"Regina caeli" (;

Queen of Heaven Queen of Heaven () is a title given by the Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodoxy, to Mary, mother of Jesus, and, to a lesser extent, in Anglicanism and Lutheranism. The title has long been a tradition, included in prayers and devotional literat ...

) is a musical

antiphon An antiphon ( Greek ἀντίφωνον, ἀντί "opposite" and φωνή "voice") is a short chant in Christian ritual, sung as a refrain. The texts of antiphons are usually taken from the Psalms or Scripture, but may also be freely compo ...

addressed to the

Blessed Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

that is used in the

liturgy Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and participation in the sacred through activities reflecting praise, thanksgiving, remembra ...

of the

Roman Rite The Roman Rite () is the most common ritual family for performing the ecclesiastical services of the Latin Church, the largest of the ''sui iuris'' particular churches that comprise the Catholic Church. The Roman Rite governs Rite (Christianity) ...

of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

during the

Easter season Eastertide (also known as Eastertime or the Easter season) or Paschaltide (also known as Paschaltime or the Paschal season) is a festal season in the liturgical year of Christianity that focuses on celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. P ...

, from

Easter Sunday Easter, also called Pascha (Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek language, Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, de ...

until

Pentecost Pentecost (also called Whit Sunday, Whitsunday or Whitsun) is a Christianity, Christian holiday which takes place on the 49th day (50th day when inclusive counting is used) after Easter Day, Easter. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spiri ...

. During this season, it is the

Marian antiphon Marian hymns are Christian songs focused on Mary, mother of Jesus. They are used in devotional and liturgical services, particularly by the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran churches. Some have been a ...

that ends

Compline Compline ( ), also known as Complin, Night Prayer, or the Prayers at the End of the Day, is the final prayer liturgy (or office) of the day in the Christian tradition of canonical hours, which are prayed at fixed prayer times. The English wor ...

(Night Prayer) and it takes the place of the traditional thrice-daily ''

Angelus FIle:Jean-François Millet (II) 001.jpg, ''The Angelus (painting), The Angelus'' (1857–1859) by Jean-François Millet The Angelus (; Latin for "angel") is a Catholic devotion commemorating the Incarnation (Christianity), Incarnation of Jesus ...

'' prayer. In the past, the spelling Regina coeli was sometimes used, but this spelling is no longer found in official liturgical books.

Text

The antiphon itself consists of four lines:

, as revised in 1969 after the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...

, ends with the antiphon alone. In the earlier

Roman Breviary The Roman Breviary (Ecclesiastical Latin, Latin: ''Breviarium Romanum'') is a breviary of the Roman Rite in the Catholic Church. A liturgical book, it contains public or canonical Catholic prayer, prayers, hymns, the Psalms, readings, and notat ...

and in recitation at

time during

Eastertide Eastertide (also known as Eastertime or the Easter season) or Paschaltide (also known as Paschaltime or the Paschal season) is a festal season in the liturgical year of Christianity that focuses on celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. P ...

, the following

versicle A versicle (from Latin , ) is a short two- or four-line verse that is sung or recited in the liturgy alternating between the celebrant, hebdomadarian or cantor and the congregation. It is usually a psalm verse in two parts. A series of versicl ...

and the following prayer are added to the antiphon: A verse translation in 7.7.7.7

metre The metre (or meter in US spelling; symbol: m) is the base unit of length in the International System of Units (SI). Since 2019, the metre has been defined as the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of of ...

used in some

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

churches is usually sung to the

hymn tune A hymn tune is the melody of a musical composition to which a hymn text is sung. Musically speaking, a hymn is generally understood to have four-part (or more) harmony, a fast harmonic rhythm (chords change frequently), with or without refrain ...

known as the Easter Hymn "

Christ the Lord is Risen Today "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today" is a Christian hymn associated with Easter. Most of the stanzas were written by Charles Wesley, and the hymn appeared under the title "Hymn for Easter Day" in ''Hymns and Sacred Poems'' by Charles and John Wes ...

" (Jesus Christ is risen today) or the hymn tune "Ave Virgo Virginum" (Hail Virgin of virgins): :℣. Joy to thee, O Queen of Heaven. Alleluia! :℟. He whom Thou wast meet to bear, Alleluia! :℣. As He promised hath arisen, Alleluia! :℟. Pour for us to God thy prayer. Alleluia! :℣. Rejoice and be glad, O Virgin Mary, alleluia. :℟. For the Lord is risen indeed, alleluia. :Let us pray: :O God, who through the resurrection of Thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, didst vouchsafe to give joy to the whole world: grant, we beseech thee, that through His Mother, the Virgin Mary, we may obtain the joys of everlasting life. Through the same Christ our Lord. ℟. Amen.

