Devout Catholics that pray a daily rosary, by the end of the year, will have said the Hail Mary nearly 20,000 times.  It’s a staggering number.  Given the repetition of the Hail Mary, it’s a healthy exercise to take a step back from the familiarity. In preparation for the Solemnity of the Annunciation, let’s dive deeper into this prayer with the guidance of the saints. 

Full of Grace

“The messenger greets Mary as ‘full of grace’; he calls her thus as it were her real name. He does not call her by her proper earthly name: Miryam (Mary), but by this new name: ‘full of grace.’  … in the mystery of Christ she is present even ‘before the creation of the world,’ as the one whom the Father ‘has chosen’ as Mother of his Son in the Incarnation.”  (St. John Paul II, Redemptoris Mater #8)

St. John Paul II points out a subtle thing: St. Gabriel didn’t use Mary’s first name, but gave her a new name.  Calling her by her first name would have been expected; he called Zechariah by name (Luke 1:13).  For Mary, “full of grace” tells her who she is, who she has been, and who she will ever be: all because of the Incarnation.    

Here at the beginning, Gabriel’s greeting—which, it should be stressed, came from God the Father, not at the creativity of the archangel—presents for us the dogma of the Immaculate Conception.  Once we bring in the Immaculate Conception, now think of the Miraculous Medal (and wear one if you don’t already).  Think of Our Lady’s appearance to St. Bernadette at Lourdes.  When St. Bernadette asked for her name, she said, “I am the Immaculate Conception.”  

St. John Paul II explains the great depth of this dogma very well in the same encyclical: “From the first moment of her conception—which is to say of her existence—she belonged to Christ, sharing in the salvific and sanctifying grace and in that love which has its beginning the ‘Beloved,’ the Son of the Eternal Father, who through the Incarnation became her own Son.” (Redemptoris Mater #11)

The Lord is with You

St. Thomas Aquinas pointed out how the Archangel Gabriel’s salutation to Mary broke the ordinary pattern of angelic visits.  When Abraham received angelic guests (Genesis 18), it was him who showed them honor.  Daniel fell prostrate when he encountered Gabriel (Daniel 8:17).  When St. Gabriel said, ‘the Lord is with you,’ Aquinas interprets him saying, “I reverence you because you are nearer to God than I, because the Lord is with you.”  Mary exceeded St. Gabriel in plenitude of grace, divine familiarity, and purity.  

This is rather astounding if we stay on St. Thomas’ line of thinking.  St. Gabriel and the other angels “continually see the face of my Father in heaven” according to Jesus (Matthew 18:10).  Mary uniquely experienced the indwelling of the Holy Trinity over and above what we can experience as believers.  For as proximate the angels are to the Holy Trinity, Mary’s intimacy was The Holy Spirit had overshadowed her; the Father was with her in the Son, and had sent the angel; the Son would be in her womb.  

Fiat Voluntas Tua – Let it Be Done to Me

This isn’t part of the Hail Mary, but it immediately followed Gabriel’s words.  Mary had a better understanding than any of us what St. Gabriel was communicating to her.  As we meditate on this mystery of the Annunciation, do not picture Mary’s response as passive.  Nor was she reluctant to God’s plan.  St. Bernard of Clairvaux has a great insight on that word, fiat: 

“Fiat is a mark of desire, not of doubt.  In saying, ‘Be it done unto me according to thy word,’ she expresses the disposition of one who longs to see the effect, not of one who doubts the possibility.  Fiat may also be understood as a word of petition, for no one prays unless he believes, and hopes to obtain.” (Homily IV, The Annunciation and the Blessed Virgin’s Consent, Sermons of St. Bernard on Advent & Christmas, pg. 71)

Blessed are You Among Women

This next part of the Hail Mary brings us to the house of Zechariah and Elizabeth.  It was Elizabeth, inspired by the Holy Spirit and pregnant with John the Baptist, who gives us the second part of the first half of the Hail Mary.  

Mary doesn’t say, “thanks” or “that’s kind of you” to her kinswoman.  Rather, she erupts in praise to God: “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden.” (Luke 1: 46-48)  This is a lesson that every person needs a reminder.  In the wake of a great event and superabundant blessings, Mary’s response is, “look how good and merciful God is!”   

Blessed is the Fruit of Your Womb

St. Gabriel’s words at the Annunciation included a heavy dose of the Old Testament.  He mentions key figures like Jacob and David, both of whom lived a millennia before Christ.  I live in the United States of America, which has existed as a country for 250 years.  The Jews’ cultural and religious memory stretches back to the very first man and woman.  Our modern culture has no capacity to wait for anything anymore; yet 1st century Jews had been waiting several hundred years for the Messiah.  To gain a greater appreciation for the Annunciation, try to step into the shoes of our ancestors in the faith.  

St. John Henry Newman takes this up in one of his sermons, and brings us even farther past David and Jacob, to Eden: 

“In [Mary] was now to be fulfilled that promise which the world had been looking out for during thousands of years.  The Seed of the woman, announced to guilty Eve, after long delay, was at length appearing upon earth, and was to be born of her.  In her the destinies of the world were to be reversed, and the serpent's head bruised.  On her was bestowed the greatest honour ever put upon any individual of our fallen race.  God was taking upon Him her flesh, and humbling Himself to be called her offspring;—such is the deep mystery!” 

The story of salvation is a single thread that began with Adam and Eve and extends to us today.  And what an honor it is to be in the fold, part of the Body of Christ!  We experience the fulfillment of all the Old Testament prophecies.  Jesus told the crowds, “many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it” (Matthew 13:17).

For the Solemnity of the Annunciation, take some extra time with the Hail Mary.  This is one of the central mysteries of the Catholic faith, and St. Louis de Montfort teaches us that it should be a source of strength, joy, and hope.  “In the Angelic Salutation can be seen the faith and hope of the patriarchs, the prophets, and the apostles.  Furthermore it gives to martyrs their unswerving constancy and strength, it is the wisdom of the doctors of the Church, the perseverance of holy confessors and the life of all religious.  It is also the new hymn of the law of grace, the joy of angels and men, and the hymn which terrifies devils and puts them to shame.” (The Secret of the Rosary, pg. 42-43)

Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us!