(Editors’ Note: Because of the new bid by several bishops of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) to revive and promote the Angelus tradition, we are reprinting an article by one of our writers about the Angelus. This article previously appeared in the author’s book A Circuitous Journey and in the Bicol Mail where this article first appeared on December 6, 2019)
THERE WAS A TIME in old Naga when at 6 pm Cathedral bells would ring and everybody would pause for evening prayer. Calesas would stop, motor vehicles would come to a halt, and everybody in the streets would stand still to pray the Angelus.
It is one of my most beautiful childhood memories in old Naga.
At home, we would drop everything, face the direction of the Cathedral, as we renewed our devotion in honor of the Incarnation commemorating the Archangel Gabriel’s Annunciation to the Blessed Mother. Her “Yes” to God, her “Fiat,” resulted in God becoming Incarnate in her Immaculate Womb.
My mother at home would always lead this beautiful family prayer:
The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary.
And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.
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.
Behold the handmaid of the Lord.
Be it done unto me according to thy word.
Hail Mary…
And the Word was made flesh.
And dwelt among us.
Hail Mary…
Pray for us, O holy Mother of God.
That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
The Angelus prayer dates back to the year 1263 when the medieval Franciscan, scholastic theologian and philosopher turned St. Bonaventure initiated the prayer of meditation to honor the Annunciation, from which the Angelus may have originated.
The ringing of the bells heralded the prayers. They consisted of three strokes each followed by a pause, and then nine strokes while the prayer was being completed.
The Angelus may also have originated in the ancient curfew bell, a signal for evening prayer, but as far as we were concerned, it was also our “curfew” to be home or face the consequence of our parents’ “sermon,” or even run the risk of encountering “evil spirits” lurking in the trees and grassy fields surrounding our house.
Sad to say, this worldwide Catholic ritual is now a rarity. This used to be practiced countrywide in the Philippines.
I still miss this centuries old practice. In a world of religious pluralism, however, I do not know if this tradition will ever return, even as I muse how reviving this sacred practice will further solidify our reputation as a Catholic country. Why not? After all, haven’t our Muslim brethren preserved their practice of the Adhan, the special call to prayer, as they face the Qibla?
Saint Thomas Aquinas, in support of monastics, once said that it was necessary that there should be people who devote their entire lives solely to contemplation. There is so much action and restless movement in the world, and yet these are movements without inward direction. It is the result of our having lost our connection with the Source of All Life.
Twelve members of the CBCP recently recorded for distribution the Angelus in eight widely-spoken Filipino dialects in an attempt to revive its practice as family prayer. The participating prelates in Bicol were Masbate Bishop Jose S. Bantolo (Masbateño) and Legaspi Bishop Joel Z. Baylon (Bikol).
As a result of the material world having dominated our lives, we, like Dante, have lost our way in a dark wood. We are like the mass of men living lives of quiet desperation, as Thoreau puts it. We are cut off from God, trying to solve our problems on our own. We are like personal laptops that are not connected to the Internet.
The way we are destroying the climate, fighting among ourselves, suffering from all sorts of illnesses—these are some indications of a major disconnection somewhere, a wake-up call that we need help from above.
Prayer, according to the Baltimore Catechism, is the lifting up of our minds and hearts to God.
Perhaps we could set aside a little time to practice this devotion again. After all, what is two minutes of meditation in the City of Pilgrims in the afterglow of day.
For what could be more joyful than the announcement by the Angel Gabriel to the Blessed Virgin Mary that she would conceive a son by the power of the Holy Spirit.
And this Son shall be called Jesus.
(The featured photo in the header is the mosaic art donated by the Philippines to the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth, city of Galilee, Israel. Photo by ozinoh, Flickr)
About the author:
MANUEL OJEDA AUREUS is a native of Naga City, Camarines Sur, and a retired head of a New York City multinational customer service company. In the early 1990s he published the first Filipino–American Children’s magazine Bahaghari. In his retirement he published the books, There’s More to Eat than Cooking and A Circuitous Journey & Other Stories of Faith, Hope and Love, both available from Amazon. He currently lives in Queens, New York, with his wife Delia, and with their cat Kitkat.