What are the Marian antiphons?
- angelamrocchio
- Aug 9
- 17 min read
Updated: Aug 12
Left bottom page: Salve regina, Lauds antiphon for the Purification of Mary
MS 025, 091v-192r: Cistercian antiphonary from Arouca, Portugal c. 1200
I. Introduction
A. What is an antiphon?
B. Where did the antiphons come from?
II. The Marian antiphons
A. Alma redemptoris mater
B. Ave regina caelorum
C. Regina caeli
D. Salve regina
III. Solemn tones, simple tones...and other tones
A. Origin of the solemn tones
B. Recordings and sheet music for simple tone and solemn tone settings
C. downloadable simple tone settings in English, by Father Selner
D. downloadable alternate tones from Chants Divers
My fondness for the Marian antiphons began back in 2007 when I spent a year in lay formation with the Community of Saint John in Princeville, Illinois. The community was founded by a Dominican priest, and carried on the Dominican tradition of singing the solemn Salve regina every night after Compline. I was mesmerized; I had never heard such a glorious chant. Before long, I and the other women in my program were singing it by heart with gusto.
To this day, I sing the piece every opportunity I can find: we conclude our Vespers for the Online Chant Course - Level II with the piece, and I've even sung it for the Marian devotional at a couple weddings recently. Imagine my glee when I learned that there are three more Marian antiphons, each with a melody just as hauntingly sumptuous as the one I had already learned.
Today, Salve regina, Alma redemptoris mater, Ave regina caelorum, and Regina caeli appear in all sorts of liturgical and para-liturgical settings. Families teach them to their children for bedtime prayers, parishioners sing them after Vespers services before retiring home for the evening, and many music directors plan them every Sunday for a post-communion anthem or a recessional song.
Last year, I happened upon some beautiful alternate melodies for these antiphons, and this year I learned of some translations in English which elegantly fit the simple tone melodies, so naturally, I undertook the writing of a new blog article.
Grab a cup of coffee, my friend, because there's a lot here: history, manuscripts, liturgical usage, theological import, and a bunch of FREE downloads which I typeset myself. I learned a ton while researching this one, and I hope you will, too!
What is an antiphon?
As Maria von Trapp sings in The Sound of Music, "Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start." An antiphon is a proper text, meaning it is something that is recited/sung only on a certain day or certain days of the liturgical year. Antiphons highlight or expound upon a certain unique theme for the day’s liturgy.
There are two different kinds of antiphons...and confusingly, they are categorically opposite each other.
I. Antiphon: a proper liturgical text that is recited alongside a longer psalm or canticle. There are two primary variations on this form of the antiphon:
As bookends to the praying of the longer text. The whole entity can be visualized like a sandwich: the antiphon is the bread, and the longer text is the filling (e.g. peanut butter and jelly between the bread slices). The form of such an entity is A - V1 - V2 - V3 - (etc.) - Doxology - A. This is the form of the antiphon as found in the Liturgy of the Hours (example below).
antiphon and corresponding first psalm for Second Vespers of the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, from divineoffice.org.
A variation of the above, with more repetitions of the antiphon. This form can be compared to a triple-decker sandwich. The antiphon is recited before and after each verse. The form becomes A - V1 - A - V2 - (A - etc.) - (A - Doxology) - A. This is the traditional form of the introit (entrance antiphon) and communion antiphon, when they are sung with accompanying verses (example below).
Communion antiphon by Father Columba Kelly for the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, with corresponding verses: the antiphon is repeated between each section (i.e. between "...I am saved from my foes" and "He saved me..."; "whose strength I could not match..." and "...I pursued and overtook"; and again after the final verse.
II. Antiphon (a polar opposite meaning): a proper liturgical text that stands on its own, without accompanying verses.
“Behold the wood of the cross” (Ecce lignum) is recited 3 times at the beginning of the veneration of the cross on Good Friday.
