<![CDATA[The Catacombs - Marian Hymns]]> https://thecatacombs.org/ Sat, 02 May 2026 03:27:42 +0000 MyBB <![CDATA[Stabat Mater, the Hymn of the Virgin of Sorrows]]> https://thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=7451 Mon, 15 Sep 2025 11:09:09 +0000 Stone]]> https://thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=7451 Stabat Mater, the Hymn of the Virgin of Sorrows

NLM | September 15, 2025

Devotion to the Sorrows of the Virgin Mary originated in German-speaking lands in the early 15th-century, partly as a response to the iconoclasm of the Hussites, and partly out of the universal popular devotion to every aspect of Christ’s Passion, including the presence of His Mother, and thence to Her grief over the Passion. The feast that emerged as its formal liturgical expression of this devotion was known by several different titles, and kept on a wide variety of dates, but usually in Passiontide, or just after Easter. Before the name “Seven Sorrows” became common, it was most often called “the feast of the Virgin’s Compassion”, which is to say, of Her suffering together with Christ as She beheld the Passion. This title was retained well into the 20th century by the Dominicans, who also had an Office for it which was quite different from the Roman one, although the Mass was the same. It also appears in many missals of the 15th to 17th centuries only as a votive Mass, with no corresponding feast; this was the case at Sarum, where it is called “Compassionis sive Lamentationis B.M.V.” Its popularity continued to grow in the Tridentine period, until Pope Benedict XIII finally extended it to the whole of the Roman Rite in 1727.

[Image: Pieter%20Pourbus%20-%20The%20van%20Belle...rows).jpeg]

The Virgin of Sorrows; the central panel of the Van Belle triptych by Pieter Poubus (1523 ca. - 1580); in the church of St James in Bruges, Belgium. There were different traditions as to which events in Our Lady’s life counted as Her Seven Sorrows; here they are (clockwise from lower left) the Circumcision, the Flight into Egypt, losing the Child Jesus, meeting Christ on the road to Calvary, the Crucifixion, the deposition from the Cross, and the entombment. The Roman version of the Passiontide feast contains no specific list. (Public domain image from Wikimedia Commons.)

A second feast of the Seven Sorrows was promulgated in 1668 as the Patronal feast of the Servite Order, which was founded in the mid-13th century by seven Florentine noblemen, and soon spread all over Europe. (St Philip Benizi, who stands in their history as St Bernard does in that of the Cistercians, not their founder, but their most famous member, was almost elected Pope in 1271.) This order had always nourished a strong devotion to the Mother of Sorrows, and has its own rosary of the Seven Sorrows, and its own Marian stations of the Cross. Pope Pius VII added their version of the feast to the general calendar in 1814, after he returned from the exile in France shamefully visited upon him by Napoleon. Part of his reason for doing would certainly have been to ask the Virgin’s intercession and protection for the Church in the midst of the many horrors visited upon it by the French revolution and the subsequent wars. It was originally kept on the Third Sunday of September, as it had been first by the Servites, but when Pope St Pius X abolished the custom of fixing feasts to Sundays, it was placed on September 15th, the day after the Exaltation of the Cross.

As is often the case with later feasts, there was a considerable variety in the liturgical texts of the earlier version of the feast from one place to another, and between the traditions of the various religious orders. But of course, one of the most widespread was the hymn Stabat Mater Dolorosa, which is universally regarded as one of the great masterpieces of later medieval devotional poetry. The author of this hymn is unknown, and has been the subject of a great deal of scholarly conjecture. For a long time, many attributed it to a Franciscan friar name Jacopone da Todi (‘Big James from Todi’, about 80 miles north of Rome in Umbria; 1230 ca. – 1306); however, a fairly recent manuscript discovery has made this attribution untenable. Others have ascribed it to Pope Innocent III, who reigned from 1198-1216, and was certainly a very prolific writer in various genres, but this remains no more than a plausible conjecture.

In the Roman liturgical tradition, it is sung as a hymn in the Divine Office in one melody of the sixth Gregorian mode, and in another of the second mode as a Sequence at Mass, between the Alleluia and the Gospel.


