"our Life, our Sweetness and our Hope"?

[Petergee]

A group of Protestants object to the prayer *“Hail Holy Queen, Mother of mercy, hail our Life, our Sweetness and our Hope …” *They say this contradicts the fact that Christ is, as He said “the way, the Truth and the Life” and the Hope of the world.

The best explanation I could come up with is that Our Lady gave birth to the Life which is Christ, and that she is our Hope because she gave the human race hope by accepting Christ at the Annunciation, and that as the first, model and perfect Christian she demonstrates what we can achieve if we follow Christ perfectly. (They reject this last point because they say that Our Lady was not sinless.)

They say that they would have no objection to the Rosary if it did not include this prayer.

Can anyone give me something more please?

 

[NotWorthy]

A group of Protestants object to the prayer *“Hail Holy Queen, Mother of mercy, hail our Life, our Sweetness and our Hope …” *They say this contradicts the fact that Christ is, as He said “the way, the Truth and the Life” and the Hope of the world.

The best explanation I could come up with is that Our Lady gave birth to the Life which is Christ, and that she is our Hope because she gave the human race hope by accepting Christ at the Annunciation, and that as the first, model and perfect Christian she demonstrates what we can achieve if we follow Christ perfectly. (They reject this last point because they say that Our Lady was not sinless.)

They say that they would have no objection to the Rosary if it did not include this prayer.

Can anyone give me something more please?

Yes, tell them not to say that prayer at the end, give them a rosary, and tell them to start praying!!!

 

[LilyM]

A group of Protestants object to the prayer *“Hail Holy Queen, Mother of mercy, hail our Life, our Sweetness and our Hope …” *They say this contradicts the fact that Christ is, as He said “the way, the Truth and the Life” and the Hope of the world.

The best explanation I could come up with is that Our Lady gave birth to the Life which is Christ, and that she is our Hope because she gave the human race hope by accepting Christ at the Annunciation, and that as the first, model and perfect Christian she demonstrates what we can achieve if we follow Christ perfectly. (They reject this last point because they say that Our Lady was not sinless.)

They say that they would have no objection to the Rosary if it did not include this prayer.

Can anyone give me something more please?

It’s rather like the mother of a King automatically having the title of Queen, albeit as Queen Mother, as Queen Elizabeth II’s mother did. The fact that Elizabeth the Queen Mother was also called ‘Her Majesty’ and such didn’t detract from her daughter’s sole Queenship.

If Mary bore and raised Christ, who himself embodies our life, sweetness and hope, then she also, though to a lesser degree, has these characteristics too.

Is there anywhere where Christ remotely suggests that he alone, to the exclusion of all others, is life, sweetness and hope? Aren’t our own natural parents also a source of life, for starters?

We ALL, to some extent, embody these virtues, Mary perhaps more so.

Ultimately, though, if your Anglican friends don’t like that particular prayer they certainly aren’t obligated to say it. It isn’t set in stone.

 

[Genesis315]

As an image of the Church, Mary embodies the life we hope for in Christ. She is the embodiment of that hope and that life. She receives the gifts of the Lord before us–she is given the life of grace first in her Immaculate Conception, and she recieves the bodily resurrection, our hope, first in her Assumption. Sh shows us the fruits of faith

I recommend St. Alphonsus Liguori’s book “Glories of Mary.” The first part of the book is dedicated to breaking down and explaining the Hail, Holy, Queen prayer

 

[Verbum]

Hi Petergee,

The Rosary includes 5 “Our Father’s” and 50 “Hail Mary’s”. Everything else is optional.

Verbum

 

[nkmeck]

Yes, tell them not to say that prayer at the end, give them a rosary, and tell them to start praying!!!

NotWorthy, you may have given the most perfect advice I’ve ever read on a CAF. Some times there’s no need to argue but only to concede, and let Mom handle the rest!

Petergee, if NotWorthy’s advice fails, I’d ask your friends to simply add some words to the prayer that are already implied.

“Hail Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, Mother of our Life, Mother of our Sweetness, and Mother of our Hope…”

They can’t argue that Jesus wasn’t all of those things, and they can’t argue that Mary wasn’t the Mother of Jesus.

God Bless yins so hard1
Nate

 

[NotWorthy]

NotWorthy, you may have given the most perfect advice I’ve ever read on a CAF. Some times there’s no need to argue but only to concede, and let Mom handle the rest!

First of all, thank you!!! (Now, where is that icon that shows someone blushing? )

One reason I stated this also agrees with your statement, “let Mom handle the rest”. If you get the rosary in their hands, and the Holy Spirit works in them (which I’m confident He will), then he’ll be guided into saying the rosary in the way that’s best for him (your friend, that is).

I would never encourage someone to pray in a way that is uncomfortable to them. How can you focus on God if you’re too pre-occupied with offending Him?