Why the Hail Mary? - Lesson and Discussion

The Hail Mary as explained in the following lessons helps us know the following:

1. Understanding of Humanity – Mary is "our tainted nature’s solitary boast”. In understanding Mary we understand what it is to be the best human possible. We see in Mary what it means to empty our self, to trust and to be a true disciple of Christ.

2. Understanding Christ – Mary always points to her Son, Jesus. In the Hail Mary we begin to understand the nature of Christ, the nature of Grace and how it is Christ who invites us into a life of Grace in which the divine life of Grace and Truth will live within each disciple.

3. Understanding the World – As heresies pop up throughout time, it is the Hail Mary and the truths it contains that is the answer, our Holy Mother helps us to live in the world but not of the world. Satan comes to “steal, kill and destroy”[i]. If not for Christ and His Church, the following errors, lies, spread by Satan would have destroyed the world. All of these errors / heresies have been condemned by the Church either in a council, formal declaration or in her constant teaching.

First Millennium
Gnosticism (1^st and 2^nd Centuries) – Matter is Evil
Arianism (4^th Century) – Christ was made by God and is not God
Pelagianism (5^th Century) – We do not inherit original sin, but become sinful through bad example
Semi-Pelagianism (5^th Century) – Grace is not necessary to get to God
Iconoclasm (7^th and 8^th Centuries) – Sinful to make pictures or statues of Christ and the Saints.
Albigensianism (11^th Century) – Spirit is Good (created by God) but the Body is evil (created by evil god)

Second Millennium
Protestantism (16^th Century) – teaches scripture alone, faith alone and denies the authority of the Church
Calvinism (16^th Century) – man does not have free will and is predestined to heaven or hell
Rationalism (18^th Century to current) – Human Reason is enough, faith is not necessary, do not need divine revelation
Materialism (18^th Century to current) – reality is only matter, no distinction between matter and spirit, not uniquely created by God.
Secularism (19^th Century to current) – Human existence and destiny explainable in terms of this world, no focus on eternity but only of the temporal.
Humanism (19^th Century to current) – Humans can be happy and successful without God.
Modernism (19^th Century to current) – religion is just experience, no objective revelation from God
Atheism – the denial of a personal God who is distinct from the world He created.[ii]

4. Understanding the Church – As heresies and challenges arise in time, the Church has given us what are called dogmas. A dogma is “doctrine taught by the Church to be believed by all the faithful as part of divine revelation. All dogmas, therefore, are formally revealed truths and promulgated as such by the Church. They are revealed either in Scripture or tradition, either explicitly (as the Incarnation) or implicitly (as the Assumption). Moreover, their acceptance by the faithful must be proposed as necessary for salvation. They may be taught by the Church in a solemn manner, as with the definition of the Immaculate Conception, or in an ordinary way, as with the constant teaching on the malice of taking innocent human life.”[iii] The dogmas highlighted in this retreat are:

325AD – First Council of Nicaea – Divinity of Christ
431AD – Council of Ephesus – Theotokos (Mother of God) – Celebrated January 1
1854 AD – Pope Pius IX’s solemn definition – Immaculate Conception – Celebrated December 8
1950 AD – Pope Pius VII solemn definition – Assumption – Celebrated August 15

4. Understanding Mary – Of course the Hail Mary draws us into a deeper knowledge and love of Our Mother Mary. The prayer also connects to the major Marian Apparitions:

1531AD - Our Lady of Guadalupe – Mexico – Celebrated December 12
1858AD – Our Lady of Lourdes – France – Celebrated February 11
1917AD – Our Lady of Fatima – Portugal – Celebrated May 13

This Chart below shows how some of the lessons in the Marian Series connect with doctrine and dogmas of the Church, Marian apparitions and the errors and heresies of different time periods. Use what is best for the group you are working with. Feel free to mix and match with the lessons accordingly.

VIDEO - Sports “Hail Mary - Dallas Cowboys - Minnesota Vikings 1975” 
This video shows the "Hail Mary Pass" in the 1975 playoff game against the Minnesota Vikings. With seconds on the clock and the Cowboys trailing 14–10, Staubach launched a 50-yard bomb to wide receiver Drew Pearson, who caught the pass and strode into the end zone for a 17–14 victory. Roger Staubach, a practicing Catholic, coined a new phrase. “The term "Hail Mary" was developed because after the game, I told the press I closed my eyes and said a "Hail Mary." [iv] Just like Staubach many Catholics go to the “Hail Mary” in a time of need. If we were on an airplane and found out it was about to crash, we would probably say a Hail Mary and hopefully an Act of Contrition. The Hail Mary is short but contains so much. It is a call for help from our loving Mother in time of need and a summary of our faith and life as Christians.
 

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[i] John 10:10
[ii] Fr. John John A. Hardon, S.J. Modern Catholic Dictionary
[iii] Fr. John John A. Hardon, S.J. Modern Catholic Dictionary
[iv] Interview with http://www.profootballhof.com