Praise to Mary, Heaven's Gate / Ave Maris Stella

Mother of Our Lord and King

Praise to Mary, Heaven's Gate is a 1965 Rev. Michael M. Quinn O.P. translation of the 9th. century anonymous Latin hymn, Ave Maris Stella (see 2nd video). From earliest times it was used in the Roman Breviary at Vespers on Marian Feast Days. Fr. Quinn's text is set to the tune, Gott Sei Dank (Lubeck) by the Lutheran Pastor and Theologian, Johann Anastasius Freylinghausen (1670-1739). His Geistreiches Gesangsbuch of 1704 (also known as Freylinghausen's Songbook), in which Gott Sei Dank was first published, is considered an importatant advancement in the development and organization of hymnals. In the Liturgy of the Hours, Praise to May, Heaven's Gate is used in the Commons of the Blessed Virgin Mary and on the Feast of the Assumption.

Tune: Lubeck

AVE MARIS STELLA (Public Domain)

1. Ave maris stella,
Dei Mater alma,
atque semper Virgo,
felix caeli porta.

2. Sumens illud Ave
Gabrielis ore,
funda nos in pace,
mutans Hevae nomen.

3. Solve vincula reis,
profer lumen caecis
mala nostra pelle,
bona cuncta posce.

4. Monstra te esse matrem:
sumat per te preces,
qui pro nobis natus,
tulit esse tuus.

5. Virgo singularis,
inter omnes mites,
nos culpis solutos,
mites fac et castos.

6. Vitam praesta puram,
iter para tutum:
ut videntes Iesum
semper collaetemur.

7. Sit laus Deo Patri,
summo Christo decus,
Spiritui Sancto,
tribus honor unus. Amen.

Gregorian (Sung by the Daughters of St. Paul)