At men's group this morning, Father Paul talked about Mary and Marian prayers.
He noted that when he worked in prison ministry, even the non-Catholics loved to receive Rosaries, though some of the men repeated the false claim that Catholics worship Mary.
He pointed out to them that the prayer, the "Hail Mary," does not worship Mary. The first part of the prayer just quotes Scripture - "Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee" is just what the Angel says to Mary (Luke 1: 28) and "Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of they womb," is just Elizabeth's greeting to Mary (Luke 1: 42).
The "fruit of thy womb" is, of course, according to Scripture, Jesus.
So the whole first part of the prayer is indeed from Scripture.
"Holy Mary," - no Christian would deny that she is holy - "Mother of God" - again, she is the mother of Jesus, Who is God.
Then we ask her to pray for us as we would ask a friend or fellow church member. In asking her to pray for us we are asking her to pray to God for us.
"Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of death. Amen."
At no point in the prayer are we worshiping her. We are just quoting Scripture and asking her to pray for us.
But then Father Paul shared something else.
In spare moments - such as when he is waiting in the confessional in between penitents - he often prays the "Hail Mary," but then he began sometimes changing the ending to focus on someone who needs help or who is repenting for some misdeeds. So for the second part of the prayer he sometimes says, "Holy Mary, Mother of God, please pray for (the name of the person), now and through the rest of his/her life."
So Father Paul's "Hail Mary" is:
Blessed are thou, among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
please pray for (Name), now and through the rest of his/her life. Amen
I like that version. I plan to use it whe n I am praying for someone!
Pax et bonum
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