The Hail Mary is [very often called a 'prayer'.](https://christianity.stackexchange.com/q/995/6071) Some Catholics like to distinguish between 'praying', which is only said to God, and 'asking' which is acceptable for the deceased saints. So is the Hail Mary a prayer (even though it's offered to Mary) or something else? Answers from any perspective which uses the Hail Mary would be welcome.

I have counted over 200 prayers by believers (though not being thorough in Psalms) but find none addressed to anyone else in Heaven but God, or exhortations to do so. While support for this is attempted via appeals such as exhortations to pray for each other, and elders and angels offering incense before the climatic judgments on earth, and to tradition, yet I am looking for prayers in the Bible actually addressed, formally or implicitly, to created beings in Heaven, or instructions to do so like as "our Father who art in Heaven."

In many languages, countries when people pray rosary they insert the mysteries in the Hail Mary after saying "Jesus". It is used officially in public places by everyone. For example: > Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus **"who was scourged at the pillar,"** Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Why wasn't this custom adopted in English-speaking countries? This makes praying the rosary to go faster and easier to forget the mystery you are currently praying, or it can even turn the prayer into vain repetition. Some asked for an example of the phrases commonly used (provided here via *Google Translate*): 1. Joyful mysteries: >Jesus, whom you conceived by the Holy Spirit Jesus, with whom you visited Elizabeth Jesus, whom you bore in Bethlehem Jesus, whom you presented in the temple Jesus, whom you found in the temple 2. Sorrowful Mysteries >Jesus, who sweated blood for us Jesus, who was flogged for us Jesus, who was crowned with thorns for us Jesus, who carried a heavy cross for us Jesus, who was crucified for us 3. Glorious Mysteries >Jesus, who rose from the dead Jesus, who ascended to heaven Jesus, who sent the Holy Spirit Jesus, who took you to heaven, O Virgin Jesus, who crowned you in heaven 4. Luminous Mysteries >Jesus, who was baptized in the Jordan Jesus, who revealed his divine power in Cana Jesus, who proclaimed the kingdom of God and called for repentance Jesus, who revealed his glory on the Mount of Transfiguration Jesus, who instituted the Eucharist [List of resources edited in by @GratefulDisciple] - Common English names of the 20 mysteries from the USCCB website: [How to Pray the Rosary](https://www.usccb.org/how-to-pray-the-rosary)] - [thanks, @njuffa] lightly edited *Google Translate* of the seemingly official German phrases, since it is published in **katholisch.de** (a news and information portal for the Catholic Church in Germany, operated by a non-profit company in cooperation with 27 German dioceses) in the article [*Das Rosenkranzgebet, so wird es gebetet*](https://www.katholisch.de/artikel/41-das-rosenkranzgebet) ("The Rosary, how it is prayed"): > **The Joyful mysteries**: 1 ... Jesus, whom you, O Virgin, conceived of the Holy Spirit 2 ... Jesus, whom you, O Virgin, carried to Elizabeth 3 ... Jesus, whom you, O Virgin, gave birth to in Bethlehem 4 ... Jesus, whom you, O Virgin, presented in the temple 5 ... Jesus, whom you, O Virgin, found again in the temple > > **The Luminous mysteries**: 1 ... Jesus, who was baptized by John 2 ... Jesus, who revealed himself at the wedding in Cana 3 ... Jesus, who announced the kingdom of God to us 4 ... Jesus, who was transfigured on the mountain 5 ... Jesus, who gave us the Eucharist > > **The Sorrowful Mysteries**: 1 ... Jesus, who sweated blood for us 2 ... Jesus, who was scourged for us 3 ... Jesus, who was crowned with thorns for us 4 ... Jesus, who bore the heavy cross for us 5 ... Jesus, who was crucified for us > > **The Glorious Mysteries**: 1 ... Jesus who rose from the dead 2 ... Jesus who ascended into heaven 3 ... Jesus who sent us the Holy Spirit 4 ... Jesus who has taken you, O Virgin, into heaven 5 ... Jesus, who has crowned you, O Virgin, in heaven

So if the Hail Mary is a prayer and saying the prayer multiple times is **encouraged** in Catholicism, what established reason does the Catholic church give to justify it **not** being a *vain repetition*. > **Matthew 6:7 KJV** But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. I'm looking for an official Catholic response to this accusation. I'm sure they've said something about it.

I was just thinking, that's a strange greeting. Didn't people back then usually say "hail" in the context of "Hail Caesar"? And apparently Mary thought that was a strange greeting too, even stranger than the fact that it was an Angel who greeted her thus. So, according to the Catholic Church, does Hail (or Ave) in the sense that Gabriel uses it in Luke, actually have anything to do with addressing royalty? Has it ever been posited that the Archangel Gabriel would use that terminology only in reference to the Holy Mother of God?

The quintessential part of the Hail Mary prayer is certainly the first two sentences coming straight from the Gospel of Luke and as I understand it, the second petition part was a later composition tacked on the end to round out the prayer. Are there any alternatives for the second part that might be just as good, just to mix it up a little?

The Catholic prayer referred to as a "Hail Mary" ascribes the phrase "full of grace" to Mary. The Scriptures describe both Jesus and Stephen as being "full of grace". In Greek, this is "πλήρης χάριτος". > And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his > glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, **full of grace** and > truth. John 1:14 ESV > > And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and > signs among the people. Acts 6:8 ESV However, there doesn't seem to be any place where the Bible describes Mary in this way. The only place that is close is in Luke 1:28 where the angel greets Mary and indicates that she has been *given* grace, often translated as "highly favored" (κεχαριτωμένη in Greek). So, certainly Jesus was "full of grace" and Stephen was identified as being "full of grace". Yet, why does Mary also receive this ascription?

> Hail Mary, full of grace. Our 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. From a Catholic and/or Anglican perspective, how does this affect death and its related rites?

How can I go about proposing a change in a prayer? Or how can I have the change approved by the Catholic Church or their theologians? I'd like to change the prayer of Hail Mary from: > Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of > our death. to > Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the time of > temptation. The current prayer doesn't cover the time between when we pray(now) and the hour of our death. I think the prayer will be much more effective if we say **at the time of temptation** instead of **at the hour of our death**. I think "**at the time of temptation**" cover the hour of our death too. I don't think God is an ogre who waits for the hour of death to test us. I don't see much of a significance in the hour of death. If you live your whole life faithfully you should have enough grace for the hour of death. I just don't think that God will judge us based on our decision we make at the moment of death. It is not supported anywhere in the Catholic Chuch teaching either so I don't even understand the reasoning behind putting "**at the hour of our death**" to Hail Mary in the first place. I know it was added by someone in the past but it's not clear who added it and why.

Here's a YouTube video of an English-language setting of the Angelus that appears to be popular among Anglo-Catholics (it's used at Pusey House)...I've not been able to find the name of the hymn tune. Link: [The Angelus](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJx7VTDiy4M) And here's the specific wording of this variant: > The angel of the Lord brought tidings to Mary: And she conceived by > the Holy Ghost. > > 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. > > Behold the handmaid of the Lord: Be it unto me according to thy word. > > Hail Mary, &c. > > And the Word was made flesh: And dwelt among us. > > Hail Mary, &c. > > Pray for us, holy Mother of God. That we may be made worthy > of the promises of Christ. Pour forth, we beseech thee, O Lord, thy > grace into our hearts; that as we have known the incarnation of thy > Son Jesus Christ by the message of an angel, so by his cross and > passion we may be brought to the glory of his resurrection. Through > Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.