Dissecting The Ave Maria

[CuriositasEtFidem]

(Warning, long post!) I'm in a mood to dig up whatever is left of my two years of high school Latin, so let's take a closer look at the Ave Maria. Personally, I love linguistics, and I think that tragically so much is lost when translating from Latin to English. Translation assisted by William Whitaker's Words (an excellent Latin source). 

Ave Maria, gratia plena / hail Mary, full of grace

Ave = hail!, formal expression of greetings; gratia = grace, esteem, friendship, favor; plena = full, plump, satisfied

"Gratia plena" is in the feminine form because (obviously) Mary is female. This first line is something to marvel at, an angel, a being far more powerful than any human being, formally greeting a young girl of obscurity! Not only does the Angel Gabriel greet her with such respect, he also proclaims that she is "full of grace," that God has special esteem, friendship, and favor for her!

Dominus tecum / the Lord is with thee

Dominus = Lord, master, nominative form; te = you; cum = with, supporting

If being greeted by an Angel and told that the Lord holds you in favor weren't mind-blowing enough, Gabriel goes on to say that the Lord personally is with Mary, that He is supporting her. The image of the Old Testament prophets comes to mind; it is often said that the Lord is with them before they are sent to do mighty deeds and proclaim His messages. Mary, in a way, is a prophet. She literally delivers the Word of God.

Benedicta tu in mulieribus / blessed art thou among women

Benedicta = blessed, blest, approved/praised/spoken well of (feminine adjective, referring to Mary); tu = you, nominative form; in = about, in midst of, among; mulieribus = plural of muler, meaning "woman," dative form

What an honor! She, a small peasant girl, is praised and blessed by God among all the women on Earth!

Et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Iesus. / and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus

Et = and, also; benedictus = blessed, blest, approved/praised/spoken well of (masculine adjective, referring to Jesus); fructus = produce, crops, fruit, profit, enjoyment, reward; ventris = (gen. form, implying an "of" before the noun ventris) womb, stomach, belly; tui = your; Iesus = Jesus

I particularly enjoy this line, as it's poetic. Jesus is compared to the blessed crop that springs from the fertile field of the womb of Mary. Wheat is the fruit of the earth, Jesus is the fruit of Mary. Wheat is turned into bread, Jesus becomes the Bread of Life.

Sancta Maria, Mater Dei

Sancta = consecrated, sacred, inviolable, venerable, august, holy, pious, just; Mater = mother; Dei = God, (gen. form, implying an "of" before the noun Dei)

This line is one of the things that sets Catholics apart from other denominations. Mary is honored with the title "Mother of God." Many in the Early Church were bothered by this title, as seen in the Nestorius affair, and as my high school religion teacher said, "If you're arguing about Mary being the mother of God, you're really arguing about the divinity of Jesus." It is dogma that Jesus is divine, that He is the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, so it is logical to call Mary the Mother of God. It is not according her an unjust or idolatrous honor, but is in fact honoring God. The title Mater Dei is closely tied to the greek Theotokos, or "God-bearer." Again, what an honor! To bear God, the all-powerful, infinitely-good Creator of the entire universe, Who transcends time and space and is greater than you could possibly imagine! 

Ora pro nobis peccatoribus

Ora = pray, beg, ask for, plead, entreat; pro = for, on behalf of; peccatoribus = sinners, transgressors

This line is a plea for Mary to intercede for us with God. She and Jesus are the only blameless humans, completely without sin. From a strictly just and logical point of view, God really has no reason to listen to our prayers, because we have sinned against Him. He listens nevertheless out of love and mercy. I digress. Mary is also accorded the title "Mediatrix of all graces." This line also acknowledges the fact that we are sinners, and every time we sincerely admit this, we grow in humility. 

nunc et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen. 

Nunc = now; hora = hour, time, season; mortis = death, annihilation; nostrae = our; Amen = truly, verily, so be it

Memento mori. Remember that one day, you, too, shall die. Death is inevitable. We might as well prepare the best we can for it. If it were practical, the best use of our time on Earth would be constantly begging for graces and the prayers of Heaven so that we may persevere on the way to Paradise. Mary's prayers are particularly powerful. God is compassionate, and surely, would have a special place in His Heart for the pleas of His Mother, whom He loves so dearly.

[Luigi]

'S wonderful! 'S marvelous! But the first half holds no water since Mary probably didn't speak Latin.

She may have known some Latin because the Romans controlled the territory at the time,  but the Angel of the Lord would not have spoken the occupiers' language to her. Her first language was Aramaic. So if you want to dig down to the substrate meanings, figure out what the angel would have said in Aramaic. 

The analysis of the second half of the Ave Maria is fine, since that part was composed by Latin-speaking believers. 

[CuriositasEtFidem]

48 minutes ago, Luigi said:

'S wonderful! 'S marvelous! But the first half holds no water since Mary probably didn't speak Latin.

She may have known some Latin because the Romans controlled the territory at the time,  but the Angel of the Lord would not have spoken the occupiers' language to her. Her first language was Aramaic. So if you want to dig down to the substrate meanings, figure out what the angel would have said in Aramaic. 

The analysis of the second half of the Ave Maria is fine, since that part was composed by Latin-speaking believers. 

D'oh! Thanks for catching my mistake, that flew completely over my head lol

[SicutColumba]

6 hours ago, CuriositasEtFidem said:

I think that tragically so much is lost when translating from Latin to English

Honestly, the accepted English translation is pretty faithful to the Greek of Saint Luke and the medieval Latin additions. There’s a particular nuance of duration with the gratia plena translation, as a perfect passive participle kekharitōmene bears on the past, too, because it’s not Gabriel who is rendering her full of grace. But with certain prayers we lose not necessarily some deep nuanced meaning but all the artistic beauty, like the Salve Regina. 

Edited February 13, 2021 by SicutColumba

[CuriositasEtFidem]

11 hours ago, SicutColumba said:

Honestly, the accepted English translation is pretty faithful to the Greek of Saint Luke and the medieval Latin additions. There’s a particular nuance of duration with the gratia plena translation, as a perfect passive participle kekharitōmene bears on the past, too, because it’s not Gabriel who is rendering her full of grace. But with certain prayers we lose not necessarily some deep nuanced meaning but all the artistic beauty, like the Salve Regina. 

Thanks for your perspective! I'm a Latin "scholar," so Greek isn't my area of expertise haha. Maybe I'll dissect the Salve Regina next. I do enjoy translating, as there's just something about the Latin that English can't quite compare to.