Many great composers have also put their hand to setting it polyphonically, such as Josquin des Prez.


Palestrina’s version, composed shortly before his death in 1594, was traditionally sung in Rome on Palm Sunday.


One of the best known versions is by the Baroque composer Giovanni Battista Draghi (1710-36), who is generally known by the last name “Pergolesi”, after Pergola, the small town in the Italian Marches from which his family came. This was also composed very shortly before the author’s death, of tuberculosis at the age of only 26. This became the single most frequently printed work of sacred music in the 18th century, and, in the common fashion of the Baroque era, was reused by several other composers, including JS Bach, who turned the music into one of his German cantatas, albeit with a completely different text based on Psalm 50.

]]> Stabat Mater, the Hymn of the Virgin of Sorrows

NLM | September 15, 2025

Devotion to the Sorrows of the Virgin Mary originated in German-speaking lands in the early 15th-century, partly as a response to the iconoclasm of the Hussites, and partly out of the universal popular devotion to every aspect of Christ’s Passion, including the presence of His Mother, and thence to Her grief over the Passion. The feast that emerged as its formal liturgical expression of this devotion was known by several different titles, and kept on a wide variety of dates, but usually in Passiontide, or just after Easter. Before the name “Seven Sorrows” became common, it was most often called “the feast of the Virgin’s Compassion”, which is to say, of Her suffering together with Christ as She beheld the Passion. This title was retained well into the 20th century by the Dominicans, who also had an Office for it which was quite different from the Roman one, although the Mass was the same. It also appears in many missals of the 15th to 17th centuries only as a votive Mass, with no corresponding feast; this was the case at Sarum, where it is called “Compassionis sive Lamentationis B.M.V.” Its popularity continued to grow in the Tridentine period, until Pope Benedict XIII finally extended it to the whole of the Roman Rite in 1727.

[Image: Pieter%20Pourbus%20-%20The%20van%20Belle...rows).jpeg]

The Virgin of Sorrows; the central panel of the Van Belle triptych by Pieter Poubus (1523 ca. - 1580); in the church of St James in Bruges, Belgium. There were different traditions as to which events in Our Lady’s life counted as Her Seven Sorrows; here they are (clockwise from lower left) the Circumcision, the Flight into Egypt, losing the Child Jesus, meeting Christ on the road to Calvary, the Crucifixion, the deposition from the Cross, and the entombment. The Roman version of the Passiontide feast contains no specific list. (Public domain image from Wikimedia Commons.)

A second feast of the Seven Sorrows was promulgated in 1668 as the Patronal feast of the Servite Order, which was founded in the mid-13th century by seven Florentine noblemen, and soon spread all over Europe. (St Philip Benizi, who stands in their history as St Bernard does in that of the Cistercians, not their founder, but their most famous member, was almost elected Pope in 1271.) This order had always nourished a strong devotion to the Mother of Sorrows, and has its own rosary of the Seven Sorrows, and its own Marian stations of the Cross. Pope Pius VII added their version of the feast to the general calendar in 1814, after he returned from the exile in France shamefully visited upon him by Napoleon. Part of his reason for doing would certainly have been to ask the Virgin’s intercession and protection for the Church in the midst of the many horrors visited upon it by the French revolution and the subsequent wars. It was originally kept on the Third Sunday of September, as it had been first by the Servites, but when Pope St Pius X abolished the custom of fixing feasts to Sundays, it was placed on September 15th, the day after the Exaltation of the Cross.

As is often the case with later feasts, there was a considerable variety in the liturgical texts of the earlier version of the feast from one place to another, and between the traditions of the various religious orders. But of course, one of the most widespread was the hymn Stabat Mater Dolorosa, which is universally regarded as one of the great masterpieces of later medieval devotional poetry. The author of this hymn is unknown, and has been the subject of a great deal of scholarly conjecture. For a long time, many attributed it to a Franciscan friar name Jacopone da Todi (‘Big James from Todi’, about 80 miles north of Rome in Umbria; 1230 ca. – 1306); however, a fairly recent manuscript discovery has made this attribution untenable. Others have ascribed it to Pope Innocent III, who reigned from 1198-1216, and was certainly a very prolific writer in various genres, but this remains no more than a plausible conjecture.

