The Regina Caeli or Regina Coeli (“Queen of Heaven”), an ancient Latin Marian Hymn, is one of the four seasonal antiphons of the Blessed Virgin Mary, prescribed to for the conclusion of night prayer (Compline or Vespers).
The Regina Caeli is sung or recited in place of the Angelus during the Easter season, from Holy Saturday to Pentecost Sunday.
While the authorship of the Regina Caeli is unknown, the hymn has been traced back to the twelfth century. It was in Franciscan use, after Compline, in the first half of the following century. Legend has it that St Gregory the Great heard angels chanting the first three lines one Easter morning in Rome, while following barefoot the icon of the Virgin (painted by Luke the Evangelist) in a religious procession. He was thereupon inspired to add the fourth line.
There are plainsong melodies associated with Regina Caeli, the “typical” melody being found in the Vatican Antiphonary, 1911, p. 126. The antiphonal strophes of Regina Caeli were often set by polyphonic composers of the 16th century and there are three settings by the young Mozart. You can hear the St Mungo Singers sing one by Lotti.
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