Honouring the Queen of Heaven during the Easter Season

 

The Coronation of the Virgin

Blessed Fra Angelico, Musée du Louvre, Paris [Web Gallery of Art]

Compline, the official Night Prayer of the Church ends with an anthem  of antiphon to the Blessed Virgin Mary. In monasteries this is sung. In the traditional liturgical calendar there are four of these, all in Latin.

Alma Redemptoris Mater is sung from Saturday before the 1st Sunday of Advent through February 1.

The anthem from 2 February, the feast of the Presentation of the Lord, through Wednesday of Holy Week is Ave, Regina caelorum.

Regina caeli is the Easter anthem, sung from Easter Sunday through Friday within the Octave of Pentecost.

The best known anthem, sung on many occasions apart from Compline, is Salve, Regina. It is the anthem for Compline from Saturday after the Octave of Pentecost through Friday before the 1st Sunday of Advent.

Regina Caeli

Sung by Schola Gregoriana Medioalanensis, under Giovanni Vianini

V. Regina caeli, laetare, alleluia. 

R. Quia quem meruisti portare, alleluia. 

V. Resurrexit, sicut dixit, alleluia. 

R. Ora pro nobis Deum, alleluia.

V. Gaude et laetare, Virgo Maria, alleluia. 

R. Quia surrexit Dominus vere, alleluia.

[Oremus. Deus, qui per resurrectionem Filii tui, Domini nostri Iesu Christi, mundum laetificare dignatus es: praesta, quaesumus; ut per eius Genetricem Virginem Mariam, perpetuae capiamus gaudia vitae. Per eundem Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.]

V. Queen of Heaven, rejoice, alleluia. 

R. For He whom you did merit to bear, alleluia. 

V. Has risen, as he said, alleluia. 

R. Pray for us to God, alleluia.

V. Rejoice and be glad, O Virgin Mary, alleluia. 

R. For the Lord has truly risen, alleluia.

[Let us pray. O God, who gave joy to the world through the resurrection of Thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, grant we beseech Thee, that through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, His Mother, we may obtain the joys of everlasting life. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.]

The original text is in Latin. The Regina Caeli, with the prayer in square brackets, replace the Angelus during the Easter Season.

Regina caeli

Setting by Tomás Luis de Victoria (1548-1611)

Sung by Voces8

Authentic beauty, however, unlocks the yearning of the human heart, the profound desire to know, to love, to go towards the Other, to reach for the Beyond.

Pope Benedict XVI meeting with artists in the Sistine Chapel, 21 November 2009.