The Hail Mary is the most repeated prayer in the Rosary. Indeed, the Rosary itself is dedicated to Our Lady, and I often return to St. Padre Pio’s words: “In times of darkness, holding the Rosary is like holding Mary’s hand.” For such a short prayer there is so much to say, especially about the three Hail Marys at the beginning of the Rosary, that it is hard to know where to begin.

Rather than deconstructing the prayer line by line here (something I will save for later), I want to address a central question that many — myself included — have wrestled with: do prayers to Our Lady distract from Christ? Is this worship of Mary rather than devotion?

I do not intend to dive deep into apologetics here. There is already an overwhelming amount of content on this subject, and I have little new to add to it. Instead, I simply encourage those who have even a faint light of faith to lean into it, especially in times of need.

For me, what deepens faith is experience. On at least three occasions of great need, I turned to Our Lady in prayer through the Memorare, begging for her intercession, and I was never left unaided. That kind of lived experience has shaped my devotion more than reading or hearing arguments. Perhaps it makes me ill-suited to apologetics, but it has convinced me of her maternal care.

Scripturally, the logic of asking for Mary’s intercession is clear enough. St. Paul, in his letters, reminds us that the Church is one body in Christ (Romans 12:4–5; 1 Corinthians 12:12–27). Revelation portrays the prayers of the faithful rising before God through heavenly beings (Revelation 5:8). Death does not cut the saints off from the Church — they remain alive in Christ, bound to Him and therefore bound to us. If we ask one another for prayer on earth, how much more can we call upon the saints who now see God face to face? Far from distracting from God’s glory, their prayers help us focus on Him with greater precision.

Mary, however, is unique. God chose her to bear His Son, to carry Him in her womb, and to raise Him as her child. In this sense she is rightly honoured as Mother of God. Revelation speaks of her crowned in heaven (Revelation 12:1). Prayer to Mary, then, is not worship, but a request that she lead us to Christ — just as she first delivered Him to us on earth.

And the Hail Mary itself is profoundly Christ-centred.

• “Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee” — Gabriel’s greeting at the Annunciation (Luke 1:28). It is regal, honouring her unique fullness of grace.
• “Blessed art thou among women” — Elizabeth’s words at the Visitation (Luke 1:42). Mary is chosen as the New Eve, prepared to bear the antidote to sin.
• “And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus” — the heart of the prayer. Mary is blessed because she bore Christ, the true focus of our devotion.

Mary’s greatness is her obedience: “Behold, the handmaid of the Lord. Be it done unto me according to your word” (Luke 1:38). She is full of grace not for her own sake, but because she gave herself wholly to God. In asking her to “pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death,” we ask her to accompany us and to keep our gaze fixed on Christ.

The three Hail Marys at the start of the Rosary are prayed for the virtues of faith, hope, and charity. We pray for faith like Mary’s at the Annunciation, hope in God’s promises like hers at the Visitation, and charity like hers in the whole of her life.

The Hail Mary is not a distraction from Christ but a path to Him, prayed hand-in-hand with the one who most perfectly followed Him.

Pause. Pray. Pass it on.