Hail Mary, Full of Grace

When God wished to create the world, "He spoke and it was done;" when He wished to redeem the world, He left it to the consent of Mary.

She said, "be it done to me according to Thy Word," and the miracle of all miracles, the mystery of all mysteries, was consummated, "God was made Flesh and dwelt amongst us."

What difficulty is there in believing it is possible that the Blessed Virgin has wrought this miracle or that; has cured this person or that. These miraculous interpositions are as nothing, when compared with those miracles which we must believe, unless we would forfeit the very name of Christian.

Since there is nothing too great for the power of the Blessed Virgin, there is nothing too insignificant for her notice. While she fights the battles of the Universal Church, she cares for the salvation of the least of Christ's little ones; she is always ready to console and refresh their fainting spirits, to procure for them even the smallest actual grace. From the holy virgin martyr, who in the first ages of the Church invoked the aid of Mary against the demon of impurity, to the youth who kneels today before her shrine, imploring the preservation of his innocence or the restoration of lost virtue, it has never been heard that anyone who fled to her protection, implored her assistance, or asked her for prayers, was left unheeded.

Number, if you can, those who through the intercession of Mary have been restored to life, how many sick have been cured, how many captives have been set at liberty, how many have been delivered by Mary who were in danger of perishing by fire, in danger of shipwreck, in danger of war and pestilence.

Number, all the kingdoms which she has founded, all the empires she has preserved; to all the armies that put themselves under her protection has she not given victory over their enemies?

Call to mind Narses, the general of the emperor Justinian; was it not through Mary that he gained the victory over the Goths; and was not the victory of Heraclius over the Persians due to Mary?

Through Mary's intercession, Alfonsus VIII, King of Castile, slew 200,000 Moors with the loss of scarcely 20 or 30 Christians; while Pius V obtained through her intercession the celebrated victory over the Turks.

How many heresies has she not crushed! It was she who animated St. Athanasius and St. Gregory Thaumaturgus to defend the Church against the Arians, St. Cyrillus to defend the doctrine of the Church against the Nestorians, St. Augustine to raise his voice against the Pelagians, St. John Damascene to attack the fierce heresy of the Iconoclasts, St. Dominic to defend the doctrine of the Church against the Albigenses, St. Ignatius Loyola the courage to battle against the baneful heresy of Luther, St. Alphonsus de Liguori to take up arms against the poisonous serpents of Jansenism and Gallicanism, and it is she who has inspired so many persons to consecrate themselves to God in the religious and apostolic life.

These public manifestations of her power recorded in the history of the Church are indeed wonderful; but her secret influence, the influence which she exerts over the hearts of men, over human passions, motives of action, over the invisible enemies of our salvation, is even more wonderful.

This influence is felt through the whole church; it is of hourly occurrence; those who have felt its gentle operation can bear witness to the truth of its existence. One, for instance, sets his heart upon obtaining from the Blessed Virgin the recovery or conversion of a dear friend; another prays for the clear manifestation of the divine will in his regard at some critical period of his life; another prays for some special favors; they begin a Novena to Mary, and after it is ended, their prayer is heard.

In their daily strife with sin and temptation, the name of Mary acts as a spell upon the spirits of evil. If they at times give way to pride and contempt for others, they invoke the aid of Mary, and their hearts become kind and humble. If the thought of impurity crosses their mind, they call upon her name, and the demon flees.

Number, if you can, all the sinners who have been converted through Mary, the number of the just who have become perfect through her, the many who have obtained the grace of purity, the grace to overcome their passions, and the many who have obtained through her the crown of life everlasting. Behold, a St. Augustine, a St. john Damascene, a St. Germanus, a St. Anselm, a St. Bonaventure, a St. Bernard, a St. Dominic, a St. Vincent Ferrer, a St. Xavier, a St. Alphonsus; behold that countless multitude of saints, who on account of their sanctity have shone like suns in the heavens. They became holy through Mary, and these are the hourly triumphs of Mary's power; the secret, but conclusive, evidence of the queenly authority with which she is invested for the welfare of the faithful.

Is it then strange that we rejoice in the name, in the dignity, in the glory of Mary? Would it not, on the contrary, be strange, were we to be slow in proclaiming her praise? If God endowed the Blessed Mother of His only begotten Son with such power and dominion, have we no obligations to fulfil towards her who is the Mother of our God and our most gracious queen?

She is the Mother of God; therefore you must honor her as such. She is full of grace; therefore she deserves your praise. She is full of mercy; therefore she deserves your confidence. She is the Queen of the Saints and your queen; therefore she is entitled to your homage.

Mary is the Mother of God. It is she who has been chosen; hence God has ordained that all nations should call her blessed, and should honor her with filial and heartfelt devotion; for He Who is the Almighty has done great things unto her; thus has He willed it; thus has He decreed it, and as He has willed, so has it been done.

Not to love and honor Mary with a sincere heart, must proceed either from culpable neglect or from a want of faith in the divine revelation, and in the wise plans of Providence. "He that despises you, despises me," said our Blessed Lord to His apostles; His words apply with greater force to His holy mother; and "he that despises me, despises him that sent me." Far from us be the unworthy fear that, by having recourse to Mary, we should disparage the honor of Christ.

The more we look up to her, the higher must her Divine Son rise in our regard; for His glory exceeds hers as the inherent splendor of the sun surpasses the borrowed light of the moon, as the Divine Creator excels His most gifted creature. We cannot love, honor, and pray to Mary, without loving and honoring Him, Who has made her so worthy of love.

And we cannot love Him as He ought to be loved, without being especially drawn towards His Blessed Mother. If we love Him, we must imitate Him to the best of our power; we must imitate Him especially in His filial love and reverence for his Blessed Mother.

Hail, Mary, Full of Grace, the Lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners,

now and at the hour of our death.

Amen.

Source:

God Teacher of Mankind

Original 1885 Publication

Fr. Michael Muller, 1825 - 1899

CSSR or the Redemptorists founded by St. Alphonsus Liguori