S
SheilaPgh
Guest
Hi MaryCatherine,
I can understand your questioning the wording in the “Hail Mary” - maybe this will help - words today hold different meanings than they did when some of our prayers were written. The Hail Mary was never intended to establish Mary as a diety - it is a greeting, an affirmation of her complete acceptance of the Father’s Will, and a request for her to pray for us. Let me explain.
Hail Mary - “Hail” was the greeting of the times - just like us saying “Hello Mary” or “Hi Mary” today
Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee - this is a fact, Mary is full of grace and the Lord is with her.
Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus - another fact, Mary was blessed as she was the one chosen to carry Jesus in her womb
Holy Mary, Mother of God - another fact, Mary is the Mother of God, and I doubt the Father would have chosen her to carry His Son if she wasn’t holy
**
Pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.** - as you’ve already mentioned, this is intercessory prayer
Kimberly Hahn has a Doctorate in Theology, is the daughter of a Pastor and a convert to Catholicism who originally had a really, really tough time with the concept of Mary after her husband, Scott Hahn (a former Protestant minister) converted to Catholicism. Both Kimberly and Scott were very staunch Protestants and struggled with a lot of the issues you mentioned in your post before embracing the Catholic Church, so I thought you might want to read of their journey to discovering the truth. Here’s a link to some their stories and insights zuserver2.star.ucl.ac.uk/~vgg/rc/aplgtc/hahn/m1/Mod1.html
I applaud you for searching for answers. I hope this info helps you. You’re in my thoughts and prayers.
I can understand your questioning the wording in the “Hail Mary” - maybe this will help - words today hold different meanings than they did when some of our prayers were written. The Hail Mary was never intended to establish Mary as a diety - it is a greeting, an affirmation of her complete acceptance of the Father’s Will, and a request for her to pray for us. Let me explain.
Hail Mary - “Hail” was the greeting of the times - just like us saying “Hello Mary” or “Hi Mary” today
Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee - this is a fact, Mary is full of grace and the Lord is with her.
Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus - another fact, Mary was blessed as she was the one chosen to carry Jesus in her womb
Holy Mary, Mother of God - another fact, Mary is the Mother of God, and I doubt the Father would have chosen her to carry His Son if she wasn’t holy
**
Pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.** - as you’ve already mentioned, this is intercessory prayer
Kimberly Hahn has a Doctorate in Theology, is the daughter of a Pastor and a convert to Catholicism who originally had a really, really tough time with the concept of Mary after her husband, Scott Hahn (a former Protestant minister) converted to Catholicism. Both Kimberly and Scott were very staunch Protestants and struggled with a lot of the issues you mentioned in your post before embracing the Catholic Church, so I thought you might want to read of their journey to discovering the truth. Here’s a link to some their stories and insights zuserver2.star.ucl.ac.uk/~vgg/rc/aplgtc/hahn/m1/Mod1.html
I applaud you for searching for answers. I hope this info helps you. You’re in my thoughts and prayers.