Domini



Nihil obstat:

Bertin Roll, O.F.M.Cap.

Censor deputatus

Imprimi potest:

Victor Green, O.F.M.Cap.

Minister Provincial

November 19, 1955

Copyright, © 1956. Franciscan Herald Press
1434 West 51st Street, Chicago 9, Illinois

Made in the United States of America

FRANCISCAN HERALD PRESS

1434 West 51st Street

Chicago 9, III.

J.S. PALUCH CO., INC.

1800 Winnemac Ave.

Chicago 40, III.



THE ANGELUS

Its Meaning

and History

by

DOMINIC J. UNGER,

O.F.M.Cap., S.T.L., S.S.L.





"ANGELUS"

The Angel of the Lord declared

unto Mary.

And she conceived of the Holy

Ghost.

Hail Mary, etc.

Behold the handmaid of the Lord.

Be it done unto me according to

your word!

Hail Mary
,

etc.

And the Word was made flesh.

And dwelt among us.

Hail Mary, etc.

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 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

the Angel, may, by His Passion and Cross,

be brought to the glory of His resurrec-

tion. Through the same Christ, our Lord.

Amen.



INTRODUCTION

The frontispiece of our pamphlet shows a

painting that is known even to school children

and is beloved of all people. It is the most

popular of the masterpieces of the French

painter Jean Francois Millet (1814-1875). It

depicts the scene of two peasants in a harvest

field. The musical sound of the noon day

bell is wafted across the fields. The peasants

pause in their work; in reverence they bow

their heads and pray the Angelus.

Millet's picture breathes reverence. It in-

spires peace and contentment. The artist,

famous for depicting the peasant type of

sturdy virtue, has here succeeded superbly in

portraying the dignity of labor and the man-

liness of prayer. Labor, this painting tells us,

is of greatest dignity—only when the laborer

is in contact with His Creator. Such labor-

union alone justifies the beads of sweat on the

brow and the calluses on the hands. The

Angelus prayer, morning, noon and night, is

eminently suited to foster communion of the

laborer with His God.

From boyhood days there lingers in my

mind the memory of a picture. In my town a

middle-aged man was walking home from his

flour-mill for dinner. The Angelus bell began

to ring. Immediately he took off his hat, and



holding it in hand, walked along. When the
bell ceased sounding, he put on his hat again.

He had prayed the Angelus. That was not the

only day he did this. What a beautiful and

manly custom! What a fruitful practice! He

had inherited it from the emerald Isle.

It was a Presbyterian, Robert Lynd, who, in

his Home Life in Ireland

,

wrote this fine

tribute.

If you are in a little town in any part of

Ireland—except the northest—about noon

,

when the chapel bells ring for the Ange-

lus
,
you will see all the men suddenly

taking off their hats and crossing them-

selves as they say their midday prayers.

The world loses its air of work , or of the

commonplace idleness
,
and the streets take

on an intense beauty for the moment , as

the old people and the young people half

hide their eyes to murmur a rapid prayer

to the Mother of God. The boy walking

by a loaded cart stands still with bared

head
,
or stumbles forward

,
praying as he

walks. In the doors of the houses, in the

entries on the bridge over the river, the

town assumes a multitudinous reverence

as the tide of prayer sweeps through it to

the dinning music of the bell. Even the

policeman
, ludicrously stiff in his military

uniform, lowers his head with a kind of

salute, and offers homage to heaven. I

confess I like this daily forgetfulness of



the world in the middle of the day. It

brings wonder into almost every country

town in Ireland at least once a day.

Similar tributes could be paid to other

countries, especially when Catholicism was an

atmosphere in which people lived there. There

was Germany and Italy and England—yes, the

last of these was among the first where the

practice of the Angelus flourished.

Endeavors are being made in our day toward

a revival or a more enthusiastic interest in this

centuries-old prayer and practice, by sermons

and conferences, by leaflets and pamphlets,

even by a daily broadcast of the Angelus bell

and its prayer over the airwaves. It is toward

this revival that I offer this brief explanation

and history of the Angelus.



THE MEANING OF THE ANCELUS

The name of this prayer may sound strange

to those not initiated in the Latin language.

Angelus commemorates the story of the An-

nunciation of the Angel Gabriel to the Mother

of Jesus. In Latin, which was the language

first used for the prayer, the opening word of

the prayer is Angelus, “the Angel.” Hence the

name.

The Angelus was in the making for many

centuries until it attained its present form. As

said today it consists essentially of three Hail

Mary’s, each of which is preceded by a versicle

and a response; and the last Hail Mary is

followed by a versicle, response and prayer.

