GOLDEN SALUTATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN The Blessed Virgin revealed to St. Gertrude that she rejoiced to show to those who thus saluted her the inestimable treasures of her loving compassion. And at the hour of his departure, she added, I will appear to him clothed with radiant beauty, and will pour into his soul heavenly sweetness and consolation. HAIL, fair Lily of the effulgent and ever-peaceful Trinity. Hail, thou radiant Rose of heavenly fragrance, of whom the King of Heaven did will to be born, and with thy milk to be fed: feed our souls with Divine infusions. Amen. This prayer is essentially the same as the more popularly known one often found in traditional prayer books of today. HEAVENLY AVE MARIA Which Our Lord Himself Put in the Mouth of St. Mechtilde   HAIL, thou peerless offspring of the omnipotence of the Father, of the wisdom of the Son, and of the enrapturing goodness of the Holy Ghost, Mary, who dost fill Heaven and earth with thy gentle light. Thou that art full of grace, the Lord is with thee, even the only-begotten Son of the Father, and the one Only Son of the love of thy virgin heart, thy sweetest Spouse and thy Beloved. Blessed art thou amongst women, for thou hast annulled the curse of Eve, and hast brought back an everlasting blessing. And blessed is the Fruit of thy womb, Jesus Christ, the Lord and Creator of all things, Who doth evermore bless and sanctify, enrich and quicken all things. Amen. GOLDEN AVE MARIA While St. Mechtilde was ardently desiring to greet the Blessed Virgin with the most sublime salutation possible, she saw in vision our Lady, bearing on her heart the angelical salutation written in letters of gold, and saying to her: No salutation can surpass this, nor can any be so sweet in my ears as that with which God the everlasting Father greeted me, in the following manner: HAIL, Mary, in union with that reverence wherewith God the Father greeted thee with Ave, and by His omnipotence delivered thee from every woe and  sin. Hail, Mary, in union with that love wherewith the Son of God enlightened thee with His wisdom, and made thee a softly-shining star, lighting up Heaven and earth. Hail, Mary, in union with that sweet unction of the Holy Ghost, wherewith He so pervaded thee and made thee so full of grace, that everyone who through thee seeketh grace doth find it. Call to mind now that unspeakable operation wherewith the whole most Blessed Trinity wrought in thee, when human flesh taken from thy substance was so united to the Divine Nature that God was made man and man became God, and thy whole soul was suffused with a sweetness and a gladness which the heart of man cannot conceive. And therefore every creature with rapturous admiration doth acknowledge and confess that thou art blessed and incomparably exalted above all creatures in Heaven or on earth, and blessed the Fruit of thy womb, even Jesus, who quickens, sanctifies, and blesses all things for ever. Amen. ACT OF JOY IN THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION To Which Innocent VIII Attached an Indulgence at the Request of the Queen of Spain   HAIL, glorious Virgin, Morning-star that dost outshine the sun, gracious Mother of my God, sweeter than the dropping honeycomb: thou art that fair one in comparison with whom all beauty is pale and dim; thou art redder than the rose and more dazzling white than the lily; all virtues adorn thee, thou purer than the seraphim; and every Saint doth give thee honour, thou that hast thy higher throne in the heavens. Amen. THREE EFFICACIOUS PETITIONS TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN When St. Gertrude recited these three petitions, which she had learned of the Blessed Virgin, it seemed to her as though she were so clothed and adorned with her surpassing merits, that the Lord of Majesty took ineffable delight in her. O MOST blessed Virgin Mary, I beseech thee, by the most spotless purity wherewith thou didst prepare in thy womb a still and glad abode for the Son of God, that by thy intercessions I may be cleansed from every stain. O most blessed Virgin Mary, I beseech thee by that thy most gentle, deep humility whereby thou didst merit to be raised high above all Angels and Saints, that by thy intercessions all my negligences may be forgiven and satisfied for. O most blessed Virgin Mary, I implore thee by that unutterable love which united thee inseparably to God, that by thy intercessions I may receive an abundance of all merit. Amen. THE FIVE JOYS OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN On one occasion, while St. Mechtilde was reflecting in sadness that she had never been duly devout to the Blessed Virgin, and was beseeching our Lord to teach her how to supply her defect, it seemed to her that our Lord bade her apply her lips to the wound in His side, saying: Draw hence that which thou dost wish to offer to My Mother. And she felt the five following salutations, which she had never heard or conceived before, trickle down upon her lips as so many drops of water. I salute thee, O Virgin most resplendent in glory, in that sweetest stream which flowed forth upon thee from the Heart of the most Holy Trinity, by reason of thy most blessed predestination from eternity. I salute thee, O Virgin most radiant in holiness, in that sweetest stream which went forth upon thee from the Heart of the most Holy Trinity, by reason of thy most blessed conversation and life. I salute thee, O Virgin, most noble, in that sweetest stream which shed itself forth upon thee from the Heart of the most Holy Trinity, through the teaching and preaching of thy Son. I salute thee, O Virgin most full of love, in that sweetest stream which gushed forth upon thee from the Heart of the most Holy Trinity, through the bitter Passion and Death of thy Son. I salute thee, O Virgin most worshipful, in that sweetest stream which burst forth upon thee from tire Heart of the most Holy Trinity, and filled thee with all the glory, all the dazzling magnificence, and the ecstatic joy in which thou dost now exult, as beseemeth thee, the elect above and over all creatures before the world was formed. Amen. The artist, Sassoferrato, painted his masterpieces in the 17th Century. E-MAIL HOME-------------------------------SAINT GERTRUDE www.catholictradition.org/Gertrude/prayer-book8.htm