My reflection on praying the Hail Mary

Sarah Reinhard has a new book out. It’s quite lovely–a perfect size to carry with us or set on our night table. Sarah has gathered some folks together to share reflections word by word on the Hail Mary prayer. From the publisher’s description on the back cover, we read:

Most Catholics can recite the Hail Mary from memory but haven’t actually reflected on the meaning of the prayer. Blogger and author Sarah Reinhard invited forty of the most popular Catholic voices–including Lisa M. Hendey, Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle, Lisa Mladinich, and Brandon Vogt–to write a brief reflection on each word of the Hail Mary…

Over at “Catholic Mom,” Sarah Reinhard writes:

“The book inspired by the blog series, Word by Word: Slowing Down with the Hail Mary, is now available and today, Donna-Marie graciously agreed to join me to talk about the Hail Mary, her word in the book, and her tips for us as we try to slooooooooow down in our prayer.”

And she asks me a few questions: 

Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle Word by Word Contributor Interviews - CatholicMom.com

Donna-Marie, what’s your relationship with the Hail Mary as a prayer? How does it help you grow closer to Mary and, through her, Jesus?

I have always loved the Hail Mary prayer since I was a little girl. It was taught to me by my mother and often prayed in my presence by my mother and grandmother when they prayed the Rosary.

I believe that the Hail Mary prayer helps me to grow closer to Mary and, through her, to Jesus. It is a wonderful meditative prayer which reminds us of Mary’s role in our salvation and which asks Her to pray for us which will ultimately bring us closer to her Son Jesus.

Your reflection was on the word SINNERS. Tell us a bit about what this word means to you in the context of the Hail Mary.

We are all sinners. We are all in need of prayer to be able to reach Heaven one day. We must pray for our own souls and in the Hail Mary prayer, we also pray to Mother Mary asking Her to pray for us too. It really is an awesome privilege to receive and benefit from prayers from the Mother of God! It would be beneficial to pause and ponder that fact alone.

In the Hail Mary prayer, we ask the Blessed Mother to pray for us now for our daily needs within the nitty gritty details of our lives. As well, and equally as important, we pray to Mother Mary requesting that she pray for us at the hour of our death. We need Her to lead us to Heaven.

What’s your top tip for slowing down as you pray the Hail Mary…or any prayer, for that matter?

My top tip for slowing down to pray is to strive to put myself in the presence of God and offer Him my full heart in love and respect. I could easily race through my prayers, but where will that get me? Would I be truly praying? Is that being respectful to God?

I believe that we need to pause often to pray and also to carve out time for heartfelt prayers, no matter how busy we think we are so that we can be in continual conversation with our Creator. Some of our prayers might be very brief as we tend to the needs of those to whom we are responsible. But, we can certainly offer our hearts in those busy moments and strive to schedule other times to meet Our Lord in prayer.

***

Donna-Marie has a new book out herself, The Kiss of Jesus: How Mother Teresa and the Saints Helped Me to Discover the Beauty of the Cross, which is touring the blogosphere right now.

[BY THE WAY, MY REFLECTION WHICH APPEARS IN THIS BOOK IS DIFFERENT AND LONGER THAN WHAT APPEARS HERE IN THIS SHORT INTERVIEW]

[See more here at Catholic Mom]

You will want to see “THE 33”

From Alcon Entertainment and Warner Bros., this upcoming movie (November 13th) THE 33 will stir your heart and make you weep. It is an exciting movie about the powerful true story of the 33 Chilean miners who spent 69 days and nights together trapped underground in a collapsed gold and copper mine. They rationed out the little food they had with them and turned to prayer for survival.

Antonio Banderas and Lou Diamond Phillips star in this film. In theaters Nov. 13th.

Here is the movie trailer.

Here is a fantastic article titled “The Chilean miners’ miracles: How faith helped them survive.”

.

Talking about Mother Mary, Mother Teresa, and Moms

Rosary

I recently spoke with radio host Matt Swaim on the Son Rise Morning Show. Since we are in the month of May which is dedicated to Mary, and with Mother’s Day fast approaching, we talked about Mother Teresa, Mother Mary, and Motherhood. You can listen to the short ten minute segment here.

