On Fri, 25 Sep 1998, Pardon E. Tillinghast wrote:
> One suggestion: the Ave Maria is NOT a prayer; it's a salutation. We pray
> to God alone. Thus 'Amen" doesn't belong at the end of it. Pardon
> Tillingahst
It would seem that you are employing a definition of prayer that restricts
prayer to God. The modern Ave Maria explicitly asks the Blessed Virgin to
pray for us. The original Ave Maria would properly be termed a
salutation, though I don't know why a salutation cannot also be a prayer.
Prayer can consist of many things: making requests for oneself, making
requests for others, giving praise (the
prayer life of medieval monks and nuns consistedly in large measure of
prayers of praise, the Psalms) etc. One does not, of course, pray to Mary
_in the same way_ that one prays to God. But as the now archaic common
usage in English indicates, we may call any request of another person a
prayer: "I pray thee, please take this letter to the governor."
The request made of Mary is similar to that made of other saints:
requesting her prayer on my behalf or on the behalf of others I am
concerned about. It is a prayer, a request; one may also praise Mary (not
as God but as the most exemplary mere human person), which is what the
"salutation" part of the modern Ave Maria consists of.
One may, of course, define prayer narrowly, but that would not be a
standard way of defining prayer. Perhaps Pardon Tillinghast was
employing a narrow definintion analogously with what has happened to the
word "worship" in modern English. It was once was used, by degrees, for
both humans and God--one ascribed various degrees of worth to people,
based on their social status, and thus could be said to be offering
worship to them. The highest level of worth-ship, of course, was reserved
for God alone. Today, however, the word is used only for ascribing
worthiness to God. In some circles, particularly Protestant and perhaps
secular circles, the word "prayer" has perhaps made this evolution. But I
don't think one can assume it has made this evolution for everyone.
However, I have not checked contemporary dictionaries or the OED, so I am
willing to be corrected.
Dennis Martin
Loyola University Chicago
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