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Salve Regina — Hail, Holy Queen in Latin
The Salve Regina in Latin with English translation: the Hail Holy Queen that ends the Rosary, its meaning (vale of tears, our advocate), who wrote it, and when Catholics pray it.
Part of the Latin prayers prayer collection.
In brief
The Salve Regina is the Latin original of "Hail, Holy Queen" — an 11th-century Marian antiphon sung at the end of Compline and at the close of the Rosary. In liturgical use it ends not with "Amen" but with a versicle: "Pray for us, O holy Mother of God."
Prayer: Salve Regina
Salve, Regina, Mater misericordiae, vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra, salve. Ad te clamamus exsules filii Evae. 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.
Source note: 11th-century Marian antiphon
What it is actually saying
The Salve Regina is the prayer of people honest about being in transit: "exsules filii Evae" — exiles, Eve's children. It calls this life a lacrimarum vallis, a valley of tears, not out of gloom but out of geography: we are not home yet. So it asks for two things — mercy now ("turn your eyes of mercy toward us") and Jesus at the end ("after this exile, show us the blessed fruit of thy womb"). Every Marian prayer's destination is the same; this one simply says the destination out loud.
The ending is three Latin adjectives and a name: O clemens, o pia, o dulcis Virgo Maria — "O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary." After all the weeping of the middle lines, prayer resolves not into argument but into praise.
Pronouncing it
- Salve Regina → SAHL-veh reh-JEE-nah
- Mater misericordiae → MAH-tehr mee-zeh-ree-KOHR-dee-eh
- vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra → VEE-tah, dool-CHEH-doh, eht spehs NOHS-trah
- exsules filii Evae → EHK-soo-lehs FEE-lee-ee EH-veh
- in hac lacrimarum valle → een ahk lah-kree-MAH-room VAHL-leh
- advocata nostra → ahd-voh-KAH-tah NOHS-trah
- post hoc exsilium ostende → pohst ohk ehk-SEE-lee-oom oh-STEHN-deh
- O clemens, o pia, o dulcis → oh KLEH-mehns, oh PEE-ah, oh DOOL-chees
Where it came from
The antiphon is traditionally attributed to Hermann of Reichenau (1013–1054), a monk, mathematician and poet who composed despite severe physical disability — the Church's usual way of choosing exactly the right authors. By the 13th century the Salve Regina had become the Church's night-time Marian song, chanted after Compline; the friars carried it everywhere, and when the Rosary's form settled, it naturally became the Rosary's closing hymn. In the Liturgy of the Hours it is the Marian antiphon from Trinity Sunday until Advent. Liturgically it does not end with Amen but continues into the versicle: "Ora pro nobis, sancta Dei Genitrix — Ut digni efficiamur promissionibus Christi" ("Pray for us, O holy Mother of God — that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ").
A custom worth adopting: at the end of a hard day, pray one Salve before sleep. Monks intended it exactly for that hour.
Keep praying
- Hail, Holy Queen in English — phrase by phrase
- Ave Maria — the Hail Mary in Latin
- The Memorare
- All Rosary prayer texts
Salve Regina: Hail, Holy Queen in Latin
Salve Regina is the Latin Hail, Holy Queen, a Marian antiphon traditionally prayed after the Rosary and in the Church's evening prayer traditions. Read the Latin with the English meaning: it turns to Mary as Mother of Mercy and ends by directing the heart toward Jesus.
The page keeps the traditional text, meaning and context together, while clearly labelling original guidance. It does not claim that Latin is required, that one translation is the only valid one or that the prayer guarantees a particular outcome.
Frequently asked questions
Who wrote the Salve Regina?
Tradition credits Hermann of Reichenau (1013–1054), a Benedictine monk of remarkable learning. The attribution rests on long monastic memory rather than a signed manuscript — but whoever wrote it gave the Church one of her most-used prayers for nine centuries.
When do Catholics pray the Salve Regina?
At the end of the Rosary, after night prayer (Compline) in religious communities, and liturgically as the Marian antiphon from Trinity Sunday until Advent. Many families also pray it at a deathbed — "after this our exile" lands differently in that room.
What does "vale of tears" mean — lacrimarum valle?
"Valley of tears" — the prayer's name for earthly life as pilgrimage: real griefs, real weeping, but a valley you walk through, not a country you settle in. It is realism with an exit, not pessimism.
Why doesn't the Latin end with "Amen"?
Because in its liturgical home it is an antiphon leading into a versicle and prayer, not a stand-alone devotion. The English "Hail, Holy Queen" adds Amen because it usually stands alone — at the Rosary's end, for instance. Nothing is missing either way.