Who Wrote The Prayer Hail Mary?

The first line of Hail Mary, originally in Greek, is a verse from the Gospel according to St Luke 1:28 when the archangel Gabriel announced to Mary that she was to carry the child Jesus.

Hail, favoured one! The Lord is with you."

The second line is from Luke 1:42 when Mary visited her cousin Elizabeth. Elizabeth said to Mary ~

Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.

Photo by Eustache Le Sueur - Original uploader was Lamré at sv.wikipedia, Public Domain, Link

The devotion may have started in 1100s. Christian faithfuls used it as a form of greeting ~

Hail, full of grace. The Lord is with Thee.

The tradition of reciting the first two lines with the name Mary added after the word Hail started in the middle of the 13th century in Europe.

The petition part of the prayer

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of death. Amen.

 first appeared in print in 1495. The prayer was written in Latin with the absence of the word nóstrae.

Sáncta María, Máter Déi, óra pro nóbis peccatóribus, nunc et in hóra mórtis. Ámen.

In his Cathechism in 1555, St Peter Canisius SJ, a renowned Dutch Jesuit priest, is credited for adding to the Hail Mary this line ~

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners.

In 1566, The Cathechism of the Council of Trent completed and made the prayer official as we know today.

In Latin ~

Áve María, grátia pléna,
Dóminus técum.
Benedícta tu in muliéribus,
et benedíctus frúctus véntris túi, Iésus.
Sáncta María, Máter Déi,
óra pro nóbis peccatóribus,
nunc et in hóra mórtis nóstrae. Ámen.

In English ~

Hail, Mary, full of grace!
The Lord is with thee.
Blessed are 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.

Who is St Petrus Canisius?

St Peter Canisius SJ (feast 28 April) was a strong leader of the restoration of the Catholic Church in Europe following the Protestant Reformation.