Mother Mary (The Blessed Mother) is a special intercessor because of her relationship to Jesus. Prayers, therefore, will receive the priority of a “Mother’s request” to Jesus. So, pray to the Blessed Mother during this 9-day Novena leading up to the Feast of the Birth of Mary on September 8th.

The most widely used prayer to the Blessed Mother is the “Hail Mary” (“Ave Maria”). The prayer is quickly memorized and can be recited on its own, in threes or as part of The Rosary.

The “Hail Mary” has roots in the Gospel of Luke with two primary verses being direct quotes from the Gospel. The first spoken by the Angel Gabriel at the Annunciation: “Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you.” (Luke 1:28). The second verse was uttered by St. Elizabeth who was pregnant with St. John the Baptist, and said to Mary when she visited her (The Visitation), “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.” (Luke 1:42-45). However, the verses were not tied together as a prayer until around the 11th century and called the “Salutation of the Blessed Virgin”. The prayer “Ave Maria” with the second petitionary half of the prayer (“Holy Mary, Mother of God…”) did not become official until it was included in the Roman Breviary of 1568 after the Council of Trent; and was then called the “Angelical Salutation”. Read more about the Hail Mary on aleteia.org – see the reference below.

Hail Mary Prayer

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.

Other Marian Prayers and their history can be found on other pages of Churchwonders.com:

The Angelus – https://churchwonders.com/devotions/traditional-prayers/the-angelus/
The Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary – https://churchwonders.com/devotions/litanies/the-litany-of-the-blessed-virgin-mary/

The Rosary – https://churchwonders.com/devotions/traditional-prayers/the-rosary/
Prayer to Our Lady of Vailankanni – https://churchwonders.com/devotions/litanies/prayers-to-our-lady-of-vailankanni/

References
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Aleteia.org – The Hail Mary – https://aleteia.org/2017/05/06/when-did-christians-start-praying-the-hail-mary/

The Lord Calls – Prayers to Mary and the Saints – https://lordcalls.com/prayers-to-mother-mary