View source for Hail Mary

{{Short description|Prayer of the Catholic Church}}
{{distinguish|Hayley Mary|Fail Mary|Hail Maryland|Hail Murray}}
{{Redirect|Ave Maria||Hail Mary (disambiguation)|and|Ave Maria (disambiguation)}}
{{Redirect|Angelic Salutation|the sculptures|Angelic Salutation (Stoss){{!}}''Angelic Salutation'' (Stoss)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
[[File:Fra Angelico 069.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|''[[Annunciation of Cortona|The Annunciation]]'' by [[Fra Angelico]], 1433–1434]]

The '''Hail Mary''' or '''Ave Maria''' (from its first words in Latin), also known as the '''Angelic Salutation''',<ref>{{Cite book |last=de Montfort |first=Louis |title=Le Secret de Rosaire. |year=1710 |location=La Rochelle, France |language=fr |trans-title=The Secret of the Rosary}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Hail Mary {{!}} Prayer, History, & Uses {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hail-Mary-prayer |access-date=2023-02-23 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> is a traditional [[Catholic prayer]] addressing [[Mary, mother of Jesus|Mary, the mother of Jesus]]. The prayer is based on two biblical passages featured in the [[Gospel of Luke]]: the [[Angel Gabriel]]'s visit to Mary (the [[Annunciation]]) and Mary's subsequent visit to [[Elizabeth (biblical figure)|Elizabeth]], the mother of [[John the Baptist]] (the [[Visitation (Christianity)|Visitation]]). It is also called the '''Angelical Salutation''', as the prayer is based on the Archangel Gabriel's words to Mary.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Schmitt |first1=Jacob |title=Explanation of Deharbe's small catechism: by James Schmitt. Transl. from the 7th German ed. [Josef Deharbe SJ] |date=1894 |publisher=Herder |page=289 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V1FpfERzBfAC&pg=PA289 |access-date=23 February 2023 |language=en}}</ref> The Hail Mary is a prayer of praise for and of petition to Mary, regarded as the [[Theotokos]] (Mother of God). Since the 16th century, the version of the prayer used in the [[Catholic Church]] closes with an appeal for her [[Intercession of saints|intercession]]. The prayer takes different forms in various traditions and has often been set to music.

In the [[Latin Church]], the Hail Mary forms the basis of other prayers such as the [[Angelus]] and the [[Rosary]]. In the [[psalmody]] of the [[Oriental Orthodox Churches]] a daily [[Theotokion]] is devoted to ascribing praise to the Mother of God.<ref>[https://ccdl.claremont.edu/digital/collection/cce/id/939/rec/1 Claremont Coptic Encyclopedia: Hail Mary]</ref> In addition, the [[Eastern Orthodox Churches]] have a common private prayer quite similar to the Hail Mary, though without the explicit request for intercession. The [[Eastern Catholic Churches]] follow their respective traditions or adopt the Latin Church version, which is also used by many other Western groups historically branching from the Catholic Church, such as [[Lutheranism|Lutherans]], [[Anglicanism|Anglicans]], [[Independent Catholic churches|Independent Catholics]], and [[Old Catholic Church|Old Catholics]].<ref name="Johnson2015">{{cite book |last1=Johnson |first1=Maxwell E. |title=The Church in Act: Lutheran Liturgical Theology in Ecumenical Conversation |date=2015 |publisher=Fortress Press |isbn=978-1-4514-9668-0 |language=en}}</ref>

==Text==
The Latin version of the prayer is the most common in English-speaking and other Western countries.
{{Verse translation|lang=la|Ave Maria, gratia plena,
Dominus tecum.
Benedicta tu in mulieribus,
et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Iesus.
Sancta Maria, Mater Dei,
ora pro nobis peccatoribus,
nunc et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.
|
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.}}

