Prayer ShelfPrayers for every day and every need

Salve Regina in Latin

The Salve Regina is the Latin original of the Hail, Holy Queen, sung at Compline from Trinity Sunday to Advent and said after the rosary and, from 1884 until the 1960s, after every Low Mass.

Latin

Salve, Regina, Mater misericordiae, vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra, salve. Ad te clamamus, exsules filii Hevae. Ad te suspiramus, gementes et flentes in hac lacrimarum valle. Eia, ergo, advocata nostra, illos tuos misericordes oculos ad nos converte. Et Iesum, benedictum fructum ventris tui, nobis post hoc exsilium ostende. O clemens, O pia, O dulcis Virgo Maria.

English

Hail, holy Queen, Mother of mercy; our life, our sweetness, and our hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve; to thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn, then, most gracious Advocate, thine eyes of mercy towards us; and after this our exile show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.

℣.Pray for us, O holy Mother of God.℟.That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Latin from Manuale sacerdotum ad altare (1889)

From the Key of Heaven (1901)

In English: Hail, Holy Queen

How to pronounce Church Latin

The Church says Latin the Roman way, close to Italian. These rules cover the sounds you will meet in the prayers here. (Classical Latin, taught in many schools, sounds different: c and g are always hard.)

Vowels
a as in father, e as in met, i as in machine, o as in or, u as in rule. Every vowel is sounded: Dei is DEH-ee.
ae, oe
Said like e: caeli is CHEH-lee, saecula is SEH-koo-lah.
c
Like ch in church before e, i, ae and oe: caeli is CHEH-lee, caelestis is cheh-LEH-stees. Hard, like k, elsewhere (culpa).
g
Soft, like g in gem, before e and i (Genitrix, jeh-NEE-trix); hard elsewhere (gloria).
gn
Like ny in canyon: regnum is REH-nyoom, agnus is AH-nyoos.
h
Silent (hodie, AW-dee-eh), except in mihi and nihil, where it sounds as k.
j, or i before a vowel
Like y in yes: Iesus (Jesus) is YEH-soos, eius is EH-yoos.
qu
Like kw: qui is kwee, quotidianum is kwoh-tee-dee-AH-noom.
sc
Like sh before e and i: descendit is deh-SHEN-deet.
ti
Like tsee before a vowel: gratia is GRAH-tsee-ah, tentationem is ten-tah-tsee-OH-nem.
ch, ph, th
ch is k (Christus), ph is f (prophetas), th is t (catholicam).
xc
Like ksh before e and i: excelsis is ek-SHEL-sees.

Questions

How do I pronounce Church Latin?

Mostly as Italian: c before e or i is ch, g before e or i is soft, gn is ny, ae and oe are e, and ti before a vowel is tsee. The guide on this page lists the rules with examples.

Why Iesus and not Jesus?

Older books print Jesus and ejus with a J; Church Latin today usually writes I. Both are said the same way, with a y sound: YEH-soos.

Can I print it?

Yes. Print card prints the Latin with the English beside it, on one page.

More prayers in Latin