Question: what is the meaning of the hail mary prayer

title: Hail Mary
text: The Hail Mary is the essential element of the Rosary , a prayer method in use especially among Roman Rite ( Western ) Catholics . The Eastern Catholic Churches say a similar version . The Rosary consists traditionally of three sets of five Mysteries , each mystery consisting of one `` decade '' or ten Ave Marias . The 150 Ave Marias of the Rosary thus echo the 150 psalms . These meditate upon events of Jesus ' life during his childhood ( Joyful Mysteries ) , Passion ( Sorrowful Mysteries ) , and from his Resurrection onwards ( Glorious Mysteries ) . Another set , the Luminous Mysteries , is of comparatively recent origin , having been proposed by Pope John Paul II in 2002 . Each of these Mysteries is prayed as a decade ( a unit of ten ) , consisting of one Our Father ( Pater Noster or The Lord 's Prayer ) , ten Hail Marys , and one ' Glory Be ' ( Gloria Patri ) ( Doxology ). The repetition of the `` Our Father '' , `` Hail Mary '' , and `` Glory Be '' is conducive to meditation , as several Popes have pointed out , especially Pope Leo XIII . The restatement of the prayers locks one into fixed language , having the effect of freeing the conscious mind so that the recitation may come more from the heart and not the head . During the apparitions at Fatima , Mary placed singular emphasis on the importance of praying the Rosary every day to bring the world to conversion . Pope Paul V said that `` the Rosary is a treasure of graces '' and Sister Lúcia of Fátima explained `` the Rosary helps to preserve that flickering flame of faith that has not yet been completely extinguished from many consciences . Even for those souls who pray without meditating , the simple act of taking the beads in hand to pray is already a remembrance of God -- of the supernatural '' . Lúcia also said `` there is no problem , no matter how difficult it is , whether temporal or above all spiritual , in the personal life of each one of us , of our families , of the families in the world , or of the religious communities , or even of the life of peoples and nations that can not be solved by the Rosary '' .