What does 'hail mary' mean?

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anendlesswaltz

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I grew up going to a baptist church. I always had the (wrong) perspective that people were praying to Mary as if she were God, too, and thought it was blasphemous. But coming on here, i think i’ve realized that that - and asking for saints prayers in heaven - is just a misunderstanding of the language and its not any different of a concept from asking fellow church goers to pray for you.

But the language does confuse me, i must admit. Which is why i ask…what does it mean to ‘hail’ Mary? Does it mean to call to her? I’m going to read my bible, specifically the books/verses left out of the NIV bible i grew up reading, to help me with all my questions as well. I just wanted to ask all of you knowledgeable people as well.

Also, i read on here that she was assumed/taken up into heaven, too? Where’d that story come from? And is there any more writings/letters left to us by the apostels or early church converts that i can read, too? That i would not have been exposed to with just an NIV bible and a baptist church pastor.

Forgive me if this is offensive but i just feel so excited to learn about things like this. Its as if catholicism and the saints are the ‘sequel’ to the NIV bible book of Acts i never got. Reading about even just Saint Patricks around Saint Patrick’s Day was so amazing! I love seeing the work God has been doing over the course of the past 2000 years.
 
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Welcome, and I’m glad you are exploring the Catholic faith. You may wish to explore the Catechism of the Catholic Church for an in-depth study of the doctrines of the Catholic faith and where they are found in Scripture and Tradition. The doctrine of the Assumption of Mary into heaven is part of the Catholic tradition from the earliest times. Also, you will want to start to read the writings of the Church Fathers–those who were taught by the original Apostles and who were instrumental in handing down the faith.
“Hail” is the English word for a greeting.
 
Not offensive at all. I have always understood it to mean: hello Mary. Maybe it means that she is being called or chosen. Actually it is the next phrase that is astounding, “full of grace”. Which means she was immaculately conceived. She did not inherit the sin of Adam and Eve by the grace of God. This was necessary so tha God could take on human flesh that was free from sin.
Everything is not in the Bible! The Blake actually says that. Because Mary did not have original sin she did not have to die. The church teaches that Mary was assumed into heaven. Body and soul. Not by her power but by God’s power.
 
Definition of “hail”:
to cheer, salute, or greet; welcome. to acclaim; approve enthusiastically: The crowds hailed the conquerors. They hailed the recent advances in medicine. to call out to in order to stop, attract attention, ask aid, etc.: to hail a cab.
 
I’ve been on here for like a month or two now, but thank you so much for the warm welcome! I will look for those. I have wanted to be able to read the first disciples writings but i never knew what to call them. Church fathers. I’ll look them up, thank you! Someone recommended to me a shorter version of the catholic church catechism for me to read, so i will read that as well.
 
“Hail” is a greeting/acknowledgement of respect.

Hail the conquering hero. All hail the power of Jesus Name. All Hail the Queen.
 
anendlesswaltz said:
Huh. Really? Mary was without original sin? But isn’t that apart of what made Jesus’ birth special, because he was born without sin? As the immaculate conception. Is this in the catechism of the catholic church? I always just learned that Mary was faithful and obedient.
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Huh. Really? Mary was without original sin? But isn’t that apart of what made Jesus’ birth special, because he was born without sin? As the immaculate conception. Is this in the catechism of the catholic church? I always just learned that Mary was faithful and obedient.
 
anendlesswaltz said:
Huh. Really? Mary was without original sin? But isn’t that apart of what made Jesus’ birth special, because he was born without sin? As the immaculate conception. Is this in the catechism of the catholic church? I always just learned that Mary was faithful and obedient.
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Catholicism 101:

The Immaculate Conception does NOT, repeat NOT, refer to the conception of Jesus.
It refers to the conception of Mary, conceived without original sin in the womb of her mother St. Ann.

The Immaculate Conception is a dogma of the Catholic Church. That means it is a teaching that every Catholic must believe. No ifs, ands or buts.

The Immaculate Conception aka the Immaculata, as in Mary under that title, is also the Catholic patroness of the United States of America.

Unfortunately, many Protestant churches do not believe that Mary was conceived without sin, and don’t pay much attention to Our Blessed Mother at all. Sad. And wrong.

By the way, it doesn’t take away from the “specialness” of Jesus’ birth that his mother was born without sin. The sinless Son of God was carried in the sin-free, spotless womb of His Mother. In order to carry and bear the sinless Jesus, she too was created free of sin by God. And of course, never sinned during her life because she always did God’s will.
 
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Sorry this is a LOT to wrap my head around cause i always heard that phrase, the immaculate conception, in reference to Jesus birth. I don’t mean to be offensive and i am so sorry if this comes off that way, but how can Mary have been sinless? Everyone sins and falls short of the glory of God. I can understand and accept her being born without original sin, that makes senses to me. This part i’m having trouble with though. I do want to understand, though.
 
Mary was conceived without sin, by God’s grace. He willed that His Mother be completely pure. The Immaculate Conception refers to Mary, not Jesus, so you’ve been misinformed. These are very basic Catholic teachings, so I’d strongly encourage you not to rely on the internet forum for answers, but start to look them up and ponder them in the Catechism.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
The sinless Son of God was carried in the sin-free, spotless womb of His Mother. In order to carry and bear the sinless Jesus, she too was created free of sin by God. And of course, never sinned during her life because she always did God’s will.
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Just to clarify, the Church doesn’t teach that Mary had to be sinless in order for Jesus to be sinless. Mary’s sinlessness can be attributed to God’s love for she-who-would-be-his-mother for the Incarnation, or to it being fitting that she who would be like a tabernacle/new ark was spotless, and also to the idea that God ensured that her consent to bearing Jesus was without any reservation from sin.

For the OP, the Church views Original Sin as a lack of original justification and holiness. So the Immaculate Conception refers to Mary being given justification and holiness from the moment of her conception, and this from the merits of Jesus Christ being applied retroactively. This was only by the grace of God, not through her own merits. And by God’s special privilege of grace she was able to avoid sinning. She could not have done so without grace.

Note that the Eastern Christians don’t share the exact same view of Original Sin as Catholics, but they do also teach that Mary went her whole life without sinning.
 
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anendlesswaltz said:
how can Mary have been sinless? Everyone sins
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Everyone except Mother Mary.
And of course, Jesus himself, who had a divine as well as a human nature.

Sin is basically going against God’s will for our lives. Both Mary and Jesus always chose to do God’s will, and hence, they did not commit sins during their lives on earth.

As someone else said, these are basic Catholic teachings.
 
Thank you everyone! It’s so new to me cause the church I grew up in a baptist church did not teach that Mary was sinless. It emphasized that Jesus was without sin and born to a virgin and al that but said little of Mary. I have a lot of reading to do now, I guess. Thank you so much everyone!!
 
Thank you so much for this table!! I was about to go line through line and you saved me most of the effort! I found a version of th catholic bible on my bible app called the public domain version that I was going to start reading.
 
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