After singing the biblical praises of Mary, the second half of the Hail Mary prayer draws on the Church’s teaching about her singular role in salvation history. Given the simple piety expressed in the prayer and the rosary itself, we easily forget that the title “Mother of God” is the fruit of a tremendous battle for theological orthodoxy fought more than 1,500 years ago.
Word to Enkindle
Do you ever feel like you are going through the motions without passion as you carry out your responsibilities? At times, we all can — even monks.
Jesus is the pivot point of the Hail Mary prayer. In the original Latin text, the prayer consists of two parts, each containing 15 syllables. The first part contains the biblical witness of the Annunciation and Visitation; the second features the doctrinal affirmation of Mary as the Mother of God who prays for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.
Elizabeth’s words to Mary form the bridge from the Annunciation to the Visitation in the Hail Mary prayer: “Blessed are you among women, and blest is the fruit of your womb” (Lk 1:42). After Mary’s hasty journey to her kinswoman, she, carrying Jesus in her womb-ark, receives an exuberant welcome from Elizabeth and John the Baptist. The unborn babies, Jesus and John, meet for the first time as their mothers embrace. Elizabeth explains what she has felt in her heart and in her womb:
We have all surely experienced how difficult it can be to engage socially and politically as Catholics. Our faith pushes us into the uncomfortable position of prophetically challenging all political parties and calling everyone to conversion.
Gabriel is not the first messenger of the LORD to greet someone with the phrase “The LORD is with you” (Lk 1:28). An anonymous angel hails Gideon, a young man from a poor and insignificant family, as the lad desperately hides his family’s wheat harvest from the marauding Midianites: “The LORD is with you, you mighty warrior!” (Jgs 6:12).
Discerning whether to offer or receive Communion can be a challenge, spiritually and pastorally; but such discernment can always also be fruitful.
St. Luke gives us the angel Gabriel’s annunciation greeting to Mary as “Chaire, kecharitōmenē” (Lk 1:28). There are thrilling grammatical and theological mysteries packed into these two Greek words.
I recently enjoyed a wonderful apocalyptic novel, “Lord of the World,” by the British author and priest, Robert Hugh Benson. I was excited to read this book because I learned that recent popes (such as Benedict XVI, Francis, and Leo XIV) have spoken about it as a prophetic reflection of our times.
The days are darkest in late December. Our calendar year ends with the briefest appearances of sunlight. The wintry chill that covers so many lands, the leafless trees, and the absence of flowers and plants all provide a hint of death at work in the sleeping earth.