The whole text is given at the beginning of

this pamphlet.

The Angelus expresses the most stupendous

message ever given by God to men, the news

about the Redemption of mankind through

the Incarnation of God himself from a lowly

and humble Virgin Mother. By retelling, the

story of the Annunciation as related in the

divinely inspired Gospel of Saint Luke, chap-

ter 1, verses 26-38, we can best understand the

meaning of the prayer.

When “the fullness of time had come” (Gal.

4:4), as determined in the Providence of God,

in the days that King Herod was ruler of

Judea (Luke 1:5), God sent Gabriel, one of
his Angels who assist at his throne in Heaven

(Luke 1:9), to a little town of Galilee, called



Nazareth. Here there lived a humble young

lady, who was a virgin, but who was espoused

to the very holy man, Joseph. He, as the

Virgin herself, was a descendant of the royal

family of the great King David. The Virgin’s

name was Mary, a name that well befitted

her, since in her day it probably was popularly

taken to mean “Lady,” and its scientific mean-

ing may be “Highness,” or “Exalted One.”

Entering her home unannounced, the Angel

must have found Mary at prayer—the perfect

occupation for receiving this message. He

greeted her: “Hail, Full of grace.” “Hail,”

represents the Greek of Saint Luke, which

really means “Rejoice.” It has commonly been

asserted that St. Luke merely interpreted the

usual Hebrew greeting, “Peace be to you,”

since the Angel no doubt spoke in the Aramaic

language, Mary’s language. Today, however,

scholars incline to think that the Angel used

a term that actually invited Mary to rejoice,

a term that is found in some Messianic proph-

ecies. And so the Angel’s first word would
indicate that he came to announce the fulfill-

ment of the prophecies about the Messiah who

would bring joy to the world.

Immediately the Angel addressed the Vir-

gin, not by her personal name, but by a very

special title: “Full-of-grace.” This expression,

so familiar to us, is freighted with meaning.

I have used hyphens to indicate that it is a

title of Mary, given in the Greek of St. Luke

by one word. We might coin a parallel like



“all-graced.” The Greek perfect participle in

this case indicates that Mary possesses to the

fullest measure what the stem of the verb im-

plies, namely, grace.

The grace that Mary possessed so fully and

by which she is in turn possessed so fully is

sanctifying grace. This she had received al-

ready at the first moment of her existence,

when she was immaculately conceived in her

own mother’s womb. Mary was so full of grace

that she possessed more than all Angels and

men taken together. Besides sanctifying grace,

the fullness of grace meant here includes also

the very exceptional, entirely unique and

fundamental favor that God bestowed on

Mary and about which the Angel came to tell

her, her divine, virgin Motherhood.

After that greeting the Angel assured Mary:

“The Lord is with you.” This phrase, found

rather frequently in the Sacred Scriptures of

the Old Testament, expresses the fact that

God is with Mary in a very special manner,

because he is conferring on her a most excep-

tional and difficult office. In it she will cer-

tainly be successful, since God himself, the
Lord Omnipotent, will give all the help

needed.

Whether at this point the Angel pronounced

the special praise of Mary, “Blessed are you

among women,” is not certain, since it is miss-

ing here in a few of the more important manu-

scripts. No matter. It is certain that, not
many days later, Saint Elizabeth, under divine



inspiration, uttered this praise of her cousin

Mary. The clause is couched in Hebrew idiom

for the superlative degree, and means that

Mary is more blessed than all other women.

All in all the divine messenger’s praise was

surely exceptional for a young Jewish lady of

lowly station. Small wonder that in her humil-

ity, Mary feared at hearing such praise be-

stowed on her. Still she remained entirely

self-possessed and kept pondering what man-

ner of greeting this really was. The Angel

quickly informed her: “Do not be afraid,

Mary; for you have found grace with God.”

The Angel, in other words, said, “Mary, you

are most pleasing to God; He is granting you

a very great favor.” Continuing, the divine

herald unburdened himself of his message:

“And behold
,
you shall conceive in your womb

and shall bring forth a son;

and you shall call his name Jesus.

He shall be great,
and he shall be called the Son of the

Most High;

and the Lord God will give him the

throne of David his father,

and he shall be King over the house of

Jacob forever;

and of his kingdom there shall be no

endr

What a wonderful son Mary will have! In-

deed, the Prophet Isaias had announced Him

as “the wonderful” (Isa. 9:6). He is the long-

awaited Messiah, the Son of God. He is the



Savior of mankind, whose name itself, Jesus,

means that he will save his people from their

sins, as the Angel will later explain to Joseph

(Matt. 1:21). He is the great King whose

kingdom will never end; it is everlasting as

he himself is everlasting, as the great prophet

Daniel had already foretold (Dan. 7:14).

