A Prayer at the Heart of Our Faith
Today is the Feast of St. Gabriel. Tomorrow is the great Feast of the Annunciation, when Our Lady gave Her “fiat” and within Her sacred womb the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity hypostatically united Himself to a human nature.
On these two days we particularly recall the original historical event which gave rise to the prayer of the Angelus. This link is recalled in the Alma Redemptoris:[1]
“Most amiable Mother of the Redeemer, Gate of Heaven, Who begot Thy Creator while all nature marvelled, Virgin before and after receiving that ‘Ave’ from Gabriel, have mercy on us sinners.”
This prayer is just one of so many beautiful gifts which Holy Mother Church has given to us. Unlike worldly trinkets, the patrimony which the Church lays before us grows in importance throughout our lives. It leads us ever more powerfully to Heaven, uniting us to Jesus and Mary even in this life. For those who learn to appreciate such spiritual gifts, the Church’s traditional prayers are a continual wonder of richness and beauty.
Are you in the habit of praying the Angelus?
Our forebears in the Faith were. For many centuries, it has served as a most beautiful link to Our Lady, Our Lord, and a central mystery of our Catholic Faith: the Incarnation.
It is piously believed that the Annunciation took place at night – that it was Our Lady’s custom to rise for prayer in the stillness of the night, and that it was on one such night that the Archangel Gabriel came and found Her watching, begging God with tears to send the longed-for Redeemer. Catholic mystics relate it was the great and unsurpassed humility of Our Lady which made Her irresistible to God; compelling the Eternal Son to descend from Heaven and assume a human nature within Her. “While all things were in quiet silence, and the night was in the midst of her course, Thy almighty Word leapt down from Heaven from Thy royal throne” (Wisdom 18:14-15).
A Centuries-Old History
The Catholic Encyclopedia notes that “there can be no doubt that the practice of saying three Hail Mary’s in the evening somewhere about sunset had become general throughout Europe in the first half of the fourteenth century and that it was recommended and indulgenced by Pope John XII in 1318 and 1327.”
Older historical records indicate that even a century earlier the Franciscans in Assisi had this custom of prayer at the ringing of bells. Yet they would have merely been following the custom of monks, some of whom written records indicate already practiced this devotion in the 11th Century. If we have surviving written records that indicate this devotion already existed circa 1050 A.D., then we can be quite sure the custom is far older.
On June 26, 1456, Pope Calixtus III issued a papal bull, Bulla Turcorum, ordering every church in Christendom to ring daily at noon three peals of bells. This was to serve as a reminder to all Catholics of their duty to pray, at least three Haily Marys, for all those who were courageously fighting against the invading infidels. The great city of Constantinople had already fallen to Sultan Mehmed II (May 29, 1453) because Christian relief armies had not been assembled in time. The Pope did not want Christendom to fail again. And he understood the power and necessity of spiritual combat, even in physical military combat. His command for these bells apparently came just in time and was rewarded by God.
In 1456, Mehmed II “The Conqueror” lay siege to Belgrade during most of the month of July. If this fortress fell, the path towards central Europe, would lay open to the Turkish forces. Yet the Catholics, led by St. John Capistrano and John Hunyadi, achieved a miraculous victory and ended seven long decades of aggressive Mohamadean advances towards Rome. Hunyadi sent a letter to the Pope informing him of the great triumph. The Pope received this letter on August 6, the Feast of the Transfiguration. On that day, Calixtus III ordered that all churches should continue this custom of ringing the bells and that Catholics were to respond with prayer, now in thanksgiving for God having worked so great a wonder.[2]
In 1475, Pope Sixtus IV granted an indulgence for praying the midday Angelus. In 1571, Pope St. Pius V inserted the Angelus devotion into the “Little Office of Our Lady.” Pope Benedict XIII increased its importance by even further indulgencing it (Iniunctæ Nobis, 1724).
A Call to Prayer
These historical records show us that for many centuries – extending well into those shadowy medieval times, the Ages of Faith – Catholics have daily commemorated this great opening of Heaven to mankind through the Gateway of Our Lady by ringing a bell three times at the end of the day, calling the faithful to prayer. The faithful would pray three Hail Mary’s in honor of the Annunciation at the close of day, being mindful to greet Our Lady as nearly as possible at that same hour in which the Angel Gabriel had greeted Her.
Gradually the custom expanded to include a ringing of the bells also at the beginning of the day to commemorate the Resurrection, and then too (at first, just on Fridays) at noon to commemorate the Passion of Our Lord. These times of prayer – again, the three Hail Mary’s – likewise corresponded to the times of day when these holy Mysteries actually occurred. The three ringing of the bells also corresponded with the three sets of Mysteries in the Holy Rosary:
- Glorious Mysteries: The Resurrection – rising of the sun, ~6 a.m.
- Sorrowful Mysteries: The Passion – middle of the day, ~noon[3]
- Joyful Mysteries: The Annunciation – the sun having set, ~6 p.m.
