Haily Mary, full of grace...

Hail Mary, full of grace! The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among 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!

Such a beautiful prayer, quite possibly my favorite. The first two phrases reflect back on the encounter had by Mary with the angel, Gabriel. Hail Mary, full of grace! So full of grace! She embodied more heavenly grace than any other woman that has ever lived. She was to become the Mother of Christ. The Lord is with thee. The Lord truly is present within her and she accepts it. Her fiat brings us our savior. From this moment the Lord is truly dwelling with her. Before we even get to the next moment we reflect on her most perfect yes to our Lord and pray that we too will accept our call.

Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. We recall her visit to Elizabeth. Elizabeth knows the significance of what is happening. She knows that Mary is the most blessed woman of all humanity, not only of their time, but all of time. At this point it is known, at least to Elizabeth, that Mary will forever be praised for her most faithful acceptance.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. We beg Mary, perfect and holy, to pray for us. We the sinners ask for her most genuine intercession. We know that she is closest to Christ and that her intercession is not ignored. We ask for her to pray for us now in this moment and at the time of our death. We ask for her intercession that her Son may look down on us with love and mercy.

I remember my attraction to this prayer starting very young. I was on a retreat. There were about six of us in one of the hotel rooms praying the rosary before we called "lights out". Several in the group seemed to be rushing the prayer and the rest were just trying to keep up. I became very frustrated and voiced myself shortly after. I was so overcome with anger that they were rushing through it. I knew in my heart that I needed to say something. I wanted them to hear what they were saying and to meditate on the history of it. We are praying the words which gave us our Savior, Jesus Christ. It was Mary's fiat that brought us the Holy Mother Church. We are asking for Mary to intercede for us and we aren't even paying attention half of the time. How sad! In the heat of the moment the words came so fluidly that even I was stunned. From that night on I knew that I had found my favorite prayer, the one truly close to my heart. Every night before I go to bed and each morning when I wake I pray the Hail Mary. I ask her to intercede for me and to watch over me. I ask her to bring me closer to her Son and guide me in my ways that I may more successfully imitate her in everything I do. She is a beauitful role model for all peoples, but especially for women.

Mary, Mother of God, pray for us!