The Angelus

Because May is dedicated to the Mother of God, Mary, I have searched for a special way to pay tribute to her during this month. I have recently been introduced to this devotion which focuses on Mary and the annunciation.

The Angelus is a short devotion in honor of the Incarnation, repeated three times each day (morning, noon, and night), at the sound of the bell. The devotion derives its name from the word "Angel".

The prayer is as follows:

V: The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary

R: And she conceived by the Holy Ghost.

V: Hail Mary, full of grace: The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of they womb, Jesus.

R: Holy Mary, Mother of God: Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

V: Behold, the handmaid of the Lord.

R: Be it done unto me according to thy word.

V: Hail Mary...

R: Holy Mary...

V: And the Word was made flesh

R: And dwelt among us.

V: Hail Mary...

R: Holy Mary...

V: Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God,

R: That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

V: Let us pray.

All: Pour forth, we beseech thee, O Lord, thy grace unto 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.

Please say this special devotion for Mary during this blessed month of May.

What If She Had Said "No"?

I found this article on the Universalis website today. It is entitled "What if she had said no?", (click on this article to read it) referring to Mary of course. It raises an interesting question that I had never considered before. It had never occurred to me that she had a choice, but if you think about it, she did, just as all of us have a choice. God gave us freewill.

This article really puts into perspective why we place Mary on such a high pedestal.

I wish that I would have found this prior to March 25th, which is the Feast of the Annunciation. It's neat to be able to celebrate these important events that took place so long ago. An understanding of the events makes them so much more special. To think that before I converted I never thought of these things or celebrated these events makes me sad and grateful at the same time. I am so grateful to have been enlightened and yet very sad at the same time that I had been so ignorant.