SR
← The Secret of the Rosary (Le secret admirable du très saint Rosaire)/Book 1 · Le secret admirable du très saint Rosaire
Chapter 20SecretRosaire.1.20

19ème Rose — L'excellence du saint rosaire dans les prières dont il est composé

The Treasure of the Angelic Salutation

Honoring the Blessed Virgin through the daily recitation of the Ave Maria is a sure way to store up spiritual riches and experience her maternal love.

53. It is written: "Give, and it will be given to you" (Lk 6:38). Let's consider Blessed Alain's comparison: "If I gave you a hundred and fifty diamonds every day, even if you were my enemy, wouldn't you forgive me?"1 Wouldn't you do every favor you could for me, just as you would for a friend?2 Do you want to grow rich with the goods of grace and glory? Greet the Blessed Virgin; honor your good Mother." He who honors his mother is like one who stores up treasure (Sir 3:5). Anyone who honors his Mother, the Blessed Virgin, is like a person who stores up treasures. Offer her at least fifty Hail Marys every day, each one containing fifteen precious stones that are more pleasing to her than all the riches of the earth. What shouldn't you expect from her generosity? She is our Mother and our friend. She is the empress of the universe, who loves us more than all mothers and queens combined have ever loved a mortal man; for, as Saint Augustine says, the charity of the Virgin Mary exceeds all the natural love of every human being and every angel.3

The Currency of Paradise

The Ave Maria is a powerful currency in the eyes of God, valued highly by saints and theologians alike for its spiritual merit.

54. One day, Our Lord appeared to Saint Gertrude counting gold coins; she had the boldness to ask him what he was counting. "I am counting your Ave Marias," Jesus Christ answered her. "That is the currency used to buy my paradise." The devout and learned Suárez, of the Society of Jesus, valued the merit of the Angelic Salutation so highly that he said he would gladly have given all his learning for the price of one Ave Maria well said.

The Sweetness and Power of the Ave Maria

The Angelic Salutation is a profound mystery that transforms the heart, mortifies passions, and offers such consolation that even the suffering souls in eternity would endure pain to recite it once more.

55. "Whoever loves you, O divine Mary," Blessed Alain de la Roche said to her, "listen and taste: Heaven is filled with joy, and the earth with wonder, every time I say: Ave Maria; I hold the world in horror, and I have the love of God in my heart, when I say: Ave Maria; my fears vanish, and my passions are mortified, when I say: Ave Maria; I grow in devotion, and I find compunction, when I say: Ave Maria; my hope is strengthened, and my consolation increases, when I say: Ave Maria; my spirit rejoices, and my sorrow fades away, when I say: Ave Maria; for the sweetness of this kind greeting is so great that there are no words to explain it as it deserves, and even after one has said wonders about it, it still remains so hidden and so deep that no one can fully uncover it.✦ It is short in words, but great in mysteries; it is sweeter than honey and more precious than gold; it must be kept very often in the heart to meditate on it, and on the lips to read it and repeat it devoutly."✦ "Let the lover of your name listen, O Mary: heaven rejoices and the whole earth is astonished when I say Ave Maria. Satan flees and hell trembles when I say Ave Maria. The world grows worthless and the heart melts in love when I say Ave Maria. Terror vanishes and the flesh withers when I say Ave Maria. Devotion grows and compunction arises when I say Ave Maria. Hope advances and consolation is increased when I say Ave Maria. The spirit is refreshed, and a sick affection is strengthened toward what is good, when I say Ave Maria."✦4 Indeed, so great is the sweetness of this kind greeting that it cannot be explained in human words, but it always remains higher and deeper than any creature can sufficiently explore. This prayer is small in words, deep in mysteries, brief in speech, high in power, sweeter than honey, more precious than gold; it must be continually chewed over with the mouth of the heart, and very often read with pure lips and devoutly repeated."✦5 The same Blessed Alain reports, in chapter 69 of his psalter, that a religious sister very devoted to the Rosary appeared after her death to one of her sisters and said: "If I could return to my body to say only one Ave Maria, even without much fervor, just to have the merit of that prayer, I would gladly suffer all over again all the pains I suffered before I died."✦ It should be noted that she had suffered violent pains in her bed for several years.

A Remedy for Every Ill

The Angelic Salutation serves as a universal remedy for the afflictions of the faithful when recited with devotion.

56. Michel de Lisle, bishop of Salubre, disciple and colleague of Blessed Alain de la Roche in the restoration of the holy Rosary, says that the Angelic Salutation is the remedy for all the ills that afflict us, provided we recite it devoutly in honor of the Blessed Virgin.

Read the original Latin

53. Il est écrit: «Donnez et l'on vous donnera» (Lc 6,38). Prenons la comparaison du bienheureux Alain: «Si je vous donnais chaque jour cent cinquante diamants, quand vous seriez mon ennemi, ne me pardonneriez-vous pas? Ne me feriez-vous pas comme un ami, toutes les grâces que vous pourriez? Voulez-vous vous enrichir des biens de la grâce et de la gloire? saluez la Sainte Vierge, honorez votre bonne Mère.» Sicut qui thesaurizat, ita et qui honorificat matrem (Si 3,5). Celui qui honore sa Mère, la Sainte Vierge, est semblable à un homme qui amasse des trésors.

Présentez-lui chaque jour au moins cinquante Ave Maria dont chacun contient quinze pierres précieuses, qui lui sont plus agréables que toutes les richesses de la terre. Que ne devez-vous pas attendre de sa libéralité? Elle est notre Mère et notre amie. Elle est l'impératrice de l'univers qui nous aime plus que toutes les mères et les reines ensemble n'ont aimé un homme mortel, car, dit saint Augustin, la charité de la Vierge Marie excède tout l'amour naturel de tous les hommes et de tous les anges.

