From now (actually this past Saturday evening) until February 2nd, I’ll be praying a beautiful Marian antiphon after Night Prayer. It’s called Alma Redemptoris Mater (Latin words that begin the prayer).

This antiphon is about 1,000 years old and is actually mentioned in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.

It goes as follows:

Loving Mother of the Redeemer, gate of heaven, star of the sea, assist your people who have fallen yet strive to rise again. To the wonderment of nature you bore your Creator, yet remained a virgin after as before. You who received Gabriel’s joyful greeting, have pity on us poor sinners.”

There is a lot here to think about. One can go verse by verse and use it as a rich source for meditation.

Actually, St. John Paul II’s 1987 encyclical also refers to Mary as the Mother of the Redeemer. Since it too, starts with these words (The Mother of the Redeemer), it shares a very similar title to this beautiful antiphon that I pretty much have memorized.

May the Mother of the Redeemer, gate of heaven and star of the sea, assist us in our weakness and bring us closer to our creator whom she bore.