Angel Gabriel Teaches the Hail Mary

When the Angel Gabriel Teaches us the Hail Mary

Joe Catholic (JC) was doing his best to concentrate as he finished the last decade of the rosary. His mind always wondered off on other things and he would often lose track of which decade he was on. 

Catching himself babbling the Hail Mary prayers instead of paying attention to the words, he paused to ask God for help. Little did he know that God would not only answer his prayer but that he would send the archangel, Gabriel, to educate him on the meaning of the Hail Mary prayer. After all, it was St. Gabriel, the archangel, who started the prayer with his angelic salutation.

JC: 'Hail Mary...'

St. Gabriel: Whoa, Stop! What do you mean by 'Hail'?

JC: I don’t know. I always wondered why such a holy prayer began with a bad word.

St. Gabriel: It’s not a bad word. It’s the perfect word when addressing royalty. It is spelled, H-A-I-L. In this case, 'to hail' means 'to salute' or 'to greet' a King or Queen. 

JC: That makes sense since Mary is the mother of a King.

St. Gabriel:  Yes, she’s the Queen-Mother. Queen of heaven and earth. You're doing good. Go on.

JC: 'Full of Grace…' whatever that means.

St. Gabriel: Grace is God’s goodness, holiness and life which displaces sin. 

JC: Oh ya? Well what about that pesky stain of original sin?

St. Gabriel: Since she is full of grace there's no room for sin in her. She is the Immaculate Conception, the one who is without sin.  

JC: Wow, that’s amazing. Can I go on?

St. Gabriel: Please.

JC: 'The Lord is with you.'

St. Gabriel: Yes, he certainly is with her. That’s why Mary said yes to God’s plan. She gave her permission for salvation to begin. Unlike Eve who said yes to sin, Mary, the New Eve, said yes to salvation.

JC: So she's like a new and improved Eve?

St. Gabriel: Yes, but there’s more. Once she said yes, the Word of God became flesh in her womb and the Lord was truly with her in the most profound internal presence as an unborn child.

JC: So that’s why we say, ‘Blessed are you among women’. This is beginning to make sense.

St. Gabriel: Mary, from the moment of her conception has been wonderfully blessed by God. Actually it was Elizabeth who made that proclamation. After being filled with the Holy Spirit, Elizabeth knew that Mary and Jesus were both there to visit her. That’s what Mary does. She always brings Jesus to people.

JC: 'And blessed is the fruit of your womb.' Uh, why do we start talking about fruit here? Are we talking about apples and oranges? I’m confused.

St. Gabriel: No, the fruit of Mary’s womb is our Lord Jesus. That just means that she is impregnated with the divine child. Mary, while remaining a Virgin, bears the fruit of her one and only Son, Jesus. 

JC: Ya, that’s really important to recognize that the unborn Jesus is alive and already changing the world. So many people these days fail to see unborn babies as being important. This prayer is very pro-life!

St. Gabriel: Every unborn child is a special gift. In the Incarnation and throughout his life, Jesus made every stage of human life even more sacred from conception to death.

JC: It’s interesting that even though the Hail Mary is associated with Mary, this prayer has a lot to do with Jesus.

St. Gabriel: His holy name is in the middle of this prayer to show that Mary's whole life is Christocentric. Like Mary herself said at Cana, “Do whatever he tells you’. Go on. 

JC: 'Holy Mary, Mother of God.'

St. Gabriel: Can you believe that?

JC: Believe what?

St. Gabriel: That a teenage girl from ancient Nazareth is the Mother of God.

JC: I know some Christians who refuse to call her that because it’s too mind blowing I think.

St. Gabriel: Jesus is God and Mary is his mother...It’s basic logic. I’m going to keep working on those Christians. Go on.

JC: 'Pray for our sinners.'

St. Gabriel: Stop, stop, stop!

JC: What’s wrong?

St. Gabriel: You said ‘our sinners’ instead of ‘us sinners’. 

JC: Well ya, I’m praying for all of the sinners in the world.

St. Gabriel: What about you? Are you not a sinner?

JC: I think I’m doing pretty good but those other people…

St. Gabriel: Listen, there’s only one human that we call the Immaculate Conception and it’s not you. 

JC: Easy for you to judge. I mean you're an angel so you’re obviously sinless too.

St. Gabriel: Angels were free to rebel against God when we were created. Those who chose against God are called fallen angels but I chose to honor him and serve him.

JC: Oh…Ok well I guess I am a sinner. So from now on I will be sure to say, ‘us sinners’ to include myself.

St. Gabriel: Good. Go on.

JC: 'Now and at the hour of our death.' Hey, I’ve always wondered…how can Mary hear all of our prayers and intercede for all of us at once?

St. Gabriel: Even though she is not divine, Mary is our heavenly mother. She is outside of space and time so she is able to hear every prayer, from everywhere, all the time. As the Queen of Heaven, daughter of the Father, mother of the Son and spouse of the Holy Spirit, her prayers of intercession are the best. She chooses to intercede for all of us out of love because she’s a really good mother. 

JC: 'Amen!' Thank you for helping me to appreciate what the prayer really means. You're such a great messenger.

St. Gabriel: You're welcome...That's what I do. Just do me a favor and never again, rush through the Hail Mary as if it doesn't matter.