What a wonderful child the Angel promised

Mary! What? A child to Mary? But how?
“How shall this happen?’' asked Mary, look-
ing for an explanation, since “I do not know

man.” She wished to say that she had made

a firm and sacred resolve never to make use

of a wife’s rights with her spouse. She had

decided, undoubtedly under divine guidance,

to remain a virgin always, even though for

protection she espoused Joseph, who had also

determined to remain a virgin.

The Angel did not leave Mary in doubt for

long. He assured her:

“The Holy Spirit shall come upon you
,

and the power of the Most High shall

overshadow you :

and therefore the Holy One to he born

shall be called the Son of God.”

How delicately and simply stated! Mary
will remain a virgin while at the same time

she will be the greatest mother ever to exist,

the Mother of the Son of God. This will ele-

vate her to the highest dignity a mere creature

can receive even from God. All this by the

miraculous creative power of the Holy Spirit,

the Spirit of Love Divine.



Then, by way of re-assurance, though Mary

had not doubted the Angel’s message, he gave

her a sign of the truth of the message: Eliza-

beth, her cousin, is with child. She who had

been sterile and who was now beyond the

child-bearing age conceived a child by God’s

omnipotence. “For nothing shall be impos-

sible with God.” Neither, therefore, shall the

virginal conception of Mary’s divine Child

be impossible.

Now the Angel is waiting. His message has
been delivered. God in his infinite goodness

did not wish to force motherhood on Mary,

even Divine Motherhood. God, too, is wait-

ing . . . waiting for Mary’s answer. In a sense,

God made the Incarnation of his Son and the

consequent redemption of mankind depend

on the consent of the Redeemer’s Mother. He

wanted her to share in the closest way in her

Son’s work of Redemption, not only in the dis-

tribution of the graces acquired, but already

in the very first act bringing Redemption.

And the first step would be Mary’s consent,

free and generous, to be the Mother of the

Redeemer, to make it possible for the Son of

God to be born of our race and to offer him-

self for man’s Redemption. What will Mary’s

answer be? Without delay, most humbly but

resolutely she replied:

“Behold the handmaid of the Lord.

Be it done to me according to your word.”

Mary meant to say, “I am the lowly servant

of the Lord Almighty. Let him achieve in me,



and with me, what he has expressed in the

message that you have brought. God’s holy

will be done.”

The Angel’s mission is ended. He left as

quietly as he had come. Saint John states the

mystery simply:

“And the Word was made flesh

,

and dwelt among us” (John 1:14).

Immediately upon Mary’s consent to be the

Mother of the Messiah the Holy Spirit
wrought the marvel of the Incarnation of the

Son of God in the immaculate sanctuary of

the Virgin Mary’s womb. Pope Pius XII, quot-

ing Saint Thomas, writes in his encyclical on

the Mystical Body,
“
‘In the name of the whole

human race,’ She gave consent for ‘spiritual

nuptials between the Son of God and human

nature.’ ” Thereby she became the Mediatrix

and Spiritual Mother of all men as well as
the Mother of God’s Son and our Redeemer.

THE ANGELUS ITSELF

In telling the story of the Annunciation we

have explained also the three versicles of the

Angelus.

The first versicle is: “The Angel of the

Lord declared unto Mary.” This is a summary

of the entire message of the Annunciation, as

if we were saying: “The Angel of the Lord

brought a message to Mary.”

The response is: “And she conceived of the
Holy Ghost.” That was the purpose of the



message, and the effect. The Angel told Mary

that God was inviting her to be the Mother

of the Redeemer. She accepted the invitation.

Then, as the Angel had promised, she con-

ceived the Son of God through a miracle

wrought by the Holy Spirit, thus becoming

the greatest Mother and still remaining the

most perfect Virgin.

Since Mary’s part in this initial step of Re-

demption was of such importance, we em-

phasize it by singling out her consent in the

second versicle: “Behold the handmaid of the

Lord

”

and in its response: “Be it done to me

according to your word
”
The meaning and

import of this we explained above.

