Alternate recital of the Hail Mary

[RWFC]

The way I was taught and always said the last line of the Hail Mary was ‘…pray for us sinners, now, and at the hour of our death.’ with the emphasis being on request for prayer in the current moment and upon the hour of our death. I recently heard a sermon in which is was implied that an alternate to this would be ‘…pray for us; sinners now, and at the hour of our death.’ with the emphasis being that we are currently sinners and will remain to be sinners until the hour of death. I think theological that is correct but is it a misinterpretation of the prayer??

 

[John_Lilburne]

If the intention was to say we are “sinners now and at the hour of our death” I think there would be a different way of printing the lines.

In English it is printed as:
“Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners,
now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.”
The Latin text is in the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church at vatican.va/archive/compendium_ccc/documents/archive_2005_compendium-ccc_en.html :
“Sancta María, Mater Dei,
ora pro nobis peccatóribus,
nunc et in hora mortis nostræ.
Amen.”

 

[CRW]

The way I was taught and always said the last line of the Hail Mary was ‘…pray for us sinners, now, and at the hour of our death.’ with the emphasis being on request for prayer in the current moment and upon the hour of our death. I recently heard a sermon in which is was implied that an alternate to this would be ‘…pray for us; sinners now, and at the hour of our death.’ with the emphasis being that we are currently sinners and will remain to be sinners until the hour of death. I think theological that is correct but is it a misinterpretation of the prayer??

Just another adaptation of the prayer. I have never seen it printed as such. We have Rosary 30 minutes before the 7 am weekday Mass. A volunteer leads the Rosary and five volunteers offer a decade. You would be surprised at the different words or forms that the five will recite the Rosary. Mindful the group is small, about 20 to 30 so all receive their turn. I am just thankful that they show up at 6:30 to say the Rosary.

 

[jbuck919]

The Latin is also ambiguous, though after centuries of what seems to me the more obvious interpretation I don’t see much point in this innovation.

Incidentally, the French actually alter the words, saying Priez pour nous, pauvres pecheurs… “pauvre” meaning “poor,” which does not occur in the Latin. It is also interesting that they use the formal form of address in the Marian prayer but the familiar form in their version of the Our Father.

 

[Andruschak]

The way I was taught and always said the last line of the Hail Mary was ‘…pray for us sinners, now, and at the hour of our death.’ with the emphasis being on request for prayer in the current moment and upon the hour of our death. I recently heard a sermon in which is was implied that an alternate to this would be ‘…pray for us; sinners now, and at the hour of our death.’ with the emphasis being that we are currently sinners and will remain to be sinners until the hour of death. I think theological that is correct but is it a misinterpretation of the prayer??

OPINIONS ALERT!!

I’ll stick to the traditional form. It flows. The altered form is clumsy. I would have to think about where to insert the commas and pauses.

But if I am doing the Rosary, that is what I don’t want to do. I want the HMs to sort of flow out while I meditate on the Mysteries.

Also, the altered form tacks the phrase “now and at the hour of our death” onto the word “sinners”. When I do the HM, the phrase “now and at the hour of our death” refers to “Pray For Us”. This makes more sense to me.

 

[Eileen_T]

Sir Arnold Lunn, a British slalom skier and convert, told how when he was buried in an avalanche he never thought of praying.

It was only after while praying the Rosary it occured to him that all the Hail Mary’s he had ever prayed asking Mary to pray for him at the hour of his death could be very important to his salvation, since he might not be able to pray himself.