Angelus Prayer: The Angel of the Lord in Latin and English
Three times a day the bell rings for the Angelus. Here is the Angelus prayer in its traditional wording, in Latin and English, with the Regina Caeli for Eastertide.
In the morning, at midday and in the evening, the bell rings for prayer in many places. Whoever hears it pauses for a minute and prays the Angelus, which begins “The Angel of the Lord”. In three short verses it tells how the Angel brought the message to the Blessed Virgin Mary and the eternal Word was made flesh. This guide gives the complete text in Latin and English and explains the times of prayer, the Regina Caeli of Eastertide, the origin of the prayer and the indulgence the Church has attached to it.
- The Angelus, named after its first Latin word Angelus, is a short prayer in honour of the Incarnation of Christ: three verses, each followed by a Hail Mary, together with a versicle and a closing prayer.
- It is prayed three times a day, in the morning, at midday and in the evening, by ancient custom at the ringing of the bell.
- In Eastertide the antiphon Regina caeli takes its place. From Saturday evening until the end of Sunday it is said standing.
- The collection of indulgences Preces et pia opera of 1952 lists an indulgence of ten years each time it is prayed; whoever prays it daily for a month can gain a plenary indulgence under the usual conditions.
What is the Angelus prayer?
The Angelus, named after its first Latin word and beginning “The Angel of the Lord”, is a short Catholic prayer in honour of the Incarnation of Christ. It consists of three verses on the Annunciation, a Hail Mary after each verse, a versicle, that is, a verse and response, and an oration, the closing prayer.
The three verses follow Holy Scripture. The first sums up the account of St Luke the Evangelist: the Angel Gabriel is sent to Mary and announces to her that the Holy Ghost shall come upon her (Lk 1:26–35). The second is her answer: Ecce ancilla Domini, fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum (Lk 1:38). The third comes from the prologue of the Gospel of St John (Jn 1:14). Between the verses comes the Hail Mary, which itself begins with the Angel's greeting. In this way one meditates within a minute on the Annunciation, which in the Rosary is the first Joyful Mystery.
How to pray the whole Rosary is shown in our Rosary prayer companion.
“Et Verbum caro factum est, et habitavit in nobis.” And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.
Jn 1:14 in the Vulgate; English from the Douay-Rheims Bible
What are the words of the Angelus?
The Angelus begins with the verse “The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary”, to which those praying respond “And she conceived of the Holy Ghost” and pray a Hail Mary. Two further verses follow, each with a Hail Mary, and finally a versicle and the oration.
In the text, V. stands for the versicle and R. for the response to it. The Latin follows the official collection of indulgences of 1952; the English follows the traditional wording long in use in English-speaking countries.
V. Angelus Domini nuntiavit Mariae, R. Et concepit de Spiritu Sancto. Ave Maria.
V. Ecce ancilla Domini, R. Fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum. Ave Maria.
V. Et Verbum caro factum est, R. Et habitavit in nobis. Ave Maria.
V. Ora pro nobis, sancta Dei Genitrix, R. Ut digni efficiamur promissionibus Christi.
Oremus. Gratiam tuam, quaesumus Domine, mentibus nostris infunde: ut qui, Angelo nuntiante, Christi Filii tui incarnationem cognovimus, per passionem eius et crucem ad resurrectionis gloriam perducamur. Per eumdem Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.V. The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary, R. And she conceived of the Holy Ghost.
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.
V. Behold the handmaid of the Lord, R. Be it done unto me according to thy word. Hail Mary …
V. And the Word was made flesh, R. And dwelt among us. Hail Mary …V. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God, R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Latin from Preces et pia opera, Vatican 1952, no. 331 a. English in the traditional form; the German edition of this guide follows Franz Beringer: Die Ablässe, ihr Wesen und Gebrauch, 10th edition, Paderborn 1893, no. 90, p. 168. Hail Mary in the traditional English form.
Let us pray. Pour forth, we beseech thee, O Lord, thy grace into our hearts; that we, to whom the Incarnation of Christ, thy Son, was made known by the message of an Angel, may by his Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of his Resurrection. Through the same Christ our Lord. R. Amen.