In the third versicle we put in bold relief

the fact of the Incarnation, as resulting from

the Annunciation. We clothe our prayerful
thought in the immortal and picturesque

words of Saint John: “And the Word was

made flesh , and dwelt among us.” Words that

describe the Incarnation of the Eternal Word
of God by assuming flesh, our human nature

complete with body and soul, from the Virgin

Mary, and thus dwelling among us, pitching

his tent (as the Greek verb implies) on our

earth for the time of his sojourn. Simplest

metaphor expressive of the sublimest mystery!

The Hail Mary was originally the only part

of the Angelus, and is today its heart. In the

story of the Annunciation, we explained the

first phrases of the Hail Mary. Now we will
continue with the rest. We noted above that



if the Angel did not address to Mary the

words, “Blessed are you among women,”

Elizabeth certainly did (Luke 1:42). But

Elizabeth also added: “And blessed is the fruit

of your womb” (Luke 1:42). Truly, Mary's
Child is “blessed"; he is the source of all bless-

ing. To that was added, in the Middle Ages,

the name of Jesus, who is the fruit, the child,

of Mary's womb. Thus the first part of the

Hail Mary is complete.

The second half was composed and added

in the Middle Ages. There is a credible tradi-

tion that it was the Franciscan Friars who

began the practice of adding “pray for us

sinners, now and at the hour of our death."

It is a petition to Mary to exercise her power-

ful intercession with God in our behalf, since

she is God's Mother. That is why we pray,

“Holy Mary, Mother of God." It is particular-

ly as “sinners" that we have need of the inter-

cession of Our Mother of mercy; and precisely

“now" at every moment of our lives, but most

of all “at the hour of our death," when Satan's

assaults will be renewed; at the hour of our

death, the most important moment of our

lives, on which will depend our unending life

thereafter, in that moment we must make

good; in that moment we have particular

need of the guiding hand and understanding

heart of our Mother. We, therefore, make this

request of her: “Pray for us sinners, now and

at the hour of our death."



The Angelus concludes with a prayer pre-

ceded by a versicle. The versicle is simply an

expression of our belief and trust in the in-

tercessory power of Mary with God. We pray
for the greatest blessing possible—to be made

worthy of the blessings promised us through

the Redemption of Christ: “Pray for us, O
Holy Mother of God. That we may be made

worthy of the promises of Christ.”

The prayer itself commemorates the voca-

tion of Jesus and Mary, the Incarnation of the

Eternal Word from the Virgin Mother.

Pour forth, we beseech you, O Lord, your
grace in our hearts, that we, to whom the In-
carnation of your Son was made known to us

by the message of the Angel, may by his Pas-

sion and Cross be brought to the glory of the

resurrection. Through the same Christ Our

Lord. Amen.

We address this petition to God the Father:
“O Lord.” As the motive for our petition we

appeal to the fact that God gave us a know-

ledge of the Incarnation through the message

of the Angel Gabriel: “That we unto whom

the Incarnation of Christ your Son was made

known by the message of the Angel.” The fa-

vor that we petition is a further infusion of

God’s grace into our hearts for the greater

perfection of our spiritual lives: “Pour forth,

wre beseech you, . .
.
your grace into our

hearts.” But the goal of our petition and the

final fruit of our life of grace is to be the glo-



rious resurrection. This, however, we hope to

obtain through the Passion and Death of

Christ: “may by His Passion and Cross be

brought to the glory of the resurrection.”

REASONS FOR

PRAYING THE ANGELUS

Why should we pray the Angelus? The rea-
sons can be gathered from the very thoughts

expressed in the Angelus and from its historic

development. One may say, in general, that

the reasons are two: to give honor and glory

to God, to Christ and to Mary; and to bring

salvation and peace to men. The Angelus is,

in other words, a prayerful echo of the Angel’s

song : “Glory to God in the highest, and peace

on earth among men of good will.”

The prayer deals expressly with the mystery

of the Incarnation, of how the Son of God be-

came man through the consent and coopera-
tion of the Ever-Virgin Mary. To recall this
mystery over and over again in the Angelus

is indeed an easy yet effective manner of giv-

ing glory to God, to the Incarnate Word and
to his Immaculate Mother. It must be most

pleasing to them. It is a composition of praise

for Mary made by God himself and the

Church. Besides, this prayer is a commemora-

tion of the Passion of Jesus. It is meant to give

glory to God in the highest, and also to Christ

the redeemer and his Virgin Mother.



It is related that Saint Mechtilda one day

wished that she could honor Mary as no crea-

ture had yet done. Mary herself appeared to

her with the Angel’s salutation written in

golden letters across her breast. She assured

the Saint: “No one has yet surpassed this sal-

utation, and no one can give me a more wel-
come greeting than that given to me by God
the Father through that Ave.” Let us salute

Mary with the prayer she loves so dearly and

esteems so highly.

