also known as Hail Mary, The Angelic Salutation
Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum.
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Iesus.
Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc, et in hora mortis nostrae.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.
Amen.
The Ave Maria, or Hail Mary, weaves together the words of Scripture with the Church's filial cry to the Mother of God. The first half repeats the salutation of the Archangel Gabriel at the Annunciation (Luke 1:28) and St. Elizabeth's greeting at the Visitation (Luke 1:42). The second half — Sancta Maria, Mater Dei — is the Church's own ancient petition, asking the Mother of God to pray for us now and at the hour of our death.
When prayed: Prayed in every decade of the Holy Rosary (ten times per mystery), in the Angelus three times daily, and at countless private moments of devotion.
The Latin text of the Ave Maria alongside its English translation, line by line.
| Latin | English |
|---|---|
| Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum. | Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. |
| Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Iesus. | Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. |
| Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc, et in hora mortis nostrae. | Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. |
| Amen. | Amen. |
Word-by-word definitions and example uses. Tap any word to learn its meaning, then return to the prayer with new ears.
Definition: grace, favor
Dei gratia rex. (By the grace of God, the king.)
Definition: full
Vas plenum aquae. (A vessel full of water.)
Definition: Lord, Master
Dominus vobiscum. (The Lord be with you.)
Definition: with you (singular, informal)
Veni tecum. (Come with you.)
Definition: blessed
Benedicta es in mulieribus. (Blessed are you among women.)
Definition: women (dative/ablative plural of 'mulier')
Donum datum mulieribus. (A gift given to women.)
Definition: fruit, offspring
Fructus laboris. (The fruit of labor.)
Definition: of the womb (genitive singular of 'venter')
In ventris. (In the womb.)
Definition: holy, saint
Sancta Maria. (Holy Mary.)
Definition: Mother
Mater familias. (Mother of the family.)
Definition: of God (genitive singular of 'Deus')
Filius Dei. (Son of God.)
Definition: pray (imperative singular of 'orare')
Ora pro nobis. (Pray for us.)
Definition: for us (dative/ablative plural of 'nos')
Dona nobis pacem. (Grant us peace.)
Definition: sinners (dative/ablative plural of 'peccator')
Miserere peccatoribus. (Have mercy on sinners.)
Definition: of death (genitive singular of 'mors')
Hora mortis. (The hour of death.)
The Ave Maria is the most beloved prayer to Our Lady in the Roman Catholic tradition. It joins the words of the Archangel Gabriel — 'Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee' — and St. Elizabeth's greeting at the Visitation — 'Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb' — to the Church's own petition asking the Blessed Virgin to pray for us, sinners, now and at the hour of our death.
The first half of the prayer is taken word-for-word from the Gospel of St. Luke: the angel's salutation at the Annunciation (Lk 1:28) and St. Elizabeth's greeting at the Visitation (Lk 1:42). The second half — the petition 'Holy Mary, Mother of God' — developed gradually from the early centuries of the Church and was given its final form in the Roman Breviary in 1568 by Pope St. Pius V.
The Holy Rosary is built around the Ave Maria. Each of the five decades begins with one Pater Noster, follows with ten Ave Marias while meditating on a mystery from the life of Christ or His Mother, and concludes with one Gloria Patri. To pray a full Rosary is to pray fifty Ave Marias — a meditation on the whole life of Christ through the eyes of His Mother.
The title Mater Dei (Theotokos in Greek) was solemnly defined at the Council of Ephesus in A.D. 431. It is not a claim that Mary is the source of the divine nature, but the simple confession that Jesus Christ — true God and true man — is one Person, and Mary is His Mother. To deny her this title is, in the end, to deny that Christ is God.
Gratia plena means 'full of grace.' It is the angel's salutation to Mary at the Annunciation in St. Jerome's Latin Vulgate translation. The Greek original — kecharitomene — is a passive participle meaning 'one who has been graced,' a title applied to no other person in Scripture. The Church has always understood this fullness of grace to mean that Mary was preserved from all stain of sin, the doctrine we call the Immaculate Conception.
The prayer Christ Himself taught — the heart of every Christian's life of prayer.
The Church's ancient doxology: glory to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
The Church's evening hymn to Mary, our life, our sweetness, and our hope.
St. Bernard's confident plea to the Mother of God.
Three times a day the Church remembers the Word made flesh.
A medieval Eucharistic prayer of self-offering to the wounded Christ.
Credo teaches you to read the Ave Maria (and every other Catholic prayer) in Latin the way the saints did — through the words themselves, not grammar drills.
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