Do we PRAY or SAY Hail Marys?

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I think I had a breakthrough today… When we recite the Rosary, do we PRAY or SAY Hail Marys? This is important to me because I still have not worked out my issues with this matter. It seems to me that we can say Hail Marys and read the mysteries directly from the Bible. That being said we are actually TALKING to the Blessed Virgin and asking her to pray for us instead of PRAYING to Mary, is this correct? We pray to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and talk to Mary while honoring her, loving her and asking her to pray for us??
 
What do I know?

When I am asking Our Lady to pray for me & mine, I am aware of my “asking” her to pray for us.

I think you are asking in this thread if we pray to Mary as if she were Devine like Jesus & God. No, Mary is not another God. So we ask for her intercession.
 
The definition of “Prayer” is a ‘devout request’.

The Hail Mary, like many prayers, consists of two parts:
  1. Praise
  2. **Petition
    **
    Whe you recite the Hail Mary you are praising both the glory of God in Mary, and her preeminence amongst all Saints and her perfect fidelty to God’s Grace. When you recite the Hail Mary you’re also petitioning Mary to pray for you.
J.M.J.
plainswolf
 
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Exporter:
I think you are asking in this thread if we pray to Mary as if she were Devine like Jesus & God.
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Not really, it is just very hard to grasp the concept after 40 some’odd years of Protestant brainwashing and I just pick this apart for some reason. It is not the RC practice, it is me. It just seems that (for me anyway) when I am praying that I am worshipping and that is the difficult part of this for me (and I would suspect many if not most Protestant converts).
 
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plainswolf:
Whe you recite the Hail Mary you are praising both the glory of God in Mary, and her preeminence amongst all Saints and her perfect fidelty to God’s Grace. When you recite the Hail Mary you’re also petitioning Mary to pray for you.

J.M.J.
plainswolf
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You use the word recite, so if I am correct - we PRAY to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and RECITE or SAY Hail Marys while concentrating on the Mysteries of the day. The Mysteries all contain a set of verses that ARE the Mystery and yet each Mystery contains a jewel of wisdom that we are to glean from having concentrated on it for that days prayers?

While concentrating on the Mysteries we honor, and show devotion and love for the Blessed Virgin and ask her to pray for us as well?
 
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SavedByFaith:
I think I had a breakthrough today… When we recite the Rosary, do we PRAY or SAY Hail Marys? This is important to me because I still have not worked out my issues with this matter. It seems to me that we can say Hail Marys and read the mysteries directly from the Bible. That being said we are actually TALKING to the Blessed Virgin and asking her to pray for us instead of PRAYING to Mary, is this correct? We pray to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and talk to Mary while honoring her, loving her and asking her to pray for us??
Click to expand...
Consider the old english way of saying “I ask you” it was “praythee”
You should also do a bit of research into the OT term “giberah” and who that was and how it applies to the Blessed Virgin
 
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plainswolf:
The definition of “Prayer” is a ‘devout request’.

The Hail Mary, like many prayers, consists of two parts:
  1. Praise
  2. **Petition
    **
    Whe you recite the Hail Mary you are praising both the glory of God in Mary, and her preeminence amongst all Saints and her perfect fidelty to God’s Grace. When you recite the Hail Mary you’re also petitioning Mary to pray for you.
J.M.J.
plainswolf
Click to expand...
I learned in grade school from the Baltimore Catechism that prayer was “lifting the mind and heart to God”. I guess that might mean that we do not pray to Mary. Never the less we do praise her, thank her, petition her etc. Interesting question. What is it then that we are doing?
 
As I went through the conversion process (I entered into full communion with the Church this past Easter), I found it helpful to not use the word “pray”. I just use the word “ask”, and talk to Mary et al. as if they were, surprise surprise, real people
 
SavedbyFaith,we pray meaning to ask,Mary prays and intercedes with our Lord for us.We are honoring what God did for her,we honor her for her faithfullness to God in bringing Our Savior into the world:) Don’t be afraid,believe me,Jesus loves Mary more than we can imagine and don’t forget He gave her to us on the cross,Revelation affirms this as well.We don’t worship Mary,but we sure give glory to God for giving us such a gift.God Bless You
 
I had similar issues with this. My doubt in the end brought me closer. Mary helps me to remember Jesus. She has come and saved me from sinning at least once. Probably more than I know. She is our holy mother. She enjoys praying with us and bringing us closer to Jesus. Keep praying the rosary.

I once fell so low it didn’t seem like I could get back to Jesus. It was at that time I felt Mary came and prayed for/with me.
 
The Rosary and the Hail Mary are great ways to contemplate Mary and the Gosple. If you think about the role she played in the New Testament, no one else showed more faith or love. She never doubted God or Jesus. She may not have always understood. She never questioned, but pondered. She accepted God’s call, she was humble, she cared for Jesus as well as others. She was there at his birth and his death.

If the Jewish should hold Abraham in such high esteem, as the father of faith, I think we can no doubt hold Mary in high esteem too. (Not to the same status as the Lord or Jesus.) I think it was St. Francsis of Assisi who said, “Preach the Gosple, use words if necassary.” Mary may not have written an epistle or a letter, that we keep as a part of the Bible, but if one meditates on what she did, it can be every bit as powerful as what Peter, Paul, or John has put down into word.

Maybe something to think about when saying the Hail Mary.

Hail Mary full of Grace.
You said Yes to God, pray to give me the grace to say Yes.
Blessed are you among women
What an example you are for us, yet still so humble
Blessed is the fruit of your womb Jesus,
You always bring us back to Jesus
Holy Mary, Mother of God Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death
You were there to comfort Jesus at his death, you and Jesus where probably there at Joseph’s death to comfort. May you care for me, and as I sinner as much as I am not worthy, may you ask your Son for help too.

The nice thing about the Protastant objection to prays to Mary and the Saints help one to actually think about and figure out what one is doing when one is praying. Worship goes to the Father Son and Holy Spirit. Mary and Saints are the “pray for me, I’ll pray for you” times with our brothers and sisters, except they are the ones already passed on to the castle of heaven. And one other thing, “why don’t Catholics pray to Jesus directly?” If you go to Mass you hit just about every prayer you can to Jesus.
 
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