Looking back on 2020, I think we all might agree it was a difficult year! Here is hoping 2021 will be better. One of the ways we can make the year better for us is to pray for God’s grace. God’s grace makes all the difference. When God’s grace pours down upon us, we enjoy the blessings and protection that come along with it. When God’s grace dissipates, things can get rough out there as they did this past year.
See to it that no one be deprived of the grace of God…Hebrews 12:15
Aside from suffering afflictions, some of the best ways to get God’s graces flowing down upon us is to live out these four ways of discipleship in Christ:
- Live a sacramental life.
- Live a prayerful life.
- Live a faithful life.
- Live a charitable life.
Those four ways might help explain why praying the Angelus is a good idea.
This is because praying will help keep the sacraments available to us, and hopefully for the next generation of the Church. We can pray to the Blessed Virgin Mary to intercede to God for us. I heard a Marian expert and an ordained exorcist say the Blessed Virgin Mary is more powerful than all of the other saints, combined!
“Ask the Virgin Mary to give you her Son, who in the blessed sacrament of the altar is truly the food of your soul.” – St. Cajetan
As a best practice, one would pray the Angelus three (3) times per day (traditionally at 6 am, noon, 6 pm). This is a new year’s prayer resolution that can be prayed at any time of the day. However, the Angelus will be most effective if you pray it during the traditional liturgical times. The Angelus only takes about a minute or so to complete.
When you hear Catholic church bells ring at 6:00 am, noon, or 6:00 pm, they are ringing during those specific times because that means it is the traditional liturgical time by the Church for Catholics to unite as one on all levels and pray the Angelus.
You can buy an Angelus prayer card, write the prayer, print it out, or memorize it.
Here is the Angelus:
The Angelus
℣. The Angel of the LORD declared unto Mary,
℟. And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.
Hail Mary, full of grace; the LORD is with thee: blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the Fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.
℣. Behold the handmaid of the LORD.
℟. Be it done unto me according to thy word.
Hail Mary, full of grace; the LORD is with thee: blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the Fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.
℣. And the Word was made flesh. (genuflect.)
℟. And dwelt among us. (genuflect.)
Hail Mary, full of grace; the LORD is with thee: blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the Fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.
℣. Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God.
℟. That we might 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.
3 Reasons Why Praying the Angelus is a Good Idea for 2021.
Reason #1 – When you pray the Angelus, you are reciting Sacred Scripture.
When you pray scripture aloud, you are shining light into the darkness.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:5
I read where a Catholic spiritual warfare expert and an exorcist assistant said that demons will particularly recoil when they hear the first passage from St. John’s Gospel prayed aloud in the Rite of Exorcism. The Angelus affirms that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (Jn 1:14). Thus, it is always a good idea to pray the Angelus in spiritual warfare as we very much are in the battle. Jesus told St. Faustina we are in a great cosmic arena of spiritual combat where God and His angels are watching us.
“As we do battle and fight in the contest of faith, God, his angels and Christ himself watch us.” – St. Cyprian
Reason #2 – When you pray the Angelus, you are honoring the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The Angelus is a Catholic prayer devotional that pays tribute to the Blessed Virgin Mary and her humble cooperation with God to give us the hope of eternal salvation in her Son, Jesus Christ. The prayer also recognizes that an angel of the Lord, the archangel Gabriel, made the Annunciation to Mary about God’s plan for her with the Incarnation of the Word and the redemption of mankind.
And coming to her, he said, “Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you.” Luke 1:28
In the Angelus, we confidently pray aloud Mary’s cooperation with God’s will.
…Be done to me according to your word.” Luke 1:38
Not only is the Blessed Virgin Mary’s role crucial for the possibility of eternal salvation (she will be our advocate at the judgement), but she is also the mediatrix of God’s grace. The angel Gabriel (Gabriel means “Power of God”) said that Mary was “favored.” The root Greek word is charis which means “grace.”
God’s grace is essential – in our lives, in our families, in our Church, country and in the whole world. Where there is God’s grace, there is also God’s peace.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Philemon 1:3
Reason #3 – When you pray the Angelus, you are remembering what life is all about.
We are created for God, and our hearts are made for God. The end goal of salvation is to spend eternity with God. Praying the Angelus should prove to be beneficial not only in our lives, but also in the lives of others, especially for our ordained bishops and priests called by God who need our prayers. We are all in the battle together.
“Help me both by your prayers and by your obedience, for then it will be a pleasure for me, not to preside over you, but to serve you.” – St. Augustine
When we pray the Angelus, whether it be morning, noon or evening, we stop what we are doing with the countless generations before us (the prayer goes all the way back to the 13th century) to recognize God our Creator, the Mother of God, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and even the nine choirs of angels, all of whom play a critical role in the possibility of eternal salvation in Christ.
Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Luke 1:30-33
