Prayer · Christian practice
Hail Mary
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 counted on the beads of the Rosary — ten to a decade, five decades to a set of mysteries. The first half is scriptural greeting; the second half is petition, and was added much later.
Source: Traditional Catholic prayer; opening draws on Luke 1:28, 42
A mala of 50 is what this practice is traditionally counted on.
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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.
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What the words say
'Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee' is Gabriel's greeting at Luke 1:28. 'Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb' is Elizabeth's at Luke 1:42. 'Jesus' was added to join them. Everything from 'Holy Mary, Mother of God' on is the Church's own petition — the title itself from the Council of Ephesus in 431 — and reached its settled form only in the sixteenth century.
Where it comes from
The scriptural halves were joined in Western devotion by about the twelfth century; the petition was appended gradually and was fixed in the Roman Breviary of 1568. The Rosary's structure of decades developed alongside it through the fifteenth century.
How it is practised
Ten Hail Marys to a decade, each decade opened by the Our Father and closed by the Glory Be, while a mystery is held in mind. Five decades is one set — fifty Hail Marys, which is the goal offered here.
References
- Luke 1:28, 42
- Roman Breviary (1568), for the settled Western form
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