Hail Mary

Scripture Set to Prayer

The first half of the Hail Mary is not a Church invention — it is Scripture. "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you" is the angel Gabriel's greeting at the Annunciation (Luke 1:28). "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb" is Elizabeth's greeting at the Visitation (Luke 1:42). The Church joined these two Gospel greetings together by the 13th century, and added the second half — a direct petition for Mary's intercession "now and at the hour of our death" — by the 15th and 16th centuries, appearing in its current form in the Catechism of the Council of Trent (1566).

It is the building block of the Rosary (ten to a decade, five or twenty decades depending on how many mystery-sets are prayed) and one of the most frequently prayed lines in Christian history.

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.

Helper

1. The prayer has two distinct halves: Scripture (the greeting) and petition (asking for intercession) — noticing the seam helps explain why Catholics pray to Mary without praying to her as God.
2. "Mother of God" (Theotokos) was formally defined at the Council of Ephesus in 431 AD — it is a statement about who Jesus is (true God), not merely a title for Mary.
3. See "The Rosary Is Not Vain Repetition" in this same category for how this short prayer anchors a much longer meditative practice.