The Angelus
The Angelus
(a prayer that sanctifies daily moments)
This traditional devotion is in honour of the Incarnation. Pope St. Paul VI wrote about the Angelus prayer (Apostolic Exhortation Marialis Cultus). He described it as one that sanctifies different moments during the day.
The Angelus
1
Verse: The angel of the Lord declared unto Mary,
Response: and she conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Hail Mary
2
Verse: Behold, the handmaid of the Lord,
Response: Be it done unto me according to your word.
Hail Mary
3
Verse: And the Word was made flesh,
Response: And dwelt among us.
Hail Mary
Verse: Pray for us, O holy Mother of God
Response: That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us pray. Pour forth, we beseech You, O Lord, Your grace into our hearts, that we to whom the incarnation of Christ Your 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
Glory Be (three times)
Click for the Easter Sunday to Pentecost prayers that replace the Angelus.
About the Angelus
History of the Angelus
The Angelus began with prayers by St. Anthony of Padua and others. In 1475, Pope Sixtus IV declared an indulgence to all who recite the Angelus at noon. A few years later, in 1517, Pope Leo X extended it to include morning, noon, and evening.
In the well-known painting by Jean-Francois Millet, two workers in a potato field stop to pray the Angelus.
The Bell
The Jean-Francois Millet painting depicted a typical scene. The faithful would stop their work and take time to pray whenever they heard the Angelus bell. The bell had a unique sound. It would ring three times, followed by a pause, and then nine more times.
The Angelus Today
Today, we pray the Angelus a little differently. It is a shorter version of the original prayer. The other difference is that we no longer hear the same small-town bell tower sounds. We can either remember to pray at those times or use a device. For example, the Angelus app (pictured) sends reminders (that sound like the original bells) in the morning, noon, and evening. It works anytime by tapping the image.
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CREDITS
The LOGO image of Our Lady of Grace is original artwork by Martin Lariviere in 2009. We have the artist’s permission (my son). It is our exclusive trademark logo image.
A beautifully photographed sky by Donald Tong inspired the website’s colour scheme. Cropped portions of it are the background for the footer Bible verse. He shared it as a free download on pexels.com.
Raphael painted The Sistine Madonna circa (1513-1514). We made circular cut-outs from the original image.
Our information is from general knowledge, experience, and shared internet sources. We’d like you to use it as a starting point for your research to verify facts and build a reference list.
Art
The Angelus, painted circa 1857-1859, is a well-known painting by Jean-Francois Millet. It is our featured image.
Carl Heinrich Bloch painted The Annunciation before1890.
Michelangelo Merisi, more popularly known as Caravaggio, painted the next depiction of the annunciation, circa 1608-1610.
Our third annunciation painting was by the artist Bartolome Esteban Perez Murillo circa 1660.
Leonardo da Vinci painted Annunciazione, our final annunciation painting, in 1472.
Giovanni Battista Salvi da Sassoferrato painted the Blessed Mother praying circa 1660.
Max Furst painted The Holy Trinity with a Crown sometime before 1917. We added the words Glory Be so that it could be a prayer icon.
Photos
Freepik shared a photo of an old church bell.
We shared our screenshot of the Angelus App for your personal use while you are on our website. It will help you identify the one that works for us.
IN REVIEW
The angel of the Lord declared unto Mary,
and she conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Hail Mary
Behold, the handmaid of the Lord,
Be it done unto me according to your word.
Hail Mary
And the Word was made flesh,
And dwelt among us.
Hail Mary
Pray for us, O holy Mother of God
That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us pray:
Pour forth, we beseech You, O Lord, Your grace into our hearts, that we to whom the incarnation of Christ Your 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
Glory Be (3 times)
In 1475, Pope Sixtus IV added an indulgence to all who recite the Angelus at noon. In 1517, Pope Leo X extended it to include morning, noon, and evening. The Angelus bell would ring three times, followed by a pause, and then nine more times.
In the well-known painting by Jean-Francois Millet, two workers in a potato field stop to pray the Angelus. It was a typical scene. The faithful would stop their work and take time to pray whenever they heard the Angelus bell.