Boethius wrote, "For nothing is more proper to humanity than to be relaxed by sweet modes and to be made tense by the opposite." Many have had the experience of perfectly sight reading a chant, yet still arriving at the end and wondering whether they actually sang it correctly. It is because they have not yet developed a modal sense for the chant.

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.

Roman Catholic parish musicians will benefit from the included Vespers "cheat sheet", resources for antiphons, description of psalm tones and their relationship to proper antiphons, and nearly 70 sheet music files included here.