Hail Mary: A Marian Book of Hours

Commonweal, Jan 17, 2003 by Lawrence S. Cunningham

Hail Mary: A Marian Book of Hours Edited by William G. Storey Ave Maria Press, $14.95, 316 pp.

The bishops at Vatican II wisely refrained from issuing a separate document on Mary, instead adding a wonderful chapter dedicated to her in the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church. The result was to put the mystery of Mary in the context of ecclesiology and Christology, reining in the excessive expansion of Mariological speculation. This does not mean that Catholicism has abandoned its deep-felt veneration for Mary, the Mother of God, nor should it. That would hardly happen, in any event, because John Paul II is famously dedicated to Mary. The pope always--sometimes excessively, in the judgment of some--keeps Mary before our eyes.

Those who wish to keep Marian devotion alive are well served by this manual of prayers compiled by William Storey, a retired Notre Dame theology professor and a veteran compiler of prayer books. His book is divided into three parts: morning and evening prayer for the Marian liturgical year; morning and evening prayer for nine major feasts of Mary; and a selection of daily readings drawn first from Scripture and then from church writers. The book concludes with some litanies in honor of Mary. One of my favorites is the Litany of Mary of Nazareth, so often identified with Pax Christi. Morning and evening prayer are structured after the traditional offices of lauds and vespers.

The prayers presented here are keenly sensitive to the rich sources of the Catholic liturgical tradition, and the readings range from the apostolic fathers to contemporary writers. Here there is nothing maudlin (a common affliction in Marian devotion), and nothing that is not doctrinally sound. Parishes, schools, and religious communities may find this book a rich resource for constructing liturgical celebrations for feast days or other special occasions--for example, during the months of October and May. In any case, I am happy to have this handy volume. It will find its place on my shelf along with the other collections of prayers I have accumulated over the years--collections I find useful when introducing topics or making points in my theology classes.

Lawrence S. Cunningham is John A. O'Brien Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame.