A
ahs
Guest
As always, critiques, especially from non-Catholics, are welcomed and encouraged! 
Why do Catholics pray the “Hail Mary”?
Well, it’s not one of the most common questions that Catholics get asked, but it’s closely related to a very common question, and in reality, it is the more appropriate form of that more common question [why do you “worship” Mary?].
First and foremost, let’s clear the air really quickly:
Well, let’s look at them.
“Hail, Mary, full of grace! The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the Fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.”
The first two parts should be obvious…but unfortunately, they are not that obvious to a great many folks (including myself until I had to explain to someone else). Let’s look at the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 1.
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!” (Lk 1:26-28)
Now, some more recent Bible translations render the words “full of grace” as “highly favored daughter” or something along those lines. We can look another time why “full of grace” is more correct. For now, if you doubt that it’s appropriate, I encourage you to research the Greek work “kecharitomene”, which is the word found in the original Greek translations of Scripture.
So then, the first part of the “Hail Mary” is right out of the Scriptures. Is there any reason why we should not quote/repeat what Scripture says?
to be continued…]
Why do Catholics pray the “Hail Mary”?
Well, it’s not one of the most common questions that Catholics get asked, but it’s closely related to a very common question, and in reality, it is the more appropriate form of that more common question [why do you “worship” Mary?].
First and foremost, let’s clear the air really quickly:
- Catholics do NOT* worship Mary. (*In truth, we need to define “worship” (latria, dulia, hyper-dulia) if we are going to address this more deeply than what I’ll cover here. But for purposes of talking to normal people with a normal vocabulary in post-18th century English speaking dialog…no, we do not worship Mary.)
- Asking for prayers from the “dead” is NOT the same as asking prayers from those who have passed on before us…at least according to Jesus and Paul and John. In Scripture, the “dead” are those damned, or otherwise “dead” or not with us and might be used as mediums (see Deut 18:10-11) while the others are referred to as “saints” or children of God, or members of Christ’s Kingdom, or those “who have fallen asleep”, etc… Asking departed brothers and sisters, who are more alive than ever in God’s Presence, is not the same as “necromancy”, nor does it contradict Christ as our One Mediator. And there are a host of Scripture passages to back that up (Rom 8:35-39, Rom 15:30, Rev 5:8, Mk 12:26-27, Mk 9:4, Rev 6:9-11, 1Tim 2:1-7, 1Pet 2:5, Jn 21:15-16, Eph 4:11, etc…).
Well, let’s look at them.
“Hail, Mary, full of grace! The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the Fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.”
The first two parts should be obvious…but unfortunately, they are not that obvious to a great many folks (including myself until I had to explain to someone else). Let’s look at the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 1.
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!” (Lk 1:26-28)
Now, some more recent Bible translations render the words “full of grace” as “highly favored daughter” or something along those lines. We can look another time why “full of grace” is more correct. For now, if you doubt that it’s appropriate, I encourage you to research the Greek work “kecharitomene”, which is the word found in the original Greek translations of Scripture.
So then, the first part of the “Hail Mary” is right out of the Scriptures. Is there any reason why we should not quote/repeat what Scripture says?
to be continued…]
