Salve Regina

Hail to the Queen

The Hymns of the Breviary and Missal

Salve Regina, mater misericordiæ,
Vita, dulcedo et spes nostra, salve.
Ad te clamamus, exsules filii Hevæ.
Ad te suspiramus, gementes et flentes in hac lacrimarum valle.
Eja ergo, advocata nostra,
Illos tuos misericordes oculos ad nos converte.
Et Jesum, benedictum fructum ventris tui,
Nobis post hoc exsilium ostende.
O clemens, o pia, o dulcis Virgo Maria.

Hail to the Queen who reigns above,
Mother of clemency and love,
Hail, thou, our hope, life, sweetness; we
Eves banished children cry to thee.
We from this wretched vale of tears
Send sighs and groans unto thy ears;
Oh, then, sweet Advocate, bestow
A pitying look on us below.
After this exile, let us see
Our Blessed Jesus, born of thee.
O merciful, O pious Maid,
O gracious Mary, lend thine aid.

Author: Ascribed to Hermann Contractus (1013-1054). Translation from the Primer, 1685. There are fifteen metrical translations, and the beautiful prose version which is said after every Low Mass. Liturgical Use: Antiphon of our Blessed Lady from the First Vespers of the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity until None of the Saturday before the first Sunday of Advent. Since Jan. 6, 1884, the Salve Regina forms a part of the prayers which Pope Leo XIII ordered to be said after every Low Mass.