Further Advantages of the 'Hail Mary.'
Let us glory, says a pious author, in repeating this salutation with the Angel Gabriel, the Apostles, the Martyrs, and all the Christian world. Let this Ave Maria, which comes to us fragrant as a Canticle of heaven, and repeated by as many echoes as there are faithful souls on earth, be sweet to our lips, and sweeter still to our hearts. It is a rare and enviable favour indeed to be able to salute a queen, and yet every day, at every moment, men and women, old and young, all of every condition, can salute the Queen of heaven and earth, who contains in her hands all the treasures of God, and can be sure of being always heard, and that each salutation addressed to her will meet with a corresponding benefit. . . . But can the sinner also dare to approach her? Yes, certainly; let him also come with humble confidence and salute her who is his refuge, for she will in no wise be offended by his prayer; and if the Hail Mary from his lips be a cry of sorrow and repentance, it will become omnipotent, and will obtain mercy, pardon, grace, and salvation.
Hail Mary! Ave Maria! . . . A sweet and beautiful word it is, which heaven sent to earth, and earth again returns so frequently to heaven!
The Ave Maria is the universal prayer of each and all. The infant begins to lisp it, and on his knees, with his hands raised to heaven, says Ave Maria! The aged, weakened by infirmity, may be incapable of reciting long prayers, but they will always have sufficient strength to repeat devoutly the Ave Maria. This is the favourite prayer of just souls. Oh, how many times in the day does it rise from their hearts full of burning love, and ascend, like purest burning incense to the throne of Mary! Ave Maria! . . . it is also the prayer of sinners, and perhaps their only prayer. In the great number of these there are some, alas! who have forgotten all other prayers, but they still know and repeat the Ave Maria. Yes; amidst the universal wreck of all other prayers and practices of religion, the Ave Maria or Hail Mary has remained for them ever a means of salvation. . . . How many poor wrecked souls have been led back to the haven of salvation by this means!
Prayer.—O Jesus! only Son of God, Who from the bosom of Thy Eternal Father, descended into the bosom of Mary, Thy Mother, receive the homage of my adoration and love. Through Thee I go to Thy Father, and through Thy Mother I come to Thee. Like the spouses at Cana, I dare not address my prayer directly to Thee, but I fear nothing when I direct it through Thy Blessed Mother. O Lord! well Thou knowest that I have no wine, no courage, nor strength, nor holy and generous resolutions; I have lost all! Ah! say not to Thy Mother, who intercedes in my favour: 'Woman, what is there in common between us?' because I know for certain that she is all-powerful over Thy filial Heart. Add not 'My hour is not yet come!' Ah, no; Thy hour, O my God, to benefit those who pray to Thee, through Thy Blessed Mother, is ever at hand. O Lord! behold, the vessel of my heart is full of the insipid waters of earth; change this water into the delicious wine of holy affections for heaven, where the Saints celebrate the nuptials of the Lamb amidst eternal joys. Amen.
Ejaculation.—Succour my weakness, O most powerful Virgin!
Practice.—Endeavour to preserve confidence in God, when He delays the graces you desire.
[TWENTY-FIRST DAY.]
MARY OBTAINS THE FIRST MIRACLE FROM JESUS BY HER LIVELY FAITH.
THAT we may conceive a just idea of the power the Most Holy Virgin possesses over the Heart of Jesus, let us meditate upon those other words which He addressed to her at the marriage of Cana: Nondum venit hora mea—'My hour is not yet come.'