In certain situations, there is a choice to be made: an antiphon can be recited with or without verses. This occurs all the time in the Mass, when the entrance, offertory, and communion antiphons are prayed. Some publications identify only the antiphon, while others include verses. For example, in the Roman Missal and in the Breaking Bread, just the texts of the entrance and communion antiphons are printed. However, countless other volumes such as the Propers Tool online, Simple English Propers by Bartlett, the Proper of the Mass by Weber, and Communio by Rice, include verses that can be sung to cover the length of the liturgical action at that time.
Where did antiphons come from?
The nuances of this question, and the way the definition of the term has evolved, are delicate. Care must be taken to differentiate between the responsorial chants and antiphons. For an in-depth treatment, the reader is encouraged to read the section “Antiphonal Psalmody” in Willi Apel’s book, Gregorian Chant (pp 186-196). What follows here is my attempt to summarize the contents of this text. Feel free to skip this section if you find it unhelpful...or just downright confusing. We'll get into the Marian antiphons just as soon as this part is out of the way.
Step 1: antiphonos (Greek) = counter-sound ——> two alternating half-choirs (usually men and women)
“The traditional term for this method of singing, antiphony, is derived from the Greek word antiphonos (literally, counter-sound), which in Greek theory denoted the octave in contradistinction to symphonos, the unison, and paraphonos, the fifth. The original meaning of the term suggests that, in the earliest days of antiphonal singing, the second of the two alternating groups consisted of women or children singing an octave higher than the men….Such singing is occasionally mentioned in the Bible: for instance, after David's return from the victory over the Philistines, ‘And the women answered one another as they played' (Samuel 18:7); or at the celebration after the wall of Jerusalem had been built, ‘Then I... appointed two great companies of them that gave thanks, whereof one went on the right hand upon the wall... and the other... went over against them…' (Nehemiah 12:31-38).” (Apel, p. 186)
Step 2: antiphonal: alternating half choirs of a) the faithful, and b) a group of skilled singers ——> faithful sing a simple refrain (“antiphon”) inserted between verses sung by skilled singers
“[T]he church historian Sozomenos informs us that c. 362, because of the anti-Christian edicts of Julian the Apostate (361-363), the relics of the Martyr St. Babylas were brought to a safe place in Antiochia, and that during the accompanying procession the ‘experts’ sang a Psalm (Ps. 96?), while the people repeated after each verse: Confusi sunt omnes (Ps. 96, V. 7). This report is also interesting because it shows the popular, one might almost say, ‘activistic’ nature of early antiphonal psalmody….In the early fourth century, antiphonal singing flourished in eastern Syria in the secluded Christian communities that form the root of monastic life. Two monks transplanted it to the orthodox Church of Antioch in order to combat the Arians who had found in the hymns of Bardesanes (d. 223) a very popular form of worship. Apparently antiphonal singing, with its characteristic element of liveliness and active participation, proved effective. Near the end of the fourth century St. Basil introduced it in Nicea, St. Chrysostom in Constantinople, and Ambrose in Milan, whence it spread to all the other centers of the Latin church." (Apel, p. 186)
“The introduction of the additional [antiphon] text (and melody) brought about a noteworthy change in the meaning of the term antiphonal psalmody, that is, the change from a term descriptive of performance (alternating choirs) to one indicative of structure (refrain form).” (Apel, p. 187)
Step 3: skilled singers (the schola cantorum) take over the antiphons, expanding them into more elaborate melodies ——> antiphons become the primary musical form, and verses secondary. In the Mass, verses are sung in order to cover the time a liturgical action takes (e.g. a procession). More elaborate antiphons take longer to sing, leaving less time for verses.
“The Introit was reduced to one verse and the Doxology, preceded and followed by the Antiphon: A VD A. In the Communion the Psalm was completely eliminated, so that only the Antiphon remained — a complete reversal of its original function.” (Apel, p. 189)
One more interesting etymological note: Wikipedia states that the present-day word "anthem" is derived from the Greek antíphona, via Old English antefn.
