The Hail Mary is perhaps one of the easiest prayers to memorize. Children learn it before they go to school. It is prayed fifty-three times during the rosary, but do we know what we are praying? Do we understand the words we are saying? In this episode of On the Road to Perfection, Mom and Dad explore this simple but powerful prayer.

After Dad gets finished talking about football Hail Mary games from forty years ago and gets through his soap box on the Hail Mary, Mom begins to break down the prayer one verse at a time. They go in-depth covering both parts of the prayers.

The first part of the prayer is rooted in scripture. The first two sentences come from The Annunciation spoken to Mary by Gabriel. The Second two sentences of the first part come from Elizabeth when she greeted Mary at the Visitation.

Mom and Dad point out that Mary has been called Mother of God for centuries, and Dad puts his foot down and silences any argument against this theological fact.

The last part of the prayer is the petition for Mary’s intercession, just as we would ask our family and friends to pray for us. This is the same for all saints.

REFERENCES:

If you have a questions about praying to saints, see the Why do Catholics Pray to Mary episode (Episode 61). We have multiple other podcasts you might want to check out including The Our Father – Episode 45; the Praying with your Spouse – Episode 4 (Part One) & Episode 5 (Part Two); the Saints – Episode 16, and Our Saints – Episode 18) podcasts are all great resources for prayers and saints! Also, check our Mary Resources!