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Catholics who pray the Liturgy of the Hours close off the day with a short liturgical
hymn known as an Antiphon. It is directed toward the Blessed *** Mary. The specifically
Marian antiphons have been in the Church as a regular practice since about 1290. The practice
started out of the theology of the Liturgy of the Hours. You would start the day with
a short little blessing, "Domine, *** mea aperies. R. Et os meam annuntiabit laudem
tuam." "Lord, open my lips R. And my mouth shall declare your praise." Every single thing
that you do for the rest of the day is considered to be a prayer, that God opened your lips
and everything that you do, every person you talk to, every floor that you sweep, whatever,
is all offered as a prayer to God. And then the Office of Compline finishes that off.
It's the last thing you say during the day, afterward you'd be silent. So, it's...the
Marian aspect of it, the last thing that you do in the day, is you ask Mary to pray for
you while you sleep. It's just sort of to continue that where you specifically won't
be praying, but, Mary will be praying for you while you are sleeping. It's kinda beautiful.
We have 4 in the Latin Rite, each for their different season; so like Advent and Christmas
has one, Easter has one, and then the one we are about to look at today, the Ave Regina
Caelorum, is for the prepera...the uh, the time of Lent and just before Lent, all leading
up to Easter. So we are just going to look at the wording of both the Antiphon and the
versicle and the collect that are often attached to it.
So, just a little bit more background on the Antiphon itself; it was likely written by
a guy named Herman Contractus in the 1100's. And it uses a lot of imagery from tomorrow's
Feast: the Annunciation. So, it will be really interesting just to check it out and look
at it. So it starts, "Ave Regina Caelorum, Ave Domina Angelorum." So, Hail, Queen of
the Heavens, Hail, Lady of the Angels. Uh, the Ave's definitely point you right back
to that passage in the Gospel to the Annunciation, right? The Angel comes to Mary and says, "Chaire
Kecharitomene!" in Greek, which is, "Hail, One who has been favored," or more literally,
"Hail, One who has always been grace-d", or the way the Latins translated it, "Ave, Gratia
Plena" "Full of Grace". This is the second time in Sacred Scripture where an Angel is
talking to a human being and then using a title for that human being instead of saying
their name. The first time was with Gideon, in the Old Testament, the Book of Judges,
where the angel comes up and says, "Hail, mighty Warrior" and the Antiphon is sort of
picking up on that. That the angel coming to Mary is sort of saying the same thing.
That she is a mighty Warrior, that's why he's using the title, but it's from Grace; and
the reason why she is called Regina Caelorum or Domina Angelorum, so Queen of the Heavens
or Lady (the feminine form of Lord) of the Angels, is that God graced her in such a way
that made her the highest Created thing; and so, we, like the angel, are giving her honor
like that; that even the angel is showing her deference. And then the Antiphon continues,
"Salve, Radix, Salve Porta ex qua mundo Lux est orta!" Just a quick note, Salve is another
form of Ave, it is another greeting. In English, it is kinda hard to translate, because I guess
our most formal greeting would be Hail. But it's a little more formal then even Ave; But
yeah, so...think Hello, but more than that. But then, that first image, Radix. The Latin
word for Root. It is referring to the Prophet Isaiah in the Old Testament, and the image
of the Root of Jesse; here's the passage from chapter 11: "There shall come forth a shoot
from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots." And right after he
says, that the Spirit of the Lord will come down upon this branch and that it will have the 7 Gifts
of the Holy Spirit we receive in Confirmation. And, ok, so, let's pick this apart: Jesse
is an Old Testament figure, he's the Father of David; David is the King of the United
Israel; and it is using agricultural language, so like a plant to talk about the Family of
David. So the Root of Jesse is really David's family tree. And the Church has always looked
at this passage as Messianic, as pointing ahead toward the Messiah, toward Jesus; that
Jesus is the Branch or the Shoot that is coming out of the Root of Jesse. So, when the Antiphon
calls Mary the Root or the Root of Jesse, it is saying that think of it in this context.