Enter the Marian antiphons
Today's Marian antiphons originally belonged to a much larger collection, with a great number of such chants being composed during the eleventh, twelfth, and later centuries. Take a look at an early 14th century antiphonary from Cluny, France below. There are a total of 14 Magnificat antiphons just for the Octave of the Assumption listed in the Cantus Index for this manuscript, found in folios 27-31. The first three belong to the present day's four Marian antiphons (Regina caeli is absent).
I have put into bold those Magnificat antiphon titles which appear in the image below (folios 28-29): Salve regina (picking up at "nostra salve ad te clamamus"), Alma redemptoris mater, Ave regina caelorum, Speciosa facta est, Beata Dei genitrix, Ave spes nostra Dei, Sancta Maria, Mater patris et filia, Ibo mihi ad montem, Quam pulchra es, Ferculum fecit sibi, O oriens ex alto, Ave O Theotokos, and Aula Maria Dei.
link to manuscript image here
The "final four" Marian antiphons
In 1239, Pope Gregory IX ordered that four of the great number of Marian antiphons be detached from their corresponding psalms and sung, each according to its own season, at the end of the Divine Office. He thus introduced the format for the four Marian antiphons with which we are familiar today: they have become stand-alone prayers, to be prayed at the end of Compline (Night Prayer).
Terminology
In an attempt to give the reader a more thorough introduction to the origin of these four Marian antiphons, I have cited several instances found in various manuscripts that pre-date the general seasonal usage we know today. Nearly all of these instances happen in the context of praying the Hours of the Divine Office (what we now call the Liturgy of the Hours). The Office is a set of prayers punctuated at specific hours of the day, which priests and professed religious are bound to pray every day.
Lauds = Morning Prayer
Sext = Midday Prayer
Vespers = Evening Prayer
First Vespers = Evening Prayer the evening prior to the day of a feast or memorial; it is prayed in anticipation of the feast, and called "First" to distinguish it from Second Vespers, which is prayed the following day
Second Vespers = Evening Prayer on the day of an important feast or memorial
Compline = Night Prayer
Gospel canticle: three of the Hours of the day include a special text from the Gospels which is recited every single day.
Benedictus (Canticle of Zachariah) = Gospel Canticle for Lauds
Magnificat (Canticle of Mary) = Gospel Canticle for Vespers
Nunc Dimittis (Canticle of Simeon) = Gospel Canticle for Compline
Each Psalm and each Canticle prayed as a part of the Office includes a proper antiphon for that text. These proper antiphons change each day (or each week, depending on the circumstances). So, when I reference a Magnificat antiphon, for example, this refers to the proper antiphon that is associated with the praying of the Magnificat at Vespers on a particular day.
Alma Redemptoris Mater ~ Advent & Christmas (11th c.)
The text and solemn tone melody are both attributed to Blessed Hermann of Reichenau, a severely disabled paralytic, Benedictine monk, and brilliant scholar of the 11th century. He lived in a time of musical development, with the composition of more ornate chant melodies which involved an extended vocal range. In fact, there is conjecture that the influence of Hermann's elaborate compositions influenced the music of Hildegard von Bingen. After all, Hildegard was born just a few decade after Hermann's death, both were Benedictines, and both lived in the same general region of Europe.
Early manuscript sources for Alma Redemptoris Mater indicate that the antiphon would have been sung for a wide number of Marian feasts and liturgical celebrations, including:
According to Father Scott Haynes, "the original melody for Alma Redemptoris Mater served as the basis for numerous medieval and Renaissance compositions. It is found as the tenor of 13th century motets in the Montpellier, Bamberg [folio 3v?], and Las Huelgas [folio 113v?] MSS; in these works the upper voices have different texts."
English translation:
Loving Mother of the Redeemer, who remains the accessible Gateway of Heaven,
and Star of the Sea, give aid to a falling people that strives to rise;
O Thou who begot thy holy Creator, while all nature marvelled,
Virgin before and after receiving that "Ave" from the mouth of Gabriel,
have mercy on sinners.
