Alma Redemptoris Mater

The three major topics of the document are: Mary in the Mystery of Christ, The Mother of God at the Center of the Pilgrim Church, and Maternal Mediation. The document also explains the Marian Year, and the text treats of pastoral concerns arising from women's issues.

Alma Redemptoris Mater was originally a processional antiphon for Sext in the Liturgy of the Hours for the Feast of the Ascension. It was Pope Clement VI who, in 1350, determined the pattern used today for the seasonal singing of the various antiphons.

The Alma Redemptoris Mater is believed to have been written in the 11th century by Hermannus Contractus (Herimann the Lame; 1013-1054), a monk from Reichenau Germany. The hymn is traditionally said or sung after night prayer before going to sleep.

The antiphons of the Blessed Virgin Mary, “Alma Redemptoris Mater,” “Salve Regina,” “Ave Regina Coelorum,”and “Regina Coeli,” were originally sung in connection with psalms, but they have been sung as detached chants since the year 1239, when Pope Gregory IX ordered that they be sung, each according to its season, at ...

It means bringing Mary into everything that makes up his inner spiritual and religious life; it means allowing oneself to be led into the intimacy of her motherly and feminine existence, a mutual entrusting of one to the other, which is an ever new way for the birth of Christ and which brings the human person into ...

Four themes addressed in Evangelii nuntiandi are taken up and developed in Redemptoris missio: (1) the link between the proclamation of salvation in Christ and the work of human promotion and liberation; (2) the primacy of direct (verbal) proclamation of Christ with the intention of conversion; (3) the problem of a new ...

Salve, salve, salve, Regina! Our life, our sweetness here below, O Maria! Our hope in sorrow and in woe, O Maria! Triumph all ye cherubim!

antiphon, in Roman Catholic liturgical music, chant melody and text sung before and after a psalm verse, originally by alternating choirs (antiphonal singing).

Mary's song is a powerful picture of a faithful life. She knew Scripture well enough to describe its story, she knew God well enough to describe His character, and she knew His redemptive plan for creation well enough to say “yes” to her part in it. May we all strive, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to do the same.

Mary's song is a song of praise. She is not just sharing her thoughts with her cousin. She is saying that the Lord is great, and her spirit is rejoicing with the news that has come to her. Today, Mary's song is called The Magnificat, meaning “my soul magnifies the Lord” in Latin.

Encyclicals are papal letters – the word “encyclical” means “circular letter” – usually addressed to Catholic clergy and the laity and containing the pope's views on church teachings and doctrine in a particular area.

Salve Regina means “Hail, Queen.” The words are the beginning of an ancient Latin hymn, the Salve Regina, which continues “Salve Regina, Mater misericordiae.” We know the hymn today as the prayer that begins “Hail Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, our life, our sweetness, and our hope.” It was under the protection of Mary, ...