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.
Next in beauty to the Lord's Prayer comes this prayer. It is made up of
three parts:
"Hail, full of grace! the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou amongst
women" was composed by the angel Gabriel, for these are the words he
used when he came to tell the Blessed Virgin that she was selected to be
the Mother of God (Luke 1:28). All her people knew that the Redeemer
promised from the time of Eve down to the time of the Blessed Virgin was
now to be born, and many good women were anxious to be His mother, and
they believed the one who would be selected the most blessed and happy
of all women.
"The Lord is with thee" by His grace and favor, since you are the one He
loves best. He is with all His creatures, but He is with you in a very
special manner.
After the visit of the angel, the Blessed Virgin went a good distance to
visit her cousin, St. Elizabeth, who was the mother of St. John the
Baptist (Luke 1:39). When St. Elizabeth saw her, she, without being told
by the Blessed Virgin what the angel had done, knew by the inspiration
of the Holy Ghost what had taken place, and said to the Blessed Virgin:
"Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb."
That is "blessed" because, of all the women that have ever lived or ever
shall live, you are the one selected by God to be the mother of His Son
and Our Redeemer, and blessed is that Son Himself. This is the second
part of the prayer. The third part, from "Holy Mary" to the end, was
composed by the Church.
"Hail." This was the word used by the people of that country in saluting
one another when they met. We say when meeting anyone we know, "Good
day," or "How do you do?" or some such familiar expression used by all
in salutation. So these people, instead of saying, "Good day," etc.,
said "Hail" i.e., I wish you health, I greet you, etc. The angel did not
say "Mary," because she was the only one present to address.
"Full of grace." When anything is full it has no room for more. God's
grace and sin cannot exist in the same place. Therefore when the Blessed
Virgin was full of grace, there was no room for sin. So she was without
any sin and gifted with every virtue.
"Holy Mary," because one full of grace must be holy.
"Mother of God," because her Son was true God and true man in the one
person of Christ, Our Lord.
"Pray for us," because she has more power with her Son than all the
other saints.
"Sinners," and therefore we need forgiveness.
"At the hour of our death" especially, because that is the most
important time for us. No matter how bad we have been during our lives,
if God gives us the grace to die in His friendship, we shall be His
friends forever. On the other hand, no matter how good we may have been
for a part of our lives, if we become bad before death, and die in that
state, we shall be separated from God forever, and be condemned to
eternal punishment. It would be wrong, therefore, to live in sin, with a
promise that we shall die well, for God may not give us the grace or
opportunity to repent, and we may die in sin if we have lived in sin.
Besides this, the devil knows how much depends upon the state in which
we die, and so he perhaps will tempt us more at death than at any other
time; for if we yield to him and die in sin, we shall be with him
forever--it is his last chance to secure our souls.
Besides the Hail Mary there is another beautiful prayer on the same
subject, called the Angelus. It is a little history of the Incarnation,
and is said morning, noon, and evening in honor of Our Lord's
Incarnation, death, and resurrection. It is made up of three parts. The
first part tells what the angel did, viz.: "The angel of the Lord
declared unto Mary. And she conceived of the Holy Ghost." After saying
these words, we say one Hail Mary in honor of the angel's message. The
second part tells what Mary answered, viz.: "Behold the handmaid of the
Lord. Be it done unto me according to thy word." We say another Hail
Mary in honor of Mary's consent. The third part tells how Our Lord
became Man, viz.: "And the Word was made flesh. And dwelt among us." The
"Word" means here the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity; and "made
flesh" means, became man. Then another Hail Mary is said in honor of Our
Lord's goodness in humbling Himself so much for our sake. After these
three parts we say: "Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God! that we may be
made worthy of the promises of Christ"; and, finally, we say a prayer in
honor of Our Lord's Incarnation, Passion, and Resurrection. This
beautiful prayer is said three times a day in all seminaries, convents,
and religious houses. The time for saying it is made known by the
ringing of a bell called the "Angelus bell." In many parishes the church
bell rings out the Angelus. In Catholic countries the people stop
wherever they are and whatever they are doing, and bowing their heads,
say the Angelus when they hear its bell. It is a beautiful practice and
one most pleasing to our Blessed Lord and His holy Mother. Good
Catholics should not neglect it.
I might mention here another kind of prayer often said in honor of our
blessed Mother. It is the Litany. In this form of prayer we call Our
Lady many beautiful names which we know are most dear to her, asking her
after each one to pray for us. We address her first by names reminding
her that she is the Mother of God and has therefore great influence with
her divine Son. We say: Mother of Christ, Mother of Our Creator, Mother
of Our Redeemer, etc., pray for us. Next we remind her that she is a
virgin and should take pity on us who are exposed to so many temptations
against holy purity. We call her virgin most pure, virgin most chaste,
etc., and again ask her to pray for us. Lastly we call her all those
names that could induce her to hear us. We say: health of the weak,
refuge of sinners, help of Christians, pray for us.
In addition to the Litany of the Blessed Virgin, we have the Litany of
the Holy Name of Jesus, the Litany of the Blessed Sacrament, the Litany
of the Sacred Heart, the Litany of St. Joseph, and many others--all made
up in the same form. We have also the Litany of all the Saints, in which
we beg the help and prayers of the different classes of saints--the
Apostles, martyrs, virgins, etc.