But how often do we pause to think about what we are really saying when we pray the Hail Mary? The next few posts will examine this beautiful everyday prayer in detail and draw out at least some of its great riches.
We'll being by praying the Hail Mary:
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among 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.
1. The first sentence of the Hail Mary comes directly from Luke 1:28. The archangel Gabriel greets Mary with these very words when he appears to her at the annunciation. These words are spoken by God's messenger, and therefore, they come directly from God Himself, for Gabriel only speaks what God wills him to speak. When we pray these words, then, we are praying in the very words of God and speaking to Mary in the very words God uses to describe her.
2. Hail Mary – The word “Hail” indicates a special greeting for a special person. We are not merely saying hello but addressing Mary in a more formal way that recognizes her special status as the Mother of God and as our mother and queen.
3. full of grace – The Greek word used here is kecharitōmenē. A literal translation would sound something like this: “you who have been fully graced.” The word is a perfect passive participle in the vocative feminine singular. Let's unpack that mouthful of grammar. Vocative simply means that we are addressing Mary directly, and of course, Mary is one person (singular) and female. The word is a participle, which, in this case, serves in the capacity of an adjective and describes a characteristic of Mary. The participle is passive. The action happens to Mary but is performed by someone else. Finally, the participle is in perfect tense. In Greek, the perfect tense is like a red flag that draws attention to something very important. It sets an idea in the foreground and points a big arrow directly at it. It also implies a fullness and an ongoing condition that is the result of some event that took place in the past.
If we put all that back together, then, we discover that this one little Greek word tells us that someone (God, of course) has made Mary fully graced. He has done so in the past (at her Immaculate Conception), and the condition continues into the present. Being full of grace is a characteristic of Mary, and Luke presents that fact in such a way that it stands out. God really, really wanted Mary to know this about herself, and He also wants us to know this about Mary.
4. the Lord is with thee – God is indeed with Mary. Because she was conceived without original sin, God's Spirit dwelt within Mary from the very beginning of her life. Original sin is, of course, the absence of sanctifying grace in the soul, the absence of God's indwelling presence. But Mary never experienced this. Because the Lord chose to apply the merits of Jesus' redemptive death to Mary ahead of time, God was with Mary from her very first moment. He was with her when Gabriel appeared. He was always with her, for she never lost sanctifying grace through sin. He is with her even today, for she stands beside her Son in Heaven, basking in His love.
We will continue our reflections in the next post, but now let us pray:
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among 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.
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