Blessed Alan de la Roche says that a nun who had always had a great devotion to the Holy Rosary appeared after death to one of her sisters in religion, and said to her:
“If I were allowed to go back into my body to have the chance of saying just one single Hail Mary — even if I said it quickly and without great fervor — I would gladly go through the suffering that I had during my last illness all over again in order to gain the merit of this prayer.”
This is all the more compelling because she had been bedridden and had suffered agonizing pains for several years before she died.
(From St. Louis de Montfort in Secret of the Rosary)
I can vouch for it's power. One Hail Mary was all I said, the first time I'd said it in 20 years, and I was given a sudden and unexpected reconversion back to the Faith. One sincere Hail Mary at night and I was Catholic the next morning. It still chills my spine and I thank God every day for it.
ReplyDeleteWhen I ask someone to pray for me, I ask that they "say just one Hail Mary...that should be more than enough".
ReplyDeleteI guess I wasn't the first to think of a single Hail Mary as being that powerful....glad to know that.
~SqueekerLamb