The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary.
R. And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.
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
V. Behold the handmaid of the Lord.
R. Be it done unto me according to thy word.
Hail Mary, etc.
V. And the Word was made Flesh.
R. And dwelt among us.
Hail Mary, etc.
V. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God.
R. That we may be made worthy of the
promises of Christ.
LET US PRAY
Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy
grace into our hearts, that we to whom the
Incarnation of Christ Thy Son was made
known by the message of an angel, may by
His Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His
Resurrection. Through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen.
This wonderful prayer evolved from a recitation of three Hail Mary’s following an evening bell around the 12th century to its present form (with morning and midday recitations) in the 16th century.
When prayed in a group setting a leader recites the verses and everyone recites both the responses and the Hail Mary’s in between each verse, as shown above.
Although the Angelus has been traditionally said three times daily, at 6 am, noon and 6 pm, you can pray it at anytime! It is still accompanied by the ringing of a bell (the Angelus bell) in some places such as Vatican City and parts of Germany and Ireland. The Regina Coeli prayer (which may also be sung as a hymn) replaces the Angelus during the Easter season.
This text is an excerpt from the original article appearing on the website: https://www.ourcatholicprayers.com/theangelus.html.
During the month of May, we have been sharing Marian prayers to honor Mary. We hope you will consider praying with us for the intentions of our Parish family.