Ave Maria

The Ave Maria, or Hail Mary, is a traditional catholic prayer asking for the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus. In Roman Catholicism is forms the basis of the rosary and angelus prayers.

The Latin text is as follows:

Áve Marī́a, grā́tiā plḗna,
Dóminus tḗcum.
Benedícta tū in muliḗribus,
et benedíctus frū́ctus véntris túī, Iḗsūs.
Sā́ncta Marī́a, Mā́ter Déī,
ṓrā prō nṓbīs peccātṓribus,
nunc et in hṓrā mórtis nóstrae. Āmēn.

Which translates like this:

Hail Mary, full of grace,
the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou amongst 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.

This prayer has been set to music by quite a lot of composers. The most famous versions are probably those by Schubert and Gounod.

Now a version by Stefan de Hoogt. It's purely instrumental, but a choral version is also in the making.