The Angelus (; Latin for "angel") is a Catholic devotion commemorating the Incarnation of Christ. As with many Catholic prayers, the name Angelus is derived from its incipit—the first few words of the text: ("The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary"). The devotion is practiced by reciting as versicle and response three Biblical verses narrating the mystery, alternating with the prayer "Hail Mary". The Angelus exemplifies a species of prayers called the "prayer of the devotee". The devotion is traditionally recited in Roman Catholic churches, convents, monasteries and by the faithful three times a day: in the morning, at noon and in the evening (usually just before or after Vespers). The devotion is also observed by some Anglican, Western Rite Orthodox, and Lutheran churches. The Angelus is usually accompanied by the ringing of the Angelus bell, which is a call to prayer and to spread goodwill to everyone. The angel referred to in the prayer is Gabriel, a messenger of God who revealed to the Virgin Mary that she would conceive a child to be born the Son of God (Luke 1:26–38). History According to Herbert Thurston, the Angelus originated with the 11th-century monastic custom of reciting three Hail Marys at the evening, or Compline, bell. The first written documentation stems from the Italian Franciscan friar Sinigardi di Arezzo (died 1282). Franciscan friaries in Italy document the use in 1263 and 1295. The current form of the Angelus prayer is included in a Venetian Catechism from 1560. The older usages seem to have commemorated the resurrection of Christ in the morning, his suffering at noon, and the annunciation in the evening. In 1269, St Bonaventure urged the faithful to adopt the custom of the Franciscans of saying three Hail Marys as the Compline bell was rung. The Angelus is not identical to the "noon bell" ordered by Pope Calixtus III (1455–58) in 1456, who asked for a long midday bell-ringing and prayer for protection against the Turkish invasions of his time. In his 1956 Apostolic Letter Dum Maerenti Animo about the persecution of the Catholic church in Eastern Europe and China, Pope Pius XII recalls the 500th anniversary of the "noon bell", a prayer crusade ordered by his predecessors against what they considered to be dangers from the East. He again asks the faithful throughout the world, to pray for the persecuted Church in the East during the mid-day