AVE MARIA

«AVE MARIA». - A prayer to the Virgin, also called, from the Middle Ages, the Angelic Salutation. Today it consists of two distinct parts: the first part comprises the words of the Archangel Gabriel, *Ave gratia plena; Dominus tecum; benedicta tu in mulieribus* (Lk 1:28), which are joined with those of St Elizabeth, *Et benedictus fructus ventris tui* (Lk 1:42); the second part contains the Church’s confident invocation to the Mother of God. The names of Jesus and Mary have been added to the biblical text as clarification (cf. Lk 1:27, 31) and as an expression of filial piety.

I. a) According to the style of the Septuagint (cf. Soph. 3:14; Joel 2:21; Zach. 9:9; Lam. 4:21) and the constant interpretation of the Greek Fathers, the angel’s “humble greeting”: *γαῖρε, κεχαριτωμένη* (in Hebrew probably *ramat mihannah*), expresses an invitation to joy proper to the new messianic era: “Rejoice!”; while the term *gratia* (“full of grace” [a fine alliteration in Greek with the greeting], with a possession that is not transitory but permanent) indicates the Virgin’s moral perfection and her sublime greatness, as it were a new creation of supernatural order (cf. Hugon, p. 72), of which, like the first (Gen 1:31), the divine Artificer is well pleased (cf. Cant. 4:1, 7 and Mt 3:17).

b) The words *Dominus tecum* (understood as *est*, not *sit* or *erit*), later clarified by the other words: *Ne timeas, Maria, invenisti enim gratiam apud Deum* (v. 30), constitute the essential word of the divine message. Indeed, this expression, very frequent in Holy Scripture to signify a glorious and formidable task that God, in extraordinary circumstances, entrusts—with the assurance of His help and the implicit prophecy of a happy outcome (cf. Is 8:10 and Rom 8:31)—to a person chosen by Him, as He did with the Patriarchs and the leaders of Israel (cf. Gen 15:1; 26:24; Ex 3:12; Deut 31:23; Judg 6:12, 16; 1 Sam 10:7), denotes the singular mission of the Virgin in the order of divine redemption: She is the one chosen by God to bring to fulfillment the great promise: *Inimicitias ponam inter te et Mulierem; et semen tuum et semen Illius* (Gen 3:15). Mary’s cause will be the same as that of her Son. The aged Simeon also alludes, in his prophecy, to the epic struggle in which Christ and the Virgin are protagonists on one side, and Satan and his followers on the other (Lk 2:34-35). For this reason, in Catholic liturgy the Blessed Virgin is honored as the warrior (cf. Cant. 6:9), the vanquisher of all heresies, and a powerful helper of Christians.

c) The other words, "You are blessed among women" (the expressions *inter mulieres* [cf. V. 42 Vulg.] and *in mulieribus*, a Hebrewism with a superlative value, are equivalent; cf., however, J. Beelen, *Gramm. Graecit. N. T.*, Louvain 1857, p. 254) according to the best Greek manuscripts, such as the Vaticanus and the Sinaiticus, which omit them, would not belong to the angelic message. Nevertheless, they are found not only in other manuscripts and ancient versions, from the *textus receptus* and the Vulgate (cf. J. Knabenbauer, *in h. l.* and A. Merk, *N. T. gr. et lat.*, 4th ed., Rome 1942, p. 189); but also in the Protoevangelium of James (XI, 1), by Tertullian (*De Virgin. vel.*, 6: PL 2, 897), by Eusebius (*Demonstr. evang.*, VII, 1: PG 22, 517): these testimonies, which M.-J. Lagrange (*in Lc. 1, 28*) judges to be *«d’excellentes autorités»*, though adding that they *«sont suspectes d’avoir harmonisé avec V. 42»*.

