The Three Ave recommended by the saints

The first messenger of the Three Hail Marys

Benedictine nun, Saint Mechtilde is one of the greatest figures of the Church during the Middle Ages. She was born in 1241 in Hackeborn, Saxony. At the age of seven, she joined her sister Gertrude of Hackeborn at the Benedictine monastery of Rodersdorf in the diocese of Halberstadt. After receiving significant intellectual training, she became a teacher and responsible for young students. In 1261, she took in a five-year-old orphan who would later become Saint Gertrude of Helfta. The latter would reveal the profound mystical life of Saint Mechtilde, characterized by her humility, fervor, kindness, and the familiarity and intensity with which she lived her relationship with God, the Virgin Mary, and the saints.

As Saint Mechtilde prayed to the Blessed Virgin for assistance at the hour of her death, the Virgin appeared to her and said, “I will certainly do so, but I want you to recite three Hail Marys each day.”

In the Book of Special Graces, written by Saint Gertrude of Helfta, the power and sanctity of reciting the Three Hail Marys are described in detail. Adorned by the Most Holy Trinity with unique and exceptional favors and graces, the Mother of God is uniquely honored in this devotion, which returns in adoration of the thrice-holy God.

The most zealous preacher of the Three Hail Marys

Leonard was born on December 20, 1676, in Port-Maurice, Liguria. At the age of 21, after joining the Roman College, he took the Franciscan habit and continued his studies at the Institute of Saint Bonaventure. Following a serious illness, he was sent back to Port-Maurice where the climate seemed more conducive to his recovery. When his health permitted, he preached in Port-Maurice and the surrounding areas. He was then sent to establish several monasteries. Leading a life of austerity and penance, he was an indefatigable missionary.

Having a profound devotion to the Virgin Mary, he intensified and codified the practice of the Stations of the Cross, while introducing the faithful to the practice of perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and devotion to the Immaculate Conception. He fervently desired that this important concept of faith be declared a dogma. He became a fervent apostle of the Three Hail Marys throughout Italy and Corsica, as well as in his writings. He saw it as a highly effective means of ensuring the salvation of souls.

He wrote: “Recite every day, morning and evening, the three Hail Marys in honor of her Immaculate Conception. Offer her your senses and the powers of your soul, as a possession that belongs to her, and make an act of contrition with a firm purpose, in the morning, not to sin during the day, and in the evening, not to succumb during the night.”

To support his claims, he cited notable examples: “You gain a marvelous benefit from this practice, as experienced by a young man enslaved by bad habits, to whom it was imposed as a penance by his confessor, a Father of the Society of Jesus.” This young man, after several years, was completely freed from the grip of his vice.

Another miracle attributed to the Three Hail Marys involved a captain whose life was a source of scandal. The same favor was granted to him: a complete and almost miraculous conversion, due to his faithfulness to the triple angelic greeting, morning and evening, along with the act of contrition and the firm purpose of sinning no more.

The great 18th-century missionary, as Saint Alphonsus Liguori called him, preached: “Morning and evening, kneeling and deeply inclined, you will recite three Hail Marys in honor of the Immaculate Conception of the Most Holy Virgin, then make an act of thanks to God for all the benefits He has bestowed upon you, and finally, an act of contrition for all the harm done to God by the many sins you have committed” (Sermons).

He died on November 26, 1751, at the monastery of Saint Bonaventure, which he had just joined in response to Pope Benedict XIV’s call. He was declared by Pope Pius XI as the “patron of missions preached in Christian lands.”

He recited the Three Hail Marys, especially in the evening, to place himself under the protection of the Queen of Heaven for the night. “Recite three Hail Marys: the first in honor of the moment she was conceived without the stain of original sin, the second in honor of the moment she became the Mother of God, and the third in honor of the moment she was reunited with her divine Son.”

Born on September 27, 1696, near Naples, Saint Alphonsus Liguori was the eldest of eight children. His father, Joseph, was often away on long sea voyages, so the education of the children largely fell to their mother, Anna. She was deeply pious, with a routine that included morning prayers, catechism, recitation of the rosary, and weekly confessions at the Oratorian Fathers. It was from her that Alphonsus developed a devotion to the Blessed Virgin. Around 1702, when he was six years old, the family moved to Naples for the children’s education. Alphonsus received extensive instruction in subjects such as Latin, Greek, French, Spanish, Italian, history, mathematics, as well as basics in physics, philosophy, and art.

From the age of seven, his spiritual formation was entrusted to Father Thomas Pagano, a member of the Congregation of the Oratory founded by Saint Philip Neri. It was under his guidance that Alphonsus made his first communion at the age of nine and became a member of the Congregation of Young Nobles, under the patronage of Saint Joseph. In this congregation, he participated in both religious and recreational activities with the Fathers and remained a member until 1715. Pope Pius IX declared him a “Doctor of the Church with unparalleled authority in moral theology.”

Saint Alphonsus Liguori and the Three Hail Marys

Saint Alphonsus Liguori left us a comprehensive Mariology in his book The Glories of Mary. He wrote, among other things: “Regarding the Hail Mary, the first practice of this prayer should be to say three Hail Marys morning and evening…” and recommended to priests: “Let us never tire of inspiring everyone, both the devout and the sinners, with devotion to the divine Mary, especially by recommending themselves to the Blessed Virgin morning and evening through Three Hail Marys, so that she may preserve them from mortal sin.”

At his Institute of the Redemptorists, he introduced the practice of the Three Hail Marys into the rule. Consequently, all the saintly figures of the Order preached and recommended this devotion.