==Biblical source==
The prayer incorporates two greetings to Mary recorded in the [[Gospel of Luke]]: "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee",{{efn|Luke 1:28: {{lang|grc|Χαῖρε, κεχαριτωμένη, ὁ Κύριος μετὰ σοῦ}}; {{transliteration|grc|Chaire, kecharitōmenē, o Kyrios meta sou}}.<ref>[http://scripturetext.com/luke/1-28.htm Luke 1:28]</ref>}} and "Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb".{{efn|Luke 1:42: {{lang|grc|Εύλογηένη σὺ ἐν γυναιξὶν καὶ εὐλογημένος ὁ καρπὸς τῆς κοιλίας σου}}; {{transliteration|grc|Eulogēmenē su en gynaixin kai eulogēmenos o karpos tēs koilias sou}}.<ref>[http://scripturetext.com/luke/1-42.htm Luke 1:42]</ref>}}<ref>{{Citation|last=Desmond|first=William|title=Maybe, Maybe Not: Richard Kearney and God |url=https://www.fordham.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.5422/fso/9780823225316.001.0001/upso-9780823225316-chapter-4 |date=2006-03-06 |doi=10.5422/fso/9780823225316.003.0004 |work=After God|pages=55–77 |publisher=Fordham University Press |isbn=978-0-8232-2531-6|access-date=2020-04-11|url-access=subscription }}</ref> In mid-13th-century Western Europe, the prayer consisted only of these words with the single addition of the name "Mary" after the word "Hail", as is evident from [[Thomas Aquinas]]'s commentary on the prayer.<ref>"[http://www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/STTOMHMY.htm Saint Thomas Aquinas on the Hail Mary]", ''Catholic Dossier'', May–June 1996, Ignatius Press, Snohomish, Washington.</ref>

The first of the two passages from the Gospel of Luke is the greeting of the [[Angel Gabriel]] to Mary, originally written in [[Koine Greek]]. The opening word of greeting, {{lang|grc|χαῖρε}} ({{transliteration|grc|chaíre}}), here translated "hail", literally has the meaning "rejoice" or "be glad". This was the normal greeting in the language in which the Gospel of Luke is written and continues to be used in the same sense in [[Modern Greek]]. Accordingly, both "hail" and "rejoice" are valid English translations of the word ("hail" reflecting the Latin translation, and "rejoice" reflecting the original Greek).

According to [[Pope Benedict XVI]], "at first sight the term chaire "rejoice", seems an ordinary greeting, typical in the Greek world, but if this word is interpreted against the background of the biblical tradition it acquires a far deeper meaning. The same term occurs four times in the Greek version of the Old Testament and always as a proclamation of joy in the coming of the Messiah (cf. Zeph 3:14, Joel 2:21; Zech 9:9; Lam 4:21). The Angel’s greeting to Mary is therefore an invitation to joy, deep joy. It announces an end to the sadness that exists in the world because of life’s limitations, suffering, death, wickedness, in all that seems to block out the light of the divine goodness. It is a greeting that marks the beginning of the Gospel, the Good News."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/audiences/2012/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20121219.html|title=General Audience of Pope Benedict XVI|location=Paul VI Audience Hall|date=December 19, 2012}}</ref>

The word {{lang|grc|κεχαριτωμένη}} ({{transliteration|grc|kecharitōménē}}), here translated as "graceful", admits of various translations. Grammatically, the word is the feminine [[Perfect (grammar)|perfect]] [[Passive voice|passive]] [[participle]] of the verb {{lang|grc|χαριτόω}} ({{transliteration|grc|charitóō}}), which means "to show, or bestow with, grace" and here, in the passive voice, "to have grace shown, or bestowed upon, one".<ref>[[Liddell and Scott]], ''A Greek–English Lexicon'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3D%23113414 "χαρι^τ-όω"].</ref>

The text also appears in the account of the annunciation contained in chapter 9 of the apocryphal [[Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew|Infancy Gospel of Matthew]].

The second part of the prayer is taken from [[Elizabeth (biblical figure)|Elizabeth]]'s greeting to Mary as recorded in Luke 1:42: "Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb."<ref name="CathEn"/> Taken together, these two passages are the two times Mary is greeted in [[Luke 1|chapter 1 of the Gospel of Luke]].

