Sermons on the Hail Mary

Sermons on the Angelic Salutation

Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you, etc. This salutation has three parts. (Parallel texts: Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologiae III, q. 7, a. 10; 27.5, ad 1; Commentary on the Sentences, bk. 3, d. 13, q. 1, a. 2, qa. 2, ad 2; Compendium theologiae, ch. 214; Commentary on John, ch. 1, lect. 8; ch. 3, lect. 6; Commentary on 1 Corinthians, ch. 11, lect. 1; ch. 12, lect. 1; Commentary on Colossians, ch. 1, lect. 5. The second part of the prayer, “Holy Mary, Mother of God, . . . our death,” was not part of the prayer in the 13th century but is a later addition.)

The angel gave one part, namely hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you, blessed art you among women (Luke 1:28, 42).

The other part was given by Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist: blessed is the fruit of your womb (Luke 1:42).

The Church adds the third part, that is, Mary, (Thomas only briefly comments on this third part when, in explaining the words of the archangel, he says that the Blessed Virgin is fittingly called “Mary” because it is said to mean “in herself enlightened,” and she will illumine others; as he notes, the name is also said to mean “lady” or “star of the sea.” He explains the words of the archangel and Elizabeth, that is, the first and the second part, at much greater length.) because the angel did not say, “hail, Mary,” but hail, full of grace. But, as we shall see, this name, “Mary,” according to its meaning agrees with the words of the angel.

We must now consider concerning the first part of this prayer (That is, the first part of the salutation.) that in ancient times it was a great thing even when angels appeared to men; and for man to show them reverence was especially praiseworthy. Thus, it is written to the praise of Abraham that he received the angels with all courtesy and showed them reverence. (See Genesis 18:2 and following.) But for an angel to show reverence to a man was never heard of until the angel reverently greeted the blessed Virgin, saying: hail. In olden times, an angel would not show reverence to a man, but a man would revere an angel. (Parallel texts: ST III.27.1, 4, 5; In III Sent. 3.1.1, qa., 3; In III Sent. 3.2, qa., 2, 3; In III Sent. 13.1.2, qa. 1; Quodlibet VI, q. 5, a. 1; Compendium theologiae, ch. 224; Exposition on the Lord’s Prayer, a. 5; Commentary on Psalms, at Psalm 45; Commentary on Jeremiah, ch. 1; Commentary on Matthew, ch. 12.) This is because angels are greater than men, and indeed in three ways.

The first is because they are greater than men in dignity. For an angel is of a spiritual nature: you make your angels spirits (Ps 104 [103]:4). But, on the other hand, man is of a corruptible nature, for Abraham said: I will speak to my Lord, whereas I am dust and ashes (Gen 18:27). It was not fitting, therefore, for a spiritual and incorruptible creature to show reverence to one that is corruptible, as is a man.

Second, an angel is closer to God. The angel, indeed, is of the family of God, and as it were stands ever by him: thousands of thousands ministered to him, and ten thousand times a hundred thousand stood before him (Dan 7:10). Man, on the other hand, is rather a stranger and afar off from God because of sin: I have gone afar off (Ps 55:7 [54:8]). Therefore, it is fitting that man should reverence an angel who is an intimate and one of the household of the king.

Then, third, the angels far exceed men in the fullness of the splendor of divine grace. For angels participate in the highest degree in the divine light: is there any numbering of his soldiers? And upon whom shall not his light arise? (Job 25:3). Hence, the angels always appear among men clothed in light, but men on the contrary, although they partake somewhat of the light of grace, nevertheless do so in a much slighter degree and with a certain obscurity.

It was, therefore, not fitting for an angel to show reverence to a man until it came to pass that one would be found in human nature who exceeded the angels in these three points, and this was the blessed Virgin. To show that she excelled the angels in these three ways, the angel desired to show her reverence, and so he said: hail. Hence, she excelled the angels in three ways.

First, the blessed Virgin was superior to any of the angels in the fullness of grace, and as an indication of this the angel showed reverence to her by calling her: full of grace. This is as if he said: I show you reverence because you excel me in the fullness of grace**. The blessed Virgin is said to be full of grace in three ways.

The first is that in regard to her soul she was full of grace. The grace of God is given for two chief purposes, namely to do good and to avoid evil. The blessed Virgin, then, received grace in the most perfect degree, because she had avoided every sin more than any other saint apart from Christ. For sin is either original, and from this she was cleansed in the womb, (See ST III.27.3, ad 3.) or mortal or venial, and from these she was free. Thus it is said: you are fair, my beloved, and there is not a spot in you (Song 4:7).