However, as other critics and exegetes have observed, there is nothing strange in the fact that such praise was directed to the Virgin twice, by the Archangel Gabriel (v. 28) and by St. Elizabeth (v. 42), who, *«filled with the Holy Spirit»* (v. 41), completed it by giving the profound reason in the blessed fruit of her womb, in which, according to the messianic promises to the Patriarchs, *«all nations would be blessed»* (Gen. 22, 18; 26, 4; 28, 14, and Io. 16 and Gal. 3, 8-16). Theologically, those words are essential: without them the angelic message would remain incomplete, neglecting the true reason for the *«Dominus tecum»*. They are demanded by the intimate relationship that the Annunciation (v.) has with the Protoevangelium (Gen. 3). With them, in fact, Mary is proclaimed the *«new Eve»*, the true *«mother of the living»*, whom the Evangelist will call *«children of God»* (Io. 1, 12; I Io. 3, 1), the only woman who did not merit and did not transmit the condemnation, but the blessing, because through her God has undone the ancient curse and has blessed the wretched children of Eve (cf. St. Sophronius, *Orat.*, II, 22: PG 87, 3242; ps.-Hier. [Pasc. Radbert], *Ep. 9, 5*: PL 30, 127; St. Bernard, *Hom. II super Missus est*, n. 3: PL 183, 62 sq.).

d) Thus, concise yet rich in theological content (*«arcan mysteria reserans»*: St. Bernard, *De diversis*, Serm. 52, 2: PL 183, 675), the salutation (Lk. 1, 29) of the Archangel Gabriel, already a messenger of the messianic era in the Old Testament (Dan. 9, 21-27), announces, as the dawn of redemption, that Mary is the Immaculate (*«full of grace»*: cf. Pius IX, bull *«Ineffabilis»*, 8 Dec. 1854), because elected by God as co-redemptrix of the human race (*«the Lord is with you»*), as the new Eve (*«blessed are you among women»*), Mother of God and our Mother, universal mediatrix of grace. And it is only in this messianic light that the unique dignity of the Virgin must be considered, in order to be properly understood, to which the Church justly pays a special cult known as *«hyperdulia»*.

e) The Angel’s greeting also recalls the prophecies of Isaiah concerning Emmanuel (7:14), “Prince of Peace” (9:6–7). If the prophetic name Emmanuel directly alludes to the mystery of the divine Incarnation yet to be accomplished, the name Jesus, announced by the Angel (Lk 1:31; 2:21), better expresses the mission of the Messiah already come among men as “Saviour” (Mt 1:21, 25; Lk 2:11). Yet, with Cornelius a Lapide, Knabenbauer, and Holzmeister, it must be noted at once (cf. Mt 1:22–23) that the name Emmanuel, “God with us,” that is, “God who is present to help and save,” is formally identical with Jesus (“God is salvation”): the holiest, the sweetest, the most joyful of names (cf. Jubilus de nom. Jesu: PL 184, 1317–20).

f) As in the Angelic Salutation, so in the divine history of Redemption and in the life of the Church, the name of Mary is indissolubly united with that of Jesus. Therefore the Angelic Salutation, which sums up all the privileges and glories of the Virgin, is, after the Pater Noster, the most heartfelt and beautiful prayer of Christians, ever new and sweet, which has inspired the greatest geniuses. Dante hears it sung in Paradise, intoned by Gabriel, to which the blessed reply in choirs with a visible increase of their radiance (Par., XXXII, 94 ff.; cf. III, 121 sq. and XXIII, 88–111).

II. The history of the Angelic Salutation spans a millennium of gradual development, from the 6th century, when it first arose as a liturgical expression, to the 16th, when it attained its present form.

a) In the East we find testimony in two Egyptian strophes of the 6th or 7th century, on which the first part of the Angelic Salutation is inscribed in Greek (text in Leclercq). The ancient liturgies, taken as a whole, attest a certain uniformity among the Eastern Churches in honouring the Virgin in this way (Syrian Liturgy of St James, the Egyptian of St Mark, and the Ethiopian of the Twelve Apostles, in F. E. Brightman, Liturgies Eastern and Western, I [Oxford 1896], 56, 128, 218). To the twofold biblical greeting they added the words: “For thou hast borne the Saviour of our souls.”

