 Spence D. of IGN Music praised " Ave Maria " , writing that it shows Knowles in " crystal clear form " due to the mellow accompaniment that highlighted her " often captivating " voice . Darryl Sterdan , writing for the Canadian website Jam ! , noted that Knowles " draws on the classic composition for this sweeping number " and echoes a similar line to John Lennon 's quote : " Life is what happens to you while you 're busy making other plans . " Talia Kraines of BBC Online called the song " very strange , but wonderful " . In his consumer guide , Robert Christgau wrote , " But me , I 'm a hater , and thus I 'm something like outraged , by not just those two pimp @-@ outs but an ' Ave Maria ' lacking even the dumbstruck literalism of Pink 's rendition or the grotesque conversion of ' Umbrella ' into ' Halo . ' " Bernard Zuel of The Sydney Morning Herald wrote that the song was " pompous and frankly embarrassing " . Colin McGuire of PopMatters commented that " Ave Maria " is a " pretty normal take , a piece that has simply been done too many times before to think [ Knowles ] would even have a shot at putting her stamp on it . " Alexis Petridis of The Guardian described the song as " dreary " . According to James Reed of The Boston Globe , the song is " an intriguing proposition torpedoed by a soggy arrangement " . Adam Mazmanian of The Washington Times gave a negative review for the song , writing that the high notes included on " Ave Maria " , " should have remained a secret between Beyonce and her producers " . In 2013 , John Boone and Jennifer Cady of E ! Online placed the song at number ten on their list of ten best Knowles ' songs . They further added , " The new classic kicks off with the plucking off some light strings and you know by the end you 'll be singing through tears . " 
