The Hail Mary is a prayer of praise for and of petition to Mary, regarded as the Theotokos (Mother of God). Since the 16th century, the version of the prayer used in the Catholic Church closes with an appeal for her intercession. The prayer takes different forms in various traditions and has often been set to music.
Catholics do not pray to Mary as if she were God. Prayer to Mary is memory of the great mysteries of our faith (Incarnation, Redemption through Christ in the rosary), praise to God for the wonderful things he has done in and through one of his creatures (Hail Mary) and intercession (second half of the Hail Mary).
1. : a Roman Catholic prayer to the Virgin Mary that consists of salutations and a plea for her intercession. 2. or less commonly Hail Mary pass : a long forward pass in football thrown into or near the end zone in a last-ditch attempt to score as time runs out. often used figuratively.
The Hail Mary is true Christian prayer. We rejoice with God in what He has done in and through our Mother in giving us Jesus. And we invoke her help in our daily life, and at our death. Mary is implicitly tied to Christ's work of salvation from beginning to end.
The Hail Mary is traditionally prayed by Catholics, but many people (both Christian and non-Christian) feel drawn to Mary. They recognize her powerful witness as a faithful disciple of Christ and seek her aid as a compassionate spiritual mother.
A popular German religious manual of the fifteenth century ("Der Selen Troïst", 1474) even divides the Hail Mary into four portions, and declares that the first part was composed by the Angel Gabriel, the second by St. Elizabeth, the third, consisting only of the Sacred Name.
“Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you”
Luke 1:26-28 – In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.
For many years, whenever I was asked about why Catholics pray the Hail Mary, I explained that it was a prayer in which we ask the mother of Jesus to pray for us. Since Mary is so close to her Son in heaven, she serves as an ideal intercessor whose prayers bring us closer to Jesus.
Independently from this historical reason, there is a symbolic reason. Ten has the meaning of totality and unity, meaning that each one of Christ's mysteries is part of his total person and work and expresses its unity and totality, as well as its thorough contemplation by the person who says this decade of the rosary.
Answer: Why Pray to Mary? Because Jesus has given us his Blessed Mother as our great spiritual mother (Rev. 12:17), a heavenly advocate who intercedes for us.
The earliest recorded prayer to Mary is the sub tuum praesidium (3rd or 4th century) and the earliest depictions of her are from the Priscilla catacombs in Rome (early 3rd century).
According to their researches, the attention paid to Mary is extreme, and may not only distract from the worship of God, but actually be idolatry.
That would be “vain repetition.” We Catholics repeat the prayers and the rosary in order to keep our focus while we meditate upon the most important mysteries of the Faith. Each decade has at its end meditation on a different and central mystery in the life of Jesus Christ for our salvation.
The word rosary itself comes from the Latin “rosarium,” meaning a garden or garland of roses. During the Middle Ages, agriculture metaphor was common. Writing often drew comparisons to plowing a field, and collecting prayers was seen as growing a garden or arranging a bouquet.
While praying each decade, Catholics meditate on key moments in Christ's life. Many of these involve Mary (the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Assumption, etc.) For this reason, the rosary is often seen as a way to draw closer to Christ through Mary.
It is known as the "Three Hail Mary Devotion," and consists of saying three times each day the Hail Mary with the invocation "O my Mother, preserve me this day (or night) from mortal sin." The prayer is said three times to honor the Most Blessed Trinity, Who is the source of all of Our Lady's greatness.
In Roman Catholicism, the Hail Mary is the most prevalent prayer in the Rosary. The Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox also use the prayer. So do many other groups within Christianity, including Anglicans, Independent Catholics, and Old Catholics. Some Protestant denominations also use the Hail Mary.
This prayer, known in Latin as Sub tuum Praesidium and first found in a Greek papyrus, c. 300 A.D., is the oldest known prayer to the Virgin. We turn to you for protection, Holy Mother of God.
The Hail Mary (Latin: Ave Maria) or Angelical salutation is a traditional Christian prayer addressing Mary, the mother of Jesus.
Angel Gabriel was first to proclaim Mary's immaculate conception when he addressed her: “Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee!” God had a plan and had prepared her for it. From her conception in the womb of her mother Saint Anne, Mary was free from sin.
Many Greek and Byzantine Fathers asserted that Mary remained without sin throughthout her entire life. By the 4th century the sinlessness of Mary was a common belief. Augustine in the 5th century upheld that Mary had no personal sin, but Augustine did not clearly affirm that she was free from original sin.
Q: Is there a biblical basis for the Rosary? A: As you know the bible does "not" tell us to pray the Rosary because this form of prayer originated only during the middle ages. However, important elements of the Rosary are biblical and/or belong to the common Christian beliefs. Judge for yourself.
Praying the Rosary allows us to encounter Mary and to enter the mysteries of Jesus Christ. From his Incarnation, to the Cross, to the Resurrection, we come to understand that God has revealed himself and saved us. May the Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady of the Rosary, continue to inspire us to a life of discipleship.
The term became widespread after an NFL playoff game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Minnesota Vikings on December 28, 1975 (see Cowboys–Vikings rivalry), when Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach said about his game-winning touchdown pass to wide receiver Drew Pearson, "I closed my eyes and said a Hail Mary."
Broadly, Roman Catholicism differs from other Christian churches and denominations in its beliefs about the sacraments, the roles of the Bible and tradition, the importance of the Virgin Mary and the saints, and the papacy.