LUMEN VIAE

Meditations on the Holy Rosary

St. Ignatius of Loyola

Mystery I of V

The Annunciation

Luke 1:26-38

The angel Gabriel announces to Mary that she is to be the Mother of God.

Hail, Full of Grace

First: the Angel St. Gabriel, saluting Our Lady, announced to her the Conception of Christ our Lord. "The Angel entering where Mary was, saluted her saying: 'Hail full of grace. Thou shalt conceive in thy womb and shalt bring forth a son.'" Second: the Angel confirms what he said to Our Lady, telling of the conception of St. John Baptist, saying to her: "'And behold thy cousin Elizabeth hath conceived a son in her old age.'" Third: Our Lady answered the Angel: "'Behold the handmaid of the Lord: be it done to me according to thy word!'"

— St. Ignatius of Loyola The Spiritual Exercises, trans. Elder Mullan, S.J. (1914)