The great Franciscan thaumaturge (1195-1230) is the first known preacher of the Three Hail Marys to this day. According to one of his historians, this great saint recited them specifically to honor the immaculate Virgin’s spotless virginity and to obtain, through her intercession, perfect purity of mind, heart, and body.

“In the evening, I will say three Hail Marys and then go to bed. In the morning, while making my bed, I will say the Our Father, Hail Mary, and Creed in honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus; then I will say three Hail Marys, on my knees, in honor of the Most Holy Virgin.

When going to recreation or for a walk, I will say three Hail Marys so that the Holy Virgin watches over my feelings and protects me from any offense against God.”

In 1844, a widow and mother of three was invited to visit her neighbor, who was suffering from cholera. Fearing contagion, she hesitated. Saint Francis Mary of Camporosso advised her: “Go and recite three Hail Marys at the Church of Saint-Cyr, in front of the altar of Our Lady of Providence, then visit the sick person without fear; she will recover her health, and you will come to no harm.” The event unfolded exactly as he had foretold!

Nicknamed the “Saint of Toulouse,” this illustrious Capuchin father attributed the successes of his missions to the Three Hail Marys. As an apostle of this salutary devotion in the last century, he greatly contributed to its spread, particularly through his writings.

He established in the rule of the community he founded, the Little Brothers of Mary (Marist Brothers of the Schools), that three Hail Marys be recited upon rising and before going to bed.

She had practiced the Angelus from a very young age, which at the time consisted solely of the Three Hail Marys.

Founder of the Fathers of the Blessed Sacrament in 1856, he also practiced the devotion of the Three Hail Marys.

He wrote the hymn The Triumph of the Hail Mary in honor of the Holy Virgin:

“Through the Hail Mary, sin will be destroyed, Through the Hail Mary, all grace will come to us.”

He particularly recommended the Three Hail Marys to soldiers and had them recite it before starting the Rosary (a practice that is now systematic). Additionally, he frequently mentioned in his writings the three great privileges of the Holy Virgin: Power, Wisdom, and Mercy, which are the very heart of the devotion to the Three Hail Marys.

An Italian mystic who died at the age of 25, the Three Hail Marys were one of her earliest practices from childhood. She recited them daily, especially in honor of the Immaculate Conception, to obtain perfect purity.

A Redemptorist, he ardently promoted the Three Hail Marys and practiced them especially to honor the virginity of Mary and to maintain the beautiful and delicate virtue of Purity.

In 1849, he founded the Congregation of the Missionaries of the Immaculate Heart of the Virgin Mary, also known as the Claretian Missionaries. In his book The Golden Key, he recommends reciting the Three Hail Marys morning and evening to combat vicious habits.

In 1849, he founded the Congregation of the Missionaries of the Immaculate Heart of the Virgin Mary, also known as the Claretian Missionaries. In his book The Golden Key, he recommends reciting the Three Hail Marys morning and evening to combat vicious habits.

In 1952, this pope presided over the celebrations for the fiftieth anniversary of the Work of the Three Hail Marys in Blois. He also prayed the Three Hail Marys himself.

This young saint recited the Three Hail Marys morning and evening, turning towards a Marian shrine.

Founder of the Society of Mary (Marist Fathers), he established in the rule the practice of reciting the Three Hail Marys morning and evening.

A Redemptorist, this saint practiced the Three Hail Marys daily, following the rule of his order.

At the General Chapter of the Franciscan brothers in Pisa in 1263, he issued a decree stating that the priests of his order should recommend to all the faithful the recitation of the Three Hail Marys in the evening, at the sound of the bell, after Compline, to commemorate the Angel Gabriel’s greeting to the Virgin and to invoke the protection of this divine Mother.

“In the confessional, when he encountered obstinacy in his penitents or faced difficulties in making their conversion lasting, he knew of no more effective means than devotion to the Most Holy Virgin and turning to this good Mother, often through the pious recitation of three Hail Marys morning and evening. Through this practice, he achieved countless conversions.”

In 1432, she founded the Monastery of Ave Maria in Le Puy.

She also established the daily recitation of the Three Hail Marys as a remedy for the three concupiscences that plague the world: pride, sensual pleasure, and the desire for material goods.

In his great treatise, The Admirable Heart of the Most Sacred Mother of God, he piously and wisely expounds on the doctrine of the three privileges of Mary and her relationship with the Holy Trinity.

Founder of the Ursulines of Chavagnes. “Recite three Hail Marys each day; if you are faithful in paying this tribute of homage to Mary, I promise you paradise.”

After a sermon to the seminarians in Bergamo, when one of them presented Don Bosco with a list of sins, the saint threw it into the fire and proceeded to enumerate all those sins as if he were reading them.

Then he told his attentive audience that he had received a promise from the Virgin to have several thousand young people with him in paradise, provided they recited one Hail Mary every day during Mass throughout their earthly life. (*Pilla Eugenio, *I sogni di Don Bosco*, p. 207)

“Continue to recite this Hail Mary, and we will be together in Paradise.”

Dying in a state of sanctity, Louis-Gaston de Ségur spent hours in the confessional and recommended “three little Hail Marys for penance.”

This Franciscan saint learned that a young religious was suffering from severe headaches because he had neglected to recite his Three Hail Marys daily. Saint John Joseph of the Cross obtained his healing by making him promise not to miss his Three Hail Marys again.

Saint Padre Pio said that many would convert simply by practicing the devotion of the Three Hail Marys.

Like all the popes since Pius IX, Saint Pius X recited the Three Hail Marys after each Mass, as part of the so-called “Leonine Prayers,” which are specifically said for the Church.