Hail Mary

Hail Mary or in Latin Ave Maria is a traditional Catholic prayer to Mary, the mother of Jesus, developed in the second millennium, with its roots in the Bible. The first part of the prayer is the salutation of the Archangel Gabriel as reported in the Gospel of Luke 1:28 "Hail Mary full of grace, the Lord is with thee". The second is from the greeting given to Mary by her cousin Elisabeth in Luke 1:42 "Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of your womb", and a reinforcement of basic Christian belief in the real divinity and real humanity of Jesus. The closing petition "Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen." is stated by the official "Catechism of the Council of Trent" to have been "framed by the Church itself" http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07110b.htm.

Related Topics:
Catholic - Prayer - Mary, the mother of Jesus - Second millennium - Gabriel - Gospel of Luke - Christian - Council of Trent

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As a separate formula for Roman Catholic devotion, the "Hail Mary"— though a pious tale has it miraculously recited to Ildephonsus of Toledo—dates to the 11th century (Catholic Encyclopedia).

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The Ave Maria is the essential element of the Rosary, a prayer recited by Catholics, comprised of 4 sets of 5 Mysteries meditating upon the incarnation, life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Each of these Mysteries is prayed as a decade (literally ten), consisting of

Related Topics:
Rosary - Catholics

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• One Our Father (Pater Noster or The Lord's Prayer)
• Ten Hail Marys
• One Doxology ('Glory be to the Father')
 
Hail Mary: The words of the Hail Mary ►