Is it okay to pray the 'Hail Mary' prayer?

CopticSoldier

Hi Guys,

I used to pray the hail mary prayer which I learned in Catholic school from my youth.

Is it okay to use it?  I think that its theologically in sync with our own tradition but I'm looking for other perspectives.

God bless,

LiD

roubir2010

i think its not wrong

PPFM

abrahamf

hail mary prayer??

PopeKyrillos

I dont think it should substitute the agpeya though. If your just praying the Rosary before you go to bed, I would say this is wrong. Countless repetitions of "Hail Mary" is not a prayer. The wisdom behind the prayers of the agpeya are of much more meaning. Prayer should be more focused on Christ, with maybe a few prayers concerning the Virgin (such as Hail to You, We ask you..etc.).

PK

Unknown

I feel that the importance is if u mean it and if you say it from your heart not you tongue

servant33

According to the wikipedia entry of "Hail Mary" :

Theotokos Virgin, rejoice, (or: Rejoice, O Virgin Theotokos)
Mary full of grace,
the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou amongst women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb,
for thou hast borne Christ the Saviour,
the Deliverer of our souls.

"In the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Rite Eastern Catholic churches, the prayer is very common in the Greek form indicated above, or in translations from it. Although it is not said quite as often as in the West, it is well known and often used and appears in several canons of prayer. It is typically sung thrice at the end of Vespers during an All-Night Vigil, as well as occurring many times in the course of daily prayer."

So I say you are good.

CopticSoldier

Thanks guys.

I have never prayed with a rosary before, I usually use this as an intercessory prayer when I get into times of trouble.  I don't repeat it repetitiously like Catholics do.

St Mary has been very kind to me and has always rescued me when I have been in trouble.

Is there a similar invocation for aid from St Mary in our own Coptic tradition?  Nothing is springing to mind.

peterfarrington

The earliest known prayer directed to the Virgin Mary in existence is this one, which was found in a papyrus from Egypt dated to about 250 AD. (The papyrus was in Greek by the way).

Beneath your compassion,
We take refuge, O Mother of God:
do not despise our petitions in time of trouble:
but rescue us from dangers,
only pure, only blessed one.

The 'Hail Mary' has also been found dated to about 600 AD.

Father Peter

user00

When I was in Catholic school, I used to say along, and this is the version I learned:
"Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee
Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of the God, Pray for us sinner, now and at the hour of our death, Amen."

I think the words itself are sound biblically and theologically, however, i have to say, I never prayed it when I wasn't in school, and I never even got the idea too!

The "Dominican blessing", however, I was much more uncomfortable with and I want to know Father Peter's opinion about it (and others too are welcome):
"May God creator bless us
May God redeemer heal us
and May the Holy Spirit fill us with light Amen."

I felt like it separated the Holy Trinity into 3 Gods, but maybe I am just being picky. What do you think?

peterfarrington

There is a danger in being overly picky. But there is also wisdom in being careful.

In fact this particular Dominican blessing is a very modern version that it seems to me deforms the original anonymous 13th century form.

Here is the original..

May God the Father bless us,
May God the Son heal us,
May God the Holy Spirit enlighten us...


And here is the modern version..

May God creator bless us,
May God redeemer heal us,
God the Holy Spirit
fill us with light...

Why is there a need to change the older words? I am not sure? What is the intent of the modern reviser? It seems to me, looking at the entire blessing, (it carries on for another 10 or so lines) that he makes it say less and in a trivial manner.

I would seek out and pray the original version if you wished. THAT is entirely Orthodox. But I find the other version 'modern' in the diminishing sense and would not particularly want to pray it, knowing that there is a better and original version.

Father Peter

Viv

[quote author=Father Peter link=topic=10649.msg129933#msg129933 date=1297085506]
There is a danger in being overly picky. But there is also wisdom in being careful.

In fact this particular Dominican blessing is a very modern version that it seems to me deforms the original anonymous 13th century form.

Here is the original..

May God the Father bless us,
May God the Son heal us,
May God the Holy Spirit enlighten us...


And here is the modern version..

May God creator bless us,
May God redeemer heal us,
God the Holy Spirit
fill us with light...

Why is there a need to change the older words? I am not sure? What is the intent of the modern reviser? It seems to me, looking at the entire blessing, (it carries on for another 10 or so lines) that he makes it say less and in a trivial manner.

I would seek out and pray the original version if you wished. THAT is entirely Orthodox. But I find the other version 'modern' in the diminishing sense and would not particularly want to pray it, knowing that there is a better and original version.

Father Peter


I like the original version better.

peterfarrington

Here it is...

May God the Father bless us,
May God the Son heal us,
May God the Holy Spirit enlighten us
and give us
eyes to see with,
ears to hear with,
and hands to do the work of God with,
feet to walk with and
a mouth to preach
the word of salvation with,
and the angel of peace
to watch over us
and lead us at last,
by our Lord’s gift,
to the kingdom. Amen.

joeg

Why not recite the "Hail to St. Mary" found in the Agpeya instead?

"Hail to you. We ask you O saint, full of glory, the ever virgin, the Theotokos, the Mother of Christ, lift up our prayers unto your beloved Son that He may forgive us our sins.

Hail to the Holy Virgin, who has brought forth unto us the True Light, Christ our God. Ask the Lord on our behalf, that he may have mercy on our souls, and forgive us our sins.

O Virgin Mary, the holy Theotokos, the faithful advocate for all mankind, intercede on our behalf before Christ, whom you bore, that he many forgive us our sins

Hail to you, O Virgin, the right and true queen. Hail to the pride of our race, who bore for us Emmanuel.

We ask you, remember us, Our faithful advocate, before our Lord Jesus Christ, that He may forgive us our sins."