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The Angelus

This page explains the Angelus: what it is, when it is prayed, how the bell is rung, and how to say it, with the full prayer in Latin and English. It also gives the Regina Caeli, which takes its place at Easter, and a short history of both.

What the Angelus is

The Angelus is a short prayer in honour of the Incarnation: the moment the Son of God became man in the womb of the Virgin Mary. It takes its name from its first Latin words, Angelus Domini, "the angel of the Lord".

It is built from three short verses taken from the Gospel story of the Annunciation, each followed by a Hail Mary, and it ends with a prayer asking that, having known the Incarnation, we may be brought through Christ's Passion and Cross to the glory of his Resurrection. In under two minutes it walks through the whole of the faith: the angel's message, Mary's yes, the Word made flesh, and the Cross and Resurrection that follow.

Pope Paul VI called it a prayer that needs no revision, because of its simple structure, its biblical character, and the way it marks the different moments of the day with prayer (Marialis Cultus, 41).

When it is prayed

The Angelus is said three times a day:

• 6 in the morning (or at dawn)
• 12 noon
• 6 in the evening (or towards evening)

These are the customary hours. The Church's own book of indulgences speaks simply of first light, midday and towards evening, so a person who misses the exact time can still pray it close to the hour. Nobody is obliged to say the Angelus; it is a devotion, freely taken up.

The Angelus bell

For centuries a church bell has called people to the Angelus. The traditional pattern is:

1. Three strokes, then a pause.
2. Three more strokes, then a pause.
3. Three more strokes, then a pause.
4. Nine strokes, while the closing prayer is said.

The three groups of three were already the rule in the Middle Ages: the statutes of Wells Cathedral in 1331 and the fifteenth-century rule of Syon Abbey in England both describe them. Where no bell can be heard, the prayer is simply said at the usual hour.

The Angelus in Ireland

In Ireland the Angelus bell is part of everyday life. RTÉ Radio 1 broadcasts the bell at 12 noon and 6 pm every day, and RTÉ One television carries it at 6 pm, just before the evening news. The radio broadcast began in 1950, the Year of the Annunciation, at the suggestion of Archbishop John Charles McQuaid of Dublin, and was kept on afterwards because people valued it. It moved to television when RTÉ television opened in 1962. The bell rings in the traditional pattern of three, three, three and nine. What is broadcast is the bell itself (on television, with pictures of people pausing in prayer or quiet reflection), so each listener says the prayer along with it.

How to pray it

1. When the bell rings, stop what you are doing. Traditionally you kneel; see "Kneeling or standing" below.
2. Make the Sign of the Cross.
3. Say the first verse and its answer, then one Hail Mary.
4. Say the second verse and answer, then a Hail Mary.
5. Say the third verse and answer, then a Hail Mary.
6. Say the last verse and answer, then the closing prayer.
7. Many people add the Glory be three times, in thanksgiving to the Holy Trinity, and finish with the Sign of the Cross.

When the Angelus is said together, one person leads. The leader says each verse (marked V.) and everyone answers with the response (R.). In each Hail Mary the leader says the first half and everyone joins in from "Holy Mary, Mother of God".

The Angelus in Latin and English

The English is the traditional translation from the Raccolta of 1910. "Holy Ghost" is the older English for "Holy Spirit".

V. Angelus Domini nuntiavit Mariae.	V. The angel of the Lord declared unto Mary.
R. Et concepit de Spiritu Sancto.	R. And she conceived of the Holy Ghost.
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 nostrae. Amen.	Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
V. Ecce ancilla Domini.	V. Behold the handmaid of the Lord.
R. Fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum.	R. Be it done unto me according to thy word.
Ave Maria…	Hail Mary…
V. Et Verbum caro factum est.	V. And the Word was made flesh.
R. Et habitavit in nobis.	R. And dwelt among us.
Ave Maria…	Hail Mary…
V. Ora pro nobis, sancta Dei Genetrix.	V. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God.
R. Ut digni efficiamur promissionibus Christi.	R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Oremus.	Let us pray.
Gratiam tuam, quaesumus, Domine, mentibus nostris infunde: ut qui, Angelo nuntiante, Christi Filii tui incarnationem cognovimus, per passionem eius et crucem ad resurrectionis gloriam perducamur. Per eundem Christum Dominum nostrum.	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.
R. Amen.	R. Amen.

The closing prayer is an old prayer of the Roman liturgy. In the traditional Breviary it belongs with the Marian anthem Alma Redemptoris Mater; in the present Roman Missal it is the Collect of the Fourth Sunday of Advent.

At Easter: the Regina Caeli

During Eastertide the Angelus gives way to the Regina Caeli, "Queen of Heaven", a joyful anthem asking Mary to rejoice because her Son has risen. It is said at the same three times of day, and it is said standing, as a sign of Christ's victory over death.

The season is counted slightly differently in the two forms of the Roman Rite:

• In the present calendar, the Regina Caeli is said from Easter Sunday to Pentecost Sunday inclusive.
• In the traditional reckoning, as printed in the Raccolta, Paschaltide runs from midday on Holy Saturday to midday on the Saturday after Pentecost (the eve of Trinity Sunday), so the Regina Caeli begins on Holy Saturday and continues through the week of Pentecost. The traditional Breviary likewise sings it from Holy Saturday until the Saturday after Pentecost.

