The last part of the prayer is a petition for Mary to pray on our behalf, much in the same way we would ask a friend or parishioner to pray for us when we’re going through hard times.
“Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.” (Luke 1:42, NRSV) is part of Elizabeth’s greeting at the Visitation before Mary gives us her great canticle, the Magnificat. 
“Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” (Luke 1:28, NRSV) is the Archangel Gabriel’s salutation at the Annunciation. The first two lines are based on verses from St. The “Hail Mary” prayer, (“Ave Maria” in Latin) has been used in one form or another since the sixth century. Hymns and prayers to Mary are some of the earliest forms of Christian devotion. What we can believe is that one who stood in so intimate a relationship with the incarnate Son of God on earth must, of all the human race, have the place of highest honor in the eternal life of God. Later devotion has claimed many things for Mary which cannot be proved from Holy Scripture. Holy Women, Holy Men has this to say about Mary: If you want to dive more into what an incredible woman she was, you will have to listen to a recording of Mother Amy’s sermon for Advent IV. Let it be to me according to your word.” It is awe inspiring to think of a young girl with that much courage, conviction and faith. The extent of Mary’s grace can (in my opinion) be summed up by hearing her immediate response to Gabriel’s words at the Annunciation, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. Mary was responsible for giving human nature, our nature, to Jesus so that he could be both fully human and fully divine. 
To us, she is the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, Heaven’s Queen, and Theotokos (Greek for God-bearer). We also remember those in Holy Scripture who heralded the coming of Emmanuel: the Archangel Gabriel, John the Baptist, Elizabeth and Zachariah, Joseph and Mary. We light candles to track our progress towards the Feast of the Nativity. We remember all that God did for His people in advance of the Incarnation we re-experience Jesus’ entrance into the world to establish the Kingdom of God and we prepare ourselves for Christ’s ultimate return in triumph and great glory. Amen.Īdvent is one of the richest seasons of the Church calendar. Holy, Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.
Hail Mary, full of grace, the LORD is with thee īlessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Until then, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Before we let you read his wonderful post we wanted to let you know that we are taking the holidays off and will be back with the blog in January. This post is contributed by Ted Clarkson.
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