It is saying she is the remnant, she is the last little bit of David's Line; and that
means that her Son is the Heir to David's Throne, that he is the New King of Israel,
he is that Branch, that Shoot from the Root of Jesse, he's the Messiah. So, it continues,
"Salve Porta ex qua mundo Lux est orta!" The literal translation there is Hail, the Door
through whom the world's Light has (or is) appeared (arisen, come forth). So with those
two Salve, the two Salves that they had in the antiphon, we really see why Mary is honored
and respected in the Catholic Church. Why is she important? Because she is the Door
through which God decided to enter humanity. He took on her flesh. In this one, the Door
image is really interesting. We can admire a door for what it is made of, whether it
is, has like a beautiful window on it, or its interestingly painted, or if it's made
out of steel and you can't break it down or something like that, but that's ultimately
not what a door is for. A door is ultimately, the point of a door is the thing that is behind
it, it's the thing it opens up to. In the Catholic Church, we love Mary, we love her
obedience to the Father, we love her maternal care for us and for her Son; but, if we sit
there admiring the door, if she is the focus of our devotion, then we end up with an idol.
If you are looking at a door, you're just sitting there and think, "Oh, that's a nice
looking door" but you never bother opening it, you never bother to go in and see what's
inside, then you're just wasting your time, right? Same with Mary. Mary is truly important
because of who she bore, because of who she opens the door to. Mary leads us to Christ,
she brings us there. Through her "Yes" God came to us, through her intercession we come
to her Son. That's really why she's important; it's what the antiphon is talking about here.
Then the antiphon continues, "Gaude, Virgo gloriosa. Super omnes speciosa!" Rejoice,
glorious ***, more or above all things beautiful! Again, the most beautiful, awesome
created thing. Then it goes on, "Vale, O valde decora!" this is one of the weirder antiphons,
as it doesn't just say hello or Hail to Mary, but it also says Good bye. Vale, Good-bye,
Farewell, O most honored/grace-filled/dignified one! And then, the last line, Et pro nobis
Christum exora! The antiphon is finishing off asking Mary to pray to Christ for us.
And when it puts the prefix "Ex" on the word Ora, pray; it is putting emphasis on it. So
you might have heard, in a Church litany in one of the other Church litanies, Christe,
audi nos. R. Christe, exaudi nos! Which means, Christ, hear us, Christ, graciously hear us!
It's more of like, the more literal translation would be Christ hear us. Christ HEAR us! right,
um, louder, right? So in the antiphon it is saying the same thing, PRAY for us to Christ!
It's really wanting [inaudible] That's the Antiphon.
The versicle and the collect were written according to St. Jerome about the time of
Ephrem the Syrian, and they are often prayed with the antiphon, they don't have to be,
but, it's a cool option, so let's just check it out. It's a quick call and response, the
leader says, "Dignare me laudare te, Virgo sacrata." Give me the worthiness, the dignity
to praise you, O sacred ***. and then we respond, "Da mihi virtutem contra hostes tuos."
Virtutem is a very interesting word; the most literal translation is Manliness. It is derived
from the word Vir. You may have heard of St. Josemaria Escriva; one of his favorite little
phrases in his writings is Esto vir! Be a man! that's also where we get the word Virtue.
So, that little response, Da mihi virtutem contra hostes tuos. Literally means Give me
the manliness, the virtue, the strength to go against your enemies! then we start the
Collect. Oremus Let us pray. Concede, misericors Deus, fragilitati nostrae praesidium, (So,
Concede or grant, Merciful God, come to the help of our fragility) Ut, qui sanctae Dei
Genitricis memoriam agimus, (that, just as we are remembering the Holy Mother of God;)
intercessionis eius auxilio, a nostris iniquitatibus resurgamus, (so may her intercession help
us to rise again or resurrect from our iniquities or sins). Per eundem Christum Dominum nostrum.
Amen. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
So, in these last few weeks of Lent, think about that. It says, that her intercession
might help us rise again or resurrect from our sins, so first we have to put our sins
to death, right? You want to be virtuous, you want to be a man, be virtuous. And then,
finally, near the beginning, be the Door that opens up to Christ, let the light of Christ
shine through you, let the light of the World come up through you. So keep that in mind
while we're spending these last few weeks of Lent. Thanks for listening!