This chant recalls Mary's "yes" to the angel Gabriel, and the subsequent Incarnation in her womb of the Son of God in human form. Through her yes, Mary becomes the porta caeli (gate to Heaven) and guiding stella maris (star of the sea). The antiphon makes many allusions to the hymn Ave Maris Stella, a Marian Office hymn which dates back at least to the 10th century, if not earlier, and may well have been inspired by the same.
Alma Redemptoris Mater
Alma Redemptoris Mater
et stella maris
cæli porta manes
Virgo prius ac posterius
Gabrielis ab ore
Sumens illud Ave
peccatorum miserere
Ave Maris Stella
Dei Mater alma
Ave maris stella
felix caeli porta
Virgo singularis
Gabrielis ore
Sumens illud Ave
mala nostra pelle
Father Mark Bachmann of Clear Creek Abbey highlights a theological paradox in this chant, more evident in the original Latin. Mary is both the made and the maker. Genuisti and Genitorem come from the same root, GEN = beget. Bachmann suggests another translation for those lines: you who made your maker. Pope John Paul II wrote an entire encyclical entitled Redemptoris Mater, likely derived from the title of this piece.
Ave Regina Caelorum ~ in preparation for Easter (12th c.)
The authorship of this piece is unknown. There is long-standing tradition at the Cathedral of Notre-Dame, Paris, that this antiphon be sung after Lauds, just before Sunday Mass throughout the year (except during the Easter season when the Regina Caeli is prayed), before the famous Virgin of Paris, a statue of the Queen of Heaven which was erected in the early 14th century. It is perhaps not coincidence that Guillaume Du Fay, who was stationed at another Notre Dame Cathedral, in Cambria, wrote at least three different polyphonic settings for this antiphon (example here) and an entire Mass setting under the same title.
A Virgin of Paris statue replica is carried during a procession through the streets of Paris Nov. 15, 2024, as the original, for security reasons, was transported on a truck back to Notre Dame Cathedral after the 2019 fire. (OSV News photo/Stephanie Lecocq, Reuters)
Early sources for Ave Regina Caelorum indicate that it would have been sung for many different liturgical occasions, including:
Gospel Canticle for the Purification of Mary (Antifonario de la Santa Cruz de la Serós, Spain, 12th c.)
Gospel Canticle for the Assumption (Valenciennes 114, France, 12th c.)
Magnificat for Second Vespers of the Immaculate Conception (Zweifelten Aug. LX, Germany, late 12th c.) image )
Processional antiphon (Abbaye royale de Saint-Denis Lat. 17296, France, 12th c. image )
Pentecost Saturday, presumably for Mass (Cathédrale de Rouen Lat. 904, France, 13th c. image )
English translation:
Hail, Lady of Angels
Hail, the root! hail the gate!
Whence to the world light is risen.
Rejoice, O glorious Virgin,
Beautiful above all;
Farewell, O thou most comely,
And prevail on Christ for us by thy prayer.
Appropriately assigned to the season of early Spring, following the Christmas season and through Lent, the greetings Salve radix (Hail, root), and ex qua mundo lux est orta (from whom into the world, a light has arisen) relate to the growth of new plant life from the earth and the lengthening of daylight which occur at this time of year.
Father Mark Bachmann points out that unlike Regina caeli, the text of which clearly relates to its liturgical season of Easter, Ave regina caelorum does not really contain any themes specific to Lent. The reason? It was not written for Lent. Bachmann argues that use of the words Ave (a form of address, usually translated as "Hail") and Vale (Farewell) fit neatly with the theme of the Assumption, in which Mary leaves the earth for her eternal reward. He also asserts that gloriosa is an appropriate title for Our Lady as she goes to glory in heaven.
Regina Caeli ~ Eastertide (12th c.)