History

The authorship of "Regina caeli" is unknown. It has been traced back to the 12th century and is found in an

antiphonary An antiphonary or antiphonal is one of the liturgical books intended for use (i.e. in the liturgical choir), and originally characterized, as its name implies, by the assignment to it principally of the antiphons used in various parts of the ...

of now in

St Peter's Basilica The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican (), or simply St. Peter's Basilica (; ), is a church of the Italian Renaissance architecture, Italian High Renaissance located in Vatican City, an independent microstate enclaved within the cit ...

in Rome. In the first half of the 13th century it was in

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

use, after compline.

Jacobus de Voragine Jacobus de Voragine, OP (13/16 July 1298) was an Italian chronicler and archbishop of Genoa. He was the author, or more accurately the compiler, of the '' Golden Legend'', a collection of the legendary lives of the greater saints of the mediev ...

's thirteenth-century ''

Golden Legend The ''Golden Legend'' ( or ''Legenda sanctorum'') is a collection of 153 hagiographies by Jacobus de Voragine that was widely read in Europe during the Late Middle Ages. More than a thousand manuscripts of the text have survived.Hilary Maddo ...

'' includes a story that, during a procession with an image of the Blessed Virgin that was held to pray for the ending of a pestilence in Rome, angels were heard singing the first three lines of the "Regina caeli" antiphon, to which

Pope Gregory the Great Pope Gregory I (; ; – 12 March 604), commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great (; ), was the 64th Bishop of Rome from 3 September 590 until his death on 12 March 604. He is known for instituting the first recorded large-scale mission from Rom ...

(590−604) thereupon added the fourth, after which he saw, atop what would consequently become known as the

Castel Sant'Angelo Castel Sant'Angelo ( ), also known as Mausoleum of Hadrian (), is a towering rotunda (cylindrical building) in Parco Adriano, Rome, Italy. It was initially commissioned by the Roman Emperor Hadrian as a mausoleum for himself and his family. ...

, a vision of an angel sheathing his sword, thus signifying the cessation of the plague.

Polyphonic settings

As well as the

plainsong Plainsong or plainchant (calque from the French ; ) is a body of chants used in the liturgies of the Western Church. When referring to the term plainsong, it is those sacred pieces that are composed in Latin text. Plainsong was the exclusive for ...

melodies (a simple and an ornate form) associated with it, the "Regina caeli" has, since the 16th century, often been provided with polyphonic settings. Pierre de Manchicourt's setting was published in 1539.

Tomás Luis de Victoria Tomás Luis de Victoria (sometimes Italianised as ''da Vittoria''; ) was the most famous Spanish composer of the Renaissance. He stands with Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina and Orlande de Lassus as among the principal composers of the late Re ...

composed a setting for five voices in 1572 and another for eight voices in 1576.

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (between 3 February 1525 and 2 February 1526 – 2 February 1594) was an Italian composer of late Renaissance music. The central representative of the Roman School, with Orlande de Lassus and Tomás Luis de V ...

also composed at least two settings of the antiphon. A setting for four voices by Charles de Courbe dates from 1622, and

Lully Jean-Baptiste Lully ( – 22 March 1687) was a French composer, dancer and instrumentalist of Italian birth, who is considered a master of the French Baroque music style. Best known for his operas, he spent most of his life working in the court o ...

motet In Western classical music, a motet is mainly a vocal musical composition, of highly diverse form and style, from high medieval music to the present. The motet was one of the preeminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to the Eng ...

''Regina coeli, laetare'' dates from 1684. 7 ''Regina caeli'', H.16, H.30, H.31, H.32, H.32 a, H.32 b, H.46, (1670–1680) have been composed by

Marc-Antoine Charpentier Marc-Antoine Charpentier (; 1643 – 24 February 1704) was a French Baroque composer during the reign of Louis XIV. One of his most famous works is the main theme from the prelude of his ''Te Deum'' ''H.146, Marche en rondeau''. This theme is st ...

