The Hail Mary

The Hail Mary is the most prayed Marian prayer in the Catholic Church. It is composed of three parts: the words of the angel Gabriel at the Annunciation (Luke 1:28), the words of Saint Elizabeth at the Visitation (Luke 1:42), and a closing petition for the Mother of God's intercession that became universal in the Western Church by the sixteenth century. Each part has its own scriptural and historical foundation, and together they form the prayer that has structured Catholic Marian devotion for fifteen hundred years.

Origin and historical development

The first part of the Hail Mary ("Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee") is the greeting of the angel Gabriel to the Virgin at the Annunciation, recorded in Luke 1:28. The Greek kecharitōmenē ("full of grace") is a perfect passive participle of the verb charitoō (to grace), indicating that Mary has been graced in a complete and abiding way. The Catholic theological tradition has always read this verse as the scriptural foundation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, defined by Pope Pius IX in Ineffabilis Deus (1854).

The second part ("Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb") is the greeting of Saint Elizabeth at the Visitation, recorded in Luke 1:42. The early Church combined the angel's and Elizabeth's greetings into a single Marian salutation. The name Jesus was added at the end of the salutation (the Greek text reads "the fruit of thy womb" without specifying Jesus, but the Christian tradition added the divine Name explicitly in the prayer).

The third part ("Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death") is the petition added during the Western Middle Ages. The petition appears in various forms from the eleventh century, was crystallized in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and was approved in its current form by Pope Pius V in 1568 in the Roman Breviary. The petition draws on the title Theotokos (Mother of God), defined as a dogma by the Council of Ephesus in AD 431 against the Christological errors of Nestorius.¹

Theological structure

The Hail Mary, in its developed form, is itself a small treatise in Catholic Marian theology. The first part contemplates Mary's graced election by the Father to be the Mother of the Incarnate Word. The second part contemplates the Virgin's role as bearer of the Son of God to the world. The third part appeals to the Theotokos for her intercession on behalf of the sinful Church on its pilgrimage to heaven.

The phrase "now and at the hour of our death" names the two extremes of Christian life: the present moment, in which we labor under the conditions of fallen humanity, and the moment of death, in which the soul stands before its Judge. Catholic tradition holds that the constant recourse to Mary throughout life prepares the soul for her particular intercession at the hour of death.

Line-by-line commentary

"Hail Mary, full of grace"

The greeting "Hail Mary" (Greek chaire Maria, Latin ave Maria) reproduces the exact greeting of the angel Gabriel at the Annunciation (Luke 1:28). The Greek verb chaire is not a routine "hello" but a solemn form of joy-greeting reserved in the Septuagint for messianic announcements. The Catholic tradition has understood the angel's use of this specific verb as recognition of the great work about to be accomplished in Mary.

"Full of grace" translates the Greek kecharitōmenē, a perfect passive participle of the verb charitoō (to grace, to fill with grace). The perfect tense indicates a completed state persisting into the present: Mary is a person who has been graced completely and remains in that graced state. Saint John Paul II in his encyclical Redemptoris Mater (1987) noted that this form is the scriptural foundation for the Catholic dogma of the Immaculate Conception, which teaches that Mary was preserved from original sin from the first moment of her conception (Pope Pius IX, Ineffabilis Deus, 1854).

"The Lord is with thee"

The second half of the angelic greeting confirms the divine presence with Mary as she is called to bear the Son of God. The parallel with Old Testament theophanies (Moses at the burning bush, Gideon at the winepress) has been extensively developed by Catholic commentators from Saint Ambrose to Pope Benedict XVI.

"Blessed art thou amongst women"

The words of Saint Elizabeth at the Visitation (Luke 1:42), spoken under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Elizabeth's greeting extends and confirms the angel's earlier salutation, making Mary the first person in the Gospel of Luke to be acclaimed as blessed. The Catholic tradition has always read this verse as a scriptural mandate for the veneration of Mary above every other creature.

"And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus"

The completion of Elizabeth's greeting names the Christ in Mary's womb. The name Jesus was added at the end of the medieval Latin ave by liturgical tradition; it is not present in Elizabeth's original Greek greeting but was inserted to make explicit the object of the Marian veneration: Mary is blessed because of the Son she bears. Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Saint Bonaventure, and Saint Louis de Montfort all emphasized this Christological center of Marian devotion: ad Iesum per Mariam (to Jesus through Mary).

"Holy Mary, Mother of God"

The third part of the prayer, added by the Latin Church between the eleventh and sixteenth centuries, opens with the title Sancta Maria, Mater Dei*. The title Mater Dei (Mother of God) is the Latin equivalent of the Greek Theotokos (God-bearer), defined as Catholic dogma at the Council of Ephesus in AD 431. To call Mary Mother of God is not to claim that Mary generated the divinity of Christ (an impossibility, since divinity is eternal) but that the person she bore is Himself God: the Word made flesh.

"Pray for us sinners"

The petition brings Mary's intercession explicitly into the prayer. Mary is asked not to save the Catholic soul (Christ alone is Savior) but to pray for the sinner, exercising the maternal role of intercession that Catholic tradition sees anticipated at the Wedding at Cana (John 2:1-5). The word sinners is unflinching: the Catholic praying the Hail Mary places himself explicitly in the category of those who need mercy.

