The Hail Mary

The Hail Mary. Surely we must realize now that that salutation is the heavenly antidote protecting the soul against the mortal bite of the serpent, of that serpent found in so many a statue and picture of Mary, whose head she crushes under her virginal heel! What a veritable bludgeon it is, for smiting unceasingly that head which contrived and still unflaggingly contrives every plot attempted against the glory of God and of His Christ, against the honor of the Virgin Mother, against her Immaculate Heart, against the conservation and integrity of the Church, against the perfection of her saints, against the welfare of peoples, of society, of families, of individuals! The Hail Mary. It is the nail driven by the woman clothed with the sun into the temple of Sisara, the enemy of God's people; the millstone crashing on the abominable Abimelech; Judith's sword severing the head of the impious Holofernes. The Hail Mary remains the sword ever brandished by the Mother of God and ever crushing schisms, heresies, every enemy of the Christian name. With the Hail Mary she triumphs and always will triumph over Satan, the eternal murderer. Amen. So be it! Ave Maria ... Hail Mary! Take then Christian soul, that sword with which you , too, may crush the hordes of hell; with which you may overcome all temptations, in yourself and in all those you love; with which you may accomplish marvels, perform miracles, heal bodies and save souls.

                                                            - by Dom Eugene Vandeur, S.J. from the book Hail Mary, 1954