Praying the Hail Mary a little bit differently?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Kyrieeleison123
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
K

Kyrieeleison123

Guest
Do you guys know if it’s permitted to pray the Hail Mary substituting the “Thee”, “Thou” and "Thy for “You”?

I’d like to do this because You is the more formal pronoun of the second person singular, and I’d like to treat the Queen of Heaven with as much respect and honor as I can! (Not that praying to Her with thou/thy is disrespectful!) I hope you get what I’m saying.
 
I’ve seen that on websites before and I’m wondering the same thing.
 
I just use the traditional version. I’ve heard the newer version with “you” and personally it irks me (please no flagging; I’m just giving my opinion!).
 
I use thou, I grew up with that. The other sayings dont really irk me, just kinda rolls of the tongue better with thou.
 
If you want to show respect that much, pray it in Latin. I don’t think the Latin translation had “you” in it anywhere.

That’s a bit of a big hint 🙂
 
I have said the Hail Mary using the thee/thou/thy wording for over 70 years. I have not found a compelling reason to change. Still, there is no reason you couldn’t use you/your in that prayer.

If you were to use a translator from any (random) language to English, it would likely use the you/your format.

If you are more comfortable using you/your, that’s quite acceptable.

Blessings,
 
Why not learn the Hail Mary and the Our Father in Latin? It is really easy as this tutorial which includes accurate pronunciation illustrates:

 
Most Filipinos have already been using “You” for ages. So I don’t see any reason why you can’t. Although personally, I’m more used to, and much prefer, using the old English version.

Cheers! 😃😃😃
 
If you want to show respect that much, pray it in Latin. I don’t think the Latin translation had “you” in it anywhere.

That’s a bit of a big hint 🙂
Second person singular: Te in tecum, tu, and tui.

Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum.
Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Iesus.
Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc, et in hora mortis nostrae.
Amen.
 
I used to pray the rosary at church just before Mass with the other attendees, and there is a plenary indulgence for this. However, the lady who usually leads the rosary began substituting “you” all through the Hail Mary, and when I heard this for 53 Hail Mary’s during each rosary, it grated me so much that I had to discontinue going to Mass early in order to pray with her.

My opinion is that when you lead the rosary in a public recitation, it should be said in the traditional manner so as not to offend others. I noticed others who used to attend Mass early do not come early any longer, no doubt for the same reason. I am aware that they spoke to her about it, and she was offended, but did not change back to the traditional wording.

EWTN offers the rosary on tv several times a week, and never uses “you.” I have taped these on DVR and can pray it at any time at home with EWTN.
 
Last edited:
I’m pretty sure you can do.
I stayed at a retreat recently and the priest and community used the ‘you’ version. I found it odd and wont be changing to that version. I am confused that you find the you more respectful than thou, but each to their own. Anyway what I wanted to say was in this community though they used the you version to pray the rosary etc. During the mass they reverted back to the thou version. Hmmm I wonder why. Not that it matters but it was a Passionist community of lay, priests and nuns.
 
Last edited:
If you want to show respect that much, pray it in Latin. I don’t think the Latin translation had “you” in it anywhere.

That’s a bit of a big hint 🙂
Uh? What do you mean?

Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum. Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Iesus. Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc, et in hora mortis nostrae

Several uses of the second person there.

I count four obvious ones (three stated, one implied) and at fifth that may require some grammatical hair-splitting
 
Last edited:
I’m curious. Are there people on this forum who’s first language still has separate pronouns for formal and informal? If so, which do you use when referring to your mom?

For the record, I’m a thee/thou/thy girl. Always used it and not likely to change at this time of my life.
 
I know many people who have switched, but for the opposite reason. The point of using ‘thee’ and ‘thy’ was to convey our intimate and familiar relationship with Mary, and with God.

In modern English, the familiar sense of thee and thou has reversed for most people. The second person familiar is considered more formal and reverent, and ‘you’ more intimate.
 
Do you guys know if it’s permitted to pray the Hail Mary substituting the “Thee”, “Thou” and "Thy for “You”?

I’d like to do this because You is the more formal pronoun of the second person singular, and I’d like to treat the Queen of Heaven with as much respect and honor as I can! (Not that praying to Her with thou/thy is disrespectful!) I hope you get what I’m saying.
Of course it is okay to use you. Why would it not be?
Thee thou thy etc just happened to be the vernacular in England at the time. It is no longer the vernacular.
 
Personally, I like praying the Hail Mary using the older style of English. Call me old fashioned. Sometimes I pray it in Latin too.
 
It’s perfectly fine to use “you” instead of “thee” or whatever, and lots of people do so.

The hymn “Hail Mary, Gentle Woman” uses “you” or at least when I’ve sung it, that’s what was used.

It’s not any more “respectful” to use “thee” or “thou”, it’s just traditional. People tend to say the Hail Mary the way they were taught. If they were taught “thee” and “thou” that’s what they’ll say. If they were taught “you” that’s what they’ll say.
 
Last edited:
If you want to show respect that much, pray it in Latin. I don’t think the Latin translation had “you” in it anywhere.

That’s a bit of a big hint 🙂
Huh? The Latin translates to “You” as several people pointed out. And in later-period Latin, it’s considered the familiar form of “You”, not the formal one you would use for somebody high up like an emperor or a boss.

Please study Latin a bit further before you make such odd statements about the language.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top