Edvard Grieg composed his “Ave Maris Stella” (“Hail Star of the Sea”), for mixed choir, in 1898. Its lyrics, in Latin and English, are below the embedded video.
Ave, maris stella,
Dei mater alma,
atque semper virgo,
felix cœli porta.
Sumens illud “Ave”
Gabrielis ore,
funda nos in pace,
mutans Evæ nomen
Solve vincla reis,
profer lumen cæcis,
mala nostra pelle,
bona cuncta posce.
Monstra te esse matrem,
sumat per te precem
qui pro nobis natus
tulit esse tuus.
Virgo singularis,
inter omnes mitis,
nos culpis solutos
mites fac et castos.
Vitam præsta puram,
iter para tutum,
ut videntes Jesum
semper collætemur.
Sit laus Deo Patri,
summo Christo decus,
Spiritui Sancto
tribus honor unus. Amen.
____________________________
Hail, star of the sea,
Nurturing Mother of God,
And ever Virgin
Happy gate of Heaven
Receiving that “Ave”
From the mouth of Gabriel,
Establish us in peace,
Transforming the name of “Eva”
Loosen the chains of the guilty,
Send forth light to the blind,
Our evil do thou dispel,
Entreat (for us) all good things.
Show thyself to be a Mother:
Through thee may he receive prayer
Who, being born for us,
Undertook to be thine own.
O unique Virgin,
Meek above all others,
Make us, set free from (our) sins,
Meek and chaste.
Bestow a pure life,
Prepare a safe way:
That seeing Jesus,
We may ever rejoice.
Praise be to God the Father,
To the Most High Christ (be) glory,
To the Holy Spirit
(Be) honour, to the Three equally. Amen.
__________
This piece was first published here in September 2018.
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The featured image, uploaded by Asia, is “Early Medieval Stella Maris icon at the Santa Maria in Via Lata basilica, Rome.” This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
“Every day sing ‘Ave, Maris Stella,’ and I will protect you from all danger.”
In Rome, during a riot, a crowd arrived at the house where Saint Bridget lived, and a leader incited the others to burn Bridget alive while she was proclaiming the biblical hymn, “You are all beautiful, O Mary.”
She invoked our Lord to know if she could escape. Jesus advised her to stay and said, “It does not matter if they plot to kill you. My power will prevent the malice of your enemies: if they crucified me, it is because I allowed it.”
And Our Lady added, “Sing all together the Ave Maris Stella, and I will protect you from all danger.”
When these violent men attacked her, she remained unperturbed and continued to pray, chanting the Ave Maris Stella: the rioters immediately dispersed.
In thanksgiving to the Madonna, she then established that from that day on, the hymn would be sung daily in community.
And this is still the custom today in Bridgettine houses around the world: every day, before Vespers, the Latin hymn Ave Maris Stella is sung.