Pray Three Times a Day

There is a prayer that all Catholics used to say three times a day.

Back when the culture allowed public expression of religion, church bells used to ring at morning, noon and evening, summoning everyone in town and in the fields to recite the “Angelus.” 

This painting by Jean-François Millet (1857–59) showing a couple paused for prayer in their field made the Angelus part of art history. 

The prayer summarizes the whole Christian message.

The Angelus is made of three sentences based on Scripture, each followed by a Hail Mary, and capped by a concluding prayer.

The first sentence announces the mystery of the Incarnation: 

“The angel of the Lord declared unto Mary, and she conceived by the Holy Spirit.”

The second sentence recalls Mary’s response to God’s message, teaching us the total surrender which should be normative for every Christian:

“Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to your word.”

The third sentence proclaims the fruit of Mary’s surrender, which is realized anew in every person who accepts the Good News: 

“And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.” 

Jesus “takes flesh” in every baptized member of his body on earth.

There it is:  God’s invitation, our response, the fruit of our response in the Incarnation extended. That is the “glory of this mystery,” which sums up our redemption: “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).

In the concluding prayer we ask Mary to “pray for us, O holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.” Then we sum it all up in a prayer to the Father:

“Pour forth, we beseech you, O Lord, your grace into our hearts; that we to whom the Incarnation of Christ your Son was made known by the message of an angel, may by his passion and cross be brought to the glory of his resurrection. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.”

To say this three times a day, conscious of what we are saying, is to grow into awareness of the mystery of what we have become.