Angelus Domini
The Angelus
The traditional morning, noon, and evening prayer of the Incarnation, recalling the angel's message to Mary.
V. Angelus Domini nuntiavit Mariae,
R. et concepit de Spiritu Sancto.
Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum. Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Iesus. Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.
V. Ecce ancilla Domini,
R. fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum.
Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum. Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Iesus. Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.
V. Et Verbum caro factum est,
R. et habitavit in nobis.
Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum. Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Iesus. Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.
V. Ora pro nobis, sancta Dei Genetrix,
R. ut digni efficiamur promissionibus Christi.
Oremus. Gratiam tuam, quaesumus, Domine, mentibus nostris infunde; ut qui, Angelo nuntiante, Christi Filii tui incarnationem cognovimus, per passionem eius et crucem ad resurrectionis gloriam perducamur. Per eundem Christum Dominum nostrum.
Amen.
V. The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary,
R. and she conceived of the Holy Ghost.
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.
V. Behold the handmaid of the Lord,
R. be it done unto me according to thy word.
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.
V. And the Word was made flesh,
R. and dwelt among us.
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.
V. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God,
R. that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us pray. Pour forth, we beseech thee, O Lord, thy grace into 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.
Translation source: fisheaters.com/prayers.html
About this prayer
The Angelus takes its name from its first Latin word, Angelus, in the line "the Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary." It is a devotion in honour of the Incarnation, built around three versicles drawn from the Gospel, each followed by the Hail Mary, that recall the Annunciation, Our Lady's consent, and the Word made flesh. The custom of pausing to greet the Mother of God grew through the Middle Ages from the monastic ringing of bells, and by the seventeenth century had settled into the form prayed today at the sound of the Angelus bell.
Tradition bids the faithful pray it three times daily, at dawn, at noon, and at evening, that the whole day may be sanctified by the memory of God made man. So woven was this practice into Christian life that towns and fields would fall still at the bell, work and travel pausing while the prayer was said. In Eastertide the Angelus gives way to the Regina Caeli, the joyful antiphon of the Resurrection. Its closing collect is the very prayer the Church offers on the feast of the Annunciation.