Double-Dipping: or, A Thought on the Two Parts of the “Hail Mary”

Okay, I confess. This probably has been thought of before. But because none of us can possibly keep up with everything written, suggested, or sampled in the realm of prayer and how to enrich it, I’ve not encountered this particular approach to the Hail Mary anywhere else. And so, while I don’t delude myself that no one else has ever brought this interpretation into the mix, allow me a few moments to talk to all of us out here who haven’t read everything there is to read yet!

I confess one more thing: this didn’t come about because of any great piety on my part. In fact, it stems from the exact opposite: a persistent fight I have to overcome the Wandering Mind syndrome, especially when praying the Rosary. I don’t remember who it was I heard say this on the radio years ago—one of the many show hosts who offers meditations and the like—but I remember laughing and crying at the same time when he admitted that his mind wandered during the Rosary, to the point where sometimes he got “about one and a half good Hail Marys out of the bunch.”

This isn’t right. We know it isn’t right. But we also know that, all too often, we do the same thing.  And when I found myself praying an entire Rosary almost “by rote,” without the mind being engaged for more than a few minutes, I knew I needed to go deeper.

What has made the difference for me is a gradual realization that the Hail Mary is actually two prayers.  And that if we pray it that way, and really think about the divide, it can raise the prayer from just one-of-fifty in a daily Rosary to an uplifting experience we’ll want to not only pray sincerely but enjoy.

So what are these two parts?

1. Voicing Our Praise.

The first part of the Hail Mary—as we all know—is the greeting of the archangel to Our Blessed Mother.

“Hail, full of grace!” As if that’s not good enough, the angel goes on to tell Mary that the Lord is with her. That she’s blessed among all women, and that Her Child is most blessed of all.

Now, notice the angel doesn’t greet her by saying, “The Lord be with you.”

He says, “The Lord is with you.”

Biiiiig difference. One that, if you think about it long enough, will blow you away.

Because before Mary even said “yes,” before she gave the fiat and the assent to become the Mother of God…the Lord was already with her.

She was already full of grace.

Small wonder that she responds with the Magnificat.

And so, in a unique way, can we.

Since Mary always points us to Jesus, then, this prayer can become not only a greeting of Our Blessed Mother and praise to her, but praise to her Son. And to God the Father, who honors His covenant with His people through the promised Messiah. And to the Holy Spirit, who performs the miraculous overshadowing that makes redemption possible, in all its truly human form. A preface to our own Magnificat, a hymn of praise already dictated to us by an angel.

So, right after we greet our Mother, we can join hands with her in praising God. Blessed is she among women—true. But blessed are all of her children as well, because of her Son. Think of the beginning of the prayer this way, and you can just about see Our Blessed Mother smiling. Saying, in her loving way, “Now, you’re catching on, my child. Now, you know how your soul can magnify the Lord, too. Let me add my voice to yours!”

…which, of course, leads us to the second part of the prayer:

2. Seeking Saintly Support.

One of the main criticisms that Protestants level at Catholics is what they call our borderline-idolatry: praying to Our Blessed Mother and other saints, rather than confining our prayer to Jesus Himself, to His Father, or to the Holy Spirit. But these same people will run up to each other after a service and ask for individual prayer from friends. Or from their Sunday School or Bible Study class. Or from Pastor, or from a small dedicated prayer group, or…

To which I’ve always said, “Um, and this is different from asking the saints in heaven to pray for us…how?”

Of course, the answer is simple: it’s not. In fact, asking the Church Triumphant to pray for us is better—because they’re no longer weak, sinful human beings like we are anymore. So, asking them to pray for us is more powerful, more effectual, and more consoling than even prayer from the holiest saints we know on earth.

And above all of their glory is that of the Queen Mother. So, her prayer is the most powerful of all.

Thus, with our hands still clasped in Mary’s, we can shift our attention ever so slightly in the second half of this prayer. We can turn to her, as our gracious Mother, and request a very specific—and very powerful—favor: prayer for us in both life and death.

Think about that. For every single one of us who prays that prayer, Our Mother prays now, and at the moment earthly life is over. We know she does, because what loving Mother will refuse such a request, especially from trusting children who have joined her in their own heartfelt Magnificat? And so, once again, Mary smiles at her children and merely nods in assent…as many times as we say those words and mean them.

When I realized that I could pray this prayer this way—and, in fact, that I ought to pray this prayer this way, because those were the words I was actually saying!—I began to see, and say, this prayer in a whole new light. And separating the two halves of the prayer in this way does one more crucial thing: it keeps the mind focused much better than rattling the words off almost in one breath, as so many of us tend to do. (Especially when we’re in a hurry, or stressed, or distracted, or…you name it.)

So, if you have the Wandering Mind problem during your daily Rosary, or during any other time of prayer, perhaps you can shake things up a little by this gentle “divide and conquer” of one of the simplest, yet at the same time, most profound prayers we can say. Start with praise, go on to petition…end with comfort. All from a Mother who never stops wanting the absolute best for us.

Not a bad cure for distraction!