==In Western (Latin) tradition==
{{Catholic marian prayers sidebar}}
After considering the use of similar words in [[Syriac language|Syriac]], Greek and Latin in the 6th century, [[Herbert Thurston]], writing in the ''[[Catholic Encyclopedia]]'' concludes that "there is little or no trace of the Hail Mary as an accepted devotional formula before about 1050"<ref name="CathEn">
{{Citation
 | last =Thurston
 | first =Herbert
 | contribution =Hail Mary
 | year =1910
 | title =[[The Catholic Encyclopedia]]
 | volume =VII
 | place=New York
 | publisher =Robert Appleton Company
 | contribution-url = http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07110b.htm
 | access-date = 2007-09-19}}
</ref> – though a later pious tale attributed to [[Ildephonsus]] of [[Toledo, Spain|Toledo]] ([[Floruit|fl.]] 7th century) the use of the first part, namely the angel's greeting to Mary, without that of Elizabeth, as a prayer. All the evidence suggests that it took its rise from certain [[versicles]] and responsories occurring in the [[Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary]], which just at that time was coming into favour among the monastic orders.

[[Thomas Aquinas]] spoke of the name "Mary" as the only word added at his time to the Biblical text, to indicate the person who was "full of grace". But at about the same time the name "Jesus" was also added, to specify who was meant by the phrase "the fruit of thy womb".

The Western version of the prayer is thus not derived from the Greek version: even the earliest Western forms have no trace of the Greek version's phrases: "Mother of God and Virgin" and "for thou hast given birth to the Saviour of our souls".

[[File:Illuminated human alphabet.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|left|The beginning of the verse in [[Historiated initial|historiated]] letters in the [[book of hours]] {{lang|fr|[[Heures de Charles d'Angoulême]]}}]]

To the greeting and praise of Mary of which the prayer thus consisted, a petition "Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death" was added later. The petition first appeared in print in 1495 in [[Girolamo Savonarola]]'s {{lang|it|Esposizione sopra l'Ave Maria}}.<ref>British Library - Rare Books Department, shelfmark: IA 27542.</ref> The "Hail Mary" prayer in Savonarola's exposition reads: "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."{{efn|The prayer is printed in Latin on the first page of the exposition and reads: {{lang|la|"Ave Maria gratia plena Dominus tecum Benedicta tu in mulieribus et benedictus Fructus uentris tui Iesus sancta Maria mater Dei ora pro nobis peccatoribus nunc et in hora mortis. Amen".}}}}

The petition was commonly added around the time of the [[Council of Trent]]. The [[Netherlands|Dutch]] [[Jesuit]] [[Petrus Canisius]] is credited with adding in 1555 in his [[Catechism]] the sentence

{{blockquote|Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners.<ref>This sentence appeared for the first time in his catechism of 1555: Petrus Canisius, CATECHISMI Latini et Germanici, I, (ed. Friedrich Streicher, S P C CATECHISMI Latini et Germanici, I, Roma, Munich, 1933, I, 12.</ref>}}

Eleven years later, the sentence was included in the [[Catechism of the Council of Trent]] of 1566. The catechism says that to the first part of the Hail Mary, by which "we render to God the highest praise and return Him most gracious thanks, because He has bestowed all His heavenly gifts on the most holy Virgin ... the Church of God has wisely added prayers and an invocation addressed to the most holy Mother of God. ...We should earnestly implore her help and assistance; for that she possesses exalted merits with God, and that she is most desirous to assist us by her prayers, no one can doubt without impiety and wickedness."<ref>''The catechism of the Council of Trent'' by Theodore Alois Buckley 2010 {{ISBN|1-177-70694-6}}. [http://www.cin.org/users/james/ebooks/master/trent/tpray0.htm "PART IV: THE LORD'S PRAYER: PRAYER: Importance Of Instruction On Prayer"].</ref> Soon after, in 1568 [[Pope Pius V]] included the full form as now known in his revision of the [[Roman Breviary]].<ref name="Calloway">{{cite book |last1=Calloway |first1=Donald H |title=Champions of the Rosary: The History and Heroes of a Spiritual Weapon |date=2017 |publisher=Marian Press |pages=543 |url=https://www.amazon.com/Champions-Rosary-History-Heroes-Spiritual-ebook/dp/B06X9NKYW6 |access-date=8 August 2018}}</ref>

The current Latin version is thus as follows, with accents added to indicate how the prayer is said in the current [[Ecclesiastical Latin]] pronunciation:

