Biblical Roots
The prayer draws its opening lines from the Gospel of Luke, combining the angel Gabriel's greeting to Mary at the Annunciation with Elizabeth's greeting at the Visitation. Over centuries of Catholic devotional practice, these biblical greetings were joined to a closing petition asking Mary's intercession, arriving at the form still recited today.
Its Place in Santo Daime
Santo Daime was founded by Raimundo Irineu Serra, known within the tradition as Mestre Irineu, who combined Catholic devotion with Kardecist spiritist practice and Amazonian and Indigenous influences. The Hail Mary is one of several Catholic prayers, alongside the Our Father and the Creed, that carried directly into the new religion's works, usually recited in both Portuguese and English.
Devotion to Mary
In Catholic teaching the prayer is understood as a request for Mary's intercession rather than worship directed at her; devotees ask her to pray to God on their behalf, particularly at the moment of death. Santo Daime doctrine carries forward this same devotional understanding of Mary as an intercessor.