In the Roman liturgical tradition, it is sung as a hymn in the Divine Office in one melody of the sixth Gregorian mode, and in another of the second mode as a Sequence at Mass, between the Alleluia and the Gospel.


Many great composers have also put their hand to setting it polyphonically, such as Josquin des Prez.


Palestrina’s version, composed shortly before his death in 1594, was traditionally sung in Rome on Palm Sunday.


One of the best known versions is by the Baroque composer Giovanni Battista Draghi (1710-36), who is generally known by the last name “Pergolesi”, after Pergola, the small town in the Italian Marches from which his family came. This was also composed very shortly before the author’s death, of tuberculosis at the age of only 26. This became the single most frequently printed work of sacred music in the 18th century, and, in the common fashion of the Baroque era, was reused by several other composers, including JS Bach, who turned the music into one of his German cantatas, albeit with a completely different text based on Psalm 50.

]]> <![CDATA[Inviolata]]> https://thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=4572 Tue, 06 Dec 2022 16:09:21 +0000 Stone]]> https://thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=4572 ]]> ]]> <![CDATA[O Gloriosa Domina]]> https://thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=4525 Tue, 22 Nov 2022 13:07:08 +0000 Stone]]> https://thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=4525 O Gloriosa Domina
Gregorian Hymn to Our Lady - taken from here.

[Image: ?u=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2Foriginal...ipo=images]


O Gloriosa Domina (O Glorious Lady) is the famous Marian hymn sung at Lauds on Feasts of Our Lady in the Roman Breviary. It forms the second part of the hymn Quem terra, pontus, aethera written by Venantius Fortunatus, Bishop of Poitiers.

Below is a translation of an excerpt from the famous Año Virgineo, published in Spanish in 1716, which tells the story of a priest who was saved from trouble by this hymn:

"In Madrid, the year 1573 saw the [death] of Ven. Father Fray Ananio de Segura, of the most exemplary Order of the Discalced Friars Minor, first Guardian of the Convent [Monastery] of Madrid. He was most devoted to the Great Queen, and for this the Devil hated him very much: For he is the Dragon with seven heads, who vomits poison, against which St. John in the Apocalypse saw Our Lady adorned with Stars. And he still hurls this [poison] at the children whom Our Lady is giving to the Church.

"One day, [the Devil] took on the form of a horrendous and bloody boar, which with its bare fangs threatened to tear him to pieces. The Holy Guardian [Fray Ananio] became frightened and called on the Merciful Virgin, telling her: 'My Lady and Mother, drive this beast away from me!" On his knees, he began the Hymn that says O Gloriosa Domina, excelsa super sidera: O Glorious Lady, whose dominion is elevated above the Stars; and upon hearing these voices, the demon fled.

"The demon appeared to him again some days later, making grimaces at him and telling him: 'Thank the Gloriosa Domina, [because] if it were not for her, I would take my revenge on you.' Fray Ananio immediately intoned the Gloriosa Domina, as one who already knows the remedy for his affliction, with which on this and other occasions he was freed from the infernal beast." (1)

It is also a well known fact that O Gloriosa Domina was the favorite hymn of St. Anthony, who learned it from his mother as a child. He would sing this hymn so often that the Jesuit Fr. Manuel de Azevedo wrote: "It could be said that he had this hymn on his lips at every breath." (2) St. Anthony also sung this hymn on his deathbed: after receiving the Sacrament of Confession: "Like a swan approaching death, he began to sing the hymn, which he was accustomed to pray many times against the demons." (3)



Listen to O Gloriosa Domina by Schola of the Hofburgkapelle



Lyrics:

Latin text:

O gloriosa Domina
Excelsa super sidera,
Qui te creavit provide,
Lactasti sacro ubere.

