Ghost, and that thus her virginal purity would suffer no detriment.
O Immaculate Virgin, fear not, thou art too dear to God for thy spotless sanctity to be allowed to suffer any injury! Hasten to give thy consent; the glory of God demands it, the salvation of souls cries out for it. Thy forefathers in Limbo stretch forth their hands to thee, calling upon thee to give thy consent that their deliverance may come. Hasten that all-important moment when the heavens will bow down to the earth: when the Word shall be made flesh, and dwell amongst us!
Blessed Is the Fruit of Thy Womb, Jesus
Mary, realizing far more perfectly than our greatest theologians how much the glory of God was involved in the message of the angel, how much the salvation of souls depended on the coming of the Messias, humbly bowed her head and gave her consent to the accomplishment of the great mystery of the Incarnation. It was then that the heavens bowed down to the earth; it was then that the Holy Ghost, taking not the slime of the earth, as when He formed the first man, but the most pure blood from the sinless heart of Mary, formed from it a body, and breathed into it a living soul. At that momentous instant, the Son of God clothed Himself with a body like to ours; in the language of Saint John, "The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us." (Luke 1:38) In this way, the message of the angel was fulfilled and Mary became the Mother of God. Oh, here we can add with Saint Elizabeth: "Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb!" We can add, too, that name which completes the Angelical Salutation—the adorable name of Jesus, which was given by God to His beloved Son made man for our redemption. Mary was the first of mortals who heard it pronounced by Heaven's messenger: and at its mention her whole being thrilled with unspeakable emotion and delight.
Wonderful "Hail Mary," how many mysteries were thus accomplished at its first utterance! No wonder that the children of the Church delight to repeat it again and again. "Heaven rejoices," says Blessed Alan, "the earth is astonished, Satan flees, Hell trembles, the heart is inflamed with love, the flesh is overcome, sadness is banished, fervor is increased, the mind is illumined, the heart is enlarged, when I say 'Hail Mary.'" No wonder the saints delighted in often repeating that divine salutation, so powerful in its effects.
The "Hail Mary" is a profession of our faith in the Incarnation of Our Lord, in the dignity, power and glory of His Blessed Mother. It is, furthermore, a renewal of our hope in God's mercy, and in His love for sinners. It is a declaration of our confidence in the powerful intercession of the Mother of God. It is an epitome of the marvelous prerogatives traced for us by Heaven's own ambassador. Wondrous salutation! How many miracles of grace has thou accomplished! How many poor sinners suspended on the brink of despair over the infernal abyss, have looked up to Mary, and have found hope and peace and deliverance in repeating these blessed words!
Every time we say the "Hail Mary" we rejoice the heart of our Immaculate Mother by reminding her of that sublime moment when the almighty God of Heaven and earth was pleased to descend and dwell within her virgin sanctuary. Let us then never tire of repeating the "Hail Mary." Let it be on our lips in joy and in sorrow, in trials and difficulties, in time of temptation and of danger. If we make a practice of repeating it frequently each day of our life, together with the "Our Father," we will surely breath it forth in the moment of our dissolution, and obtain through it the all-powerful help of our Blessed Mother. She whom we have so often implored to pray for us "at the hour of our death" will surely assist us in our last battle against our infernal enemies and conduct us safely to life everlasting.
O wonderful Ave Maria! pronounced first in Heaven by the great Creator, carried to earth by His angelic ambassador, and destined to be repeated to the end of time in the language of every nation under the sun, in childhood, in youth, in manhood and decrepit age! It is on the lips of virgins and matrons; it is uttered by earth's greatest warriors and sages.
"Behold," said Bishop Martin of Paderborn, "behold the truth whereon the Rosary reposes! Every time I repeat the 'Hail Mary' I recognize that, on this earth, there is no salvation except in Jesus and Mary. Each 'Hail Mary' is an appeal to the maternal heart of the Mother of Christ to plead with the heart of her Son for me, to apply to me the fruits of His redemption. And such an appeal will never be offered in vain. How many powerful blows you have given the infernal serpent, how many temptations you have conquered, how many acts of virtue you have offered to Heaven by your 'Hail Marys' will be known only at the day of judgment." Saint Bonaventure says: "Let us joyfully proclaim this 'Hail Mary' by which our redemption was commenced. Let us all say it a thousand times, no, a hundred thousand times. Let us join with Gabriel in saying: 'Hail, full of grace.' I congratulate you, O most pure, most chaste, most holy Virgin, chosen to crush the head of the infernal serpent, chosen to be the dwelling place of God Himself; and therefore, blessed among, and above, all the daughters of Eve!"