In the Angelus we ask for the greatest

blessings for ourselves and all people. The

words themselves express this reason. In the

Hail Mary we beg for the gift of final per-

severance through Mary’s help at the hour of

our death, and in the Prayer we request the

further infusion of graces that will lead to a

glorious resurrection. These benefits are really

summed up in the second part of the Angel’s

song : “And peace on earth to men of good

will.” Peace of soul is the result and the sum

of all the blessings that we can lawfully enjoy

on earth. It is the blessing we desire so much

to receive through the Incarnation and Re-

demption of Mary’s Son, the Prince of Peace.

The Angelus should be our special prayer for

peace each day—morning, noon and night. We
will then realize the Angels’ chant: “And

peace on earth to men of good will.”

The Angelus is in a true sense the com-

memoration of the vocations of Jesus and

Mary, the two greatest vocations ever to be



given by God. In God's eternal decree the

vocation or call was given to Jesus and Mary.

It is therefore very natural to consider the

Angelus a special vocation prayer. For any-

one who must yet choose his vocation the An-

gelus is a prayer for divine guidance and

courage to make the proper choice. For one

already settled in his vocation, the Angelus is

a prayer for successfully fulfilling God's will

in the state that has been chosen. We can pray
it too for the vocation of others.

An inspiring practice would be the family
recitation of the Angelus when gathered at

table for grace before meals. Through it each

child, as his turn comes, would be guided by

God to choose his vocation wisely according to

his plan; the parents and those children who

have already made their choice would be given

the grace to be successful in their state of life.

Making the choice and success of vocations

such a “family affair" will certainly draw

down God's blessings.

In conclusion to this section on the fruits

of the Angelus, it should be noted that this

prayer is richly indulgenced. See the end of

the pamphlet for the indulgences.

EVERYONE'S PRAYER

Everyone receives benefits from the Incarna-

tion and Redemption and from Mary's co-

operation in this work of salvation; everyone

has need of the grace and peace that will lead



to a glorious resurrection. For that reason we

should pray the Angelus daily. There is hardly

an excuse for not doing so. It is so simple to

remember and takes so little time. To pause
three times daily—this need not be exactly at

six, twelve and six, as long as it is in the

morning, at noon and in the evening—to pause

for a few moments to say the Angelus, is a

splendid means of spiritual recollection.

The Angelus can be said anywhere. In the

home, of course, it should be said by the

family in common as far as possible, or at

least by those who happen to be at home. It

can be said in the office, in the workshop, in

the factory. It can be said while walking along

the street. It can be said very naturally in the

field, immortalized in the painting of Millet.

In every circumstance the Angelus can cer-

tainly be said privately, in a manner that is

entirely unknown to others who might cause

a disturbance over a “public” Angelus. But

where possible it would be praiseworthy if

Catholic workers would pause in their work

for the Angelus, fold their hands and bow

their heads while answering a leader of the

group. Should the work be of such a nature

that it cannot be discontinued even for these

few minutes, the Angelus could still be recited

aloud by someone and answered by the others

without interfering with the work.

For a number of years, the Angelus has been

broadcast from some radio stations each eve-

ning kt six o’clock. This is a modern, rather



simple, but effective means of encouraging

the Angelus. During the Marian year of 1954

the Holy Father himself several times led the

Angelus over the Vatican radio.

Join the modern crusade for saying the An-

gelus daily wherever you are, especially as a

family prayer in your home. By the daily reci-

tation of the Angelus we could change the

world for the better. Your own little world

will take on a new beauty, particularly for

that one moment when you stand with bowed

head and whisper Mary’s prayer to the music

of Mary’s bell.

The Angelus is recommended especially to

mothers. By their motherly influence they can

be instrumental in having the Angelus prayed

daily in their homes. And the Angelus is a

reminder to all mothers of the supreme dig-

nity of motherhood, elevated by Mary’s con-

sent to be the Mother of God. Mary made it

possible for all mothers to give birth to chil-

dren who could be incorporated into the Mys-

tical Body of Christ, and be heirs of heavenly

glory. Without Mary’s consent this would not

have been possible. Mothers would have given

birth to children who could never have had

even the slightest hope of enjoying an unend-

ing happiness in a face to face vision of God.

The Angelus recalls this outstanding participa-

tion of all mothers in the mystery of the In-

carnation and Redemption through the co-

operation of the Ever-Virgin Mother.