Quod Eva tristis abstulit,
Tu reddis almo germine;
Intrent ut astra flebiles,
Caeli fenestra facta es.

Tu regis alti janua
Et porta lucis fulgida;
Vitam datam per Virginem,
Gentes redemptae, plaudite.

Gloria tibi, Domine,
Qui natus es de Virgine,
Cum Patre et Sancto Spiritu
In sempiterna saecula. Amen.



English translation:

O Heaven's glorious mistress,
Elevated above the stars,
Him who created thee
Thou feedest with thy sacred breast.

What miserable Eve lost
Thy dear offspring to man restores,
They enter like weeping stars
Thou hast become Window of Heaven.

Thou art the door of the High King,
The gate of shining light.
Life is given through a Virgin:
Rejoice, ye redeemed nations.

Glory be to Thee, O Lord,
Born of a Virgin,
With the Father and the Holy Spirit,
World without end. Amen.]]> O Gloriosa Domina
Gregorian Hymn to Our Lady - taken from here.

[Image: ?u=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2Foriginal...ipo=images]


O Gloriosa Domina (O Glorious Lady) is the famous Marian hymn sung at Lauds on Feasts of Our Lady in the Roman Breviary. It forms the second part of the hymn Quem terra, pontus, aethera written by Venantius Fortunatus, Bishop of Poitiers.

Below is a translation of an excerpt from the famous Año Virgineo, published in Spanish in 1716, which tells the story of a priest who was saved from trouble by this hymn:

"In Madrid, the year 1573 saw the [death] of Ven. Father Fray Ananio de Segura, of the most exemplary Order of the Discalced Friars Minor, first Guardian of the Convent [Monastery] of Madrid. He was most devoted to the Great Queen, and for this the Devil hated him very much: For he is the Dragon with seven heads, who vomits poison, against which St. John in the Apocalypse saw Our Lady adorned with Stars. And he still hurls this [poison] at the children whom Our Lady is giving to the Church.

"One day, [the Devil] took on the form of a horrendous and bloody boar, which with its bare fangs threatened to tear him to pieces. The Holy Guardian [Fray Ananio] became frightened and called on the Merciful Virgin, telling her: 'My Lady and Mother, drive this beast away from me!" On his knees, he began the Hymn that says O Gloriosa Domina, excelsa super sidera: O Glorious Lady, whose dominion is elevated above the Stars; and upon hearing these voices, the demon fled.

"The demon appeared to him again some days later, making grimaces at him and telling him: 'Thank the Gloriosa Domina, [because] if it were not for her, I would take my revenge on you.' Fray Ananio immediately intoned the Gloriosa Domina, as one who already knows the remedy for his affliction, with which on this and other occasions he was freed from the infernal beast." (1)

It is also a well known fact that O Gloriosa Domina was the favorite hymn of St. Anthony, who learned it from his mother as a child. He would sing this hymn so often that the Jesuit Fr. Manuel de Azevedo wrote: "It could be said that he had this hymn on his lips at every breath." (2) St. Anthony also sung this hymn on his deathbed: after receiving the Sacrament of Confession: "Like a swan approaching death, he began to sing the hymn, which he was accustomed to pray many times against the demons." (3)



Listen to O Gloriosa Domina by Schola of the Hofburgkapelle



Lyrics:

Latin text:

O gloriosa Domina
Excelsa super sidera,
Qui te creavit provide,
Lactasti sacro ubere.

Quod Eva tristis abstulit,
Tu reddis almo germine;
Intrent ut astra flebiles,
Caeli fenestra facta es.

Tu regis alti janua
Et porta lucis fulgida;
Vitam datam per Virginem,
Gentes redemptae, plaudite.

Gloria tibi, Domine,
Qui natus es de Virgine,
Cum Patre et Sancto Spiritu
In sempiterna saecula. Amen.



English translation:

O Heaven's glorious mistress,
Elevated above the stars,
Him who created thee
Thou feedest with thy sacred breast.

What miserable Eve lost
Thy dear offspring to man restores,
They enter like weeping stars
Thou hast become Window of Heaven.

