Page 18 - Lessons and Activities on Prayer

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the haiL mary
Catechist background
e hail Mary is a prayer that catholics recite of- ten. it is the main prayer of the rosary. it is also said when a person prays the angelus. e hail Mary contains three of the ve forms of prayer: praise, thanksgiving, and petition.
is prayer did not exist until the eleventh cen- tury. e monks at that time prayed very long of- ces (the o cial daily prayer of the church) each day. if the day celebrated a feast of the blessed Mother, the monks also prayed the “little o ce” of Mary. e little o ce of Mary contained the words of the archangel Gabriel to Mary, as well as the words of elizabeth to Mary. e prayer was as follows: “hail Mary, full of grace, the lord is with thee; blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.”
as time went on, not only did the monks pray this prayer, but the laity did too because they heard the monks praying it over and over again. in 1196, the bishop of Paris asked his priests to begin teaching this prayer to everyone. soon it was well known in the parishes. is is section one of the hail Mary we currently use. eventually, Pope urban iV added the name of Jesus. en, during the 1500s, it was decided that this beautiful prayer would be more complete if we asked Mary to pray for us; the last section was added at this time.
each line of the hail Mary is closely connected to two events in scripture: the annunciation and the Visitation.
Prayer
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
hAil MAry LeSSon PLan 1
Objectives
□ e children will learn the hail Mary through song
□ e children will learn the hail Mary and what the prayer means through a word search
materials
□ Copies of the word search (page 20) Song
Hail Mary (Tune: Are You Sleeping?)
Verse i
hail Mary
hail Mary
Full of Grace
Full of Grace
e lord is with you e lord is with you blessed are you blessed are you
Verse ii
among women among women blessed is the fruit blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus of your womb, Jesus holy Mary
holy Mary
Prayer
hail Mary, full of grace
the lord is with you
blessed are you among women
blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus
holy Mary, Mother of God
Pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death
bible Verse
Luke 1:28 Luke 1:28 Luke 1:42
Luke 1:42 Luke 1:43
James 5:16
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Twenty-Third Publications Sample