Mothers by their example and influence can

train the children to love the Angelus so that

its recitation will be second nature for them

even outside the home. Bishop Sailler was

visiting a small town in rural Germany. The

children were putting on a program for him.

A little girl of ten was the first speaker. Just
as she came on stage the Angelus bell began

to sound. For a moment she was embarrassed.

But only for a moment. With a clear voice

she announced very naively: “I think before

we begin we had better pray the Angelus.”

And they did. The Bishop was highly pleased
and commented on the practical education of

the child.

HISTORIC DEVELOPMENT

OF THE ANGELUS

The Angelus has an interesting history.

But it is not to be viewed as a mere antique

in some museum, but as a living prayer, ven-

erable with age, increasing in beauty through

the centuries, and carrying within itself the

rejuvenating spirit of the Church.

No universal decree of the Pope gave rise

to the recitation of the Angelus morning,

noon and night, according to the present-day

form. It developed gradually over many cen-

turies, and is a combination of a number of

practices. Specific details have been lost, but

we do know the broad outlines. At first there

were some prayers at the ringing of a bell in



the monasteries in the early Middle Ages,

which became a signal also for the people to

pray. Later at this ringing of the bell the Hail

Mary was recited, first by Religious, then by

the people too. It was these Hail Marys that

gradually, through a few centuries, took the

form of our Angelus. At first the Aves were

recited only in the evening, soon also in the

morning, and only later at noon. The history

of the Angelus falls into these three parts, ac-

cording to this gradual development.

THE EVENING ANGELUS

That King Alfred of England began the

custom of the Angelus is mere legend. As early

as the tenth centry in some Benedictine mon-

asteries a bell was rung before Matins, before

Prime or Tierce and after Compline. At each

of these three bells special psalms and prayers

were said, especially after Compline. The peo-

ple too were encouraged to say some prayers

when they heard these bells. Such a custom

existed in Germany in the tenth century. After

Compline some boys would say three prayers.

The Abbot rang the bell and said three pray-

ers with his confreres. A similar practice is
recorded for England. In the monastic rule

Regularis concordia which was composed

about 975 by Saint Aethelwold of Winchester,

we find the instruction that three prayers pre-

ceded by five psalms are to be said after Com-

pline as well as before Matins and before



Prime. Since the bell is mentioned for Matins

and Prime, it can be presumed for Compline.

The same custom is found later in other Eng-

lish monasteries.

People were soon encouraged to pray along

when they heard the monastic bell. Later the

church bell was rung for this purpose. The

first record of this is the ruling of the Synod

of Caen in 1061, which ordered the bell to be

rung daily in the evening for calling the peo-

ple to prayer, after which they were to retire

to their homes and close the town gates.

Historians argue whether the curfew bell

was in existence first, to which this religious

practice was attached. There is no doubt that

in the Middle Ages many regulations were

made for civic life. Among these was the ring-
ing of a bell in the evening to end work and

to clear the people off the streets. The custom

seems to have begun in Normandy. At least

from there the bell got its name of curfeu,

from the old French covrefeu, because at this

bell also the fires had to be put out. In some

places the curfew and the prayer bell were

combined. But that seems to have been rare

and accidental. Usually the town tower bell

was used for the curfew, and the church bell

for prayer. And, all things considered, the

prayer bell seems to have existed first and is

not a development of the curfew.

An early purpose of such prayer at the eve-

ning bell was peace. That is why the bell itself

is called the peace bell. For instance, in the



thirteenth century we have record of a peace

bell at St. Omers that sounded the closing of

the taverns.

The first certain sources about the Hail

Mary being recited at this prayer bell come

from the second half of the thirteenth century.

That Pope Saint Gregory IX (1227-1241) or-

dered the ringing of the evening bell in 1239

for the success of the crusades is doubtful. So

is the report that Bishop Henry of Brixen

granted an indulgence to the church of Freins

for three Aves at the evening bell in 1239.

The sons of Saint Francis were pioneers

here as in other Marian practices. At their

chapter at Assisi in 1269, with Saint Bonaven-

ture as General, the Friars were admonished

to encourage the people in sermons to offer

the greeting to Mary several times at the Com-

pline bell. “The greeting” spoken of is with-

out doubt the Hail Mary in its shortened

form of those days. Some manuscripts add that

three Hail Marys were to be said. The Chro-

nicle of the Twenty-four Generals

,

which re-

cords this, has a similar note already for the

chapter at Pisa in 1263. But historians feel

that the first time this occurred was in 1269.

