PRO TEMPORE

ALMA REDEMPTORIS MATER

Loving Mother of the Redeemer

Alma Redemptoris Mater ('Loving Mother of the Redeemer') is one of the four great Marian antiphons sung at Compline. Attributed to Hermann of Reichenau (1013-1054), it is proper to the season from the First Sunday of Advent through February 1. The antiphon invokes Mary as 'gate of heaven' (porta caeli) and 'star of the sea' (stella maris), petitioning her intercession for sinners seeking to rise from their falls.

LATINE
Alma Redemptoris Mater,
quae pervia caeli porta manes,
et stella maris, succurre cadenti,
surgere qui curat, populo.
Tu quae genuisti, natura mirante,
tuum sanctum Genitorem,
Virgo prius ac posterius,
Gabrielis ab ore sumens illud Ave,
peccatorum miserere.
V. Angelus Domini nuntiavit Mariae.
R. Et concepit de Spiritu Sancto.
Oremus.
Gratiam tuam, quaesumus, Domine, mentibus nostris infunde;
ut qui, Angelo nuntiante, Christi Filii tui incarnationem cognovimus,
per passionem eius et crucem ad resurrectionis gloriam perducamur.
Per eundem Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.
ENGLISH
Loving Mother of the Redeemer,
gate of heaven, star of the sea,
assist your people who have fallen
yet strive to rise again.
To the wonderment of nature you bore your Creator,
yet remained a virgin after as before.
You who received Gabriel's joyful greeting,
have pity on us poor sinners.
V. The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary.
R. And she conceived of the Holy Ghost.
Let us pray.
Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts,
that we to whom the Incarnation of Christ Thy Son was made known by the message of an Angel,
may by His Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His Resurrection.
Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
NOTA
FONS
Breviarium Romanum (1962)
USUS
Compline antiphon, Advent to Purification (Dec 1 - Feb 2)
CONTEXT
One of the four seasonal Marian antiphons of the Roman Breviary. Attributed to Hermann of Reichenau (1013-1054).