Open Menu
 
Phonetics with M-E

Try mSpy Phone Tracker for Your Kid's Safety

The Hail Mary Prayer
Touch a word or the <play> button for sound
Click on a word or on the <play> button for sound
Click on a word or on the red <play> button for sound

This is the second most popular Christian prayer after the Lord's Prayer and also one of the oldest. The Hail Mary is the most important of the prayers to Mary, the mother of Jesus. It is also called the Ave Maria (which means "hail Mary" in Latin). The Hail Mary is used by Catholics, and it forms the basis of the Rosary. The prayer is also used by many Anglicans and, with some variations, by the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox.  Some Protestant denominations, such as Lutherans, also make use of the prayer. Most of the text of the Hail Mary can be found within the Gospel of Luke in the Bible.

You can also learn some archaic expresssions here.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee;
blessed art thou amongst women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners now
and at the hour of our death.
Amen.

HAIL= (archaic) An ancient salutation similar to "hello", of a Germanic origin. It is used to translate the Latin "Ave", so it is often used to translate greetings for Roman Caesars and for the Virgin Mary.

GRACE= The state of being protected or sanctified by the favor of God.

WITH THEE= With you. In modern English we use YOU both for the singular and plural and both for the subject and object forms of the second person of the pronoun. In old English we had four different forms:
---- singular ----
Subject- Thou /ðaʊ/ (=you) e.g. thou art my foe = you are my enemy.
Object- Thee /ði:/ (=you) e.g. Ic love thee, thou lovest me = I love you, you love me.
---- plural ----
Subject- Ye /ji:/ (=you) e.g. Ye come for to help me = you come to help me.
Object- You /ju:/ (=you) e.g. She loveth you = She loves you guys.
Today, the forms THOU and THEE are only used in prayers and also by the Amish population in the United States.

ART THOU= (Old English) You are. The form THOU is the singular form of YOU and ART is the old form of the verb To Be for the second person singular (sg: "thou art", pl: "ye are"). In old English, if we start the sentence with a word other than the subject there was an inversion, so here, we start with the word "blessed" and we need an inversion. We can still often find that kind of inversion in poetry.

AMONGST= (a bit all fashioned) Among.

BLESSED= Consacrated, holy, saint.

THY= /ðaɪ/ The possessive form of the old second person singular THOU (see above). In old English they used THY before consonants and THINE before vowels, much in the same way as we now use the article A before consonants and AN before vowels:
Thy name is Peter = your name is Peter
I love thine eyes = I love your eyes.

WOMB= /wu:m/ Uterus. The part inside a woman's belly where a child is conceived and grows until its birth. Words ending in -MB don't pronounce the final -B (as in: lamb, bomb, climb, etc.)

JESUS= /i:zəs/

AMEN= (BrE, AmE) /ɑ:men/ (AmE) /eɪmen/  A Hebrew word usually used to end Christian or Jewish prayers. It is used to express that you completely agree with everything said, and you hope it will all be true.

0:44            
 
 
© Angel Castaño 2008 Salamanca / Poole - free videos to learn real English online || InfoPrivacyTerms of useContactAbout
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Accept Read more