THE Ave Maria prayer, or the Hail Mary as it is also known, is a traditional prayer that requests the intercession of the Virgin Mary.
Below is the prayer as taught by the Catholic Church:
The Hail Mary
Hail Mary, full of grace; the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.
Prayer Structure
The first paragraph is composed of the salutation of the angel Gabriel to Mary. The greeting of Saint Elizabeth follows, which she spoke filled by the Holy Spirit upon Mary’s visitation during her pregnancy of Saint John the Baptist.
The second paragraph is a request for Mary’s intercessory prayer on our behalf, asking her to join us in prayer to God for our needs and salvation.
Significance of the Prayer
Catholics consider the first paragraph as God’s description of Mary since the first part is the address of an Angel speaking on God’s behalf. The angel first addresses her by her heavenly title, “full of grace.” His description follows, stating that God accompanies her. The second part is the Holy Spirit speaking through Saint Elizabeth describing Mary’s favored position among humanity as Jesus‘ mother.
We follow this by stating our belief that Jesus is God and part of the Trinity, where Mary is the mother of his human incarnation.
Finally, we ask for her intercessory prayer. We can ask for Mary’s intercession because Christians believe in the Communion of Saints: where we believe that those that have died in Christ have joined the Trinity, a state of being we call heaven. Christians that have entered into this heavenly state after an earthly death are still very much alive and, as such, can join us in prayer to God. As Christians, we also believe that we can join our faith in prayer to petition God for our needs and salvation. As such, we believe that Christians can do this joining of faith both in heaven and on earth.
The above is the reason the Hail Mary is a central Christian prayer: since it states several passages of the gospel spoken by God, as well as two of the fundamental Christian beliefs stated in the Apostle’s Creed: Jesus‘ divinity and the Communion of Saints. As well as asking for help in our prayers to Mary, who is the first among Jesus‘ disciples.
Use of the Hail Mary
Due to its significance, the prayer is often part of Catholic psalters in combination with other central prayers such as the Our Father and Glory Be. Examples of psalters using the Hail Mary are the Holy Rosary, the Angelus Prayer, and the Divine Mercy Chaplet.
We can also sing the Hail Mary. The most famous song version being Schubert’s composition of the Ave Maria. Below I include a video of Andrea Bocelli singing Schubert’s Ave Maria.
Notes:
¹ As referenced in Luke 1:28.
² As referenced in Luke 1:42.
