Popular culture sometimes inculturates the Catholic faith in interesting ways. For example, Edgar Allan Poe, in 1835, wondered why the bells would always toll at dawn, noon, and dusk at the nearby Fordham University. Asking the Jesuit priests there about the bells, they explained to him that the bells were tolled as they prayed the Angelus three times daily. Upon learning the Angelus, Poe, a non-Catholic, was so moved and inspired by this that he penned his famous poem, Hymn:
At morn- at noon- at twilight dim-As you may know, the Angelus is a beautiful and powerful prayer to Mary that expresses four ideas of depth:
Maria! thou hast heard my hymn!
In joy and woe- in good and ill-
Mother of God, be with me still!
When the hours flew brightly by,
And not a cloud obscured the sky,
My soul, lest it should truant be,
Thy grace did guide to thine and thee;
Now, when storms of Fate o'ercast
Darkly my Present and my Past,
Let my Future radiant shine
With sweet hopes of thee and thine!
The annoucement to Mary via the angel Gabriel (God's Initiation)
Mary's Obedience to the Lord (Obedience)
Enfleshment of the Lord (the Incarnation)
Sharing in His Passion (daily conversion to Christ)
| In Latin:
Angelus Domini nuntiavit Mariae. Et concepit de Spiritu Sancto. Ave Maria, gratia plena, dominus tecum. Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Jesus. Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis, peccatoribus, nunc et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen. Ecce ancilla Domini. Fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum. Ave Maria... Et Verbum caro factum est. Et habitavit in nobis. Ave Maria... Ora pro nobis, sancta Dei Genitrix. Ut digni efficiamur promissionibus Christi. Oremus. Gratiam tuam, quaesumus, Domine, mentibus nostris infunde; ut, qui, angelo nuntiante, Christi Filii tui incarnationem cognovimus, per passionem ejus et crucem, ad resurrectionis gloriam perducamur. Per eumdem Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen. | In English:
The angel of the Lord declared unto Mary. And she conceived of the Holy Ghost. Hail Mary, Full of Grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and at the hour of our death. Amen. Behold the handmaid of the Lord. Be it done unto me according to Thy 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 Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts, that we to whom the Incarnation of Christ, Thy 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. |
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