Legend has it that St. Gregory the Great (d. 604) heard the first three lines chanted by angels on an Easter morning in Rome while he walked barefoot in a great religious procession and that he thereupon added the fourth line: "Ora pro nobis Deum. Alleluia." While this probably didn't actually happen, Father Bachmann points out that the fourth line of this antiphon is dissimilar from the rest, and this perhaps gave impetus to the story. Note that laetare and portare of the first and second lines rhyme, and resurrexit and sicut dixit in the third line rhyme, but there is no rhyme in the fourth line:
Regina caeli, laetare, alleluia.
Quia quem meruisti portare, alleluia.
Resurrexit, sicut dixit, alleluia.
Ora pro nobis Deum, alleluia.
Bachmann also observes that the first three lines have the tone of angelic inspiration, while the fourth sounds more weighty and of human origin. The actual authorship is unknown, however, and it is more likely not to have been composed til the 12th century.
The phrases lætare (rejoice), resurrexit sicut dixit (he has risen as he said), and alleluia punctuating each line all lend themselves vibrantly to the Easter season, and indeed, most of the citations in the Cantus Index relate to Eastertide. Here are just a few assignments found there:
Benedictus at Lauds on Easter Monday and Easter Saturday; Second Vespers for Marian memorials in Eastertide; and the Common of Saints in Eastertide (Barcelona M 1408-4a, Spain, 11th c.)
Magnificat for Second Vespers during the Easter Octave (Archivo de la Catedral de Huesca Ms. 2, Spain, 11th and 12th c.)
Lauds for John the Evangelist ( Rome C.5, Italy, 11th or 12th c. image title only, upper lefthand corner)
Commemoration of the Crown of Thorns (August 11), presumably for Mass (Aldersbach D-Mbs Clm 02541, Germany,12th c. image )
English translation:
Queen of heaven, rejoice, alleluia.
For He whom thou didst merit to bear, alleluia.
Hath risen, even as He said: alleluia.
Pray God for us, alleluia.
The Regina caeli, along with its verse and collect, are prayed instead of the Angelus (a traditional noontime prayer) during the Easter season.
"The Angelus" by Millet
Salve Regina ~ the period after the Easter season and before Advent (11th c.)
By far the most well known and loved of the four Marian antiphons, Salve Regina is often attributed to Hermann of Reichenau, the same monk who penned Alma Redemptoris Mater. Another account, by John the Hermit, writes that the prayer was sung by the angels in a vision of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux. An interesting article here discusses both possibilities for authorship.
Early sources for this antiphon indicate that it would have been sung for a wide number of Marian feasts, including:
Second Vespers of the Annunciation (Sankt-Gallen 390, Switzerland, late 10th c. image )
Magnificat for First Vespers of the Purification of Mary (Köln 1161, Germany,12th c. image )
Gospel Canticle for the Assumption of Mary (Valenciennes 114, France, 12th c.)
Magnificat for First Vespers of the Immaculate Conception (Vercelli CLXX, Italy, early 13th c.)
For a procession (Cathédrale de Rouen Lat. 904, France, 13th c. image )
There is also evidence that the antiphon was sometimes sung at Mass for certain Feasts of the Blessed Virgin Mary (e.g. Sankt-Gallen 342, Switzerland, 10th c. image and Laon 263, France, 12th c. image )
Some attribute the addition of the three concluding invocations, O clemens, O pia, O dulcis Virgo Maria to Bernard of Clairvaux around the year 1146. Regardless who actually wrote it, much of this antiphon's popularity today can be traced back to this saint's ardor for the prayer, and many pilgrim-shrines claim him as founder of the devotion to it in their locality.
Bernard was also co-founder and spiritual guide of The Knights Templar, and a 12th century manuscript of the Salve Regina has been traced back to the basilica of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, the site at which the rituals of the Knights Templar initially took shape. It is this manuscript which inspired the famous recording by Ensemble Organum.
