Salve Regina

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin salvē rēgīna (“hail, queen”), the opening of the prayer in that language.

Noun

Salve Regina (plural Salve Reginas)

1. (Roman Catholicism) A hymn to the Virgin Mary, one of the Marian antiphons, also prayed as part of the rosary.
   • 1852, A Novena in Honour of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel […], page 7:

     The fifth remark is, that any person who cannot read or hear the Novena read, can make it by saying every day five Salve Reginas and five Ave Marias, saying first an act of contrition, and observing as far as possible the directions here given.

2. (music) A musical setting of this hymn.
   • 1884, Franz von Seeburg, translated by J. M. Toohey, Joseph Haydn: The Story of His Life, page 40:

     I have often been scolded for this by Reutter, and especially when I composed a Salve Regina for twelve voices.

See also

• Hail Mary