In the West, great significance attaches to the offertory of the 4th Sunday of Advent in the Roman liturgy, which dates from the time of St Gregory the Great and gives us the text in its original form, as it was used throughout the Middle Ages: “Ave, Maria, gratia plena: Dominus tecum: benedicta tu in mulieribus et benedictus fructus ventris tui.” The Ambrosian liturgy has the variant, according to the Vulgate at Lk 1:42, “inter mulieres” (Transit. of the 6th Sunday of Advent).

b) Benché inserita nella liturgia, l'A. non divenne subito formola abituale di preghiera del popolo. Solo alla fine del sec. XII troviamo le prime prescrizioni relative alla recita dell'A. Il vescovo di Parigi, Odone de Soliac, nel Sinodo del 1198 raccomandava: «Exhortentur populum semper presbyteri ad dicendum Orationem dominicam, et Credo in Deum, et 'Saluationem Beatae Virginis'» (Mansi, XXII, 861). Nel secolo seguente, molti concili d'ogni nazione ritirarono simili prescrizioni (ad es., il Sinodo di Co-ventry in Inghilterra, del 1237: ibid., XXIII, 432); onde, a partire da quest'epoca, l'uso dell'A. si generazione a partire da quest'epoca, l'uso dell'A. si generazione a partire da quest'epoca, l'uso dell'Anno di Pasqua, e mariano (v.), l'A. diviene una delle preghiere più care alla pietà cristiana.

Ad Urbano IV (1261-64) si attribuisce l'introduzione del nome di Gesù nel testo dell'A.; ma non è certo. L'invocazione Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen, formatasi gradualmente nelle singole frasi tra il sec. XIII e il XV, entrava anche nell'uso dei fedeli. La formula integrale odierna dell'A. fu fissata da s. Pio V, che nel 1568, riformando il Breviario romano, ne prescrisse la recita, insieme con quella del Pater, all'inizio d'ogni ora canonica. I Domenicani, tuttavia, hanno conservato l'antica formula (fino a Jesus) nell'Officium Parum B. M. V., che si recita ogni giorno nel loro noviziato e studentati.

c) Nella liturgia, l'A. si presenta come antifona (Vespri della festa dell'Annunziazione) e come offertorio nelle Messe in onore della Madonna. — I polifonisti hanno preso questa preghiera come mottetto sviluppando il tema gregoriano: così Josquin des Prés, Palestrina e il Vittoria. Nei secoli più vicini a noi, i musicisti hanno trattato il testo con più libertà.

Alcune di queste composizioni sono rimaste celebri, come l'A. di Schubert, Gounod, Cherubini, Mozart, Mendelssohn e di molti altri, tutte in stile extra-liturgico e quindi da escludersi nelle funzioni sacre, ma degne elevazioni dello spirito e nobile omaggio dell'arte alla Vergine Madre.

Moreover: F. Zorcell, “Was does the name Jesus mean?”, in Zeitschrift für katholische Theologie, 30 (1906), pp. 74-66; id., Maria, soror Mois, et Maria, Mater Dei, in Verbum Domini, 6 (1926), pp. 257-63; id., s. V. in Lexicon Graecum N. T., 2nd ed., Paris 1931, col. 797 ff.; with bibliography; C. Beckermann, “Et nomen virginalis Maria” (Lk 1:27), in Verbum Domini, 1 (1921), pp. 130-136; E. Hugon, Marie pleine de grâce, 5th ed., Paris 1926 (theological commentary on the saying: Plena sibi, superplena nobis).

It appears the provided text contains a repeated and corrupted entry regarding bibliographic references. Below is the corrected and translated portion of the text, adhering strictly to the given rules:

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J. Mabillon, *Acta SS. O. S. B.*, soc. V. PREFAZIO. nn. 119-28; G. C. Trombelli, *De cultu publico ab Ecclesia B. Mariae exhibito*, diss.

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