Hail Mary, Full of Grace...

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 death. Amen. The Hail Mary is a powerful Christian prayer. It is the oldest because it was spoken at the moment when Christ, the Son of God, was conceived in the Virgin’s womb, at the very beginning of Christianity when the divine Son of God became the human Son of his mother, Mary.

Without Mary’s free acceptance of her calling from God we would not have Jesus in human flesh. Also, the fact that Scripture refers to her in such a special way is good enough for me. Even so, Mary is not the core component of faith. The core of Catholicism is Jesus, not Mary. If anyone puts Mary before Jesus, that person is not following the Church’s teaching about Mary.

However, we cannot simply neglect Mary. She plays an integral role in the redemption of the world. She said yes, and because of her “yes,” Jesus was born and redeemed us. One cannot simply talk about Jesus without being grateful to his mother.