Thou art the door of the High King,
The gate of shining light.
Life is given through a Virgin:
Rejoice, ye redeemed nations.

Glory be to Thee, O Lord,
Born of a Virgin,
With the Father and the Holy Spirit,
World without end. Amen.]]> <![CDATA[In Fatima's Cove]]> https://thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=2126 Fri, 16 Jul 2021 15:23:27 +0000 Stone]]> https://thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=2126 ]]> ]]> <![CDATA[Hail, Queen of Heave, the Ocean Star]]> https://thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=2125 Fri, 16 Jul 2021 15:15:27 +0000 Stone]]> https://thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=2125 ]]> ]]> <![CDATA[Regina Caeli]]> https://thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=1554 Sat, 10 Apr 2021 12:05:15 +0000 Stone]]> https://thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=1554



Latin Text

Regina Caeli laetare, Alleluia,
Quia quem meruisti portare, Alleluia,
Resurrexit sicut dixit, Alleluia.
Ora pro nobis Deum. Alleluia
]]>



Latin Text

Regina Caeli laetare, Alleluia,
Quia quem meruisti portare, Alleluia,
Resurrexit sicut dixit, Alleluia.
Ora pro nobis Deum. Alleluia
]]> <![CDATA[Sub tuum praesidium]]> https://thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=1527 Tue, 06 Apr 2021 10:19:05 +0000 Stone]]> https://thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=1527 Sub Tuum Praesidium




"Beneath Thy Protection" (Greek: Ὑπὸ τὴν σὴν εὐσπλαγχνίαν; Latin: Sub tuum praesidium) is a Christian hymn. 
It is the oldest preserved extant hymn to the Blessed Virgin Mary as Theotokos.



Latin Text

Sub tuum praesidium
confugimus,
Sancta Dei Genetrix.
Nostras deprecationes ne despicias
in necessitatibus nostris,
sed a periculis cunctis
libera nos semper,
Virgo gloriosa et benedicta.


English Translation

We fly to Thy protection,
O Holy Mother of God;
Do not despise our petitions
in our necessities,
but deliver us always
from all dangers,
O Glorious and Blessed Virgin.


Some of the Latin versions have also incorporated the following verses often attributed to Saint Bernard of Clairvaux to the above translation:

Domina nostra, Mediatrix nostra, Advocata nostra (Our Lady, our Mediatrix, Our Advocate)
tuo Filio nos reconcilia (Reconcile us to your Son)
tuo Filio nos recommenda (Recommend us to your Son)
tuo Filio nos representa (Represent us to your Son)]]> Sub Tuum Praesidium




"Beneath Thy Protection" (Greek: Ὑπὸ τὴν σὴν εὐσπλαγχνίαν; Latin: Sub tuum praesidium) is a Christian hymn. 
It is the oldest preserved extant hymn to the Blessed Virgin Mary as Theotokos.



Latin Text

Sub tuum praesidium
confugimus,
Sancta Dei Genetrix.
Nostras deprecationes ne despicias
in necessitatibus nostris,
sed a periculis cunctis
libera nos semper,
Virgo gloriosa et benedicta.


English Translation

We fly to Thy protection,
O Holy Mother of God;
Do not despise our petitions
in our necessities,
but deliver us always
from all dangers,
O Glorious and Blessed Virgin.


Some of the Latin versions have also incorporated the following verses often attributed to Saint Bernard of Clairvaux to the above translation:

Domina nostra, Mediatrix nostra, Advocata nostra (Our Lady, our Mediatrix, Our Advocate)
tuo Filio nos reconcilia (Reconcile us to your Son)
tuo Filio nos recommenda (Recommend us to your Son)
tuo Filio nos representa (Represent us to your Son)]]> <![CDATA[Salve Sancta Parens]]> https://thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=1525 Mon, 05 Apr 2021 21:49:03 +0000 Stone]]> https://thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=1525

Latin text

Salve sancta parens enixa puerpera Regem
Qui caelum terramque regit in saecula saeculorum.

