The Angelus Prayer
by Monica Pugh | December 20, 2025
When the calendar turns to December, I am reminded of my grandmother whose birthday was toward the end of the month. Gone for almost 30 years I can still hear her voice exclaim my name as she opened her apartment door any time I visited. She was delighted to see me even though we lived close to each other. She welcomed me with great joy.
I am also delighted each time my grandchildren arrive even though we also live close to each other.
It is these experiences I sometimes use to imagine how God delights in me each time I show up for prayer. But he waited for me for a long time.
God has always been patient with me as I turned to everything else in life besides time in prayer. He also knew life would happen and I might not turn to him as often as I should, particularly as I got older and busier. Yet, he delights each time I come.
While I was slow to say yes to God, our Mother Mary said yes humbly without reserve.
On Dec. 8 each year, we also ponder our Holy Mother, Mary and honor her Immaculate Conception. Imagine Mary’s surprise when the Angel Gabriel visited her to tell her she would bear a son and his name would be Immanuel. God protected her from sin and yet she would now be faced with the scandal of being with child because she was only betrothed to Joseph. Even though her life took a turn she did not foresee, she said yes and stayed the course laid before her. Imagine God’s delight in her.
While the Feast of the Annunciation is March 25 each year, December is an excellent month to focus on the Angelus Prayer. The Angelus Prayer commemorates the Incarnation when God became man in Jesus. The mystery of Mary’s yes about God’s will for her life is prayed three times a day if possible. It is based on 11th century monastic tradition of praying three Hail Mary’s during the evening bells. In the 16th century the prayer solidified into its form used today based on the scriptures in the beginning of the first chapter of Luke prior to Jesus’ birth. Today it is recited morning, noon, and evening with the ringing of three bells. It is prayed in verse and response alternating with the “Hail Mary!”
My hope is we have all learned something through this Jubilee year with our focus on prayer.
As we waited during Advent for Jesus arrival, perhaps you can look to Mary’s yes in the new year and begin spending time every noon praying The Angelus. In Matthew 7: 7-8 we are reminded to seek, knock, and know that it will be opened to you. So often we are looking for an answer from God before we have had conversation in prayer with him. Imagine God’s delight as you knock and he opens the door and exclaims your name. He is waiting for you. May we all learn to pray, “Be it done unto me according to your word, O Lord.”