The Angelus

The Angelus

Every  Sunday noon, standing at his open window, . . .

. . . which overlooks St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City, Pope John Paul II leads the crowds down below in the public recitation of the Angelus. The prayer is generally preceded by a short homily. A homily in which the Holy Father points to the major world events of the day. The pope relates the events to the Mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God in Mary’s womb for the redemption of mankind.

The timelessness and relevancy of this most ancient of prayers deserves our special attention. For this purpose, the following article, we thought, would give our readers a better understanding of the origin and nature of the Angelus prayer and, hopefully, would help to revive this beautiful custom of ringing the Church bells each morning, noon and evening to honor the Mystery of the Incarnation. The following is our own free translation of the original French. The original article appears in the June 15, 1980, issue of the Montfort magazine: CAHIERS MARIALS. This article original appears in the November 1980 publication of the Queen of All Hearts magazine.

Although the practice of reciting the Hail Mary . . .

. . . in the Eastern Church goes back to the 6th century, it was not until the 7th century that Pope St. Gregory the Great promoted it in the West. The Franciscans had the custom of reciting the Hail Mary three times each evening when the curfew bells were rung. Around the year 1250, Brother Benedict of Arezzo requested that the monastery bell be rung at that time. The General Chapter of 1269 made the practice binding on the entire Order.

The Angelus Evolved Over the Years

In the year 1327, Pope John XXII introduced the custom in Rome, and before long the three Hail Marys were said in the morning also. In the 16th century, the three Hail Marys were separated by the verses we now know and which had been borrowed from the Gospels of Luke (1, 23) and John (1, 14) to which was added the final prayer taken from the Advent Liturgy. This prayer was to undergo many changes until the 18th century under Benedict XIV. As the Angelus prayer was being enriched, its practice was extended from the evening, to the morning, to the noon hour.

Crystallized over the course of centuries by a combination of popular practice and the preaching of the religious, the Angelus is a veritable Catechesis in miniature.  Do we not find in it the affirmation of the essential mysteries of Christianity: Trinity, Incarnation, Redemption, Passion of Christ and His Resurrection, followed by His glory also promised to us; while Mary is seen in her human attitude of “Handmaid of the Lord”?
Willibrord-Christian VAN DIJK

Commentary

The three biblical verses which precede each Hail Mary might lead us to think that the Angelus prayer is solely a reminder of the mystery of the Incarnation. But the fact that it ends with a prayer which makes us ask that we may “by His passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His Resurrection,” broadens the scope of the invocation. It opens up on the Paschal Mystery in its fulness. And thus rejoins the affirmation of the Creed: “For us men and for out salvation, he came down from heaven.”

On the other hand, in stressing the role Mary played in the coming among men of the Word of God, and by inviting us to have recourse to her maternal intercession: “Pray for us, O, Holy Mother o( God,” the Angelus prayer recalls the Virgin’s place in the economy of salvation, as Vatican II happily reminded us in Chapter VIII of its Constitution on the Church.’

Stressing the Our Lady’s Role . . .

“This divine mystery of salvation is revealed to us and continued in the Church, which the Lord established as His own body. In this Church, adhering to Christ the Head and having communion with all His saints, the faithful must also venerate the memory ‘above all of the glorious and perpetual Virgin Mary, Mother of our God and Lord Jesus Christ’ ” (No. 52).

In the following comments on the Angeles prayer, I will lean heavily on the above mentioned Coriciliar text. I will also, nevertheless, quote from some well-known religious authors.

THE ANGEL OF THE LORD DECLARED UNTO MAR Y AND SHE CONCEIVED OF THE HOL Y SPIRIT

“Wishing in His supreme goodness and wisdom to effect the redemption of the world, ’when the fulness of time came, God sent His Son, born of a woman, . . , that we might receive the adoption of sons’ (Gal. 4:4-5). ’He for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit from the Virgin Mary’ ” (No. 52).

. . .  Within Salvation

“At the message of the angel, the Virgin Mary received the Word of God in her heart and in her body and gave life to the world … she is endowed with the supreme office and dignity of being the mother of the Son of God. As a result, she is also the favorite daughter of the Father and the temple of the Holy Spirit. Because of this gift of sublime grace, she far surpasses all other creatures, both in heaven and on earth” (No. 53)

“… in the mystery of the Church, herself rightly called mother and virgin, the Blessed Virgin stands out in eminent and singular fashion as exemplar of both virginity and motherhood. For believing and obeying, Mary brought forth on earth the Father’s Son. This she did, knowing not man but overshadowed by the Holy Spirit” (No. 63).

By Way of Commentary

“You have heard it, O Virgin, you will conceive and bring forth a son. The Angel awaits your answer: He has to return to the One Who sent him. We, too, are awaiting. Do not delay, Virgin Mary, give your answer. Utter that word which heaven and earth await to hear. Believe, speak according to your faith and make yourself totally receptive” (St. Bernard-Homily 4, on the Missus Est.).

“The angel could have spoken of mercy. He preferred to speak of power. The Father will manifest His power by a creation. The Son will be born a temporal birth, a reflection of His eternal generation. The Spirit will make fruitful, overshadow with love, consummate the action of the Father and the presence of the Son” (Jean Guitton, The Virgin Mary, Paris 1949, Aubier).

BEHOLD THE HANDMAID OF THE LORD
BE IT DONE UNTO ME ACCORDING TO THY WORD

“The Father of mercies willed that the consent of the predestined mother should precede the Incarnation, so that just as a woman contributed to death, so also a woman should contribute to life. This contrast was verified in outstanding fashion by the Mother of Jesus. She gave to the world that very life which renews all things”. (Const. on the Church,
No. 56).

“By thus consenting to the divine utterance, Mary, a daughter of Adam, became the mother of Jesus. She embraces God’s saving will with a full heart and impeded by no sin. She devotes herself totally as a handmaid of the Lord to the person and work of her Son. In subordination to Him and along with Him, by the grace of Almighty God she served the mystery of Redemption”. (Const. on the Church, No. 56).

“This maternity of Mary in the order of grace began with the consent. A consent she gave in faith at the Annunciation. It will last without interruption until the eternal fulfillment of all the elect”. (Const. on the Church, No. 62).

By Way of Commentary

“Though she is a mother, Mary remains a servant.  God alone is the Master, with the Son Who is Mary’s life and model. Mary is the work of the fruit of her womb.

Even after giving birth to Him, she carries Him within herself. She listens, with all her bodily strength, to the Word who rebounds with ever increasing power, the Word to whom she gave her “yes” in advance and from the very depths of her being for everything” (Urs Van Balthaser— Contemplative Prayer-1959).