"Now and at the hour of our death"

The two moments named are the present and the last. Catholic tradition has always emphasized that the Hail Mary is a prayer that asks for maternal intercession precisely at these two moments: the ordinary present, and the moment of passage from this life to the next. Saint Alphonsus Liguori's classic The Glories of Mary is essentially an extended meditation on this closing petition of the Hail Mary.

When the Hail Mary is prayed

The Hail Mary is prayed:

• In every decade of the Holy Rosary, ten Hail Marys per decade, on the small beads.
• In the Angelus at six in the morning, noon, and six in the evening, three times.
• At the close of every novena (see the novenas hub).
• In the Catholic morning and evening prayers, often three times for an increase of faith, hope, and charity.
• At any moment of need or recourse to the Mother of God.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that "the prayers in which she now turns to her Son in our favor" are the heart of Marian intercession (CCC 2675). The Hail Mary is the principal form of this Catholic recourse.

The Hail Mary and the Rosary

The structure of the Holy Rosary places fifty Hail Marys in the standard five-decade rosary, or two hundred Hail Marys in a complete rosary covering the four sets of mysteries (Joyful, Sorrowful, Glorious, and Luminous). The repetition of the Hail Mary in the Rosary is not a mechanical recitation; it is a meditative chant under which the soul contemplates the mysteries of the life of Christ as seen through the eyes of His Mother. Saint Padre Pio is reported to have called the rosary "the weapon for these times" and to have prayed many rosaries each day in his cell.

Pairing the Hail Mary with other prayers

The Hail Mary is paired in Catholic practice with:

• The Our Father and the Glory Be, in the basic rosary structure.
• The Memorare of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, when the Marian petition is intensified.
• The Hail Holy Queen, at the close of the rosary.
• The Angelus and the Regina Caeli, in the daily Marian rhythm.

Common questions about the Hail Mary

Is the Hail Mary in the Bible?

The first two parts of the Hail Mary come directly from the Gospel of Luke (Luke 1:28 and Luke 1:42). The third part ("Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners...") was added by the Catholic Church in the medieval period and reached its current form by 1568. So the Hail Mary as prayed today is partly scriptural and partly liturgical composition of the Catholic tradition.

How many Hail Marys are in a rosary?

A standard five-decade rosary contains 53 Hail Marys: 3 at the opening, then 50 in the five decades (10 per decade). A complete rosary covering all four sets of mysteries (Joyful, Sorrowful, Glorious, and Luminous) contains approximately 203 Hail Marys. The Marian rhythm of the rosary is what many Catholic spiritual writers, including Saint Padre Pio and Saint Louis de Montfort, called "the school of Mary": through the repetition of the Hail Mary, the soul learns to meditate as Mary did.

Do Catholics pray to Mary or worship Mary?

Catholics pray to Mary asking for her intercession; Catholics do not worship her. Catholic theology distinguishes three levels of religious honor: latria (worship, given to God alone), dulia (honor, given to the saints), and hyperdulia (a special honor given to Mary alone as Mother of God, but still distinct from the worship due to God). The Catechism of the Catholic Church treats this distinction in paragraphs 971 and 2677. To pray "Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners" is to ask for Marian intercession, not to worship Mary.

Why do Catholics call Mary "Mother of God"?

Because the person Mary bore is Himself God. The title Theotokos (God-bearer, in Greek) was defined as Catholic dogma at the Council of Ephesus in AD 431, against the heresy of Nestorius who taught that Mary bore only the human Christ. The Catholic Church has taught since Ephesus that Mary is truly Mother of God (the divine Person of the Word made flesh) without being the origin of His divinity, which is eternal.

What is the difference between the Hail Mary and the Ave Maria?

They are two names for the same prayer. "The Hail Mary" is the English name, "the Ave Maria" is the Latin name (from ave Maria, the opening words of the Latin text). Catholic composers have written many musical settings of the Hail Mary under the Latin name Ave Maria, most famously Franz Schubert's Ellens Gesang III (Op. 52, No. 6, 1825) and the Bach-Gounod Ave Maria (1859). Both settings use the Catholic Latin text at the top of this page.

Can non-Catholics pray the Hail Mary?

Yes. Any person may pray the Hail Mary. The prayer is not restricted to Catholic use, and many Anglican, Orthodox, and Lutheran Christians pray it or a variant of it. The Eastern Orthodox tradition uses a slightly different form ("Rejoice, O Virgin Theotokos..."), and the Lutheran tradition retained the first half of the Hail Mary (the biblical portion) in its early modern liturgy. The Catholic form given at the top of this page is the standard Latin Church text.

Sources

Footnotes

1. Council of Ephesus (AD 431), defining Theotokos. Pope Pius V, Roman Breviary (1568), in which the current form of the Hail Mary was approved for the universal Roman Rite. Catholic Encyclopedia (1907), "Hail Mary," available at newadvent.org. Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 2676-2678 (the Marian prayer of the Church). ↩