The Angelus

[chelsea]

Can somebody tell me why we are asked to pray the angelus at 6am, 12 noon, and 6pm? Why not midnight? And is there a specific reason that the three parts of the Angelus were chosen?

[cappie]

The origins of the Angelus are somewhat obscure, but it seems clear they are rooted in monastic prayers of the hours, and even in its earliest form included the three "Hail Marys". Originally the Angelus prayers were said at Compline (night prayer), and over the years mid-day and morning hours were added. By the early seventeenth century the formula of prayers exactly as we know it today was complete.

The triple "Hail Mary" was closely associated with the ringing of a bell, a practice apparently derived from the monastic tradition of Complin. The three interrupted peals of the Ave bell probably served as an introduction to the continuous tolling of the curfew that preceded Matins (morning prayer).

The manner of ringing the Angelus -- the triple stroke repeated three times, with a pause between each set of three (a total of nine strokes), which might be followed by a longer peal as at curfew -- seems to have been in place from the very beginning. In the fifteenth-century constitutions of Syon monastery, it is directed that the lay brother "shall toll the Ave bell nine strokes at three times, keeping the space of one Pater and Ave between each three tollings".

Bells dedicated to the Angelus can be found throughout Europe -- inscriptions include: Ave Maria and O Rex Gloriæ Veni Cum Pace (O King of Glory, Come with Peace). A number of European Angelus bells are dedicated to Saint Gabriel, with inscriptions including: Dulcis instar mellis campana vecor Gabrielis (I am sweet as honey, and am called Gabriel's bell) and Missus vero pie Gabriel fert læta Mariæ (Gabriel the messenger bears joyous tidings to holy Mary.)

A fifteenth-century bell at Erfert bears the words: Cum ter reboo, pie Christiferam ter aveto (When I ring thrice, thrice devoutly greet the Mother of Christ). Though the practice of saying the Angelus declined in the latter half of the twentieth century, many parishes such as mine continue the tradition of ringing the Angelus bells, traditionally at 6:00 a.m., noon and 6:00 p.m.