Q: I talked with a retired bishop who says his understanding is that when the new translation of the Mass was released in England and Wales in the 1970’s, the English bishops were given an indult to pray the Hail Mary at the end of the Universal prayers in recognition of the long Marian tradition and spirituality in this country.
Must admit that I was unaware of this but thought you might have some thoughts about it.
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A: I did some more homework on this. In 1973 the bishops of England and Wales asked the Holy See to approve concluding the Universal Prayer with the Ave Maria, Salve Regina, Sub tuum praesidium, Regina coeli, or the Memorare. They were told that that would not be in harmony with the structure of the Universal Prayer, which is addressed to God. Better would be a final petition referencing the intercession of Mary—but structured in the same way as the others.
Apparently by 1973 it was already the custom to conclude the petitions with the Hail Mary, making it hard to break the tradition. The Holy See hoped that this would change in time.
Perhaps it never did.