Ave Maria

From Awe

One of the two best-known Christian prayers. Its name is often shortened to Ave. (This is a Latin greeting, translated as 'Hail!'. It is pronounced with two syllables - the '-e' is not silent: 'AH-vay', IPA: /ˈɑːv eɪ/}.} Since the Reformation, it has largely been a Roman Catholic and Orthodox habit to say the prayer Ave Maria, or Hail, Mary; but in earlier times it was possibly the second most commonly said prayer in Christendom. There was a special bell rung, the ave-bell, to mark the hour at which a Hail Mary should be said. In medieval times, it was even used as a measure of time: 'as long as it might take to say [ten] aves', and an ave is one of the fifty beads on the Rosary at which the prayer should be said.

The text is:

Latin	English
Avē Marīa, grātiā plēna,	Hail Mary, full of grace
Dominus tēcum.	the Lord is with thee;
Benedicta tū in mulieribus,	blessed art thou amongst women,
et benedictus frūctus ventris tuī, Iēsus.	and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Sāncta Marīa, Māter Deī,	Holy Mary, Mother of God,
ōrā prō nōbīs peccātōribus,	pray for us sinners,
nunc et in hōrā mortis nostrae	now and at the hour of our death.
Āmēn.	Amen.

(A 'Hail Mary', in talking of American football, is a long (forward) pass thrown in desperate moments, in which the superstitious may feel that only a prayer will ensure its completion. Such passes are usually thrown when time is running out.)