The Angelic Salutation
Ave, gratia plena.
Hail, full of grace.
Luke 1:28
Throughout the whole world, the ancient Church was of one mind, always addressing the Mother of God in the words of the angel: Ave Maria, gratia plena. Our immediate ancestors, joining their elders in devout harmony, sang the Ave Maria always and everywhere, thinking themselves to be pleasing the King of Heaven by reverently honoring his Mother, and not seeing a more proper way to honor her than by imitating the respect that God himself had decreed that she be shown on the day when his Divine Majesty honored all mankind in this Virgin by becoming man himself. O what a holy greeting, what true praise, what rich and decorous honor! God dictated the words, the archangel pronounced them, the evangelist inscribed them, all antiquity treasured them, and our parents taught us them.
Yet here is something strange. Do you not remember that when David played on the lyre, “the harmful spirit departed” from Saul, as though vanquished by the sweet melody (1 Sam 16:23)? And now, that same evil spirit, the sworn enemy of harmony and concord, having come into the possession of certain lightheaded persons, has through their mouths uttered a thousand insults and blasphemies against the use of this holy greeting.
In his Harmony of the Gospels, Calvin calls us superstitious for greeting someone who is not in our presence and taxes us with meddling in the affairs of others. He also accuses us of using magic, saying that we show ourselves to be poorly instructed when we use this greeting as a prayer, when it was nothing other than words of congratulation. All this blame comes to three points: first, that it is an unlawful usurpation of the office of the angels for us to make use of the Angelic Salutation; second, that it is superstitious to greet an absent person; third, that it is stupid to think that we are praying when we say it. O these wretched people! They would have done better simply to have said that it is wrong to pray the Angelic Salutation because it is the Church that recommends us to do so, for nothing the Church does is according to their liking.
Now, with the Church, I say that to address and to honor the Blessed Virgin with the Angelic Salutation is a holy thing to do, and that the Angelic Salutation contains a beautiful and devout prayer. I will not let myself wander into a discourse about the custom of greeting in general or the true Christian practice of greeting the brethren. Scripture is full of the handsome greetings of the angels by the patriarchs and of the patriarchs of one another, indeed at every meeting. And I do declare that not to greet a person when he is known to you is to signify one’s disdain and even hatred for him. I leave aside the example of Haman, who was “filled with fury” that Mordecai would not greet him, because even then he wished to be adored (see Esther 3:1-5). Yet consider the beloved St. John: “If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting” (2 Jn 10). He takes it to be an insult not to greet someone and to refrain from saying “Ave.” What, then, should we say about those who refuse to greet Mary other than that they hate her? Similarly, St. Paul tells the Philippians to “Greet every saint in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:21), as though he wanted them to understand that a greeting is owed to holy and virtuous people.
If Mary never taught anything other than good doctrine and never said anything in the Gospels that was not holy, why do they wish to prohibit us from greeting her? If she is holy, and more than holy, why should we not greet her? Is this the doctrine that Our Lord taught us by saying “Peace be with you” so many times or by saying “Greetings!” when he met the two Marys (Mt 28:9)?
But, the heretics say, you are greeting people who aren’t there. Response: what danger is there in that? Does not St. Paul in all of his letters send greetings to people far distant from him? And what of his saying to the Philippians that “the brothers who are with me greet you” (Phil 4:21)? And what of St. Peter: “She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings” (1 Pet 5:13)? They are saying that they are present by letter and by messenger. But Our Lady is present to Christians by her attention. As, for instance, St. Paul says to the Corinthians: “though absent in body, I am present in spirit” (1 Cor 5:3). And as Elisha said to Gehazi, “Did not my heart go when the man turned from his chariot to meet you?” (2 Kings 5:26)
Now, having thus shown that it is a holy practice to greet the Virgin, I ask you what greeting could be found more holy than this one? The author is holy; the words are holy. Should you wish to honor her, say the Hail Mary. Should you have any doubt as to how she should be honored, say the Hail Mary.
And what shall we say about the affections with which the devout heart is moved by this holy greeting? The Angelic Salutation represents the holy mystery of the Incarnation, which is why the Church adds to them the words of St. Elizabeth, “and blessed is the fruit of your womb” (Lk 1:42), that this mystery may be represented to us all the more profoundly.
