Salve Regina

Hail, Holy Queen

Level 1

A hymn of greeting, learned whole.

How It Works

LatinEnglish
Salve, Regina, mater misericordiae,Hail, Queen, mother of mercy,
vita, dulcedo et spes nostra, salve.our life, our sweetness and our hope, hail.
Ad te clamamus, exsules filii Evae.To you we cry, exiled children of Eve.
O clemens, o pia, o dulcis Virgo Maria.O kind, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.

Salve sounds like SAHL-veh in Church Latin and SAHL-weh in classical Latin. Regina is reh-JEE-nah in Church Latin and reh-GEE-nah in classical Latin.

You know salve as hello. In this hymn it begins and ends the first line, as a greeting to a queen.

Nostra (our) is feminine and agrees with vita, dulcedo and spes, which are all feminine nouns.

Examples (5)

  1. Salve, Regina.

    Hail, Queen.

    Regina names the person greeted. Salve is the greeting.

  2. Mater misericordiae.

    Mother of mercy.

    Misericordiae is the genitive: of mercy.

  3. Vita, dulcedo et spes nostra, salve.

    Our life, our sweetness and our hope, hail.

    Nostra is feminine and goes with all three nouns.

  4. Ad te clamamus, exsules filii Evae.

    To you we cry, exiled children of Eve.

    Clamamus is we cry. Evae is the genitive of Eva.

  5. O clemens, o pia, o dulcis Virgo Maria.

    O kind, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.

    The last line of the hymn, in three calls to Mary.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Salve ReginaLevel 1Hail, Holy Queen

Learn This First

The prayer opens with the greeting salve and is sung with Church sounds.

Words in This Pattern

salveregina