Hail Holy Queen

Prayer:

Hail Holy Queen

Hail Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy,

hail, our life, our sweetness, and our hope.

To you we cry, the children of Eve;

to you do we send up our sighs,

mourning and weeping in this land of exile.

Turn then, most gracious advocate,

your eyes of mercy towards us;

lead us home at last

and show us the blessed fruit of your womb, Jesus.

O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary! Amen.

Context/"">In Latin, ‘Hail Holy Queen’ is ‘Salve Regina’.

It is thought that the text was composed by a man called Herman of Richenau (also known as Blessed Herman the Cripple) who lived from 1013 to 1054.

Pope Leo XIII directed that the Hail Holy Queen be recited after low Masses for the conversion of Russia, but this practice ceased in 1964.