Pedro de Escobar (Pedro do Porto)
1. Virgen Bendita sin par
de quien toda virtud mana,/ vos sois digna de loar.
2. Vos, Sagrada Emperadora,/ desesisteis el engaño/ y remediasteis el daño/ de la gente pecadora.
3.De los ángeles Señora,/ vos querais tan gracia dar/ que no podamos pecar/ contra aquel que carne humana/ de vos le plugo tomar. (Cancionero de Palacio)
2. Vos, Sagrada Emperadora,/ desesisteis el engaño/ y remediasteis el daño/ de la gente pecadora.
3.De los ángeles Señora,/ vos querais tan gracia dar/ que no podamos pecar/ contra aquel que carne humana/ de vos le plugo tomar. (Cancionero de Palacio)
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(1.Blessed Virgin without equal,/ from Whom all virtue comes,/ You are worthy of praise.)
(2.You, oh Sacred Empress,/ undid the error/ and remedied the harm/ of the sinful people.)
(3.Of the Angels You are the Lady,/ You so much grace wish to bestow/ that we may not sin/ against the One who human flesh/ deigned to take from You.)
(2.You, oh Sacred Empress,/ undid the error/ and remedied the harm/ of the sinful people.)
(3.Of the Angels You are the Lady,/ You so much grace wish to bestow/ that we may not sin/ against the One who human flesh/ deigned to take from You.)
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Ardent voices from the East sing out: "O Mother of God, today thou art carried into heaven on the chariots of the cherubim, the seraphim wait upon thee and the ranks of the heavenly army bow before thee."
Further: "O just, O most blessed (Joseph), since thou art sprung from a royal line, thou hast been chosen from among all mankind to be spouse of the pure Queen who, in a way which defies description, will give birth to Jesus the king." In addition: "I shall sing a hymn to the mother, the Queen, whom I joyously approach in praise, gladly celebrating her wonders in song...
Our tongue cannot worthily praise thee, O Lady; for thou who hast borne Christ the king art exalted above the seraphim. . . Hail, O Queen of the world; hail, O Mary, Queen of us all."
Our tongue cannot worthily praise thee, O Lady; for thou who hast borne Christ the king art exalted above the seraphim. . . Hail, O Queen of the world; hail, O Mary, Queen of us all."
We read, moreover, in the Ethiopic Missal: "O Mary, center of the whole world, . . . thou art greater than the many-eyed cherubim and the six-winged seraphim . . . Heaven and earth are filled with the sanctity of thy glory."
Furthermore, the Latin Church sings that sweet and ancient prayer called the "Hail, Holy Queen" and the lovely antiphons "Hail, Queen of the Heavens," "O Queen of Heaven, Rejoice," and those others which we are accustomed to recite on feasts of the Blessed Virgin Mary: "The Queen stood at Thy right hand in golden vesture surrounded with beauty"; "Heaven and earth praise thee as a powerful Queen"; "Today the Virgin Mary ascends into heaven: rejoice because she reigns with Christ forever."
To these and others should be added the Litany of Loreto which daily invites Christian folk to call upon Mary as Queen. Likewise, for many centuries past Christians have been accustomed to meditate upon the ruling power of Mary which embraces heaven and earth, when they consider the fifth Glorious Mystery of the Rosary which can be called the mystical crown of the heavenly Queen.
Finally, art which is based upon Christian principles and is animated by their spirit as something faithfully interpreting the sincere and freely expressed devotion of the faithful, has since the Council of Ephesus portrayed Mary as Queen and Empress seated upon a royal throne adorned with royal insignia, crowned with the royal diadem and surrounded by the host of angels and saints in heaven, and ruling not only over nature and its powers but also over the machinations of Satan.
Pius XII
Ad Caeli Reginam