Augustine says: if we could bring together all the saints and ask them if they were entirely without sin, all of them, with the exception of the blessed Virgin, would say with one voice: ‘If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us’ (1 John 1:8). I except, however, this holy Virgin of whom, because of the honor of God, I wish to omit all mention of sin. (Augustine, On Nature and Grace, ch. 36, para. 42 (Patrologia Latina [PL], vol. 44, p. 267; Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum [CSEL], vol. 60, pp. 233–99): excepta itaque Sancta Virgine Maria, de qua, propter honorem Domini, nullam prorsus, cum de peccatis agitur, haberi volo quaestionem: unde enim scimus, quid ei plus gratiae collatum fuerit ad vincendum omni ex parte peccatum, quae concipere ac parere meruit, quam constat nullum habuisse peccatum? Hac ergo Virgine excepta, si omnes illos Sanctos et Sanctas, cum him viverent, congregare possemus it interrogare utrum essent sine peccato, quid fuisse responsuros putamus, utrum hoc quod iste dicit, an quod Ioannes Apostolus? Rogo vos, quantalibet fuerit in hoc corpore excellentia sanctitatis, si de hoc interrogari potuissent, nonne una voce clamassent. ‘Si dixerimus quia peccatum non habemus, nos ipsos decipimus et veritas in nobis non est?’)

Christ excelled the blessed Virgin in this, that he was conceived and born without original sin, while the blessed Virgin was conceived in original sin, but was not born in it.

She exercised the works of every one of the virtues, whereas the saints are conspicuous for the exercise of certain special virtues. Thus, one excelled in humility, another in chastity, another in mercy, to the extent that they are the special exemplars of these virtues, as, for example, Blessed Nicholas is an exemplar of mercy. But the blessed Virgin is the exemplar of all the virtues. In her is the fullness of the virtue of humility: he has looked on the humility of his handmaid (Luke 1:48). So she is also exemplar of the virtue of chastity: because I know not man (Luke 1:34). And thus it is with all the virtues, as is evident. Mary was full of grace not only in regard to purity, but also virtue.

Second, the blessed Virgin was full of grace in the overflowing effect of soul upon flesh. For while it is a great thing in the saints that the abundance of grace sanctified their souls, yet, moreover, the soul of the holy Virgin was so filled with grace that from her soul grace poured into her flesh from which was conceived the Son of God. Hugh of St. Victor says of this: because the love of the Holy Spirit so inflamed her soul, he worked a wonder in her flesh, in that from it was born God made man. (Hugh of St. Victor, On the Blessed Virgin Mary, ch. 2 (PL 176:872).) And according to Matthew 1:20: that which is conceived in her, is of the Holy Spirit.

Third, the fullness of grace in Mary was such that its effects overflow upon all men. (Note that Aquinas here treats of the Blessed Virgin Mary as universal mediatrix.) It is a great thing in a saint when he has grace to bring about his own salvation, and greater when there is so much grace to bring about the salvation of many. But it is exceedingly wonderful when grace is of such abundance as to be sufficient for the salvation of all men in the world, and this is true of Christ and of the blessed Virgin. For in every danger you can obtain safety from the glorious Virgin. Thus: a thousand bucklers, that is, remedies against dangers, hang therefrom (Song 4:4).

Likewise, in every work of virtue one can have her as one’s helper. Of her it was spoken: in me is all grace of the way and of the truth, in me is all hope of life and of virtue (Sir 24:25).

Therefore, Mary is full of grace, exceeding the angels in this fullness, and very fittingly is she called Mary, which means “in herself enlightened;” hence: the Lord will fill your soul with brightness (Isa 48:11). And she will illumine others throughout the world for which reason she is compared to the sun and to the moon.

Second, the blessed Virgin excels the angels in her closeness to God. The angel Gabriel indicated this when he said: the Lord is with you, as if to say: “I reverence you because you art nearer to God than I, because the Lord is with you.” By the Lord, he means the Father with the Son, whom no angel or any other creature have: the holy which shall be born of you shall be called the Son of God (Luke 1:35). God the Son was in her womb: rejoice and praise, O you habitation of Zion; for great is he that is in the midst of you, the holy one of Israel (Isa 12:6). The Lord is not with the angel in the same manner as with the blessed Virgin; for with her he is as a son, and with the angel he is the Lord. The Lord, the Holy Spirit, is in her as in a temple, so that it is said: the temple of the Lord, the sanctuary of the Holy Spirit, (See the Antiphon of the Magnificat in the feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (November 21), and in another place of the same Office of the Virgin Mary.) because she conceived by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit shall come upon you (Luke 1:35). The blessed Virgin is closer to God than is an angel, because with her are the Lord the Father, the Lord the Son, and the Lord the Holy Spirit, in a word, the Holy Trinity. Indeed of her we sing: noble resting place of the Triune God. (See the sequence of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin: Salve, Mater Salvatoris. See also Missale secundum Ordinem Fratrum Praedicatorum (Venice, 1553), p. 234. This sequence was composed by Albert the Great, as attested to in: Edmund Martene, Ursini Durand, Veterum Scriptorum et monumentorum historicorum, dogmaticorum, moralium, amplissima collectio (Paris: Montalant, 1729), vol. 6, “Brevis Historia Ordinis Praedicatorum,” ch. 6, p. 360; the hymn has also been attributed to Adam of St. Victor.) The Lord is with you are the most praise-laden words that the angel could have uttered; and, hence, he so rightly reverenced the blessed Virgin because she is the mother of the Lord, and therefore she is our Lady. Accordingly she is very well named Mary, which in the Syrian tongue means “lady.”

