When is the angelus

Let us pray Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts, that we to whom the Incarnation of Christ, Thy Son, was made known by the message of an angel, may by His passion and cross be brought to the glory of His resurrection. Through the same Christ our Lord. Essential to continue in Your gift will be matched!

Find us on Social Media. Subscribe to Insights All rights reserved. Among our many Catholic devotions, few are more beautiful or have been contemplated more often than the Angelus.

But why do we say the Angelus at all, much less three times a day? A review of Church history shows that this devotion did not appear suddenly, but developed over several centuries.

Most Church historians agree that the Angelus can be traced back to 11th-century Italy, where monks said three Hail Marys during night prayers, at the last bell of the day.

Over time, pastors encouraged their Catholic flocks to end each day in a similar fashion by saying three Hail Marys. In the villages, as in the monasteries, a bell was rung at the close of the day reminding the laity of this special prayer time. The evening devotional practice soon spread to other parts of Christendom, including England.

Toward the end of the 11th century, the Normans invaded and occupied England. In order to ensure control of the populace, the Normans rang a curfew bell at the end of each day reminding the locals to extinguish all fires, get off the streets and retire to their homes.

While not intended to encourage prayer, this bell became associated nevertheless with evening prayer time, which included saying the Hail Mary. Meanwhile, around in Italy, Catholics began saying the Hail Mary upon rising in the morning. Likely this habit again came from the monks, who included the Hail Mary in the prayers they said before their workday began. The morning devotion spread, and evidence is found in England that in Archbishop Thomas Arundel ordered church bells be rung at sunrise throughout the country, and he asked the laity to recite five Our Fathers and seven Hail Marys every morning.

The pope solicited the faithful to use the noonday prayers to pray for peace in the face of the 15th-century invasion of Europe by the Turks. There is evidence that a bell was rung at those times. Today, you can even have reminders sent to you online! Tradition says that the original author is Benedetto Sinigardi or Fra Benedetto di Arezzo, Soon this also included praying both in the morning and at midday.

Although not all the faithful could pray the Liturgy of the Hours like the monks, they could still surround their day in prayer. It is so easy to get caught up in our daily duties and obligations to the point where we forget about God altogether. Having a set prayer at a set time each day also provides much needed structure. It shakes us out of getting caught up in ourselves, at least once per day. Pope St. Cardinal St. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.