Page:TheRosaryItsHistory.djvu/12

 Mary. It is the prayer that gives most honor to the Immaculate Maiden, and which most effectually procures for us her powerful help, and hence it is a prayer that Mary’s children delight in offering their heavenly Mother.

“The Hail Mary,” writes Blessed Grignon de Montfort, “is a heavenly dew which waters the soul, and renders it fruitful in all virtues; a soul not watered by this prayer, brings forth no fruit, nothing but briars and thorns. . . . The Hail Mary is the sanctification of the soul, the joy of the Angels, the song of the predestined, the canticle of the New Testament, the pleasure of Mary, the glory of the most Holy Trinity. The Hail Mary is a loving kiss we give to Mary; it is a brilliant rose we present to her; a special pearl we offer to her; a cup of ambrosia and divine nectar we give to her. All these comparisons are made by the saints.”

 

The Rosary is a devotion which may be practiced in any circumstances of life. We may recite it kneeling or walking or sitting; we may even recite it before rising or after retiring to rest. We may choose 