Is the Hail Mary a Catholic only prayer?

Answer 1

It is unique to their cult.

On a related note Adam, the best hail mary was Roger Staubach to Drew Pearson. I believe that was the one that made the play famous.

Answer 2

No. Orthodox pray it, and also some Anglicans.


In regard to doublewidemama's comment above, a small minority of Lutherans pray the pre-Trent version, which does not include the second part requesting that she pray for us. When the second part is omitted, it is only a veneration, not an invocation.

There is some debate in Lutheran circles about whether our confessions actually forbid invocation of saints, but there is a strong consensus that invocation detracts from the Gospel regardless of whether it is actually forbidden (and there's no disputing that our confessions at least say that much). Therefore, *very* few Lutherans would ever invoke a saint. Venerating saints, on the other hand, is acceptable but only practiced by a minority.

The insinuation that Catholics deify Mary is incorrect, and reflects a poor understanding of their actual doctrine and practice.

Answer 3

No. It is part of all Christian Scriptures.

Lk 1:28-30
Lk 1:42-43
Lk 1:48
Gal 4:4
Mt 1:23
Lk 1:34-35
Ex 34:20
Ex 13:2
Nb 3:12

The prayer is Biblical as any other passage in Sacred Scripture.

So the Hail Mary is a "Universal" prayer for All people.

Answer 4

Yes (I am a former Roman Catholic who now professes Biblical Christianity). Catholics see Mary as the medatrix of all grace, and they believe she is the go between for man and God. This is a clear contradiction of 1 Timothy 2:5 where Paul says that the only mediator between God and man is Jesus Christ.

Much of the Roman Catholic view on Mariology came from the customs of other religions, particularly the goddess Isthar. Many Catholic missionaries have been absolutely shocked when they have gone into less fortunate countries and found what they thought was Madonna statues, only to find out it was the statute of the local native goddess religion. If you want to know more about this, a good book would be Dave Hunt's "A Woman Rides the Beast". God's wisdom and blessing to all this Thanksgiving season! (Psalm 136)

Answer 5

Catholic means 'universal' and if you want to say the Hail Mary (Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus) then you may say that prayer. You may also want to say the other 'Mary' prayer ... Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and in the hour of our death. I say both of these prayers together and have for FAR MORE years than I have been a Catholic. I'm a Catholic now, but the PRAYERS are universal, and can be used by anyone.

Answer 6

If you analyse the prayer it consists of two passages from the Gospel of Luke with the names Mary and Jesus added to make it clear who is being discussed. Because of this it is NOT a Roman Catholic only prayer.

The first portion is the salutation of the angel to Mary when she was being told she was to bear Jesus, the second is what Elizabeth said to Mary when she came to visit and the 'babe leapt' within her womb.

This would seem to make it clear that this is not "worship" of Mary, but rather simply a recitation of the Bible....

Answer 7

Yes. Reciting "Hail Mary" is like giving flowers to Mother Mary.

It depicts the life of Mother Mary before and after she gave birth to her son, Jesus Christ.

Answer 8

I hope not, considering Martin Luther himself believed in the importance of Mary. I can't recall if Calvin did as well, but non-Catholic Christians miss out on a lot by not having Mary and the Saints to help out.

Answer 9

No Orthodox and some Lutherans and Anglicans have their own versions since the first half is directly from the Gospel of Luke. Even the Reformed Zwingli had his own version.

A byzantine Orthodox version is "Rejoice ,OVirgin Theotokos Maria,full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women and blessed is the friut of your womb for you have borne the Saviour of Our souls."

Answer 10

No, anybody can say it. And since the first two lines quote Scripture (Luke 1:28 and 1:42), any person who has faith in Scripture can pray it comfortably.