A: Virgo Dei Genitrix, quem totus non capit orbis:
In tua se clausit viscera factus homo.

B: Sentiant omnes tuum [ad]iuvamen
Quicunque celebrant tuam commemorationem. [Alleluia]

C: Eructavit cor meum verbum bonum: dico ego opera mea Regi. [Psalm 44:2a]

Gloria Patri


English translation

Hail, Holy Mother, who in childbirth brought forth the King
who rules heaven and earth, world without end.

A: O Virgin Mother of God, He whom the whole world can not contain:
Enclosed Himself in thy womb, and became a man.

B: Let all feel thy help and protection
Whosoever celebrates your memory.

C: My heart hath uttered a good word; I speak my works to the King.

Glory be to the Father …
]]>

Latin text

Salve sancta parens enixa puerpera Regem
Qui caelum terramque regit in saecula saeculorum.

A: Virgo Dei Genitrix, quem totus non capit orbis:
In tua se clausit viscera factus homo.

B: Sentiant omnes tuum [ad]iuvamen
Quicunque celebrant tuam commemorationem. [Alleluia]

C: Eructavit cor meum verbum bonum: dico ego opera mea Regi. [Psalm 44:2a]

Gloria Patri


English translation

Hail, Holy Mother, who in childbirth brought forth the King
who rules heaven and earth, world without end.

A: O Virgin Mother of God, He whom the whole world can not contain:
Enclosed Himself in thy womb, and became a man.

B: Let all feel thy help and protection
Whosoever celebrates your memory.

C: My heart hath uttered a good word; I speak my works to the King.

Glory be to the Father …
]]> <![CDATA[O Gloriosa Virginum]]> https://thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=1006 Tue, 02 Feb 2021 13:44:30 +0000 Stone]]> https://thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=1006 O Gloriosa Virginum



Sheet Music and Sound Recording


Lyrics

O gloriosa virginum,
Sublimis inter sidera,
Qui te creavit, parvulum,
Lactente nutris ubere.

Quod Heva tristis abstulit,
Tu reddis almo germine:
Intrent ut astra flebiles,
Caeli recludis cardines.

Tu Regis alti janua
Et aula lucis fulgida:
Vitam datam per Virginem,
Gentes redemptae, plaudite.

Jesu, tibi sit gloria,
Qui natus es de Virgine,
Cum Patre, et almo Spiritu,
In sempiterna saecula. Amen.]]> O Gloriosa Virginum



Sheet Music and Sound Recording


Lyrics

O gloriosa virginum,
Sublimis inter sidera,
Qui te creavit, parvulum,
Lactente nutris ubere.

Quod Heva tristis abstulit,
Tu reddis almo germine:
Intrent ut astra flebiles,
Caeli recludis cardines.

Tu Regis alti janua
Et aula lucis fulgida:
Vitam datam per Virginem,
Gentes redemptae, plaudite.

Jesu, tibi sit gloria,
Qui natus es de Virgine,
Cum Patre, et almo Spiritu,
In sempiterna saecula. Amen.]]> <![CDATA[Ave Maris Stella]]> https://thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=340 Tue, 08 Dec 2020 11:38:04 +0000 Stone]]> https://thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=340 [Image: assumption-maria.jpg][Image: ave-maris-stella-vespers.jpg]

Ave maris stella


"Ave maris stella" (Latin for 'Hail, star of the sea') is a Marian hymn used at Vespers from about the eighth century. It was especially popular in the Middle Ages and has been used by many composers as the basis of other compositions.

The creation of the original hymn has been attributed to several people, including Bernard of Clairvaux (12th century), Saint Venantius Fortunatus (6th century) and Hermannus Contractus (11th century). The text is not found written by 9th-century hands, but as a tenth-century addition in two 9th-century manuscripts, one from Salzburg now in Vienna and the other still at the Abbey of Saint Gall. Its frequent occurrence in the Divine Office made it popular in the Middle Ages, many other hymns being founded upon it.[1] The "Ave maris stella" was highly influential in presenting Mary as a merciful and loving Mother. "Much of its charm is due to its simplicity". The title, "Star of the Sea" is one of the oldest and most widespread titles applied to Mary. The hymn is frequently used as a prayer for safe-conduct for travelers.

