Regina Caeli
Queen of Heaven
The joyful Eastertide antiphon to Our Lady, sung in place of the Angelus from Easter to Pentecost.
Regina caeli, laetare, alleluia,
quia quem meruisti portare, alleluia,
resurrexit sicut dixit, alleluia.
Ora pro nobis Deum, alleluia.
V. Gaude et laetare, Virgo Maria, alleluia,
R. quia surrexit Dominus vere, alleluia.
Oremus. Deus, qui per resurrectionem Filii tui, Domini nostri Iesu Christi, mundum laetificare dignatus es, praesta, quaesumus, ut per eius Genetricem Virginem Mariam perpetuae capiamus gaudia vitae. Per eundem Christum Dominum nostrum.
Amen.
Queen of heaven, rejoice, alleluia,
for He whom thou didst merit to bear, alleluia,
hath risen, as He said, alleluia.
Pray for us to God, alleluia.
V. Rejoice and be glad, O Virgin Mary, alleluia,
R. for the Lord is truly risen, alleluia.
Let us pray. O God, who by the Resurrection of Thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, hast vouchsafed to give joy to the whole world, grant, we beseech Thee, that through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, His Mother, we may lay hold of the joys of everlasting life. Through the same Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Translation source: fisheaters.com/prayers.html
About this prayer
The Regina Caeli, "Queen of Heaven, rejoice," is the antiphon of the Blessed Virgin Mary for Paschaltide, the season of the Resurrection. From Easter Sunday until the close of Pentecost it takes the place of the Angelus and seals Compline in the Church's Office. Its origin is wrapped in a pious legend: tradition tells that Pope Saint Gregory the Great heard the first three lines sung by the angels on an Easter morning in Rome, and himself added the fourth, "Pray for us to God."
Where the Angelus bows in wonder at the Incarnation, the Regina Caeli leaps with the joy of Easter, bidding the Mother who stood beneath the Cross to rejoice now that her Son is risen as He said. Each line is sealed with the Paschal alleluia, the song of the redeemed. The faithful pray it standing, in token of the Resurrection, throughout the fifty days of Eastertide, until the Angelus returns after Pentecost.