The Regina Caeli or Regina Coeli ("Queen of Heaven", pronounced [reˈdʒiːna ˈtʃɛːli] in ecclesastical Latin), an ancient Latin Marian Hymn of the Christian Church, is one of the four seasonal Marian antiphons of the Blessed Virgin Mary, prescribed to be sung or recited in the Liturgy of the Hours at the conclusion of the last of the hours to be prayed in common that day, typically night prayer (Compline or Vespers). The Regina Caeli is sung or recited in place of the Angelus during the Easter season, from Holy Saturday through Pentecost Sunday. The Latin word coelum, meaning "heaven" (whence the English word celestial) was a common medieval and early modern spelling of caelum, which was the only form in Classical Latin. In mediaeval Latin, ae and oe were both pronounced [eː]; the form was also influenced by an extremely dubious etymology from Greek koilos, "hollow".
While the authorship of the Regina Caeli is unknown, the hymn has been traced back to the twelfth century. It was in Franciscan use, after Compline, in the first half of the following century. Legend has it that St Gregory the Great heard angels chanting the first three lines one Easter morning in Rome, while following barefoot in a great religious procession the icon of the Virgin painted by Luke the Evangelist. He was thereupon inspired to add the fourth line.
There are plainsong melodies (a simple and an ornate form) associated with Regina Caeli, the official or "typical" melody being found in the Vatican Antiphonary, 1911, p. 126. The antiphonal strophes of Regina Caeli were often set by polyphonic composers of the 16th century. Lully's motet “Regina coeli, laetare” was written in 1684. There are three settings by the young Mozart, K.108, K.127, and K.276.
The Marian anthems run the gamut of medieval literary styles, from the classical hexameters of the Alma Redemptoris Mater through the richly-rhymed accentual rhythm and regular strophes of the Ave Regina Caelorum, the irregular syntonic strophe of the Regina Caeli, to the sonorous prose rhythms with rhyming closes of the Salve Regina. "In the 16th century, the antiphons of our Lady were employed to replace the little office at all the hours" (Baudot, The Roman Breviary, 1909, p. 71).
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In the Office of Paul VI the Regina caeli ends here, but the older usage continues with the following versicle and prayer:
Oremus. Deus, qui per resurrectionem Filii tui, Domini nostri Iesu Christi, mundum laetificare dignatus es: praesta, quaesumus, ut per eius Genitricem Virginem Mariam, perpetuae capiamus gaudia vitae. Per eundem Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.
Literal translation:
Let us pray. O God, who gave joy to the world through the resurrection of Thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, grant we beseech Thee, that through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, His Mother, we may obtain the joys of everlasting life. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
An alternate translation:
Let us pray,
O God, who through the resurrection of Thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ didst vouchsafe to give joy to the world: grant, we beseech thee, that through His Mother, the Virgin Mary, we may obtain the joys of everlasting life. Through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
In Anglican churches, the alternate translation above which is in 7.7.7.7 metre is usually sung to hymn tune known as Easter Hymn, "Jesus Christ is Risen Today" or the hymn tune "Ave Virgo Virginum".
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