Angelus prayer

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Angelus

***** Location: Catholic Communities
***** Season: Non-Seasonal Topic
***** Category: Humanity

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Explanation



Madonna and Child - Watercolor by Alice Mankowski
http://www.wf-f.org/Angelus.html#anchor689231

The Angelus Domini is the traditional form used by the faithful to commemorate the holy annunciation of the angel Gabriel to Mary. It is used three times daily: at dawn, mid-day and at dusk. It is a recollection of the salvific event in which the Word became flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary, through the power of the Holy Spirit in accordance with the salvific plan of the Father.

The recitation of the Angelus is deeply rooted in the piety of the Christian faithful, and strengthened by the example of the Roman Pontiffs. In some places changed social conditions hinder its recitation, but in many other parts every effort should be made to maintain and promote this pious custom and at least the recitation of three Aves.

It is therefore "desirable that on some occasions, especially in religious communities, in shrines dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, and at meetings or conventions, the Angelus be solemnly recited by singing the Ave Maria, proclaiming the Gospel of the Annunciation" and by the ringing of bells.

Read more about it here:
Angelus

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Worldwide use

See below the discussion that developed around a haiku from the Philippines.


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Things found on the way


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HAIKU

Angelus--
the silence of
cash registers

Most Filipinos are Catholics. Especially in the rural areas, the recitation of the Angelus is seriously being observed not only at homes but also in public places. In one supermarket I visited, everyone -- including, of course, the cashiers -- had to stop at the start of the Angelus. You don't hear any sound, especially the sound of cash registers. The Angelus moment therefore serves as a break from our daily struggle in the material world, and a reminder of the spirituality of our existence.

roh mih, Philippines

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This haiku would read as follows in Ireland :

Angelus--
the silence of the
radio presenters

The Angelus bells are broadcast on the main radio station in Ireland (RTE 1) at noon every day, and many of those listening (even if not Roman Catholics) stop for a moment of prayer.

In Kenya :

muezzin chant --
deepening the silence
of the wee hours

The nearest mosque is many kilometres away from my house. Yet, between 5 and 6 in the morning, when Nairobi is still still, the singer can be heard here. If ever I am half-awake at that time, the chant is reassuring and peaceful.

Isabelle Prondzynski

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Romania

I am a Catholic, living in a predominantly Orthodox, but a very multi-denominational environment.

Here are 2 haiku and their background stories.

First about the Angelus. One of the Catholic churches in my town is just a couple of metres away from my house, across the railway. Bells used to toll for Angelus 3 times a day:at 8 AM, 12.00 noon and 6 PM. In addition they made themselves heard for Masses or when somebody important died, as well as to dispell hail (it works!). This until the '80-s when the Communists decided they were disturbed by that and forbade the use of churchbells. Later the bells were also removed altogether. They were re-installed in 1993 (the parrish had no money before that). It was for the Noon Angelus on a July day that we heard them again for the 1-st time:

in the scorching heat
bodies doze off, but my heart
beats with the church bells

Incidentally, Isabelle, did you know that there is a direct link between the Angelus and the Ezzan (muezzin's call)? When St. Francis of Assisi came back from the Middle East, he wrote a "Letter to all the faithful" in which he suggested that Christians say a prayer in memory of the Incarnation, 5 times a day, just like Islamic prayer times, and that bells or horns be used to call people to such prayers. However, the practice was not institutionalised (with just 3 times a day) until later, when a Pope made vows to that effect if the Christians were able to thwart an attempt by the Turks to penetrate the Italian peninsula, which actually happened at the battle of Otranto.

About silence and radio stations:
Also in the Communist times, we were not allowed to say some words in public:"Christmas", "Easter", "Good Friday" and almost any words having to do with religion could mean one's suspension from school-with the impossibility to go to University afterwards, one's being sacked from any position one held etc. Needless to say, these were not public holidays, either. Not all Communist states were that harsh. Some-including our neighbouring Hungary- held them as public holidays and Radio Budapest -which broadcast the Angelus bells each day-on Good Friday when, throughout the Catholic world, NO bells are supposed to toll, actually explained that on the air.

Hungarian or not, Catholic or not, elderly people in our town all understood some Hungarian and tuned in to Radio Budapest to hear the magic words:"Today being Good Friday, we shall have no bells". Just to hear that it was possible to say "Good Friday" on the air, in a Communist country.

In 1987 or 1988 I wrote a haiku in English, hoping that if "they" find it, "they" will have trouble understanding it.I have lost it since, but I think it went something like this:

"Twelve noon, Good Friday:
airwaves keep the souls alive
with the bells'silence".

Cristian Mocanu

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Actually the Angelus bells are broadcast on RTE1 twice a day, at noon and 6 pm.
I have to say I never saw anyone (except a few old ladies) stop for a moment of prayer when they are broadcast.

amid the news
on clerical abuse a pause
Angelus bells

Sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests is seldom out of the news these days in Ireland. A poignant juxtaposition is caught in the verse.

Norman Darlington

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Tractors tearing
rows into the fat earth.
Evening Angelus.

Times are changing. The bells still ring, but the machines keep running. In the near future actually, tractors might be running computer-directed, without even a person directing them.

Horst Ludwig, USA


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Related words

***** Silence (maun) in India

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