Anyone who does not know the Regina Caeli may say the Angelus instead; the old rules said so explicitly.

Regina caeli, laetare, alleluia.	Queen of Heaven, rejoice, alleluia.
Quia quem meruisti portare, alleluia.	For he whom thou wast made worthy to bear, alleluia,
Resurrexit, sicut dixit, alleluia.	Hath risen, as he said, alleluia.
Ora pro nobis Deum, alleluia.	Pray for us to God, alleluia.
V. Gaude et laetare, Virgo Maria, alleluia.	V. Rejoice and be glad, O Virgin Mary, alleluia.
R. Quia surrexit Dominus vere, alleluia.	R. For the Lord hath risen indeed, alleluia.
Oremus.	Let us pray.
Deus, qui per resurrectionem Filii tui, Domini nostri Iesu Christi, mundum laetificare dignatus es: praesta, quaesumus, ut per eius Genetricem Virginem Mariam perpetuae capiamus gaudia vitae. Per eundem Christum Dominum nostrum.	O God, who through the resurrection of thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ hast vouchsafed to give joy to the whole world; grant, we beseech thee, that through the intercession of the Virgin Mary his Mother, we may obtain the joys of eternal life. Through the same Christ our Lord.
R. Amen.	R. Amen.

Nobody knows who wrote the Regina Caeli. A pious legend says Pope St Gregory the Great heard the first three lines sung by angels one Easter morning in Rome and added the fourth himself. It has been traced to the twelfth century, and the Franciscans were singing it after Compline by the first half of the thirteenth.

Kneeling or standing

The traditional rubric, printed with the Church's grants of indulgences for the prayer, is:

• On weekdays, the Angelus is said kneeling.
• On Sundays, it is said standing, beginning from Saturday evening (because Sunday, liturgically, begins with Vespers on Saturday).
• In Eastertide, the Regina Caeli is said standing throughout.
• The same rubric adds that on Saturdays in Lent the noon Angelus is said standing.

Standing is a sign of joy in Christ's victory over death. The Church's present grant of indulgence for the prayer sets no posture, and many people simply stop and pray quietly wherever they are, at a desk, in a shop or on the road. Kneeling at home or in church on weekdays, and standing on Sundays and at Easter, keeps the old custom.

A short history

The Angelus grew slowly, over several centuries, out of the habit of greeting Our Lady when a bell rang.

• The evening bell (thirteenth to fourteenth centuries). Monks had long said short prayers at night after Compline, the last office of the day. Lay people began to say three Hail Marys at that evening bell, and a Franciscan general chapter in the time of St Bonaventure (1260s) told preachers to encourage it. By the early 1300s the custom was general across Europe, and Pope John XXII granted an indulgence for it in 1318 and 1327.
• The morning bell (fourteenth century). A morning ringing, with three Hail Marys, is recorded at Parma in 1318 and soon spread everywhere, England included.
• The noon bell (fourteenth to fifteenth centuries). The midday bell began separately, linked with prayer for peace and with the memory of Christ's Passion, at first only on Fridays. In 1456, as the Turkish army threatened Christian Europe, Pope Callixtus III (also spelled Callistus) ordered the church bells rung at midday so that the faithful would pray for those defending Christendom. That July the Christian army won a great victory at Belgrade. The noon Angelus bell is commonly traced to this order.
• The words we say now (sixteenth to seventeenth centuries). The three verses first appear together in an Italian catechism printed at Venice in 1560, and the full form, with the closing prayer, is found by 1612.
• Indulgences (1724). Pope Benedict XIII granted an indulgence for saying the Angelus at the sound of the bell in 1724; later popes eased the conditions.
• The Regina Caeli at Easter (1742). Pope Benedict XIV directed in 1742 that the Regina Caeli be said instead of the Angelus during Eastertide, standing.
• Paul VI (1974). In his apostolic exhortation Marialis Cultus (2 February 1974, section 41), Pope Paul VI urged Catholics to keep saying the Angelus "wherever and whenever possible". Some customs around it, he wrote, had faded with modern life, but morning, noon and evening still mark everyone's day and still invite a pause for prayer.
• Today. The Church's present book of indulgences, the Enchiridion Indulgentiarum, grants a partial indulgence to anyone who devoutly says the Angelus at morning, noon or evening, or the Regina Caeli in Eastertide.

The Pope's Angelus

Every Sunday at noon the Pope leads the Angelus with the pilgrims in St Peter's Square in Rome. He first gives a short reflection on the Sunday Gospel, then prays the Angelus (or the Regina Caeli in Eastertide), often adding a few words on events in the world. He also does this on some great feasts, such as 1 January, Easter Monday and the Assumption on 15 August. In summer it is sometimes held at Castel Gandolfo, and on journeys abroad wherever the Pope is. The texts of these addresses are published on the Holy See's website, and the prayer is broadcast live by Vatican News, so anyone can pray it with him.