The power of one Hail Mary - even if it isn’t fervently said, is much more than we tend to think. The Secret of The Rosary , by St. Louis de Montfort can be read online. It really is edifying to read. It reveals some of the strength in the roots to our devotion to our Blessed Mother.
There’s a short excerpt below; …can be read in its entirety at this link:
rosary-center.org/secret.htm
"…
The holy and learned Jesuit, Father Suarez, was so deeply aware of the value of the Angelic Salutation that he said that he would gladly give all his learning for the price of one Hail Mary that had been said properly.
Blessed Alan de la Roche said: “Let everyone who loves you, oh most holy Mary, listen to this and drink it
Whenever I say
Hail Mary
The court of heaven rejoices
And the earth
Is lost in wonderment.
And I despise the world
And my heart is brim-full
Of the love of God
When I say
Hail Mary;
All my fears
Wilt and die
And my passions are quelled
If I say
Hail Mary;
Devotion grows
Within me
And sorrow for sin
Awakens
When I say
Hail Mary.
Hope is made strong
In my breast
And the dew of consolation
Falls on my soul
More and more-
Because I say
Hail Mary.
And my spirit
Rejoices
And sorrow fades away
When I say
Hail Mary . . . .
For the sweetness of this blessed salutation is so great that there are no words to explain it adequately, and even when its wonders have been sung, we still find it so full of mystery and so profound that its depths can never be plumbed. It has but few words but is exceeding rich in mystery; it is sweeter than honey and more precious than gold. We should often meditate upon it in our hearts and have it ever upon our lips so as to say it devoutly again and again.”
Blessed Alan says that **a nun who had always had a great devotion to the Holy Rosary appeared after death to one of her sisters in religion and said to her: “If I were allowed to go back into my body, to have the chance of saying just one single Hail Mary - even if I said it quickly and without great fervor - I would gladly go through the sufferings that I had during my last illness all over again, in order to gain the merit of this prayer.” (Blessed Alan de la Roche, De Dignitate Psalterii, Chapter LXIX) This is all the more compelling because she had been bedridden and had suffered agonizing pains for several years before she died. **Michael de Lisle, Bishop of Salubre, who was a disciple and co-worker of Blessed Alan’s in the re-establishment of the Holy Rosary said that the Angelic Salutation is the remedy for all ills that we suffer as long as we say it devoutly in honor of Our Lady.
…"
I’ll be praying for you and your mother at Mass today elizabeth42, and I’ll make sure to say three Hail Mary’s for you later (the way our mothers taught us to say them).
God bless you and those dear to you.
(* St. Louis de Montfort also said, in his book
True Devotion to Mary, that “… with one sigh”, Our Blessed Mother can, " mobilize all the forces of Heaven.")