{{Verse translation|lang=la|Áve María, grátia pléna,
Dóminus técum.
Benedícta tu in muliéribus,
et benedíctus frúctus véntris túi, Iésus.{{efn|With [[Pope John XXIII]]'s edition of the [[Roman Missal]], the use of the letter J in printing Latin was dropped even in liturgical books, which had preserved that usage long after it ceased in the printing of ordinary Latin texts, including documents of the Holy See.}}
Sáncta María, Máter Déi,
óra pro nóbis peccatóribus,
nunc et in hóra mórtis nóstrae. Amen.
|
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.}}
[[File:Ave Maria in Latin language.ogg|thumb|right|[[Latin phonology and orthography#Ecclesiastical pronunciation|Ecclesiastical pronunciation]] of the [[Latin language|Latin]] prayer ''Ave Maria'']]

Because recitation of the [[Angelus]], a prayer within which the Hail Mary is recited three times, is usually accompanied by the ringing of the Angelus bell, words from the Ave Maria were often inscribed on bells.<ref name="CathEn"/>

===Indulgence===
The ''[[Enchiridion Indulgentiarum]]'' (Indulgences Handbook) grants the partial [[indulgence]] for this prayer.<ref>[[Apostolic Penitentiary]], ''Enchiridion indulgentiarum, Normae Et Concessiones'', [[Libreria Editrice Vaticana]], Editio Quarta, 2004, p. 82. {{ISBN|88-209-2785-3}} (in the appendix relating to "pious invocations")</ref>

==Byzantine Christian use==
The Hail Mary prayer of the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] and [[Byzantine Rite]] Catholic Churches is similar to the first part of the [[Latin Church]] form, with the addition of a very brief opening phrase and a short concluding phrase. It is well known and often used, though not quite as frequently as in the Western Church. It appears in several canons of prayer. It is typically sung thrice at the end of [[Vespers]] during an [[All-Night Vigil]], and occurs many times in the course of daily prayer.

The [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] text, of which those in other languages are translations, is:
{{verse translation|italicsoff=y|lang=grc|Θεοτόκε Παρθένε, χαῖρε, κεχαριτωμένη Μαρία, ὁ Κύριος μετὰ σοῦ. εὐλογημένη σὺ ἐν γυναιξί, καὶ εὐλογημένος ὁ καρπὸς τῆς κοιλίας σου, ὅτι Σωτῆρα ἔτεκες τῶν ψυχῶν ἡμῶν.<ref>[http://www.ec-patr.net/en/psaltai/danielides/index.php?what=4 Nicholas Danielides, Archon Lambadarios].</ref>
|[[Theotokos|God-bearing]] Virgin, rejoice, grace-filled Mary, the Lord with thee. Praised thou among women, and praised the fruit of thy womb, because it was the Saviour of our souls that thou borest.}}

To the Biblical texts this adds the opening invocation "Theotokos Virgin", the name "Mary", and the concluding phrase "because it was the Saviour of our souls that thou borest".

Another English rendering of the same text reads:
{{blockquote|[[Mother of God]]{{efn|{{lang|grc|[[Theotokos|Θεοτόκε]]}} literally means "God-bearer". The Greek phrase {{lang|grc|Μήτηρ Θεοῦ}}, corresponding literally to "Mother of God", appears regularly, in the abbreviated form {{lang|grc|ΜΡ ΘΥ}}, in [[icon]]s representing her.}} and Virgin, rejoice, Mary full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, for thou hast given birth to the Saviour of our souls.}}

or:
{{blockquote|God-bearing (or: Theotokos) Virgin, rejoice, O Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, for thou hast brought forth the Savior of our souls.}}

