In mid-13th-century Western Europe, the prayer consisted only of these words with the single addition of the name 'Mary' after the word 'Hail', as is evident from Thomas Aquinas's commentary on the prayer. The prayer incorporates two greetings to Mary recorded in the Gospel of Luke: 'Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee', and 'Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb'. The Eastern Catholic Churches follow their respective traditions or adopt the Latin Church version, which is also used by many other Western groups historically associated with the Catholic Church, such as Lutherans, Anglicans, Independent Catholics, and Old Catholics.

The Eastern Orthodox Churches have apart from the Theotokion a quite similar prayer to the Hail Mary (without explicit request for the intercession of Mary), both in Greek and in translations, for frequent private prayer. In the psalmody of the Oriental Orthodox Churches a daily Theotokion is devoted to ascribing praise to the Mother of God. In the Latin Church, the Hail Mary forms the basis of other prayers such as the Angelus and the Rosary.

The prayer takes different forms in various traditions and has often been set to music. Since the 16th century, the version of the prayer used in the Catholic Church closes with an appeal for her intercession. The Hail Mary is a prayer of praise for and of petition to Mary, regarded as the Theotokos (Mother of God). It is also called Angelical salutation as the prayer is based on the Archangel Gabriel's words to Mary.

The prayer is based on two biblical passages featured in the Gospel of Luke: the Angel Gabriel's visit to Mary (the Annunciation) and Mary's subsequent visit to Elisabeth, the mother of John the Baptist (the Visitation).

The Hail Mary ( Latin: Ave Maria) or Angelical salutation is a traditional Christian prayer addressing Mary, the mother of Jesus. The Annunciation by Fra Angelico, 1433–34

The hail mary in latin and french