Hail Mary? Why should we Hail Mary, we should respect her, but to Hail her, and pray to her, when she is NOT?

Question

God/Jesus????

Ok, if you are Hailing Mary, as a Greeting and asking her to pray for you

why do it in repitition, did she not hear us the first time???????

I am not here to make anyone angry, i am here to educate my self.

thank you

Answer 1

This question has raised some very interesting answers. I am not as learned as some of the people on here, but my interpretation is as follows:

The term “Hail Mary” comes from Ave Maria which is an Angelic Salutation and is a traditional Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christians.
The prayer is also used in other denominations, especially of Catholic tradition, notably Anglo-Catholic members of the Anglican Communion, some Lutherans, and some Methodists.
The prayer incorporates two passages from Saint Luke's Gospel:
"Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou amongst women" (Luke 1:28)
and
"Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb" (Luke 1:42)
The first of the two passages from Saint Luke's Gospel is the greeting of the Angel Gabriel to Mary. The word κεχαριτωμένη (kecharitomene) is used and is translated as "full of grace"
The opening word of greeting, χαῖρε (chaire), here translated "Hail", literally has the meaning "Rejoice", "Be happy". This was the normal greeting in the language in which Saint Luke's Gospel is written and continues to be used in Modern Greek. Accordingly, both "Hail" and "Rejoice" are possible English translations of the word.
The original Greek “Hail Mary” appears in the prayer of the Eastern Orthodox Church in the form:

Mother of God and Virgin, hail, Mary full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, for thou hast given birth to the Saviour of our souls.

From this I can only conclude that this isn’t an actual prayer to Mary or asking her to intercede on their behalf but a remembrance of Virgin Mary and stating her position and place in Christian History.

Saint Thomas Aquinas spoke of the name "Mary", indicating who the “full of grace” person was addressing, as the only word that had been added in the West even by the mid-thirteenth century to the Biblical verses of which the prayer was composed. But at about the same time the name "Jesus" was also added, to specify who was meant by the phrase "the fruit of thy womb".

To the greeting and praise of Mary of which the prayer thus consisted, a petition "Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen." was commonly added around the time of the Council of Trent.

The "Catechism of the Council of Trent" says that to the first part of the Hail Mary, by which "we render to God the highest praise and return Him most gracious thanks, because He has bestowed all His heavenly gifts on the most holy Virgin ... the Church of God has wisely added prayers and an invocation addressed to the most holy Mother of God ... we should earnestly implore her help and assistance; for that she possesses exalted merits with God, and that she is most desirous to assist us by her prayers, no one can doubt without impiety and wickedness”

Therefore the praying to the Virgin Mary was introduced at around 1566 when the Council of Trent commissioned the Roman Catechism to expound doctrine and to improve the theological understanding of the clergy.

Sorry that this is a long answer but I hope I have been able to relay the origin of the prayer without offending anyone.

Answer 2

The angel spoke to Mary saying "Hail, favored one" It was a greeting that was used in those times and then incorporated into a prayer. If you have the time read the prayer called "Hail Mary", you will see we respect her as the mother of Jesus and ask her to pray for us. Don't forget we can talk to her and ask her for her favor as who would have the most influence on their son? I am not sure what your last four words mean "when she is not". Not what?

Answer 3

I agree that we should respect Mary but not Hail her. It seems to be a kind of worship. Like on the rosary there's something like 10 Hail Mary beads (prayers) to every 1 Our Father's. (been such a long time that I used the rosary).Then there are the statues of Mary and such. I think God alone deserves worship. Mary didn't create the universe, God did. Don't mean to be harsh about it, but it's just what I believe, others may strongly disagree though, which is OK by me.

Answer 4

Hail: verb. "To cheer, salute or greet". "To acclaim." "To call out in order to greet."

There's a big difference between that and worshiping someone. You "hail" a cab. Does that mean you worship the cab? Absolutely not. By saying "Hail Mary", you're essentially saying "Dear Mary", as you would begin a letter. Since when is that anti-Biblical?

Answer 5

I'm a faithful Catholic and pray the Rosary all the time. I don't use the Rosary as anything symbolic of idolatry. I love saying the Rosary, and enjoy the comfort and peace it brings to me. It doesn't matter how many times I recite the Rosary, or whether or not I finish it. What matters most is my faith and how it brings positive spirituality in my life. I would be a hypocrite if I judged anyone else for not praying the Rosary. Everyone has their own religion, and what matters most is their faith in it and how they choose to use it. I will never judge anyone else's religion based on mine. Jesus just wants us to love one another. Let's just stop fighting.

Answer 6

Acknowledgment, and respect is giving to Mary.

She gave birth to Jesus and therefore a closeness between Mother and Son.

To pray to Mary is LIKE asking her to talk to her son on your behalf.

At least this is how I feel and can relate to the blessed Mary.

Answer 7

Ok.. I understand that it isn't a worship thing, but where in the scriptures did Christ ever say to ask His mother to intercede for us? It doesn't. He says the only way to the Father is through Him. To me, that means that it is only through Christ we can reach the Father. That means prayer too, since prayer is our way of communicating with the father.

Yes, I believe Mary is the mother of the Son of God. Yes, I believe she was a virgin at the birth of Christ. Yes, she was special, and God chose her to be the mother of the savior. That is all true. I don't believe, however, that we need her to have our prayers heard by God, or that she has any sway over the outcome of my prayers. The only person I pray to is the Father, in Christ's name. That is how He said to do it, so that is the way I'm going to.

Answer 8

To those so called Bible fellowship members who answered this what is it about the greeting of the Archangel Gabriel that you do not understand?
By the way to answer the question,the word Hail was alway`s addressed to those of high birth and rank such as Kings and Queens it was not used for ordinary people and so the Archangel Gabriel in his greeting bore witness to Mary`s exhalted position as the Mother of the true Messiah.

Answer 9

Mary, indeed, was the human mother of Jesus of Nazareth who equally was the risen Savior, the only begotten of our Father God, but she wasn't the Mother of God..,
He was sired by God through the Holy Spirit by her receiving the words of the archangel Michael that he brought to her. She said, "Be it unto me according to thy word.".. and it was. Those "words" became the flesh and bone and blood of the Savior of the world. Everyone who is born of the spirit is born by the word of God.., you can't obey or accept what you have not heard and the fruit you bear is determined by the words you receive and believe.
Same with the little virgin girl Mary who was already espoused/promised in marriage to Joseph. The same angel came to him also and told him to go ahead and take Mary as his wife by do not "touch her" until after this child was born. Joseph obeyed those words.
Of course she no longer was a virgin after she conceived children from Joseph, but a precious chosen vessel to birth our LORD Jesus.

Answer 10

The word hail comes from the original word "ave" and it is just a greeting. and praying is just a way of communicating and is in no way a form of idolatry.