===Aramaic version===
The [[aramaic language|Aramaic]] version has been reconstructed (probably from Arabic) by Afram Barsoum in the following way:
{| style="border-spacing:2em 0;"<!-- espace horizontal entre cellules -->
|+'''[[Aramaic]]'''<ref>[http://www.kolesuryoye.nl/shlomlegmaryam.html Qolo Shlom leg bthulto Maryam], su ''KoleSuryoye.nl - Syriac Church Lyrics''. — The initial part of the prayer was written in [[Syriac language]] of the [[Syriac Catholic Church|Syriac liturgy]], modern son of the Aramaic which was spoken at the time of Mary, while the Green text has been handed down by Saint [[Luke the Evangelist]]</ref>
|-
! scope=col |Text
! scope=col |Transliteration
|-
|style="text-align:right;"|{{lang|arc|ܫܠܳܡ ܠܶܟ̣ܝ̱ ܒܬ̣ܽܘܠܬܳܐ ܡܰܪܝܰܡ ܡܰܠܝܰܬ̣ ܛܰܝܒܽܘܬ̣ܳܐ.}}
|''{{lang|arc-Latn|Shlom lekh}}''{{efn|This formula translates the Aramaic ''Chalom'' and the [[Arabic language|Arabic]] ''Salam''.}} ''{{lang|arc-Latn|bthulto Maryam}}''{{efn|Mary, in Aramaic, is rendered as ''Maryam''.}} ''{{lang|arc-Latn|malyath taybutho,}}''
|-
|style="text-align:right;"|{{lang|arc|ܡܳܪܰܢ ܥܰܡܶܟ̣ܝ̱.}}
|''{{lang|arc-Latn|moran 'amekh.}}''
|-
|style="text-align:right;"|{{lang|arc|ܡܒܰܪܰܟ̣ܬܳܐ ܐܰܢ̱ܬܝ̱ ܒܢܶܫ̈ܶܐ.}}
|''{{lang|arc-Latn|Mbarakhto at bneshe.}}''
|-
|style="text-align:right;"|{{lang|arc|ܘܰܡܒܰܪܰܟ ܗ̱ܽܘ ܦܺܐܪܳܐ ܕܰܒܟܰܪܣܶܟ̣ܝ̱. ܡܳܪܰܢ ܝܶܫܽܘܥ.}}
|''{{lang|arc-Latn|Wambarakhu firo dabkarsekh moran Yeshu'}}''.{{efn|Jesus}}
|-
|style="text-align:right;"|{{lang|arc|ܐܳܘ ܩܰܕܺܝܫܬܳܐ ܡܰܪܝܰܡ ܝܳܠܕܰܬ̣ ܐܰܠܗܳܐ.}}
|''{{lang|arc-Latn|O qadishto Maryam yoldath Aloho}}''.{{efn|God}}
|-
|style="text-align:right;"|{{lang|arc|ܨܰܠܳܝ ܚܠܳܦܰܝܢ ܚܰܛܳܝ̈ܶܐ.}}
|''{{lang|arc-Latn|Saloy hlofayn hatoye,}}''
|-
|style="text-align:right;"|{{lang|arc|ܗܳܫܳܐ ܘܰܒܫܳܥܰܬ ܘܡܰܘܬܰܢ}}
|''{{lang|arc-Latn|hosho wabsho'at u mawtan.}}''
|-
|style="text-align:right;"|{{lang|arc|ܐܰܡܺܝܢ܀}}
|''{{lang|arc-Latn|Amin.}}''
|}