The Angelus Bells
A considerable number of the bells which survive from medieval times are known to have been these very “Ave bells,” for the words “Ave Maria” were inscribed in their casting. Oftentimes they were also dedicated to St. Gabriel. Since it was at the Annunciation that the Prince of Peace took flesh and dwelt among us, these were often also called “Peace bells,” and their thrice-daily ringing (at each of the three times, with intervals between) was called the “Peace bell” or the “Toll for Peace.”[4] Bishops exhorted the faithful to offer this devotion particularly for the preservation of peace.
These bells sounded daily all across Europe and beyond, calling the faithful to fall on their knees and recite the three Hail Mary’s.[5] Countless pious farmers working the field, housewives busy in the home, and children amidst their chores, would mark the time and pause the day’s work to fulfill this pious duty. (Such an image is memorialized in great works of art, including Jean François’ L’Angelus, completed between 1857 and 1859.)
Praying the Angelus
In its modern form, which dates back to the 16th and 17th Centuries, the Angelus is prayed while kneeling throughout the week but standing with a genuflection on Sundays.[6] Three versicles are added to the Hail Mary’s, along with a final prayer taken from the Advent Anthem to Our Lady, the Alma Redemptoris. The Regina Cæli is substituted for the Angelus during Paschal Time, prayed standing.[7] A custom of Italian origin, formalized by Pope Pius VII in 1815, adds three Glory Be’s at the end, throughout the year, in thanksgiving to the Blessed Trinity for the wonderful privileges bestowed upon Our Lady.
This beautiful custom, and thrice-daily recitation of the Angelus, at 6 a.m., noon, and 6 p.m., remains extremely important today. First, it helps us consecrate the entire day through the habit of prayer. Second, it fosters Marian piety in us and, as the saints have told us, Our Lady does not permit any of Her devotees to fall into hell. Third, its grace keeps us rooted in the dogmas of the Faith, resisting the heresies which inundate our world. Calling to mind the Third Secret of Fatima, we might note ‘In homes which faithful pray the Angelus, the dogma of the Faith will be preserved.” Fourth, it helps inculcate some of the essential virtues of Our Lady in our souls, including purity, humility, and joyful submission to the will of God in all things. Fifth, it is a prayer for peace. Our world and our Church desperately need peace. This peace is integral to the Message of Fatima, and it will only come through Our Lady’s intercession.
While you pray the Angelus, meditate on the great mystery it commemorates, as well as the virtues so perfectly exhibited by the Immaculate Virgin Mother of God.
Call to Action
We at The Fatima Center want to encourage you to adopt this powerful devotion into your daily prayer life. If you are not already in the habit of praying the Angelus, please begin to do so. If you are, consider praying it more fervently and with this special intention of reparation by adding the three Glory Be’s.
As our readers know, the Vatican recently went so far as to denigrate Our Lady by calling into question Her prerogatives as Co-Redemptrix and Mediatrix of All Graces. (That document in which they dared to do so, Mater Populi Fidelis, was signed by Leo XIV himself.) The daily recitation of the Angelus, including the three Glory Be’s, is precisely suited to consoling Our Lady for this offense and relieving to some degree the demands of the Justice of God for its punishment.
ENDNOTES
[1] The Alma Redemptoris is a Marian hymn prayed by the Church during Compline during the Advent and Christmas seasons. It is believed to have been written by Hermannus Contractus in the 11th Century.
[2] On the one-year anniversary of this event (August 6, 1457), Pope Calixtus III ordered that the Transfiguration of Our Lord Jesus Christ would be a Feast universally observed by the entire Church. By God’s Providence, Pope Calixtus died on August 6, 1458, exactly two years after he received the notice of victory and decreeing the bells should always be rung by churches at noon.
[3] Given this schema of times for recalling the central mysteries of the Faith, how fitting that Our Lady promised that the miracle on October 13, 1917 at Fatima would occur at solar noon. After all, our present time is an Age of Tribulation and thus most closely linked to the Sorrowful Mysteries. In fact, we can well understand our times as the Church having to follow in the Master’s footsteps up Calvary and undergoing her own mystical passion.
[4] I imagine another reason they may have had the name of “Peace bells” is on account of their association with the victory over Mehmed and how the prayers prompted by the ringing of these bells helped merit the graces necessary for peace from Moslem aggression. Herein we see another connection with the Message of Fatima, for our obedience to Our Lady’s call to for prayer and sacrifice is meant to gain the graces we need for Russia’s consecration and peace in our world.
[5] All the saints of recent centuries were devoted to the Angelus. One particularly inspiring witness comes to us from St. Germaine Cousin (1579-1601). This little French shepherdess would always fall to her knees when hearing the Angelus bells, even if it happened while she was crossing a stream.
[6] It is already found in writing and in the same manner which we pray it today in a catechism from Venice published ~ 1570 A.D.
[7] This modification was made by Pope Benedict XIV in 1742.
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