The Roman Breviary also contains the closing prayer Gratiam tuam. In Advent it prays the same oration after the Marian antiphon Alma Redemptoris Mater, with the versicle about the Angel's message. It sums up the way of the Saviour in a single sentence: from the Incarnation through the Passion and the Cross to the Resurrection.
When is the Angelus prayed?
The Angelus is prayed three times a day: early in the morning, at midday and in the evening, by ancient custom at the ringing of the bell. Whoever cannot hear the bell or is prevented at the hour prays it at about the usual time or as soon as possible afterwards.
In the brief Injunctae Nobis of 14 September 1724, Pope Benedict XIII names the morning, midday and the evening after sunset. The 1952 collection speaks of first light, midday and evening. The Church prescribes no fixed hour; when the bell is rung is a matter of local custom. In many places it happens around 6 a.m., at 12 noon and around 6 p.m.
| Time | Prayer and posture |
|---|---|
| Weekdays | the Angelus with three Hail Marys, kneeling |
| Sundays | the Angelus, standing, from Vespers on Saturday |
| Eastertide | Regina Caeli with versicle and oration, standing |
| Without the text | five Hail Marys |
Standing from Saturday evening until the end of Sunday was laid down by Pope Benedict XIV in a letter of the Cardinal Vicar of 20 April 1742. Anselm Schott's missal records the same in 1894: kneeling, standing only on Saturday evening and on Sunday.
What is prayed in Eastertide instead of the Angelus?
In Eastertide the Marian antiphon Regina Caeli, in English “Queen of Heaven, rejoice”, is prayed instead of the Angelus, with its own versicle and its own oration. It sings of the joy of the Mother of God at the Resurrection of her Son and is prayed standing.
Regina caeli laetare, alleluia:
Quia quem meruisti portare, alleluia,
Resurrexit, sicut dixit, alleluia.
Ora pro nobis Deum, alleluia.
V. Gaude et laetare, Virgo Maria, alleluia, R. Quia surrexit Dominus vere, alleluia.
Oremus. Deus, qui per resurrectionem Filii tui Domini nostri Iesu Christi mundum laetificare dignatus es: praesta quaesumus, ut per eius Genitricem Virginem Mariam perpetuae capiamus gaudia vitae. Per eumdem Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.O Queen of Heaven, rejoice, alleluia:
Latin from Preces et pia opera, Vatican 1952, no. 331 b. English in the traditional form; German edition after Beringer, Die Ablässe, 1893, no. 90, p. 169.
For he whom thou didst merit to bear, alleluia,
Has risen, as he said, alleluia.
Pray for us to God, alleluia.
V. Rejoice and be glad, O Virgin Mary, alleluia, R. For the Lord is truly risen, alleluia.
Let us pray. O God, who by the resurrection of thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, didst vouchsafe to give joy to the world; grant, we beseech thee, that through his Mother, the Virgin Mary, we may obtain the joys of everlasting life. Through the same Christ our Lord. R. Amen.
According to Beringer (1893), Eastertide for the Regina Caeli begins with the Alleluia at the Mass of Holy Saturday and ends with the Mass on the Saturday before Trinity Sunday. Whoever does not know the antiphon by heart may, according to the same source, continue to pray the Angelus. In the Roman Breviary a Marian antiphon follows Compline; in Eastertide it is the Regina Caeli.
Where does the Angelus come from?
The Angelus arose in the Middle Ages from the custom of praying three Hail Marys at the evening bell. Pope John XXII recommended it in 1318 and attached an indulgence to it. The morning and midday bells were added later, and the present three verses only in the 16th century.
The Catholic Encyclopedia of 1907 distinguishes carefully between what is certain and what is conjecture. A general chapter of the Franciscans under St Bonaventure instructed preachers in the 1260s to exhort the people to say the Hail Mary at the bell for Compline. For the morning bell it cites the chronicle of Parma from the year 1318. The midday bell was closely linked with devotion to the Passion of Christ and at first was apparently rung only on Fridays, as in Prague in 1386 and in Mainz in 1423.