===Slavonic versions===
There exist two variant versions in [[Church Slavonic language|Church Slavonic]]:
{| class="wikitable"
| Cyrillic
| Romanization
| English Translation
|-
| <poem>{{lang|cu|
Богородице дѣво радѹйсѧ
ѡбрадованнаѧ Марїе
Господь съ тобою
благословена ты въ женахъ,
и благословенъ плодъ чрева твоегѡ,
Якѡ родила еси Христа Спаса,
Избавителѧ дѹшамъ нашимъ.}}
</poem>
| <poem>{{transliteration|cu|
Bogorodice děvo, radujsę,
obradovannaę Marie,
Gospodǐ sǔ toboju.
blagoslovena ty vǔ ženaxǔ,
i blagoslovenǔ plodǔ čreva tvoego,
Jako rodila esi Xrista Spasa,
Izbavitelę dušamǔ našimǔ.}}
</poem>
| <poem>
[[Theotokos]] Virgin, rejoice, (or: Rejoice, O Virgin Theotokos)
Mary full of grace,
the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou amongst women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb,
for thou hast borne Christ the Saviour,
the Deliverer of our souls.
</poem>
|-
| <poem>{{lang|cu|
Богородице дѣво, радѹйсѧ,
Благодатнаѧ Марїе,
Господь съ тобою:
благословена Ты въ женахъ,
и благословенъ плодъ чрева Твоегѡ;
якѡ Спаса родила еси дѹшъ нашихъ.}}
</poem>
| <poem>{{transliteration|cu|
Bogorodice děvo, radujsę,
Blagodatnaę Marie,
Gospodǐ sǔ toboju:
Blagoslovena ty vǔ ženaxǔ,
I blagoslovenǔ plodǔ čreva tvoego,
jako Spasa rodila esi dušǔ našixǔ.}}
</poem>
| <poem>
Theotokos Virgin, rejoice, (or: Rejoice, O Virgin Theotokos)
Mary full of grace,
The Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou amongst women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb,
for thou hast borne the Saviour of our souls.
</poem>
|}
[[File:Bogoroditse.svg|thumb|300px|right|Church Slavonic {{transliteration|cu|Bogorodice děvo}} in traditional Cyrillic script]]
The first is the older, and remains in use by the [[Old Believers]] as well as those who follow the Ruthenian recension (among them the [[Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church]] and the [[Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church|Ruthenian Catholic Church]]). The second, corresponding more closely to the Greek, appeared in 1656 under the liturgical reforms of [[Patriarch Nikon]] of Moscow, and is in use by the [[Russian Orthodox Church]], the [[Serbian Orthodox Church]], the [[Bulgarian Orthodox Church]] and the [[Ukrainian Orthodox Church (disambiguation)|Ukrainian Orthodox Church]].
===Romanian version===
„Născătoare de Dumnezeu, Fecioară, bucură-te! Ceea ce ești plină de har, Marie, Domnul este cu tine. Binecuvântată ești tu între femei și binecuvântat este rodul pântecelui tău, că ai născut pe Mântuitorul sufletelor noastre”.
[[File:Vladimirskaja ikona Božiej Materi.jpg|thumb|Υπεραγία Θεοτόκος]]
==Latin Church Catholic use==
The Hail Mary is the last prayer in Appendix V of the present [[Roman Missal]], the last of seven prayers under the heading "Thanksgiving After Mass". There it appears with "with you" instead of the traditional "with thee", "are you among" instead of the traditional "art thou amongst" and "your womb" in place of the traditional "thy womb":
{{poemquote|text=Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you;
blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners
now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.}}
The Hail Mary is the central part of the [[Angelus]], a devotion generally recited thrice daily by many Catholics, as well as [[high church]] Anglicans, and Lutherans who usually omit the second half.

The Hail Mary is an essential element of the [[Rosary]], a prayer method in use especially among [[Roman Rite]] (Western) Catholics. The [[Eastern Catholic Churches]] say a similar version.

The Rosary consists traditionally of three sets of five [[Mysteries of the Rosary|Mysteries]], each Mystery being meditated on while reciting a decade (a set of ten) of Ave Maria. The 150 Ave Maria of the Rosary thus echo the 150 [[psalms]]. These Mysteries concern events of Jesus' life during his childhood (Joyful Mysteries), Passion (Sorrowful Mysteries), and from his Resurrection onwards (Glorious Mysteries). Another set, the Luminous Mysteries, is of comparatively recent origin, having been proposed by [[Pope John Paul II]] in 2002. Each decade of Ave Maria is preceded by the [[Lord's Prayer|Our Father]] (Pater Noster or ''The Lord's Prayer'') and followed by the [[Glory Be to the Father|Glory Be]] (Gloria Patri or [[Doxology]]). The repetition of these fixed-language prayers assists recitation from the heart rather than the head. [[Pope Paul V]] said that "the Rosary is a treasure of graces ... even for those souls who pray without meditating, the simple act of taking the beads in hand to pray is already a remembrance of God – of the supernatural".{{Citation needed|date=February 2021}}

==Lutheran use==
[[Martin Luther]] believed that Mary should be held in highest reverence, advocating the use of the original Hail Mary (that is, "Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.") as a sign of reverence for and devotion to the Virgin.<ref>Lehmann, H., ed. ''Luther's Works, American edition'', vol. 43, p. 40, Fortress, 1968.</ref><ref>Luther's Works, 10 II, 407–409.</ref>{{efn|In keeping with the principle of {{lang|la|[[sola scriptura]]}}, Luther exclusively emphasized the quotation from Luke 1:42,<ref>[http://drbo.org/x/d?b=drb&bk=49&ch=1&l=42#x Luke 1:42]</ref> without addition.}} The 1522 {{lang|de|Betbüchlein}} (Prayer Book) retained the Hail Mary.<ref name="Johnson2015"/> The last part of the prayer used in Catholicism today ("Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death") was not in use in Germany at the time.<ref name="Calloway"/>

