Hail Mary, full of grace,
the Lord is with you.
Blessed are you among women,
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
Amen.
the Lord is with you.Scriptural Basis
Many people do not realize that this request for Mary to pray for us is mostly derived directly from Scripture. The bulk comes from two verses in the Gospel of Luke.
The angel Gabriel… came to her [Mary] and said, “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you” (Luke 1:27-28 RSVCE).
Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!” (Luke 1:41-42 RSVCE).
Mother of God
I don’t think anybody would have a problem with Mary being called holy. But I suspect that my Protestant brothers and sisters will take issue with the phrase “mother of God.” Yet Jesus was “God” (John 1:1, 14), and Mary was His “mother.” Therefore, Mary is the mother of God.
Mary’s divine motherhood, according to the early church, refers only to the human begetting of the Son of God, not to his divine birth. Calling Mary the mother of God, or Theotokos in Greek, became more widespread during the third century. Church father Origen, in about 254 A.D., was the first on record to apply this title to Mary. It was proclaimed as a dogma of the Church at the Council of Ephesus in 431 A.D.
Heavenly Intercession
Another problem for Protestants may be the “pray for us” part. But when the Bible says “we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,” it is talking about the saints in heaven (Heb. 12:1). If they can watch us and hear us, they can also pray for us (Rev. 5:8). For “He is God not of the dead but of the living” (Matt. 22:32).
So you are simply asking Mary to “pray for” you. You are not praying to Mary as if she was the source of grace, but as an intercessor. Just like you ask people at church to pray for you. If you don’t want to ask for her prayers, don’t. You can always go directly to God.