The three verses first appear in a catechism printed in Venice in 1560; in their full present form they are attested from 1612. That the Regina Caeli should take its place in Eastertide was recommended by Angelo Rocca and Quarti at the beginning of the 17th century; Benedict XIV prescribed it in 1742.
What indulgence has the Church attached to the Angelus?
For the Angelus the collection Preces et pia opera of 1952 grants an indulgence of ten years each time. Whoever prays it daily for a month can gain a plenary indulgence once a month under the usual conditions: confession, Communion, a visit to a church and prayer for the intentions of the Holy Father.
The grant in the 1952 collection rests on a decision of the Sacred Apostolic Penitentiary of 20 February 1933. It applies to the prayer in the morning, at midday and in the evening, in Eastertide to the Regina Caeli, and likewise to five Hail Marys said in its place. After the first indulgence of John XXII in 1318, Benedict XIII in 1724 gave the grant that remained in force into the 20th century: 100 days each time it is prayed and a plenary indulgence once a month. On 3 April 1884 Leo XIII permitted that those who for a reasonable cause cannot kneel or cannot attend to the bell also gain it.
We named our Regina Caeli Rosary after the Easter antiphon. The Hail Mary beads are matt black stone beads of 8 mm, the Our Father beads faceted glass beads of 12 mm in sapphire blue or emerald green; the centrepiece bears a Marian motif reminiscent of a Gothic rose window. The rosary is 50 cm long.
Stone and glass give the rosary a certain weight, so it sits well in the hand, even if you only take it out of your pocket for the three Hail Marys of the Angelus.
Mentioned in this article
Regina Caeli Rosary, sapphire blue
Handmade on a black cord, with stone beads, sapphire-blue faceted glass beads and a Marian centrepiece.
View the rosary
Frequently asked questions about the Angelus prayer
Must the Angelus be prayed kneeling?
By tradition the Angelus is prayed kneeling on weekdays, and standing from Saturday evening until the end of Sunday and in Eastertide. Since Leo XIII (1884), those who for a reasonable cause cannot kneel also gain the indulgence.
Can the Angelus be prayed without the ringing of the bell?
The Angelus can also be prayed without a bell. In 1781 Pius VI permitted it to be prayed at about the usual hours in places without bells, and the 1952 collection expressly includes praying it as soon as possible afterwards.
What do you pray if you do not know the words by heart?
Whoever does not know the words of the Angelus by heart or cannot read them prays five Hail Marys. Leo XIII laid this down in 1884; the 1952 collection generally allows five Hail Marys in place of the Angelus. A rosary from our workshop in your pocket is a help.
What does the Angelus have to do with the Rosary?
The Angelus and the Rosary contemplate the same event: the Annunciation is the first Joyful Mystery, prayed on Mondays and Thursdays. Both prayers have the Hail Mary at their centre.
- Preces et pia opera, Vatican 1952, no. 331 a and b (Angelus Domini, Regina caeli) with the grant of the Sacred Apostolic Penitentiary of 20 February 1933. archive.org
- Franz Beringer: Die Ablässe, ihr Wesen und Gebrauch (Indulgences, Their Nature and Use), 10th edition, Paderborn 1893, no. 90, pp. 168 to 170, with the grants of Benedict XIII (1724), Benedict XIV (1742), Pius VI (1781) and Leo XIII (1884). archive.org
- Herbert Thurston: Angelus. The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 1, New York 1907. newadvent.org
- Anselm Schott: Das Meßbuch der heiligen Kirche (The Missal of Holy Church), 4th edition, Freiburg 1894, appendix p. [151] f.
- Breviarium Romanum, Marian antiphons Alma Redemptoris Mater and Regina caeli, after the text of Divinum Officium; Das römische Brevier in deutscher Sprache (the Roman Breviary in German), edited by Ferdinand Janner, winter part, Regensburg 1890, p. 147 f.
- Biblia Sacra Vulgata (Clementina): Lk 1:26–38 (drbo.org); Jn 1:14 (drbo.org).
Last checked on 19 October 2026.
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