Among our more beautiful devotions is the Angelus, the
three-fold recitation of the Hail Mary with introductory
versicles as well as a concluding versicle and prayer.
This devotion honours the Incarnation and is properly
prayed early in the morning, again at midday and finally in
the evening.
Originally the Angelus was prayed only in the evening at
the tolling of the evening bell and was simply a three-fold
recitation of the Hail Mary. The bell coincided with the
liturgical office of Compline Vespers and thus was
probably intended as a means for the laity to join their
prayers to the Divine Office to which clergy are bound.
The earliest mention we have of this comes from the
year 1239 and is ascribed to Pope Gregory IX. By 1318
the city of Parma was observing the Angelus in the
morning as well, coinciding with the bell tolling for the
liturgical office of Prime, the first prayers of the Divine
Office, or Liturgy of the Hours. This caught on quickly
throughout Europe and the morning Angelus was being
prayed in Winchester by 1324. In less than a century the
prayer was also being said at noon, coinciding with the
ringing of the noon bell. The proper times for the Angelus
thus evolved as six in the morning, twelve at noon, and
six in the evening, appropriately the beginning, middle
and end of the day. In the early 17