taken from various sites:
**************
The words of the Hail Mary:
Hail Mary, full of grace,
the Lord is with thee,
blessed art thou amongst 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.
The definition of a Hail Mary:
Hail Mary or in Latin Ave Maria is a traditional Christian prayer to Mary, the mother of Jesus. The prayer is based upon the Gospel (Luke 1:28 and Luke 1:42) and a reinforcement of basic Christian belief in the real divinity and real humanity of Jesus.
It is the central point of the Rosary, a prayer recited by Catholics, comprised of 4 sets of 5 Mysteries meditating upon the incarnation, life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Each of these Mysteries is prayed as a decade (literally ten), consisting of : One Our Father (Pater Noster or The Lord's Prayer), Ten Hail Marys, and One Doxology ('Glory be to the Father') .
*************
I think Pac knew exactly what a Hail Mary was, and this was his own personal version of the Hail Mary. as you see in the words of the actual Hail Mary, it's asking for our sins to be forgiven in the hour of our death. lyrics to Pac's Hail Mary:
"pray 2 God, hopin that he's listenin, see them niggaz comin 4 me, my diamonds when they glistenin..."
"I live my life a product made to crumble, was too hardened for a smile when it's crazy to be humble..."
"catch me father please cuz I'm fallin to the liquor store...."
"I got a head with no screws in it... one life 2 live but I got nothin 2 lose.... we all wrapped up in this livin life as thugs..."
most of the lyrics are angry (yet apologetic) and explain the darker side of Pac's life. after reading the "Making of Makaveli" in XXL thread, I learned that Pac's demeanor during Makaveli was much darker, solitary, and sophisticated than his previous works. the people close to him also said that Pac spoke of his death coming soon, and in his music it's apparent that he knew death was coming quick. I think this, like Blasphemy (which made the album) and a handful of others that probably didn't make the Makaveli album, was another public plea of forgiveness to God before Pac's time on this earth was expired. look at the last two lines of the actual Hail Mary: "pray for us sinners, now, and at the hour of our death."
think about it, we all know how smart Tupac was. do you think he'd name a track "Hail Mary" just cuz it sounds catchy, or do you think he called it that because he knew the background and the meaning of the Catholic Hail Mary and he wanted to personify it?
just my two cents. glad you brought this up though, it made me research the topic a little more.
mh
1