At Arezzo, Italy, Friar Benedict Sinigardi

urged his friars to sing the antiphon Angelas

Domini locutus est Mariae every evening after

Compline. Later, in 1295 at the Provincial

chapter of the Franciscans at Padua it was

ordered that every evening there should be a

triple bell with three Aves said kneeling.



A certain Bonviceno da Riva, of the Order
of Humiliati, who died about 1314, intro-

duced the Ave Maria bell at Milan and the

surrounding country toward the end of the

thirteenth century. On his tombstone the
epitaph requests an Ave for his soul, since he

had begun the custom of the Ave at Milan.

At the Benedictine Abbey of Monte Cas-

sino, the bell was prescribed for the evening

and morning, at which the Ave was to be said

according to the Constitutions of Abbot

Thomas I 1285-1288. From this abbey the cus-

tom spread to the abbeys in Aprutio, Apulia,

and Calabria. Perhaps contemporary with St.

Bonaventure is the ruling at St. Denis that

after Compline the prior shall ring the bell

three times, and all should recite prayers.

At the provincial synod of Estyergom, Hun-

gary, in 1307 the Archbishop of Grau made

the recitation of the Aves obligatory in Hun-

gary and granted an indulgence of ten days

for them. This decree seems to take the prac-

tice for granted and merely makes it obliga-

tory for all. In 1308 Bishop Ponce de Aqui-

laniu (1308-1313) decreed that after Compline,

as the shades of evening are falling, the bell

should be rung with three pauses, and all the

faithful wherever they might be, should kneel,

if possible, and recite the Ave Maria out of

reverence and in honor of Mary, our Advo-

cate with Christ.

About this time the popes took interest in

the practice to the extent of issuing orders



about it and granting indulgences. In 1308

Pope John XXII approved the custom of say-

ing three Aves at the sound of the bell, while

kneeling, for the diocese of Saintes, France,

and granted an indulgence of ten days for it.

In 1327 this same Pope ordered that in Rome

the three Aves be said at the sound of the

evening bell, for which he granted an indul-

gence.

In 1324 Bishop John of Stratford in Win-

chester, England, prescribed the Ave for the

evening bell in his diocese. The Ave was to be

recited three times at each of the three peals

of the bell.

De laudibus Pcipiae, a book written at Avi-

gnon in 1331, orders the toper’s bell to be

rung every evening as a signal for the drink-

ing to stop in the taverns. This was to be rung

after the bell for the Salutation of Our Lady.

Evidently the Aves were here recited to the

tune of a bell. There is a record in 1324 that

three Aves were recited at the sound of a bell

at the monastery of Chartres. In 1346 Talph

of Shrewsbury, Bishop of Bath, ordered the

clergy of the cathedral to say daily, morning

and evening, five Aves for the living and the

deceased. In 1391 we have again a papal fa-

vor: Boniface IX granted an indulgence of

three years and forty quarantines to the

church of Saint Martin at Emmerich in the

diocese of Utrecht for reciting the Pater and

Ave three times, every morning and evening,

at the bell of the Ave Maria. It is interesting



to note that the bell is called the Ave Maria

bell even though Paters were also said. In

1399 Thomas of Arundel, Archbishop of Can-
terbury, at the request of Henry IV, ordered

the college of Gordon to salute Mary in the

morning and in the evening.

Note that during all this time the number

of the Aves was not uniform. In some places

in England as many as nine were said. In other

places the Our Father was also recited. Still

other prayers were added, especially about

1500, usually with some reference to the Pas-

sion of Jesus. In Italy, later still, there arose

the custom of adding the De profundis (Psalm

129) for the Poor Souls to the evening bell,

and / or three Glorys in honor of the Blessed

Trinity for the privilege bestowed on Mary.

One should not pass over in silence another

class of witnesses to the ringing of a bell while

a prayer to Mary was said. Many bells them-

selves in the Middle Ages had inscriptions

often having reference to Mary. Some have

only the name Maria. Others have a verse.

The earliest discovered is at Helfta, near

Eisleben, Germany, dated 1234. On this bell
are inscribed the first clause of the Hail Mary

in Latin: “Ave, Maria, gratia plena. Dominus

tecum.” At Moissac, France, a bell dated 1273

has a Latin inscription from the Hail Holy

Queen: “Salve, Regina misericordiae.” In the

Church of San Domingo de la Palma, Majorca,

there is a bell dated 1308 with the Latin in-

scription from the Hail Mary: “Ave, Maria,



gratia plena; Dominus tecum/' plus the words:

“Anno Dom. MCCCVIII Jhesu bone, praece

Dominici praesta nos gratos effici. Amen.”,

which mean: “In the year of the Lord 1308.