The melody is found in the Irish plainsong "Gabhaim Molta Bríde", a piece in praise of St. Brigid of Kildaire. [Source]




Latin
Ave, maris stella,
Dei mater alma,
atque semper virgo,
felix cœli porta.

Sumens illud «Ave»
Gabrielis ore,
funda nos in pace,
mutans Evæ[10] nomen.

Solve vincla reis,
profer lumen cæcis,
mala nostra pelle,
bona cuncta posce.

Monstra te esse matrem,
sumat per te precem [11]
qui pro nobis natus
tulit esse tuus.

Virgo singularis,
inter omnes mitis,
nos culpis solutos
mites fac et castos.

Vitam præsta puram,
iter para tutum,
ut videntes Jesum
semper collætemur.

Sit laus Deo Patri,
summo Christo decus,
Spiritui Sancto
tribus honor unus. Amen.


English
Hail, thou Star of ocean,
Portal of the sky !
Ever Virgin Mother
Of the Lord most high !

Oh ! by Gabriel's Ave,
Uttered long ago,
Eva's name reversing,
Establish peace below.

Break the captive's fetters ;
Light on blindness pour ;
All our ills expelling,
Every bliss implore.

Show thyself a Mother ;
Offer Him our sighs,
Who for us Incarnate
Did not thee despise.

Virgin of all virgins !
To thy shelter take us :
Gentlest of the gentle !
Chaste and gentle make us.

Still, as on we journey,
Help our weak endeavor ;
Till with thee and Jesus
We rejoice forever.

Through the highest heaven,
To the Almighty Three,
Father, Son, and Spirit,
One same glory be.  Amen.


[Image: stella-maris.jpg]


Quote:
Promises to those who sing the Ave Maris Stella

During a riot at Rome, a mob came to the house where St. Bridget lived; a leader talked of burning Bridget alive. She prayed to Our Blessed Lord to know if she should flee to safety and He assured her to stay, saying: "It doesn't matter if they plot thy death. My power will break the malice of thy enemies: If mine crucified me, it is because I permitted it." The Blessed Virgin added:
"Sing as a group the Ave Maris Stella and I will guard you from every danger."
]]> [Image: assumption-maria.jpg][Image: ave-maris-stella-vespers.jpg]

Ave maris stella


"Ave maris stella" (Latin for 'Hail, star of the sea') is a Marian hymn used at Vespers from about the eighth century. It was especially popular in the Middle Ages and has been used by many composers as the basis of other compositions.

The creation of the original hymn has been attributed to several people, including Bernard of Clairvaux (12th century), Saint Venantius Fortunatus (6th century) and Hermannus Contractus (11th century). The text is not found written by 9th-century hands, but as a tenth-century addition in two 9th-century manuscripts, one from Salzburg now in Vienna and the other still at the Abbey of Saint Gall. Its frequent occurrence in the Divine Office made it popular in the Middle Ages, many other hymns being founded upon it.[1] The "Ave maris stella" was highly influential in presenting Mary as a merciful and loving Mother. "Much of its charm is due to its simplicity". The title, "Star of the Sea" is one of the oldest and most widespread titles applied to Mary. The hymn is frequently used as a prayer for safe-conduct for travelers.

The melody is found in the Irish plainsong "Gabhaim Molta Bríde", a piece in praise of St. Brigid of Kildaire. [Source]




Latin
Ave, maris stella,
Dei mater alma,
atque semper virgo,
felix cœli porta.

Sumens illud «Ave»
Gabrielis ore,
funda nos in pace,
mutans Evæ[10] nomen.

Solve vincla reis,
profer lumen cæcis,
mala nostra pelle,
bona cuncta posce.

Monstra te esse matrem,
sumat per te precem [11]
qui pro nobis natus
tulit esse tuus.

