Hail Mary explication
Learn to pray /Spirituality

Por: P. Antonio Rivero LC | Fuente: Catholic.Net

It is the beautiful salutation of the Hail Mary, repeated hundreds of times by all the devotees of the Virgin, especially during the recitation of the Holy Rosary.

 

And we know that this prayer has two parts.

 

The First Part:

 

It is formed by the words of the angel of the Annunciation: "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you" (Lk 1,28), to which have been added those that Saint Elizabeth pronounced upon receiving the visit of her cousin María "Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb" (Lk 1:42). The Church has added the name "Mary" at the beginning and "Jesus" at the end.

It is a hymn of sublime praise, absolutely disinterested, since nothing is asked from Mary!

 

The Second Part:

 

It appeared in the Church in the 14th century, but its use did not become universal until St. Pius V, promulgating the Roman Breviary in 1568, ordered it to be prayed:

"Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen"

A praise and a heartfelt and humble supplication.

 

  • Hail: God save you! Peace be with you! That is how Christ greeted his people.

In Today’s Christian language  these popular expressions and devotees would correspond to: "May God keep you, may God give us a good morning, go with God, stay with God, goodbye". Keep God in everything, be under his eyes and providence.

 

  • María: the most beautiful music that could have formed five letters (Pemán). It is a sweet word, the most tender and endearing for a Christian.

Mary means: "Lady", "Beauty", "Star of the sea", with everything that means "Star": guide, shelter, refuge, hope, consolation, help. Maria is Star.

As the Star guides the navigator to the port, Mary leads us to heaven.

Just as the star that gives encouragement and hope, Mary gives us strength.

Just as the star in the middle of the storm that consoles us, Mary makes us happy in our struggles.

Virgin Mary is our Star of the sea, which dispels the clouds of deceptions and errors with which the devil seduces us.

Therefore, the name of "Mary" must be frequently on the lips and in the heart.

Mary also means "bitter sea", because of the immensity of her sorrows in the passion of her Son, because of the ingratitude of sinners, because of the sadness of their condemnation.

 

  • Full of grace: means abundance, possession, permanence, state. Full of grace in the soul, to act gracefully, that is, of holiness, full of grace because it was inhabited by God.

 

  • The Lord is with you: it indicates the active and efficacious presence of God for the entrusted mission. This presence full of joy and joy. God is with Her. It is invaded by God.

 

  • Blessed are thou among women: for being the Mother of God, chosen and preferred ... for being a mother and virgin, unique among all women ... for being conceived without original sin ... for being more holy than all saint women of the world. For that reason, the world has raised in altars, temples and hermitages just for her.

 

  • And blessed is the fruit of thy womb: Jesus is that fruit. It is a beautiful fruit, tasty, succulent, soft. Whoever eats it will be satiated. The fruit that Eve offered us was a fruit of death. Mary offers us the fruit of Salvation. The fragrance of this blessed fruit comes exhaled in the Eucharist.

 

  • Jesus: word added by the Church at the end of the 1st part of the Hail Mary. Jesus means the salvation of Jahve.

 

  • Holy Mary, Mother of God: This is how the 2nd part begins. Holy, Holy because she faithfully fulfilled the will of God in everything. Being holy is what we came for to earth. And she is Mother of God, not the mother of a seraph or a cherub. She is the Mother of the Lord God.

 

  • Pray for us: that we are banished in this valley of tears ... that we are sinners ... that we are tempted.

 

  • Sinners: we are sinners, the opposite of her. We sin with our eyes, for immodesty; with the ear, for hearing vain conversations: with the tongue, for speaking badly; with the palate, by gluttony in the delicacies; with fantasy, by dangerous imaginations; with the understanding, for thinking badly, with memory, for harmful memories; with the heart for bad wishes.

 

  • Now: on this day, in this hour in this moment of light or darkness, of peace or restlessness, of temptation or of calmness. Now, when I walk, when I get on the bus, when I go to work, when I go on vacation, when I rest.

 

  • And at the time of our death: we do not know what it will be like, if it will be, or how it will surprise us. In those moments the devil will bring us the memory of our past sins, the rigor of divine justice and the memory of the scorn of so many graces. At the hour of our death, when the pain of illness does not allow us to come to you, may we have a priest who absolves us, who administers the Viaticum and gives us the Anointing of the sick and repairs our soul, and so let us give the last breath by pronouncing your holy name and that of your Son Jesus.

 

He who prays fervently the Hail Mary will have the grace of a holy death. Let us not forget at bedtime the three Hail Marys, a sure pledge of a good death.

 

  • Amen: that is how it is. I think so

 

What a beautiful prayer!

 

Pray for us, Mary.