Hail Queen of Heaven, the Ocean Star

"Hail, Queen of Heaven, the Ocean Star" is a Marian hymn written by Father John Lingard (1771–1851), a Catholic priest and historian who, through the works of William Cobbett, helped to smooth the passage of the Catholic Emancipation Act in England.

History

Loosely based on the medieval Latin plainchant Ave Maris Stella, the hymn is generally sung to the modified traditional English melody Stella. This melody was published in 1851 by Henri Frederick Hemy's in his Easy Hymn Tunes for Catholic Schools. The name Stella comes from the village of that name near Newcastle where Hemy worked.[1][2] J. Vincent HIgginson described it as "one of the oldest English vernacular hymns commonly found in Catholic hymnals."[3]

Nautical imagery

A ship was an early Christian symbol. The word "nave", used to describe is the main body of a church is from the medieval Latin navis meaning "ship", possibly with some reference to the "Ship of St. Peter" or the Ark of Noah.[4] Catherine of Siena described the Church as a ship.[5]The image was transferred to the individual travelling on life's stormy or tempestuous seas.[3] This motif is also found in the first stanza of Mother dear, O pray for me".[6]

Tolkien

Much has been written of the influence of Tolkien's Catholicism on the imagery he employs. In his legendarium, Varda, also known as Elbereth, is one of the Valar and the highest of the "guardians". Peter Kreeft sees her as one of the clearest reflections of Roman Catholic Marian devotion in Tolkien's work.[7] Marjorie Burns sees in the Elvish hymn A Elbereth Gilthoniel an echo of the Marian hymn, Hail Queen of Heaven.[8]

Lyrics

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

(For complete lyrics see wikisource.)

Hail, Queen of Heaven, the Ocean Star,
Guide of the wanderer here below,
Thrown on life's surge, we claim thy care,
Save us from peril and from woe.

Mother of Christ, Star of the sea
Pray for the wanderer, pray for me.

See also

External links

References

  1. ↑ Hymnary.org: Stella
  2. ↑ St. Mary & St. Thomas Aquinas, Stella:The Hymn
  3. 1 2 Budwey, Stephanie. Sing of Mary: Giving Voice to Marian Theology and Devotion, Liturgical Press, 2014, ISBN 9780814682937
  4. ↑ Cram, Ralph Adams. "Nave." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 10. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 6 April 2016
  5. ↑ Wiseman, Denis Vincent O.P., "Mary in the Life and Thought of Catherine of Siena", Marian Library Studies, n.s.27, 2005-2006
  6. ↑ Mother dear, O pray for me", Hymnary
  7. ↑ Peter Kreeft, The Philosophy of Tolkien: The Worldview Behind The Lord of the Rings (2005), p. 75, citing Letters (ed. 1981) no. 213, p. 288, San Francisco, Ignatius Press, 2005, ISBN 9781586170257
  8. ↑ Burns, Marjorie. "Saintly and Distant Mothers", Kerry, Paul E., The Ring and the Cross: Christianity and The Lord of the Rings, p. 251, Rowman & Littlefield, 2011, ISBN 9781611470642
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