Virgo singularis,
inter omnes mitis,
nos culpis solutos
mites fac et castos.

Vitam præsta puram,
iter para tutum,
ut videntes Jesum
semper collætemur.

Sit laus Deo Patri,
summo Christo decus,
Spiritui Sancto
tribus honor unus. Amen.


English
Hail, thou Star of ocean,
Portal of the sky !
Ever Virgin Mother
Of the Lord most high !

Oh ! by Gabriel's Ave,
Uttered long ago,
Eva's name reversing,
Establish peace below.

Break the captive's fetters ;
Light on blindness pour ;
All our ills expelling,
Every bliss implore.

Show thyself a Mother ;
Offer Him our sighs,
Who for us Incarnate
Did not thee despise.

Virgin of all virgins !
To thy shelter take us :
Gentlest of the gentle !
Chaste and gentle make us.

Still, as on we journey,
Help our weak endeavor ;
Till with thee and Jesus
We rejoice forever.

Through the highest heaven,
To the Almighty Three,
Father, Son, and Spirit,
One same glory be.  Amen.


[Image: stella-maris.jpg]


Quote:
Promises to those who sing the Ave Maris Stella

During a riot at Rome, a mob came to the house where St. Bridget lived; a leader talked of burning Bridget alive. She prayed to Our Blessed Lord to know if she should flee to safety and He assured her to stay, saying: "It doesn't matter if they plot thy death. My power will break the malice of thy enemies: If mine crucified me, it is because I permitted it." The Blessed Virgin added:
"Sing as a group the Ave Maris Stella and I will guard you from every danger."
]]> <![CDATA[Tota Pulchera Es]]> https://thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=326 Mon, 07 Dec 2020 16:28:21 +0000 Stone]]> https://thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=326 Tota pulchra es is an old Catholic prayer, written in the fourth century. It is one of the five antiphons for the psalms of Second Vespers for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. The title means "You are completely beautiful" (referring to the Virgin Mary). It speaks of her immaculate conception. It takes some text from the book of Judith, and other text from Song of Songs, specifically 4:7.




Tota pulchra es

Tota pulchra es, Maria.
Et macula originalis non est in Te.
Tu gloria Ierusalem.
Tu laetitia Israel.
Tu honorificentia populi nostri.
Tu advocata peccatorum.
O Maria, O Maria.
Virgo prudentissima.
Mater clementissima.
Ora pro nobis.
Intercede pro nobis.
Ad Dominum Iesum Christum.

You are all beautiful, Mary,
and the original stain [spot] (of sin) is not in you.
You are the glory of Jerusalem,
you are the joy of Israel,
you give honour to our people.
You are an advocate of sinners.
O Mary,
Virgin most intelligent,
Mother most merciful.
Pray for us,
Plead for us,
To the Lord Jesus Christ.]]> Tota pulchra es is an old Catholic prayer, written in the fourth century. It is one of the five antiphons for the psalms of Second Vespers for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. The title means "You are completely beautiful" (referring to the Virgin Mary). It speaks of her immaculate conception. It takes some text from the book of Judith, and other text from Song of Songs, specifically 4:7.




Tota pulchra es

Tota pulchra es, Maria.
Et macula originalis non est in Te.
Tu gloria Ierusalem.
Tu laetitia Israel.
Tu honorificentia populi nostri.
Tu advocata peccatorum.
O Maria, O Maria.
Virgo prudentissima.
Mater clementissima.
Ora pro nobis.
Intercede pro nobis.
Ad Dominum Iesum Christum.

You are all beautiful, Mary,
and the original stain [spot] (of sin) is not in you.
You are the glory of Jerusalem,
you are the joy of Israel,
you give honour to our people.
You are an advocate of sinners.
O Mary,
Virgin most intelligent,
Mother most merciful.
Pray for us,
Plead for us,
To the Lord Jesus Christ.]]> <![CDATA[The Magnificat]]> https://thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=167 Mon, 23 Nov 2020 22:22:23 +0000 Stone]]> https://thecatacombs.org/showthread.php?tid=167 ]]> ]]>