What is the significance of the “Hail Mary”?
Hail Mary or Rejoice Mary – this is the greeting of the angel Gabriel which opens the prayer. It is God Himself who through his angel as intermediary, greets Mary. Our prayer dares to take up this greeting to Mary with the regard God had for the lowliness of his humble servant and to exult in the joy he finds in her. Full of grace, the Lord is with thee -Mary is full of grace because the Lord is with her. The grace with which she is filled is the presence of him who is the source of all grace. Full of grace, Mary is wholly given over to him who has come to dwell in her and whom she is about to give to the world. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus – After the angel’s greeting, we make greeting our own. Mary is blessed among women because she believed in God’s word. Mary, because of her faith, became the mother of all believers, through whom all the nations of the earth receive him who is God’s own blessing: Jesus, the “fruit of thy womb”. Holy Mary,