==Anglican use==
Some [[Anglican]]s also employ the Hail Mary in devotional practice. [[Anglo-Catholic]] Anglicans use the prayer in much the same way as [[Roman Catholic]]s, including use of the [[Rosary]] and the recitation of the [[Angelus]]. Many Anglican churches contain artistic depictions of the [[Virgin Mary]], but only a minority use Marian devotional prayers such as the Hail Mary.<ref>[http://www.somamerica.org Society of Mary].</ref> That manifestation of veneration of Mary, decried by some Protestants as [[Mariolatry]], was largely removed from Anglican churches during the [[English Reformation]] but was reintroduced to some extent during the [[Oxford Movement]] of the mid-1800s.

==Musical settings==
{{See also|Roman Catholic Marian music}}
{{listen
|type=music
|filename=Schola Gregoriana-Ave Maria.ogg
|title="Ave Maria"
|description=The prayer as a traditional Latin Gregorian chant
|filename2=Ave Maria (USNB).ogg
|title2="Ave Maria"
|description2=The second of [[Anton Bruckner]]'s three settings of "Ave Maria"
}}
[[File:Ave maria gregorian chant.gif|thumb|right|The traditional [[Gregorian chant]] in [[square notation]]]]
The Hail Mary ({{lang|la|Ave Maria}} in Latin) has been set to music numerous times. The title "Ave Maria" has been given also to musical compositions that are not settings of the prayer.

One of the most famous is the [[Ave Maria (Schubert)|version by Franz Schubert]] (1825), composed as {{lang|de|[[Ellens dritter Gesang]]}} (Ellen's Third Song), D839, part 6 of his Opus 52, a setting of seven songs from Walter Scott's popular epic poem "The Lady of the Lake", translated into German by [[Adam Storck]]. Although it opens with the greeting "Ave Maria" ("Hail Mary"), the text was not that of the traditional prayer, but nowadays it is commonly sung with words of the prayer. Its music was used in the final segment of Disney's ''[[Fantasia (1940 film)|Fantasia]]''.<ref>[http://imslp.org/wiki/Ave_Maria,_D.839_(Schubert,_Franz) Ave Maria, D.839 (Schubert, Franz) music score in Public Domain Petrucci Music Library].</ref><ref>''Franz Schubert: music and belief'' by Leo Black 2005 {{ISBN|1-84383-135-X}} page 115.</ref>

In [[Ave Maria (Bach/Gounod)|Gounod's version]], he superimposed melody and the words to the first prelude from Bach's ''[[The Well-Tempered Clavier]]'', omitting only the words "[[Theotokos|Mater Dei]]" (Mother of God).

[[Anton Bruckner]] wrote three different settings, the best known being a [[Ave Maria (Bruckner)|motet for seven voices]]. [[Antonín Dvořák]]'s version was composed in 1877. Another setting of Ave Maria was written by [[Giuseppe Verdi]] as part for his 1887 opera ''[[Otello]]''. Russian composer [[César Cui]], who was raised Roman Catholic, set the text at least three times: as the "Ave Maria", op. 34, for one or two women's voices with piano or harmonium (1886), and as part of two of his operas: {{lang|fr|[[Le flibustier (opera)|Le flibustier]]}} (premiered 1894) and ''[[Mateo Falcone (opera)|Mateo Falcone]]'' (1907).

Settings also exist by [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]], [[Franz Liszt]], [[William Byrd]], [[Edward Elgar]], [[Camille Saint-Saëns]], [[Jacques Offenbach]], [[Gioachino Rossini]], [[Johannes Brahms]], [[Igor Stravinsky]], [[Pietro Mascagni]], [[Morten Lauridsen]], [[David Conte]] and [[Lorenzo Perosi]] as well as numerous versions by less well-known composers, such as [[J. B. Tresch]], [[Margit Sztaray]], [[Mme. Tarbé des Sablons]], [[Einojuhani Rautavaara]] and Ninel Samokhvalova.

