Have we been reciting too much Hail Mary?

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anhphan

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Since 13th century, when Hail Mary was founded, people started lessening the number of Our Father and increasing the number of Hail Mary. Up to now, we are still reciting Hail Mary more than Our Father. How can we explain it? Does God want us to pray more to saints than Him? Thank you very much?
 
If you mean in the rosary then the Hail Marys are supposed to be said while meditating on a mystery. So the prayer there is more of a background prayer.

Often times Protestants will latch onto the number of Hail Marys as a means of condemning the rosary. But most don’t think any number of Hail Marys is good. So their issue isn’t the number but the prayer itself.

Most of the Hail Mary prayer is of course straight from Holy Scripture. The issue some have is with praying for intercession to those who are dead. The answer I would give is they (the Blessed Virgin in this case) are alive in Christ. If dealing with a Protestant I’d also turn it on them and ask why the don’t call Mary blessed when Holy Scripture clearly says all generations will.

I don’t know how much God wants us to pray directly to Him and how much to Saints. But neither does anyone condemning Catholic practice know. I do know God wants humanity to help each other, especially to achieve holiness, so some amount of prayer to Saints makes sense.
 
First, there is no such thing as “too much” prayer.

Second, God doesn’t sort prayer into categories and say “hmmm, too much Marian prayer, need more God the Father prayer, how about some more Holy Spirit prayer while we’re at it.” It all ends up in the same basket called Prayers To God.

Third, when we pray the Hail Mary, the first half beginning “Hail Mary, full of grace” is straight from Scripture which is God’s word, and ends with praise of Jesus “Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.” The second part from “Holy Mary” to the end is us asking her to pray to God for us. So, we have 1) God’s word from Scripture, 2) praise of God in the person of Jesus, and 3) asking Mary to pray to God for us. How exactly is God going to have a problem with this?
 
The Hail Mary was not founded in the 13th century
The Hail Mary is from Scripture. Look it up.
If you want to talk about praying the rosary, start a thread on that.
I’ve never really thought that anyone can pray “too much”. Seems contrary to what the Lord would have us do. Particularly since the Rosary is a meditation on the life of Christ.
 
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No such thing as too many hail marys. That’s my favorite prayer
 
“anhphan said:
Have we been reciting too much Hail Mary?
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Who is we? You don’t sound Catholic.
Since 13th century, when Hail Mary was founded,
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The Hail Mary is a prayer which is founded in Scripture.
people started lessening the number of Our Father and increasing the number of Hail Mary.
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  1. You’re describing the Rosary,
  2. You’re repeating speculation which can’t be corroborated.
  3. The Rosary was given to St. Dominic in a mystical experience with the Virgin Mary. There were always 10 Our Fathers and 50 Hail Mary’s per decade.
Up to now, we are still reciting Hail Mary more than Our Father. How can we explain it?
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The Rosary is a meditation of the life of Christ through the eyes of Mary, Our Mother.
Does God want us to pray more to saints than Him?
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It is impossible for a Catholic to pray more to Saints than to God, because every time we pray to Saints, we pray to God, through the Saints.
Thank you very much?
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I hope that helps.
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It sounds like you’re referring to Praying the Rosary, which is not required. I’ve only done bits and pieces of it, as I prefer my own prayer but I do love having them with me.
 
Prayer is only “too much” if it cripples you.
Which mostly never happens to people who are not overly scrupulous or mental.
Prayer is good. The Hail Mary as we have stated repeatedly is Scriptural.
One never says we read the Bible “too much”.
 
The old “Catholics prefer Mary to God by a 10 to 1 ratio because they pray 10 Hail Mary’s for every 1 Our Father”.😒

It’s not a numbers game. Even if it were, I’d venture to guess that the Our Father still gets prayed more often as it is said at every Mass and not every Catholic prays the rosary.

Yes, the rosary includes more Hail Mary’s because it is a marian prayer. But really, the focus of the rosary is the mysteries, which cover the life of Christ.

We will never bestow on Mary any more honor than God Himself bestowed on her by becoming Incarnate through her (and preserving her from Original Sin, among other things).
 
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Mine also! Can’t imagine not saying the Hail Mary and talking to our Blessed Mother.
 
Think about it this way, every Hail Mary we say we honour the name of Jesus. “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus.”
 
anhphan said:
Does God want us to pray more to saints than Him?
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Since it has been permitted by Christ’s Church for so many centuries, there is a strong probability that praying 10 Hail Marys and 1 Our Father is perfectly conformable to God’s will. Answering these sorts of questions is precisely why Christ gave us shepherds, rather than simply leaving us to figure things out for ourselves with only a Bible and whatever gifts of intellect we might or might not have.

Now, does God want you to have a greater devotion to Mary than to Him? No. But that doesn’t mean He wants you to ignore her, either. And it certainly doesn’t mean that “greater devotion” is some sort of quantifiable amount. The love we have for God is not measured in whether we recite 10 prayers or 121. That’s legalism. God searches the heart.
 
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Oh I’ve found the main reason why they pray many Hail Mary. To praise the incarnation of God and fight against Albigenses heresy.
 
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