Hail Mary Hail Mary The Hail Mary, also commonly called the Ave Maria (Latin), is a traditional Catholic prayer asking for the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus. In Roman Catholicism, the prayer forms the basis of the Rosary and the Angelus prayers. In the Oriental Orthodox Churches, Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches, a similar prayer is used in formal liturgies, both in Greek and in translations. It is also used by many other groups within the catholic tradition of Christianity including Anglicans, Independent Catholics, and Old Catholics. Largely based on two phrases in the Gospel of
Hail to the Thief the album's subtitle. Other titles considered included "Little Man Being Erased", "The Boney King of Nowhere" and "Snakes and Ladders", which became the alternative titles for the songs "Go To Sleep", "There There" and "Sit Down. Stand Up" respectively. The phrase "hail to the thief" was used by anti-George W. Bush protesters during the controversy surrounding the 2000 US presidential election as a play on "Hail to the Chief", the American presidential anthem. Yorke described hearing the phrase for the first time as a "formative moment" for the album. Radiohead chose the title partly to "state the bleeding obvious ...