The Angelus is prayed three times a day, at dawn, at noon, and at dusk, traditionally at the sound of a bell. It consists of three short versicles with a Hail Mary after each — the angel's announcement to Mary, her answer that she is the handmaid of the Lord, and the words of Saint John that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us — followed by the versicle Pray for us, O holy Mother of God, and a concluding prayer asking that, having known the Incarnation through the message of an angel, we may be brought by his Passion and Cross to the glory of the resurrection. It grew slowly. An evening bell calling for Ave Marias is recorded in the thirteenth century, a morning bell followed, and the midday prayer was added later; the text reached its present form by the sixteenth century. The Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy praises it as a simple and adaptable devotion, easily prayed by individuals, families, and communities, that keeps the mystery of the Incarnation before the mind through the ordinary hours of the day. It is traditionally recited kneeling, except on Sundays and throughout Eastertide, when it is said standing. During the Easter Season the Angelus gives way to the Regina Caeli — Queen of Heaven, rejoice, alleluia, for he whom you were worthy to bear, alleluia, has risen as he said, alleluia; pray for us to God, alleluia. The antiphon dates from the medieval period and is one of the four seasonal Marian antiphons sung at the close of Night Prayer, alongside the Alma Redemptoris Mater, the Ave Regina Caelorum, and the Salve Regina. It is prayed from Easter Sunday through Pentecost Sunday, standing, and its repeated alleluias give the season's joy to a prayer that otherwise recalls the Annunciation. The custom is publicly kept at the Vatican, where the Pope prays the Angelus, or the Regina Caeli in Eastertide, with pilgrims in Saint Peter's Square at midday on Sundays. In parishes the bell at noon and at six in the evening once ordered the day for whole towns; in a household, a pause at noon for these few lines is one of the least demanding and most durable ways of keeping the day turned toward God.

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