HAIL MARY / AVE MARIA

Nazareth - XE MAPIA Inscription

In excavating the area around the Annunciation site the Franciscan archaeologists found the construction of a "public" building, which the archaeologists identify with a church-synagogue. Among these architectural remains the archaeologists found various graffiti and among them one of special interest.

Scratched on the base of a column appeared the greek characters XE MAPIA (read: Ch(air)e Maria). Translated as: "Hail Mary". Recalling the angel's greeting to the Virgin, this inscription is the oldest of its kind known to us. It was written before the Council of Ephesus (431) where devotion to Mary received its first universal impulse.

Other graffiti, all jealously conserved at the adjacent museum, confirm the Marian nature of the shrine. One in Armenian reads "beautiful girl" (referred to Mary) and another one in Greek reads "on the holy site of M(ary) I have written".

Do keep these details whenever you are praying the Holy Rosary, or simply reciting the "Hail Mary".