Many now consider themselves Christians, but do not even know the most elementary prayers that children used to know by heart. Not everyone even understands why you need to know them by heart, because you can always pray in your own words. This, of course, is correct; prayer is not a certain magic formula. It’s not so important what kind of words a person refers to God, it matters what mood. So why then memorize prayers or read them through prayer?
All modern prayers are composed not just of people, but of saints, ascetics of piety. These were people with great spiritual experience, talented writers, who in a few words were able to express the most important thing briefly but succinctly. For example, the prayers that are supposed to be read before the sacrament are filled with repentance, awareness of our unworthiness and greatness of God.
The prayers of the Mother of God usually have a slightly different color. They are like a child turning to his mother. The text of the prayer, “Virgin Mary, Hail”, is composed of several passages.
Explanation of the text
The appeal begins with the words of greeting with which the Angel addressed the Virgin. At that moment, she performed reading and prayer. “Rejoice, Virgo, rejoice!” - this is how the young girl Mary greeted the archangel.
She, of course, was embarrassed. And she asked why such a strange treatment? To this, the Archangel announced the amazing news that, finally, universal prayer was heard. "Rejoice, Virgo, rejoice, you will give birth to a Son who will be the Savior of the whole world." Mary began to figure out how this could happen if she “does not know her husband”. But the Archangel explained that the conception would be from the Holy Spirit. During prayer, we constantly mention parts of that archangelic speech: “Blessed are you in women”, “Blessed is the fruit of thy womb”. The fruit of the womb is, of course, Christ. This praise of the Mother of God, of course, became the most precious memory of the Virgin for Her earthly life, and the moment that turned the entire history of the Earth.
How to pray
Most often, a prayer for a modern person is a petition, and if there are no requests, then it seems to be no longer a prayer. “Rejoice, Virgo, rejoice, Blessed be, God be with you” - all this is a praise, not a request, and this is wonderful. Some people perceive God as a kind of supreme social security; there are no relationships, but endless deals and complaints. This is not what Christ wanted when He came to Earth. He did not promise a simple life; He did not promise prosperity. On the contrary, He spoke of the difficulties that will persecute Christians.
But the Lord is always ready to help, you just have to ask. The main goal of a Christian is to save his soul, he must constantly improve, approach God. And the main tool with which to act is prayer. “Rejoice, Virgo, rejoice” - in this sense a completely unique praise. This is a reminder of the moment when one girl became as close to God as no man before or after Her.
Of course, the Mother of God from birth was a special child, but in a sense, completely the same as all other people. Temptations acted on Her in the same way; She also had to deal with inappropriate desires, like all of us. But She made God the main one in Her life, abandoned everything, even from marriage and motherhood for His sake. And as a result, it was She who became the One who changed everything.
And were there any options?
The Annunciation is a holiday established in honor of the visit of the Virgin Mary by the Archangel, when the greeting or prayer was said for the first time: “Virgin, rejoice!” The Archangel proclaimed to the Mother of God the will of God, but he also asked Her for consent. That is, the fate of the whole world and God's plan for people depended on Her will at that moment. But fortunately, this girl (She was only 15 then) answered: "Wake Mi according to your verb." It is also worth learning from the Mother of God: if we pray, we must trust God to solve the problem, and not insist on our own.