When the angel greeted Mary, he said, “Hail favored one! The Lord is with you.” (Luke 1: 28) In other translations we read, “Hail, full of Grace! The Lord is with you.” When Elizabeth greets Mary upon Mary’s arrival she exclaims, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.” (Luke 1: 42) Elizabeth goes on to say, “and how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” (Luke 1:43) These texts should be very familiar to us. It is from these verses of scripture we get the prayer: Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.

The last stanza of the prayer we receive from James 5:16, “therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful.” Thus we pray: Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of death. In this month of the Rosary let us continue to be drawn into the mystery of Mary’s love and care for us.