Third, the blessed Virgin exceeds the angels in purity. She is not only pure, but she obtains purity for others. She is purity itself, wholly lacking in every guilt of sin, for she never incurred either original, or mortal, or venial sin.

So, too, she was free from the penalties of sin.

Sinful man, on the contrary, incurs a threefold curse on account of sin.

The first curse fell upon woman who conceives in corruption, bears her child with difficulty, and brings him forth in pain. (See Genesis 3:16: I will greatly multiply your pain in childbearing, in pain you shall bring forth children.) The blessed Virgin was wholly free from this, since she conceived without corruption, bore her child in comfort, and brought him forth in joy: it shall bud forth and blossom, and shall rejoice with joy and praise (Isa 35:2).

The second curse was inflicted upon man in that he shall earn his bread by the sweat of his brow. (See Genesis 3:19: in the sweat of your face you shall eat bread.) The blessed Virgin was also immune from this because, as the Apostle says, virgins are free from the cares of this world and are occupied wholly with the things of the Lord (1 Cor 7:34).

The third curse is common both to man and woman in that both shall one day return to dust. (See Genesis 3:19: in the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return.) The blessed Virgin was spared this penalty, for her body was raised up into heaven, and so we believe that after her death she was revived and transported into heaven: arise, O Lord, into your resting place, you and the ark which you hast sanctified (Ps 132 [131]:8).

Because the blessed Virgin was immune from these curses, she is blessed among women. Moreover, she alone escaped the curse of sin, brought forth the source of blessing, and opened the gate of heaven. It is surely fitting that her name is Mary**, which is akin to “star of the sea” (stella maris), for just as sailors are directed to port by the star of the sea, so also Christians are guided to glory by Mary: to which may he lead us, etc.

Blessed is the fruit of your womb. The sinner often seeks for something which he does not find; but to the just man it is given to find what he seeks: the substance of the sinner is kept for the just (Prov 13:22). Thus, Eve sought the fruit of the tree, but she did not find in it that which she sought. Everything Eve desired, however, was given to the blessed Virgin. For Eve desired in the fruit three things. The first is what the devil falsely promised her, namely that she and Adam would be as gods, knowing good and evil. You shall be (says that liar) as gods (Gen 3:5). But he lied, because he is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44). Eve was not made like God after having eaten of the fruit, but rather she was unlike God in that by her sin she withdrew from God and was driven out of paradise. The blessed Virgin, however, and all Christians, found in the fruit of her womb him whereby we are all united to God and are made like to him: when he shall appear, we shall be like to him, because we shall see him as he is (1 John 3:2).

Second, Eve looked for pleasure in the fruit of the tree because it was good to eat. But she did not find this pleasure in it, and, on the contrary, she at once discovered she was naked and was stricken with sorrow. In the fruit of the blessed Virgin we find sweetness and salvation: he who eats my flesh, has eternal life (John 6:55).

Third, the fruit which Eve desired was beautiful to look upon, but that fruit of the blessed Virgin is far more beautiful, for the angels desire to look upon him: you are beautiful above the sons of men (Ps 45:2 [44:3]). He is the splendor of the glory of the Father.

Eve, therefore, looked in vain for that which she sought in the fruit of the tree, just as the sinner is disappointed in his sins. We must seek in the fruit of the womb of the Virgin whatsoever we desire. This is he who is the fruit blessed by God, who has filled him with every grace, which in turn is poured out upon us: blessed be God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with spiritual blessings in Christ (Eph 1:3).

He, too, is revered by the angels: benediction and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving, honor and power and strength, to our God (Rev 7:12). And he is glorified by men: every tongue should confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father (Phil 2:11); blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord (Ps 118 [117]:26).

The blessed Virgin is indeed blessed; but far more blessed is the fruit of her womb.