Hail Mary Prayer (and the Catholic Rosary)

Hail Mary a book of prayer

Hail Mary is the traditional prayer of the Catholic faith, also used by some Orthodox religions. Named on the opening Latin words from the Gospel of Luke, people have been praying this in its present form, since the 16th century:

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.

The prayer is basically a praise to the mother of God, and a popular devotional practice. Some people pray the Rosary each day, and says it brings them more peace than any meditation practice ever could.

Check out local Catholic churches, as many have Rosary services. You don’t have to own beads, just pop along and sit and listen if you don’t know the words by heart. It is strangely comforting to hear others chant the Rosary, a bit like listening to monks singing at Vespers.

Stella Maris produces beautiful rosary beads, made from ocean-bound recycled plastic. Collected by communities in the Philippines, each one prevents up to 10kg of plastic (around 500 plastic bottles) from entering the sea.

We live in an ‘instant manifestation world’, where giving over problems to God seems almost unusual. Yet back in the day, this is what everyone did, and life seemed to work a lot better!

Pray as You Go offers audio reflective meditations on each of the rosary mysteries. Each of the 20 minute or so meditations includes Scripture and music, to learn more about and pray on:

  • The Joyful Mysteries
  • The Sorrowful Mysteries
  • The Glorious Mysteries
  • The Luminous Mysteries

Praying the Rosary in Difficult Times

the secret of the Rosary

Many people in history have prayed the Rosary at difficult times, and it seems to have a special power. Often during the Irish troubles, soldiers knocking on doors were amazed that local people were not scared, they just kept praying.

And Rwandan Immaculée Ilibagiza not only gives testimonies from others, but of course has her own, when she spent months locked away with other women in a bathroom during the genocide, after her family were massacred. She later met and forgave those involved.

The Amazing Story of Bartolo Longo

One man who dedicated his life to praying and teaching about the Rosary was Italian saint Bartolo Longo. He was only beautified in 1980. What makes him interesting is that in his ‘previous life’, he had got so involved with the occult that he was a practicing satanist. Until he gave it all up, to follow God and the Most Blessed Virgin Mary.

He is widely credited as being the influence behind creation of the Luminous Mysteries, part of the standard rosary. Showing that anyone can become a saint, no matter what their past! He called the Rosary a ‘sweet chain that units us to God, a bond of love that is a safe port in our universal shipwreck’.

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