One of the difficulties of praying the beautiful prayers of the Rosary is the fact that these prayers (the “Our Father”, the “Hail Mary”, etc.) are repetitious – we say the same words over and over again. And, generally speaking, anything that we do again and again quickly loses its meaning to us. If someone asked you “What was the most memorable thing that you did last year?” it is likely that things which you did every day (for example, eating a meal) would not jump to the front of your mind.

Why? Well, we tend to think of these things as ‘everyday’, ‘commonplace’, ‘ordinary’, or ‘normal’. But even though we may do something “all the time”, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it is ‘unimportant’. For example, eating is something that we do every day – but what if a day went by when you didn’t eat at all? Suddenly you would realize the crucial importance of an ‘everyday’ activity which tends to pass by almost unnoticed.

So just because the words of a prayer are ‘repetitious’, this does not make them unimportant. So when we pray, it is very important to remember not just why we are praying, but also what we are praying. The reason why we pray any prayer is to talk with someone in Heaven, but the what depends on the words of the prayer itself. And the more we understand what we are saying, the better we will understand why we are saying it.

For example, what do the words of the ‘Hail Mary’ mean? Countless Saints and Doctors of the Church have written many detailed explanations upon the meanings of the words of this sacred prayer. But Who better to ask for an explanation than the Person to Whom the prayer is addressed?

St. Louis Mary de Montfort, in his book The Secret of the Rosary, tells us of an event which took place in the life of St. Mechtilde. It happened that one day, when St. Mechtilde was praying, she was filled with an overwhelming desire to express her love to Our Blessed Mother. But this time, St. Mechtilde really wanted to do it in a better way than she had ever done before. We know how it is – when we love someone, we try to think up new and different ways to show them how much they mean to us.

St. Mechtilde thought long and hard about it – and in all likelihood, the thought of praying a Hail Mary (also called the ‘Angelic Salutation’) came to her mind. But she prayed those all the time! How could that be special to her Heavenly Mother?

And while St. Mechtilde was considering all of this, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to her. Mary was wearing a beautiful dress, upon which the words of the Hail Mary were woven in shining letters of dazzling gold.

“My daughter,” Mary began, “I want you to know that no one can please me more than by saying the salutation which the Most Adorable Trinity sent to me, and by which He raised me to the dignity of Mother of God.

“By the word Ave (which is the name Eve, Eva), I learned that in His infinite power God had preserved me from all sin and its misery, which the first woman had brought upon herself.

“The name Mary which means ‘Lady of Light’ shows that God has filled me with wisdom and light, like a shining star, to light up Heaven and Earth.

“The words full of grace remind me that the Holy Spirit has showered so many graces upon me that I am able to give these graces in abundance to those who ask for them through me as Mediatrix.

“When people say the Lord is with thee they give to me again the indescribable joy that I received when the Eternal Word became incarnate in my womb.

“When you say to me blessed art thou among women I praise Almighty God’s Divine mercy which raised me to this exalted level of happiness.

“And at the words blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus, the whole of Heaven rejoices with me to see my Son Jesus Christ adored and glorified for having saved mankind.”

So the next time that we pray the Hail Mary – in the Rosary, or by itself – let us remember the deeply wonderful significance and meaning that this prayer has for Our Lady – not only in the words themselves, but in what these words mean to Her.