Enjoy and God bless!

Donna-Marie

Christmas Blessings!

A couple of months ago I felt inspired to give a blessed Miraculous Medal to a woman I met who was working at a department store. I’ll call her Louise. She seemed very touched to receive the medal. After accepting it, she began to tell me that she had been going through some really rough times lately and felt she truly “needed” the medal. As Louise was telling me she began to cry. Her tears seemed to come from profound thankfulness and even relief. It was as if Mother Mary had come to Louise at that very moment in the blessed medal and Louise could now feel that everything would be okay. Louise’s whole demeanor changed when she accepted the medal into her hand. She continued to wipe her eyes with a tissue as tears continued to appear. Thankfully, for her sake, no one else noticed. I silently prayed that Mother Mary would profoundly touch this woman now holding the blessed medal. I had no doubt that she would.

get-attachment.aspx

About a month later I saw Louise again at the same store. She proudly showed me her beautiful medal which was now on a chain around her neck and hanging alongside two tiny opals. Louise said the opals represented hope. When she had come across the opals in her jewelry box she thought that she should wear them together with the medal, for the medal brought her great hope. My heart secretly soared. I was thrilled that she was wearing the blessed medal I had given her and that it brought her a renewed hope.

Louise also shared that her sister Mary was going through some very hard times. I don’t know what it entailed and I didn’t venture to ask. I didn’t need to know. But, I did ask Louise if I could give her a blessed medal for her sister and she gladly accepted my offer. I reached into my pocket and retrieved a blessed medal that I had placed in there that morning before heading out to do my errands. I kissed it, touched it to the one I wear, and handed it to Louise who teared up instantly. She sincerely thanked me.

Just recently, as the Advent season was winding down to the tail end, only a couple of days before Christmas, I went into the same department store to finish up my Christmas shopping. Earlier in the day, I had just completed a huge book manuscript and was happily relieved that I could finally finish up preparations for Christmas at the eleventh hour. I spotted Louise behind the jewelry counter and went over to say “hello” and to wish her a very happy Christmas. She was very eager to share a little story with me. Thankfully, there were no customers around the counter and she could freely speak to me. Louise said that she visited her sister recently and Mary told her that she was feeling very sad because she was sorely missing their mother who had passed away the previous Christmas time. Mary couldn’t stop thinking of her mother. When she heard the song “Ave Maria” playing, she broke down and cried. It was their mother’s favorite song.

So, at the visit with her sister, Louise pulled out the Miraculous Medal I had given to her for her sister and proceeded to tell Mary about meeting me and the gift of the medal. She also told her sister that I had touched it to the blessed medal that I wear that Mother Teresa had given me (a relic). Her sister began to cry and said she felt very blessed and thankful to receive the special gift. After that, Mary’s husband bought her a chain and she is now wearing the medal. Mary is now feeling comforted with a sacramental of the Blessed Mother who is with her at all times to bring her graces, hope, and encouragement.

As Louise recounted the story of her sister and their mother, she shed quiet tears once again. I was very touched too, upon hearing it, and I felt extremely blessed to have played a part in this beautiful exchange. We expressed to one another that we were so very thankful that God had clearly arranged all of this to happen. It was especially joyful and poignant to happen right at Christmas time.

I believe that God is so very good and takes care of our every need. He desires that we open our hearts to His whispers to our souls and that we be cooperative to His many graces so that we can help others around us who are struggling with hurt, loneliness, sadness, and pain. So many people are deeply wounded and need a loving touch. Mother Mary is always ready to assist us in getting closer to her Son Jesus.

“O Mary, conceived without sin, Pray for us who have recourse to thee.” [words from the Blessed Mother that appear on the Miraculous Medal]

Will you reach out in love soon to someone you don’t even know? It could be a perfect stranger. Mother Teresa, whom I was blessed to know, considered that person to be “Jesus in the distressing disguise of the poorest of the poor.”

Venture to reach out with Christ’s love. It will undoubtably change someone’s heart forever.

[You can see a similar article here at ICL]