midnight on
Christmas Eve
The disappointment must be borne ; Maria sighed , but the idea came to her that there might be other means of attaining the divine goodwill . `` Is it true , mother , '' she asked as evening was falling , `` that if you repeat a thousand Aves on the day before Christmas you are always granted the thing you seek ? '' `` Quite true , '' her mother reverently answered . `` One desiring a favour who says her thousand Aves properly before midnight on Christmas Eve , very seldom fails to receive what she asks . '' On Christmas Eve the weather was cold but windless . The two men went out betimes in another effort to beat down the road , with no great hope of success ; but long before they left , and indeed long before daylight , Maria began to recite her Aves . Awakening very early , she took her rosary from beneath the pillow and swiftly repeated the prayer , passing from the last word to the first without stopping , and counting , bead by bead .