Hail Mary

The Hail Mary is the most beloved prayer to the Blessed Virgin. Its first half comes straight from the Gospel of Luke: the Angel Gabriel's greeting at the Annunciation (Luke 1:28) and Elizabeth's words at the Visitation (Luke 1:42). The second half, asking Mary to pray for us "now and at the hour of our death," developed in the Middle Ages and was fixed in its present form in the Roman Breviary of 1568.

The Hail Mary is the heart of the Rosary and the Angelus, and it can be prayed on its own at any moment. Pray it when you wake and before sleep, in danger or temptation, for someone who is sick or dying, and at the start of any task. Many Catholics pray three Hail Marys each night for purity and perseverance.

Ask her help now and at the hour of death—the prayer itself teaches us to do so.

The Prayer

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.

Sources: Traditional form; cf. Baltimore Manual of Prayers (1889).

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