Regina caeli


"Regina caeli" is a musical antiphon addressed to the Blessed Virgin Mary that is used in the liturgy of the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church during the Easter season, from Easter Sunday until Pentecost. During this season, it is the Marian antiphon that ends Compline and it takes the place of the traditional thrice-daily Angelus prayer.
In the past, the spelling "Regina coeli" was sometimes used, but this spelling is no longer found in official liturgical books.

Text

The antiphon itself consists of four lines:
Compline, as revised in 1969 after the Second Vatican Council, ends with the antiphon alone. In the earlier Roman Breviary and in recitation at Angelus time during Eastertide, the following versicle and response and the following prayer are added to the antiphon:
A verse translation in 7.7.7.7 metre used in some Anglican churches is usually sung to the hymn tune known as Easter Hymn, "Christ the Lord is Risen Today" or the hymn tune "Ave Virgo Virginum" :
melody

History

The authorship of the Regina caeli is unknown. It has been traced back to the 12th century and is found in an antiphonary of about 1200 now in St Peter's Basilica, Rome. In the first half of the 13th century it was in Franciscan use, after compline.
Jacobus da Varagine's thirteenth-century Golden Legend includes a story that, during a procession with an image of the Blessed Virgin that was held to pray for the ending of a pestilence in Rome, angels were heard singing the first three lines of the Regina caeli antiphon, to which Pope Gregory the Great thereupon added the fourth, after which he saw atop what in consequence is called the Castel Sant'Angelo a vision of an angel sheathing his sword, thus signifying the cessation of the plague.

Polyphonic settings

As well as the plainsong melodies associated with it, the Regina caeli has since the 16th century often been provided with polyphonic settings. Pierre de Manchicourt's setting is of 1539. A setting for four voices by Charles de Courbe dates from 1622, and Lully's motet "Regina coeli, laetare" is of 1684. 5 Regina caeli, H 16, H 30, H 32, H 46, H 31 have been composed by Marc-Antoine Charpentier. There are three settings by the young Mozart, and one by Brahms.