The Angelus is a devotion in memory of the Incarnation in Christianity. It has its name from the opening words, "Angelus Domini nuntiavit Mariæ". It consists of three texts describing the mystery, recited as versicle and response alternately with the salutation "Hail, Mary!" This devotion is recited in Catholic, in Anglican and some Lutheran churches three times daily, traditionally about 6 a.m., noon and 6 p.m, accompanied by the ringing of the Angelus bell. This is still rung in some English country churches, and has often been mistaken for and alleged to be a survival of the curfew bell.

The Angelus is replaced by Regina Coeli during Eastertide, and is not used between the Liturgy of Maundy Thursday and the Easter Vigil.

History

The Angelus originated with the eleventh-century monastic custom of reciting three Hail Marys during the evening bell. Pope Gregory IX (d. 1241) ordered a bell to be rung in the evening to remind people to pray for the Crusades. In 1269 St Bonaventure urged the faithful to adopt the custom of the Franciscans of saying three Hail Marys as the evening bell was rung.

The custom of reciting it in the morning apparently grew from the monastic custom of saying three Hail Marys while a bell rang at Prime. The noon time custom apparently arose from the noon time commemoration of the Passion on Fridays. The institution of the Angelus is by some ascribed to Pope Urban II, by some to Pope John XXII. Pope Callixtus III (1455-1458) commended the practice as a prayer for protection against the Turkish invasions of his time. The triple recitation is ascribed to Louis XI of France, who in 1472 ordered it to be said thrice daily. The form of the prayer was standardized by the seventeenth century.

The manner of ringing the Angelus—the triple stroke repeated three times, with a pause between each set of three (a total of nine strokes), sometimes followed by a longer peal as at curfew—seems to have been the norm from the very beginning. The fifteenth-century constitutions of Syon monastery dictate that the lay brother "shall toll the Ave bell nine strokes at three times, keeping the space of one Pater and Ave between each three tollings".

Angelus Bell

The Angelus, in all its stages of development, was closely associated with the ringing of a bell.

Where the town bell and the bells of the principal church or monastery were distinct, the curfew was generally rung upon the town bell. Where the church bell served for both purposes, the Ave and the curfew were probably rung upon the same bell at different hours.

The ringing of the Angelus in the fourteenth and even in the thirteenth century must have been very general. The number of bells belonging to these two centuries which still survive is relatively small, but a considerable proportion bear inscriptions which suggest that they were originally intended to serve as Ave bells. Many bear the words Ave Maria; or, as in the case of a bell at Helfta, near Eisleben, in Germany, dated 1234, the whole sentence: Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum. Bells with this Ave Maria inscription are also numerous in England, but in England the Angelus bells seem in a very large number of instances to have been dedicated to St Gabriel, the angel mentioned in the prayer (Luke 1:26-27). In the Diocese of Lincoln alone we find nineteen of the surviving medieval bells bearing the name of Gabriel, while only six bear the name of Michael, a much more popular patron in other respects. In France, the Ave Maria seems to have been the ordinary label for Angelus bells; but in Germany we find as the most common inscription of all, even in the case of many bells of the thirteenth century, the words O Rex Gloriæ Veni Cum Pace ("O King of Glory, Come with Peace").

English text

V/. The Angel of the Lord brought tidings unto Mary,
R/. And she conceived by the Holy Ghost.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. (Lk 1:28) Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. (Lk 1:42).
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

V/. "Behold the handmaid of the Lord."
R/. "Be it unto me according to thy Word."

Hail Mary, full of grace...

V/. And the Word was made flesh,
R/. And dwelt among us.

Hail Mary, full of grace...

V/. Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God.
R/. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray: We beseech thee, O Lord, pour thy grace into our hearts, that as we have known the Incarnation of thy Son Jesus Christ by the message of an angel, so by His Cross and Passion we may be brought unto the glory of His Resurrection; through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

Latin text

V/. Angelus Domini nuntiavit Mariæ,
R/. Et concepit de Spiritu Sancto.

Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum. Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Iesus.
Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc et in hora mortis nostræ. Amen.

V/. "Ecce Ancilla Domini."
R/. "Fiat mihi secundum Verbum tuum."

Ave Maria, gratia plena...

V/. Et Verbum caro factum est.
R/. Et habitavit in nobis.

Ave Maria, gratia plena...

V/. Ora pro nobis, Sancta Dei Genetrix.
R/. Ut digni efficiamur promissionibus Christi.

Oremus: Gratiam tuam quæsumus, Domine, mentibus nostris infunde; ut qui, angelo nuntiante, Christi Filii tui Incarnationem cognovimus, per passionem eius et crucem, ad resurrectionis gloriam perducamur.
Per eumdem Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.