Our Lady of the Angels Academy - Angelican Yearbook (Enfield, CT)

Page 19 text:

Hail Mary Silver things are beautiful things . . . the stars, a splashing fountain in the moonlight, a dewdrop on a rose, but none are as lovely as the silver chain of a rosary which links us all ever closer to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The greatest bond between Mary and her children is the great prayer through which we speak directly to Her Heart. This is the prayer that we have called the little prayer”, the prayer that we repeat fifty-three times in ten minutes or fifteen minutes when we say the Rosary. Hail Mary, full of grace! The Lord is with Thee! What a wealth of Christian mysticism in its simplicity! What deeds of love it celebrates! What awesome truth it expresses! It is like the stroke of the sanctus bell. And yet the Hail Mary sprang up as a prayer from the first Christians to whom the Faith was a magnificent adventure in the shadow of martyrdom. From then on it has been said millions of times a day in every conceivable language that it has become like a dear folk song. How simple it is, but how r ich! It commemorates great acts of love and at the same time, it brings back tender memories of Our Lady’s life on earth in an aura of celestial light. Indeed, it must be like the interwoven strands of time, place, and circumstance that bring joy and tears to Mary’s eyes. When we say the Hail Mary, memories, one after another, come back sharply. Mary in this way is reminded of the Incarnation, of the Presentation of the Child Jesus, of the Passion of Her Beloved Son. This must be the reason why this prayer moves Her so; why its petition is so powerful. Hail Mary, Full of Grace! The Lord Is With Thee! Blessed Are Thou Among Women are the opening words of the prayer which were spoken by the Archangel Gabriel. Truly this messenger transmitted this salutation from the mind of God Himself. And Blessed Is the Fruit of Thy Womb . . . the next words of the Hail Mary, are uttered by Elizabeth, Mary’s aged cousin. Nor was it the Church that began the Hail Mary. But the early Christians, hearing the first words of it in the Gospel, themselves began it. As the composition of the first part of the Hail Mary shook heaven, the second part shook the Church. Holy Alary, Mother of God, Pray for Us Sinners were the nine additional words placed into the Hail Mary at the Council of Ephesus in 431. These words were adopted, because Nestorius, a patriarch of Constan¬ tinople, denied Mary’s right to the title Mother of God and forbade his people to apply it to Her. There was a dramatic beauty in the choice of Ephesus as the scene of this battle over the title deeds of Mary, because Mary had lived there for a time when a fierce persecution of Christians reddened Jerusalem. The little town of Ephesus took pride in the fact that Mary had lived there, and with an intense interest the city awaited the final word of the Council whether or not Mary was the Mother of God. When Mary was pronounced the Mother of God, the night burst into a festival of singing Aves and Te Deums. Almost immediately St. Patrick, seminarian at the time of the Council of Ephesus, took the glory of Mary to Ireland and imparted to the Irish people a devotion to Her that became a tradition and a heritage in every clan. Hungary, Portugal, and Poland proclaimed Mary as their sovereign. Chivalry, the dominant institution of the Middle Ages, hailed Mary as its Lady. The Knights of Malta invoked Her assistance on receiving their swords. Poland adopted the Boga Rodzica” (Mother of God) as its war song. Louis XI declared Her the Countess of Boulogne. Charlemagne built churches in Her honor. The Scottish kings wore gold rosaries as part of the royal insignia. With the battle cry Mary,” armies of Ferdinand and Isabella drove the Moors from Spain. Columbus named his flagship the Santa Maria and devoutly recited Her office each day on the voyage. Poets invoked Mary in rhyme, musicians and artists took Mary into melody and color. And the United States named Her the patroness of the Holy Church in America. All this is the result of the Council of Ephesus, of a single phrase of the Hail Mary. Yet to the faithful there remained something unfinished in this beautiful prayer and so with the simplicity of the need itself, they brought the petition to its perfect close: Now and At the Hour of Our Death. But Amen was not the end. The Church later inserted Mary’s name in the salutation and it was not until 1261 that Pope Urban IV placed the crowning stone upon this beautiful prayer — the word given to Mary at the Incarnation — the Name of Jesus. Now it is ours to say and to pass on to all with whom we come in contact. It is a folk prayer inspired by God, its first part handed down to us by Mary through the Apostle Luke, the con¬ clusion a perfect response of her children. It is the prayer that moves heaven and earth. It is a prayer of love and admiration of a child to its Mother.