. There are two settings by

François Giroust François Giroust (10 April 1737 – 28 April 1799) was a French composer. He was born in Paris, where he was the last ''maître'' of the Chapelle royale before the French Revolution. He died, aged 62, at Versailles.John Eby, ''Giroust, Fr ...

, three settings by the young

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

( K. 108, K. 127, and K. 276), and one by

Brahms Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid- Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, often set within studied ye ...

( Op. 37 #3).

Indulgence

Benedict XIV Pope Benedict XIV (; ; 31 March 1675 – 3 May 1758), born Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 17 August 1740 to his death in May 1758. Pope Benedict X (1058–1059) is now con ...

established the same

indulgences In the teaching of the Catholic Church, an indulgence (, from , 'permit') is "a way to reduce the amount of punishment one has to undergo for (forgiven) sins". The ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'' describes an indulgence as "a remission bef ...

as the ''

'', i.e. those granted by Benedict XIII with the

indult In Catholic canon law, an indult is a permission or privilege, granted by the competent church authority – the Holy See or the diocesan bishop, as the case may be – for an exception from a particular norm of church law in an individual case ...

of 14 September 1724: plenary indulgence once a month, on a day of one’s choice, to those who, having confessed, contrited and communicated, had devoutly recited the prayer in the morning, at noon and in the evening, at the ringing of the bell, and 100 days of indulgence in the same way to those who had recited it in the other days, with the faculty not to lose the indulgence for those who recited the ''Angelus'' without knowing the ''Regina Caeli'' and subsequent faculty granted on 5 December 1727 to the religious busy at the ringing of the bell to recite the prayer at another time.

Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII (; born Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2March 181020July 1903) was head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 until his death in July 1903. He had the fourth-longest reign of any pope, behind those of Peter the A ...

(1878-1903) modified the conditions for obtaining the indulgence, making them easier. Until the reform of indulgences implemented by

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI (born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...

in 1967 the same

indulgence In the teaching of the Catholic Church, an indulgence (, from , 'permit') is "a way to reduce the amount of punishment one has to undergo for (forgiven) sins". The ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'' describes an indulgence as "a remission bef ...

was still granted. The ''Enchiridion Indulgentiarum'' currently includes a partial indulgence for the faithful who recite the ''Regina Caeli'' at the three prescribed times of day during the

Easter Easter, also called Pascha ( Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in t ...

season.See [Paenitentiaria Apostolica,
Enchiridion indulgentiarum
', quarto editur, 16 July 1999, on '

', ''Concessiones'' 17, § 2. Obtaining the indulgence does not require the recitation of the ''Gloria Patri'' and what follows. This concession is given for texts approved by the Holy See, therefore it is necessary that the texts in the vernacular are approved by the Episcopal Conference, Episcopal Conferences and subsequently confirmed by the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. Therefore, differing translations are not indulged and can possibly be used for private performance. As with all indulgences, it is necessary to be in a state of grace; furthermore, the indulgence is applicable to oneself or the Poor Souls in

Purgatory In Christianity, Purgatory (, borrowed into English language, English via Anglo-Norman language, Anglo-Norman and Old French) is a passing Intermediate state (Christianity), intermediate state after physical death for purifying or purging a soul ...

, but not to other living people on earth.Cf.

Apostolic Penitentiary The Apostolic Penitentiary (), formerly called the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Penitentiary, is a dicastery led by the Major Penitentiary of the Roman Curia and is one of the three ordinary tribunals of the Holy See, Apostolic See. The Ap ...

,
The gift of Indulgence
', on
content/romancuria/it/tribunali/penitenzieria-apostolica/documenti
', Rome, 29 January 2000, nn. 3.7. URL consulted on 11 February 2021.

References

External links

* * Hugh Henry
"Regina Coeli (Queen of Heaven)"
in ''

Catholic Encyclopedia ''The'' ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'', also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedi ...

'' (New York 1911) * R. J. Snow
"Regina Caeli Laetare"
in ''

New Catholic Encyclopedia The ''New Catholic Encyclopedia'' (NCE) is a multi-volume reference work on Catholic Church, Roman Catholic history and belief edited by the faculty of the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. The NCE was originally published in 196 ...

'', via

encyclopedia.com ''Encyclopedia.com'' is an online encyclopedia. It aggregates information, images, and videos from other published dictionaries, encyclopedias, and reference works. History The website was launched by Infonautics in March 1998. Infonautics w ...