In the [[Renaissance music|Renaissance]], this text was also set by numerous composers, including [[Josquin des Prez]], [[Orlando di Lasso]], [[Tomás Luis de Victoria]], and [[Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina]]. Before the [[Council of Trent]] there were actually different versions of the text, so the earlier composers in the period sometimes set versions of the text different from the ones shown above. [[Josquin des Prez]], for example, himself set more than one version of the Ave Maria. Here is the text of his motet "[[Ave Maria ... Virgo serena]]", which begins with the first six words above and continues with a poem in [[rhymed couplet]]s.


{{poemquote|{{lang|la|
Ave Maria, gratia plena,
Dominus tecum, Virgo serena.
Ave cuius conceptio,
solemni plena gaudio,
celestia, terrestria,
nova replet letitia.
Ave cuius nativitas,
nostra fuit solemnitas,
ut lucifer lux oriens
verum solem preveniens.
Ave pia humilitas,
sine viro fecunditas,
cuius annunciatio
nostra fuit salvatio.
Ave vera virginitas,
immaculata castitas,
cuius purificatio
nostra fuit purgatio.
Ave preclara omnibus
angelicis virtutibus,
cuius fuit assumptio
nostra glorificatio.
O Mater Dei, memento mei. Amen.}}}}

The much-anthologized "Ave Maria" by [[Jacques Arcadelt]] is actually a 19th-century arrangement by [[Pierre-Louis Dietsch]], loosely based on Arcadelt's three part madrigal "Nous voyons que les hommes".

In the 20th century, [[Franz Biebl]] composed [[Ave Maria (Biebl)|Ave Maria (Angelus Domini)]], actually a setting of the Angelus prayer, in which the Ave Maria is repeated three times, but its second part only once as the climax.

In Slavonic, the text was also a popular subject for setting to music by Eastern European composers. These include [[Sergei Rachmaninov]], [[Igor Stravinsky]], [[Bortniansky]], [[Vladimir Vavilov (composer)|Vladimir Vavilov]] (his version often misattributed to [[Giulio Caccini]]), [[Mikhail Shukh]], [[Lyudmyla Hodzyumakha]] and others.

A famous setting for the Orthodox version of the prayer in [[Church Slavonic]] (Bogoroditsye Djevo) was composed by [[Sergei Rachmaninoff]] in his [[All-Night Vigil (Rachmaninoff)|''All-Night Vigil'']].

Since [[Protestant Christianity]] generally [[Protestant views of Mary|avoids]] any special [[Blessed Virgin Mary (Roman Catholic)|veneration of Mary]], musical settings of the prayer are sometimes sung to other texts that preserve the word boundaries and syllable stresses.<ref>[https://www.giamusic.com/store/resource/ave-redemptor-print-g8982 Ave Redemptor (Relph)].</ref><ref>[https://www.cpdl.org/wiki/images/8/8a/Redemptor-c.pdf Ave Redemptor (Ngai), Choral Public Domain Library].</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Christianity|Religion}}
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Three Hail Marys|Devotion of the Three Hail Marys]]
* [[Hail Mary pass]]
* [[Marian devotions]]

{{div col end}}
{{clear|right}}

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
{{Wikisource|Hail Mary}}
{{Wikisourcelang|mul|Hail Mary}}
{{Commons category|Ave Maria}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130216112234/http://campus.udayton.edu/mary/resources/flhm.html University of Dayton Hail Mary in various languages]
* [http://dominicweb.eu/en/dictionaries/exotic-languages-prayers/ Audio recordings and texts of the Hail Mary and other prayers in various languages]
* [https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_P9F.HTM#XQ Article 2, "THE WAY OF PRAYER", 2676–2677], on the Hail Mary—''[[Catechism of the Catholic Church]]''
* {{YouTube|WZ2OlfJJ-7c|"The Village of St. Bernadette"}}, video of [[Andy Williams]]' performance of a song using "Ave Maria" as its refrain.

{{Catholic Prayers}}
{{Virgin Mary}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Eastern Orthodox Mariology]]
[[Category:Marian hymns]]
[[Category:Rosary]]
[[Category:Roman Catholic prayers]]