PRAYER OF THE ROSARY: HAIL HOLY QUEEN by Atty. Marwil Llasos

The Coronation of Mary, mosaic

The Salve Regina is popularly attributed to St. Bernard of Clairvaux, although it is said to be composed by Hermann of Reichenau, a Benedeictine monk who died in 1054 [Monica and Bill Dodds, Encyclopedia of Mary (Huntington, IN: Our Sunday Visitor, 2007) p. 253]. It is one of the charming hymns to the Blessed Mother. It praises the Blessed Virgin Mary using the warm language of love and filial devotion, not the cold language of precise theology.

Let us biblically analyze the beautiful words contained in this wonderful hymn:

***

Hail Holy Queen – The angel Gabriel saluted Mary with “Hail, full of grace!” (Lk. 1:28). Mary is “holy” because as the mother of Our Lord she is “blessed among women” (Lk. 1:42). By her own prophecy, all generations shall call her “blessed” (Lk. 1:48). Blessed and holy are synonymous. Now, Mary is Queen because her Son is King. She sits at the right hand of the King of kings (Ps. 45:9). She is seen in heaven as the woman crowned with twelve stars (Rev. 12:1).

*******

Mother of Mercy – At the wedding in Cana, we know that “the mother of Jesus was there” (Jn. 2:1). There we see Mary as a merciful mother who is very much lovingly concerned with the plight of the newly-wed couple who would be exposed to public contempt, ridicule and embarrassment when the win ran out (Jn. 2:1-11).

*******

Hail, our life, our sweetness and our hope – Of course, Mary is called “our hope” not in the same sense as Jesus. She is called “our hope” because all humanity pinned it's hope on her saying “yes” to God’s will to make the redemptive Incarnation a reality. Mary is mankind’s greatest response to God. The Liturgy applies to Mary in accommodated sense the beautiful lines of Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 24:24-32: “I am the mother of fair love, and of fear, and of knowledge, and of holy hope. In me is all grace of the way and of truth: in me is all hope of life and of virtue. Come over to me, all ye that desire me: and be filled with my fruits. For my spirit is sweet above honey: and my inheritance above honey and the honeycomb. My memory is unto everlasting generations.” The last sentence recalls the words of Our Lady: “Behold, all generations shall call me blessed” (Lk. 1:48).

*******

…Turn then, O most gracious Advocate –Echoing to the biblical theme of Jesus as the New Adam, the early fathers of the Church acknowledge Mary as the New Eve. St. Irenaeus (d. 193 AD) eloquently says of Mary, “it was right and necessary that Adam be restored in Christ … that Eve be restored in Mary, so that a Virgin, become advocate of a virgin, might erase and abolish the disobedience of a virgin by her obedience as Virgin.” He also felicitously says, “and whereas Eve had disobeyed God, Mary was persuaded to obey God, that the Virgin Mary might become advocate (advocate) of the virgin Eve.” St. Ephraem the Syrian, known as the “lyre of the Holy Spirit,” calls Mary “the friendly advocate of sinners.” Mary is indeed our gracious advocate before her Son who cannot refuse her anything (Jn. 2:3-5). Mary is the Queen who entreats at the right hand of the King (Ps. 45:9, 13).

*******

… And after this our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of your womb, Jesus – The Hail Holy Queen ends with Jesus, the blessed fruit of Mary’s womb (Lk. 1:42). The hail Holy Queen anticipates the second coming of Jesus Christ: “Looking for the blessed hope and coming of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ" (Tit. 2:13). “The Spirit and the Bride say, Come!” (Rev. 22:17). “Come, Lord Jesus” (Rev. 22:21).

*******

O clement, O loving, O sweet, Virgin Mary – Clement means merciful. We already discussed that Mary is indeed our merciful mother. It cannot be doubted that Mary is a most loving mother who conceived, gave birth to, cared for and reared Our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ. No mother, I suppose, could be as loving. Mary was precisely chosen by the Eternal Father to be the mother of His Son and the Holy Spirit chose her and came upon her. Mary can thus be said to be “the mother of fair love” (Sir. 24:24). She is most sweet because her “spirit is sweet above honey” (Sir. 24:27). Our Blessed Lady gives “a sweet smell like cinnamon and aromatical balm” and yields “a sweet odour like the best myrrh” (Sir. 24:20).