Good Jesus, by the prayers of Dominic grant

us to be pleasing (to you). Amen.”

In England we are told there are many bells

inscribed to Saint Gabriel, an evident sign

that they were meant to be Angelus bells. In

Germany the most common inscription is: “O

Rex gloriae, veni cum pace—O King of glory,
come with peace.” This too was an Angelus

bell, because it was precisely the Angelus that

was prayed for peace, to the peals of a bell.

Besides, people spoke of the bell being tolled

for peace.

In conclusion to this picture of the evening

Angelus we cannot resist quoting the beauti-

ful lines of Longfellow’s Evangeline concern-

ing the Acadians:

Then came the laborers home from the

field, and serenely the sun sank

Down to his rest, and twilight prevailed.

Anon from the belfry

Softly the Angelus sounded

”

THE MORNING ANGELUS

The morning Aves soon followed those of

evening, and they seem to have been an out-

growth of the prayers before Prime in the

monasteries. There is already a record of the



morning Ave in the Benedictine Constitutions

of Abbot Thomas I, noted above. Bishops,

too, issued orders for the morning bell. The

Chronicle of Parma, Italy, in 1318, tells us of

the Bishops’ exhorting all who hear the bell

to say three times Our Father and Hail Mary

for peace. De laudibus Papiae of 1330, speaks

of the morning Aves as recently introduced in

imitation of the evening Ave. Pope Boniface

IX granted an indulgence both for the morn-

ing and evening bell. By the fifteenth century

the morning Aves had spread to almost all

the countries.

THE NOON ANGELUS

The saying of Aves at noon was introduced

later, and the beginnings of this are more ob-

scure. Our first recorded reference is in 1386

at Prague, where each Friday five Our Fathers

and Hail Marys were said for peace in honor

of the Passion. A similar order was given at
Mainz in 1423. Later, this noon bell is es-

pecially spoken of as the peace bell. In 1456

Pope Callistus III prescribed a crusade of

prayer for the whole world against the Turks;

the prayers to be said were three Our Fathers

and Hail Marys. The time for saying them

was between the Hours of None and Vespers.

So here it seems devotion to the Passion and

to the Annunciation were united. In 1472

Louis IX of France ordered the Aves to be



said at noon for peace in his kingdom. In 1475

Sixtus IV granted a three hundred days in-

dulgence for the Aves at noon.

THE TRIUMPH OF THE ANGELUS

It was not until the sixteenth century that

versicles were added to separate the Aves.

These are on record for the first time in a

book published at Venice in 1570. They were

also printed with the Little Office of the

Blessed Virgin issued by Pope Saint Pius V in
1572. After that they are found in many pray-

er books of England and in the Manual of
Catholics (Manuale Catholicorum) of Saint

Peter Canisius. From then on they became

quite universal.

This really ends the history of the develop-

ment of the Angelus. It was an established

Catholic custom when in 1536 Thomas Crom-

well put an interdict on the ringing of the

Ave bell, introduced, as he believed, by the

pretended pardon of the Bishop of Rome.

The triumph of the present form of the

Angelus came on September 14, 1724, when

Pope Benedict XIII granted a hundred days

indulgences each time it was said, and a ple-

nary indulgence once a month if it had been

said three times daily on knees at the ringing

of the bell. April 20, 1742, Benedict XIV con-
firmed the previous indulgences, but stipu-

lated that during the Eastertide the Regina

Caeli should be said standing, instead of the



Angelus; likewise, that the Angelus should be

said standing the year round from the first

Vespers (on Saturday) till the second Vespers

on Sunday; that is, from Saturday evening

(but during Lent from Saturday noon) till

Sunday noon. In 1815 Pope Pius VII added

three Glorys to the Angelus in thanksgiving

to the Trinity for the gifts granted to the Vir-

gin Mary, especially for her Assumption, a

custom that grew up in Italy, and is still ob-

served there in some monasteries.

The Indulgences for the Angelus today are

these. The faithful who at dawn, at noon,

and at eventime, or as soon thereafter as pos-

sible, devoutly recite the Angelus

,

or in East-

ertide the Regina Caeli, or only five Hail

Marys, may gain a partial indulgence of ten

years as often as they do so. They may gain a

plenary indulgence, under the usual condi-

tions (Confession, Communion, a visit to a

church, a prayer for the intention of the Pope)

if they have performed this prayer daily for

a full month. See Enchiridion Indulgent-

iarum, 1950, n. 331.





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