54. Un jour, Notre-Seigneur apparut à sainte Gertrude comptant des pièces d'or; elle eut la hardiesse de lui demander ce qu'il comptait. «Je compte, lui répondit Jésus-Christ, tes Ave Maria, c'est la monnaie dont on achète mon paradis.» Le dévot et le docte Suarez, de la Compagnie de Jésus, estimait tant le mérite de la Salutation angélique, qu'il disait qu'il aurait volontiers donné toute sa science pour le prix d'un Ave Maria bien dit.

55. «Que celui qui vous aime, ô divine Marie, lui dit le bienheureux Alain de la Roche, écoute et goûte: Le ciel est dans la joie, la terre est dans l'admiration, toutes les fois que je dis: Ave Maria; j'ai le monde en horreur, j'ai l'amour de Dieu dans mon cœur, lorsque je dis: Ave Maria; mes craintes s'évanouissent, mes passions se mortifient, quand je dis: Ave Maria; je croîs dans la dévotion, je trouve la componction, quand je dis: Ave Maria; mon espérance s'affermit, ma consolation s'augmente, lorsque je dis: Ave Maria; mon esprit se réjouit, mon chagrin se dissipe, quand je dis: Ave Maria; car la douceur de cette bénigne salutation est si grande qu'on n'a point de terme pour l'expliquer comme il faut, et après qu'on en aura dit des merveilles, elle demeure encore si cachée et si profonde qu'on ne la peut découvrir. Elle est courte en paroles, mais grande en mystères; elle est plus douce que le miel et plus précieuse que l'or; il faut très fréquemment l'avoir dans le cœur pour la méditer, et dans la bouche pour la lire et la répéter dévotement.» «Auscultet tui nominis amator, o Maria, coelum gaudet, omnis terra stupet cum dico Ave Maria; Satan fugit, infernus contremiscit, cum dico Ave Maria; mundus vilescit, cor in amore liquescit, cum dico Ave Maria; terror evanescit, caro marcescit, cum dico Ave Maria; crescit devotio, oritur compunctio, cum dico Ave Maria; spes proficit, augetur consolatio, cum dico Ave Maria; recreatur animus, et in bono confortatur aeger affectus, cum dico Ave Maria. Siquidem tanta suavitas hujus benignae salutationis, ut humanis non possit explicari verbis, sed semper manet altior et profundior quam omnis creatura indagare sufficiat. Haec oratio parva est verbis, alta mysteriis, brevis sermone, alta virtute, super mel dulcis, super aurum pretiosa; ore cordis est jugiter ruminanda labiisque puris frequentissime legenda ac devote repetenda.» Le même bienheureux Alain rapporte, au chapitre 69 de son psautier, qu'une religieuse très dévote au Rosaire apparut après sa mort à une de ses sœurs et lui dit: «Si je pouvais retourner dans mon corps pour dire seulement un Ave Maria, quoique sans beaucoup de ferveur, pour avoir le mérite de cette prière, je souffrirais volontiers tout de nouveau toutes les douleurs que j'ai souffertes avant de mourir.» Il faut remarquer qu'elle avait souffert plusieurs années sur son lit des douleurs violentes.

56. Michel de Lisle, évêque de Salubre, disciple et collègue du bienheureux Alain de la Roche dans le rétablissement du saint Rosaire, dit que la Salutation angélique est le remède à tous les maux qui nous affligent, pourvu que nous la récitions dévotement en l'honneur de la Sainte Vierge.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Luke.1.28 — And coming to her, he said, 'Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.'
  2. ↩Ps.19.10;Ps.119.103 — The fear of the LORD is pure, standing forever; the judgments of the LORD are true, righteous altogether. Ps.119.103 — How sweet are your words to my palate, more than honey to my mouth!
  3. ↩Luke.1.28 — And coming to her, he said, 'Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.'
  4. ↩Ps.19.10;Ps.119.103 — The fear of the LORD is pure, standing forever; the judgments of the LORD are true, righteous altogether. Ps.119.103 — How sweet are your words to my palate, more than honey to my mouth!
  5. ↩Luke.1.28 — And coming to her, he said, 'Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.'

Notes

  1. 1 ↩Source opens a multi-sentence quotation from blessed Alain (Alain de la Roche); the closing quote mark appears only at s6.
  2. 2 ↩French grâces here is rhetorical for favors/kindnesses within Alain's comparison, not theological grace (grâce) as in s5.
  3. 3 ↩Rendered 'charité' as 'charity' to preserve the contrast with 'amour naturel' (natural love); the source is using the theological virtue, not mere affection.
  4. 4 ↩Latin aeger affectus rendered as 'a sick affection' (ailing/disordered attachment strengthened toward the good), not mere emotion.
  5. 5 ↩ore cordis...ruminanda kept as 'chewed over with the mouth of the heart' to preserve the Latin ruminanda (meditative chewing), not flattened to mere 'remembered'.

The Secret of the Rosary (Le secret admirable du très saint Rosaire) companion

A prayer for every moment, already on your phone

Chosen Portion puts a curated historic prayer in front of you each day — so the words are there before the moment arrives.

Chosen Portion is the digital descendant of the carried prayer book: the short daily prayers this collection preserves, delivered one a day to your pocket.

  • One short, memorable prayer delivered daily — build your repertoire a card at a time
  • Prayers matched to real situations: fear, gratitude, decisions, grief, sleep
  • Save favourites into your personal pocket collection you can open anywhere
Chosen Portion — Daily Prayer (free iOS app) →