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This Month's Prayer
Regina Coeli
Regina coeli, laetare, alleluia: Quia quem
meruisti portare, alleluia,
resurrexit sicut dixit, alleluia.
Ora pro nobis Deum, alleluia.
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Queen of Heaven rejoice, alleluia
For he whom you did merit to bear, alleluia
has risen as he said, alleluia
Pray for us to God, alleluia.
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"Regina coeli, laetare, alleluia - Queen of Heaven rejoice, alleluia". With this prayer, that takes the place of The Angelus during Eastertide, we address to The Blessed Virgin Mary. The joy experienced by the Mother of Jesus at her son's resurrection, is the same as the Church's joy :
all that is good in grace and nature. Appeal to her, therefore, with faith and devotion: "Regina coeli laetare, alleluia".
Predating the 10th Century, it is thought that the author of this prayer was Pope Gregory V (d. 999). In the 13th Century the marian antiphon was included in the Liturgy of the Hours ( then called the Breviary). In 1742 Pope Benedict XIV established its recitation in Eastertide in place of the Angelus.
"Resurrexit sicut dixit, alleluia - He has risen as he said, alleluia"; this is the centre of our faith: He has risen! Mary was a silent witness to all of these events. When we ask her for help, we also receive the fullness of this Easter message. No creature in the world has understood the true and profound significance of the "day made by the Lord" as Mary has, and she rejoiced and exulted in praising God.
The antiphon ends with a plea of faith : "Ora pro nobis Deum, alleluia - Pray to God for us, alleluia". The Virgin Mother takes part in the Lord's pain but also in the joy of his resurrection. She prays so that the joy that was born as new life at his death on the cross never decreases in any of our days. Amen.
From the Catechism of the Catholic Church (n. 149):
Throughout her life and until her last ordeal15 when Jesus her son died on the cross, Mary's faith never wavered. She never ceased to believe in the fulfillment of God's word. And so the Church venerates in Mary the purest realization of faith.
From Holy Scripture
But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all made alive (1 Cor 15,20-22).
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