A now familiar prayer developed over centuries

By Patricia Kasten
Compass Associate Editor

(Editor's note: Today, Feb. 2, is the feast of the Presentation of the Lord, also the feast of the Purification of Mary.)

Greetings and salutations!

That's what can be found in each of the three parts of the most famous Marian prayer: greetings, recognition and honor.

The "Hail Mary" is about the life of Mary, the Mother of God. Parts of it date to the earliest days of the church and can be found in the gospel.

This prayer goes by several names:

The Ave -- for the Latin word for "Hail" or "Greetings;"

The Angelic Salutation -- because of the first words said by Gabriel to Mary;

The Hail Mary -- from Ave Maria, the first words of the prayer in Latin.

Three distinct parts make up this prayer: the first two come from Scripture and the third was added by the church, following the lead of popular piety:

• Angelic greeting. In Luke's gospel, Gabriel's first words to Mary are, "Hail, favored one. The Lord is with you" (NAB, Lk 1:28). The more familiar translation for "favored one" is "full of grace." In the prayer, this greeting -- with the name of Mary added -- acknowledges the Virgin's favored status with God.

Gabriel's words also echo a prophecy of Zechariah: "Rejoice, O daughter Zion, see I am coming to dwell among you, says the Lord" (Zech 2:14). Zechariah's promise was spoken to a people in exile, who were about to return to rebuild the Lord's temple. The prophecy promised God's salvation to Israel, just as Gabriel's words promise salvation to all people.

• Elizabeth's greeting. "Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb" were the words of Mary's cousin, Elizabeth (Lk 2:42). Inspired by the Holy Spirit, she saluted both Mary and Jesus. Her next words -- "who am I that the mother of my Lord should come to me" -- honor Mary's role as the Mother of God.

These two greetings compose the earliest part of the Hail Mary. The early church used them as a greeting honoring both Mary and Jesus -- whose names were later added to the gospel greetings. (Pope Urban IV is credited with adding the name of Jesus to the prayer in 1261.)

The greeting was said in various, sometimes penitential, situations over the next 1,500 years. It was often said with genuflections or prostrations - as often as 150 times in a row. (This paralleled the development of the Rosary, often credited to St. Dominic in the 14th century, which used 150 Aves in place of the 150 Psalms.)

• Ending petition. As it first existed, the Hail Mary was not a completed prayer, since it did not include a petition. (Even the short "Glory Be" includes a petition that God's glory continue forever.) This was a major criticism presented by Protestant reformers.

The petition -- "Holy Mary ... now and at the hour of our death" -- was formally added to the Breviary in 1568, following the lead of the Catechism of the Council of Trent (1566).

Various parts of this closing petition, of course, are far more ancient than the 16th century. As we have seen, Elizabeth's words acknowledged Mary's position as the Mother of the Lord in Gospel times. And the Council of Ephesus declared Mary to be the Mother of God -- the Theotokos (God-bearer) -- in 431. Translations of the prayer, from across Europe and dating back many centuries, show that it was common in popular piety to add a petition seeking Mary's help for both sinners and the dying. And long before Trent, certainly by 1514, the Liturgy of the Hours contained an Ave with the now-familiar ending petition.

While the Hail Mary is a Marian prayer, it is really Christ-centered. Each of its three parts is intended to draw us to Jesus, through his mother:

• First, we greet Mary as one to whom the Lord is present in a unique way;

• Then we acknowledge her as the blessed mother of the Incarnation;

• Finally, we ask the Mother of God to intercede for us to her Son, just as she prayed at his cross at the hour of his death.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church says the Hail Mary honors Christ through the mysteries of his life. Mary was witness to these mysteries: his birth, his miracles, his ministry, his death and his resurrection, as well as the sending of his Spirit upon the church.

It is fitting that we approach the Lord by greeting and honoring his mother, while seeking her guidance and assistance as did Elizabeth and all who came after her.