I was engaged in a debate on the r/catholicism subreddit regarding the propriety of the Hail Mary prayer, the Rosary, and devotion to Mary at all; since the poster felt it took away from reverence or attention properly due the Father and Jesus; and that we should just focus on saying the our Father, ‘as Jesus taught us.’ The poster felt that the Hail Mary wasn’t enough about Jesus and the Father.

 

While praying my daily Rosary I thought of another counterpoint to make to the poster, and felt that it would make a good post for Sober Catholic. It’s kind of like a meditation on the Hail Mary, with a Christocentric/Patercentric appeal. To make it obvious, I use all caps whenever God makes an appearance in the Hail Mary.

 

Hail Mary, Full of Grace (Mary is ‘full of grace’ only because she had to be so that the HOLY SPIRIT can overshadow her so as to conceive JESUS.)

the Lord is with you. (Who else is this referring to, but JESUS?)

Blessed are you among women; (She is only ‘blessed’ because she will be the Mother of GOD, a/k/a JESUS.)

and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. (There is that JESUS person, again!)

 

Holy Mary, Mother of God; (JESUS, anyone!)

pray for us sinners, (Why are we sinners? Because we turned away from JESUS, who, if you read especially the Gospel of John, came to do the will of the FATHER. ‘Sin’ is when our actions are contrary to GOD’S will, pr when we abuse the natural gifts given to us by GOD.)

now, and at the Hour of our Death,

AMEN

 

Mary is referenced 6 times, while the Trinity is referenced or implied 8 times, as I count them. Now, multiply that by the number of beads on the Rosary. 

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You can see that the focus of the Hail Mary is less on Mary, but more of the Father and Jesus; it forms a perfect complement to the Our Father, thus making the Rosary an ideal form of devotion to the Father.

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)