Around 1135, Peter the Venerable, abbot and reformer of the renowned Benedictine abbey at Cluny, decreed that this prayer be sung as a processional chant on Marian feasts. By 1218, the chant was incorporated into the Clunaic monks' daily prayer life.
In 1210, Saint Francis of Assisi founded the very first mendicant (begging, i.e. having taken the vow of poverty), religious order. Among his many titles, Saint Francis was known as the faithful "Knight of the great Queen" and placed himself and his order under the protection and guidance of Mary for all time. By 1249, the Franciscans had adopted the daily singing of the Salve Regina after Compline.
On Francis' heels just six years later, Saint Dominic founded the second mendicant order in 1216. Dominic is generally accepted as having been the first person to preach and teach the rosary (the "Marian Psalter", with one Hail Mary for each of the 150 Psalms) as a form of meditative prayer, and the Dominicans adopted regular recitation of the rosary. In 1222 Jordan of Saxony, General Master of the Order of Dominicans, ordered that the Salve Regina be sung every night in procession at the conclusion of night prayer.
Both Franciscan and Dominican orders had been formed with a new purpose: to move beyond the confines of the monastery and preach the Gospel to all peoples. Franciscans and Dominicans traveled extensively, and their numbers grew into the tens of thousands within just a decade of their founders' deaths. It is largely due to the influence of Bernard of Clairvaux, the Franciscans, and the Dominicans that the Salve Regina developed its intense popularity among the faithful.
English translation:
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 toward us,
and after this our exile show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.
Far more has been written about this beloved antiphon than about the other three. Permit me to share a quote from Ambassador Howard Dee (former Ambassador of the Philippines to the Vatican):
"Some queen-mothers (gebirah) play stellar roles in the Old Testament. When the hymn was written, in the so-called 'dark ages,' there were not a few queens in Europe; a queen then was a familiar person, image and symbol. Wherever you had a king, you had a queen. They were figures of power; figures with might in their hands. They could get people, in court or in the realm, done or undone.
"But the hymn doesn’t stay long on the queen’s might and power. Or maybe it tells us what the truest might is, what the truest power is. Right away it calls Mary 'mother of mercy': a move from outer dominion and rule to inward greatness of heart, to mercy, to compassion, to tenderness. Vita, dulcedo et spes nostra, salve. Hail our life, our sweetness, our hope."
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Solemn tones, simple tones...and other tones!
I'm afraid I must drop a bombshell here. The melodies that most people know for these four Marian antiphons are not the original melodies.
Not even close.
The melodies most people know today are referred to as the simple tones, and were probably composed in the 18th and 19th centuries. The original melodies were much, much more ornate, and as such, are not sung often in modern times. These sumptuous, original forms are usually referred to as the solemn tones.
Listen to the differences:
Alma redemptoris mater: simple tone sheet music | solemn tone sheet music
Ave regina caelorum: simple tone sheet music | solemn tone sheet music
Regina caeli: simple tone sheet music | solemn tone sheet music
Salve regina: simple tone sheet music | solemn tone sheet music
Simple tone versions in English
Father John Selner, S.S. crafted English translations for the simple tone Marian antiphons which interface elegantly with the Latin melodies (not an easy feat!). James Richardson, creator of Serviam Scores, graciously made these available, with organ accompaniment here, along with the entire hymnal that Father Selner published. Selner's Marian antiphons are nos. 70 - 73 (pp. 76 - 80).
When I was alerted to their existence, I knew right away that these must be released in chant notation too, and so I re-set them in the complimentary PDF downloads below.
Alternate tones from Chants Divers
If you enjoy new music, you might be interested in some alternate melodies that I recently discovered in an old chant book I was gifted last year: Chants Divers pour les Saluts du Très Saint Sacrement, published by Desclée in 1924. I reset the chants using the Source and Summit Editor, and have attached them in a downloadable PNG format below, so that you can revel in their glory while still reading this article. They are quite charming.
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