The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1913-05-10
THE "HAIL MARY"
Blessed Art Thou Among Women.

By these words the angel makes
known to the Blessed Virgin, and to
all mankind, that by the divine
maternity the Blessed Virgin is raised
to a dignity far beyond that OF all
other women, either Of those who had
lived before her or those who were to
come after her. There were indeed
great women in the history of religion,
Sarah, the mother of Isaac, the
famous Queen Esther, and Judith, the
heroine Of Bethulia, but neither one
nor all of these combined could be
compared with the Blessed woman
who was called to be the Mother OF the
Redeemer. They were illustrious and
sainted women, but she alone was
called "Fn'ln of grace; she alone was
the blessed one among all women;
she alOne among them all was destined
to be conceived without sin because
she was to be the instrument in the
hands of God for the redemption OF
mankind. She, therefore, enjoyed
remarkable and unique privileges
which distinguish her from among all
women, and give her glory and an
honor which marks her as Blessed
among women. We can understand
therefore that by reason OF these
privileges bestowed upon her by God,
she was preserved from the least
stain Of sin, and hence we honor her
as the Immaculate Mother of God.
She was chosen by God to lift the
curse which bore so heavily upon the
human race, for in giving birth to
Jesus Christ, she gave birth to Him
who was to take away the sins of the
world. In the Divine Redeemer the
world was to find the fruit of life
whom His Blessed Mother conceived
without sin and gave birth to without
suffering She is called by st. Peter
Damian, 1.-The source of all blessings
and the origin of all the good things
that come to u.s. 1t is not surprising
therefore that when the Blessed Virgin
astonished at what she learned God
had done in her and by her, regarding
herself as the means used by God to
spread abroad his blessings, cried out
in the ecstacy of her gratitude that
all "the nations would call her
Blessed" and this prediction will be
verified until the end of the world. 1t
seems strange that there are Chris
tians who believe in Christ and who
fail to call His mother blessed among
women" They have been falsely led
to consider that the respect and love
paid to the Blessed Mother are paid
to herself because of her relation to
the Divine Redeemer. Her honor and
glory come from her relation with
Christ, and hence all respect and
veneration paid to her, are tributes to
the Divine Redemption which came
to her in it's fullness, redeeming he1
more abundantly than any other
creature, because she, of all creatures
was called to give to Christ that
humanity by which He was able tc
offer the Bloody Sacrifice on Calvary
and thus God made man atone for oul
sins. Honor to the Blessed Virgin il
honor to Christ, who recognized II
her the character of mother, and pa1C
to her that f1lial respect which the
true child always gives to the mother
God had favored the Blessed Virgin
we're SO manifest that her cousin, st
Elizabeth, mother of st. John the Bap
fist, as soon as she saw her, wa:
seized with a divine inspiration, and
repeated the words of the ange
Blessed art thou among women" W.
have the consolation of knowing tina
graces enjoyed by the Blessed Virgin
inure to our benefit. Through thu
merciful goodness of Jesus Christ sh'
is our mother and with the love of
mother, she desires to enrich he
children. Hence the glory and homo
and praise which we bestow upon he
are the means by which, in her lovin
compassion, she obtains for us mos
bountiful blessings. Like good chi
dren we should love to call her by tn
endearing name of Mother and hal
her as Full Of Grace and "Blesse