Why Do We Pray the Angelus?
Do you hear the church bells ring at dawn, at noon, and at dusk? The church bells are our reminder to stop, pray the Angelus, and allow Christ to come into the center of our day. The Angelus can be said at all three times throughout our day, and the most common is the prayer at noon. This prayer dates back to early-1200s and is often depicted by the picture of a farmer and his wife praying at noon in the wheat fields.
The Angelus is a simple yet powerful prayer that offers an opportunity to meditate on Mary’s discipleship and radical obedience to God’s will for a few moments midday. It is also called an Angelic Salutation, as it recalls the moment that Archangel Gabriel came to Mary with a message that would change the WORLD! What if the angels are trying to give you and me a message right now? Are we listening? Are our hearts open to receive it? The Angelus offers us the opportunity to stop what we are doing and open our hearts to God. This is our moment in the middle of our day to remember our “YES" to God and to ask Him to guide the rest of our day and allow us to reflect on the first half. Every moment, we are given the opportunity to start anew, to say “yes,” and to listen to the guidance from God.
Make the Angelus your habit: STOP, PRAY, and LISTEN. The prayer of the Angelus is simple, yet it is a powerful means of dramatically opening your heart up to receive God’s grace. At My Saint My Hero, we were going through a rough season in our business, and our spiritual director suggested that we start praying the Angelus as a team. We began praying every day at noon, and we have found that this daily prayer has been a spiritual game changer. It brings our entire office together and elevates our hearts to God… a moment that changes everything. Throughout the pandemic we enlarged our prayer circle, we now pray as a team and as community each work day at noon on Instagram Live. This has been a continuum of prayer, even during separation, and it has allowed us an even wider circle of prayer. We invite you to join us every work day at noon PST.
I love saying the Angelus, and I love to say it with others on our Instagram Live. It reminds me of Mary’s conversation with Gabriel — the prayers seem to come alive as we pray it together. This prayer encourages us all to renew our “YES” to God.
The Angelus Prayer
- The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary.
R. And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.
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 our death. Amen
- Behold the handmaid of the Lord.
R. Be it done to me according to thy word.
Hail Mary. . .
- And the Word was made flesh.
R. And dwelt among us.
Hail Mary. . .
- Pray for us, O holy Mother of God.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us pray: Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts, that we to whom the Incarnation of Christ Thy Son was made known by the message of an angel, may by His Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His Resurrection. Through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen.
Repeat 3 times: Glory Be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Sprit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. AMEN.
